Surface meshing software

In the Blocking tab, click on the Pre-Mesh Params button a cube with a grid. In the menu in the lower left corner, click on the Edge Params button under Meshing Parameters. For the Edge , select the vertical edge at the leading edge of the wingtip. The most commonly useful mesh-spacing laws are BiGeometric , Poisson , and Hyperbolic. When specifying edge spacings, it is important to keep in mind that there should not be large jumps in cell sizes across edge boundaries.

Large changes in cell size can result in pyHyp errors and poor quality results. Now we will specify parameters for the edges associated with the upper and lower airfoil curves at the wingtip. Select the upper edge at the wingtip for Edge in the Pre-Mesh Params menu. Specify for Nodes and select Hyperbolic for the Mesh law.

Next, to avoid large discontinuities in element size, we will select some edges to link to this edge. This is done by specifying edges to link to Sp1 and Sp2.

The edge will have an arrow displayed on it. This arrow points from the vertex corresponding to Sp1 to the vertex corresponding to Sp2. Click on the box to the left of Sp1 and then click on Select and select the vertical edge at the leading side of the wingtip or the trailing edge if Sp1 corresponds to the trailing edge. Then do the same for Sp2 with the vertical edge at the trailing side of the wingtip.

Next, we will set the edge parameters for the edges running spanwise along the leading and trailing edges of the wing. Select the upper edge at the leading edge of the wing for Edge in the Pre-Mesh Params menu. Specify for Nodes and select Uniform for the Mesh law. At this point the pre-mesh should look like the following at the wingtip. We can see that the above mesh is far from ideal for example, due to the large changes in element size at the wingtip. We can also use the Pre-Mesh Quality Histogram tool to check the mesh quality.

The following histogram should appear on the bottom right of the window. This shows that we have a few poor quality elements less than 0. To see the elements corresponding to a particular bar of the histogram, click on the bar. Hiding the pre-mesh and then pressing x on the keyboard should show the elements. Showing the pre-mesh again should help see where they lie with respect to the wing. These happen to be at the leading edge of the wingtip.

Also, we need to improve the quality of the mesh as the elements transition from the upper and lower surfaces of the wing to the wingtip surface. For surface meshes that will be used in pyHyp, the minimum quality of any cell in the mesh should be about 0. The mesh needs to be adjusted if there are low quality cells. Oftentimes, adjusting node spacing or some associations can fix low mesh quality issues. However, adjusting the mesh to assure high quality can often be a bit tricky, particularly for inexperienced users.

To improve the mesh, we will first split the block to gain a little more flexibility with the mesh. In the Blocking tab, click on the Split Block button an axe with a cube. In the menu at the bottom left, also select the Split Block option an axe with a cube. Click on the arrow to the right of the Edge box, then click on the upper leading edge near the wing tip, as shown below to split the block.

After this, we will first change the edge parameters of the new horizontal edge at the leading side of the wing. Go to the Edge Params menu under Pre-mesh Params as shown earlier. Select the edge, enter 17 for Nodes , select Geometric2 for the Mesh law , link Sp2 to the vertical edge at the wingtip, click the box for Copy Parameters if it is not already selected by default, and accept the options.

For reference, in the menu shown above, the numbers in the gray boxes next to some items e. Also, the linked numbers shown when linking edges e.

These numbers can be displayed by checking Vertices in the model tree and then right-clicking it and clicking on Numbers. These numbers can be used to verify that the correct edges are selected while linking. Similarly, we will now set the Edge Params for the longer horizontal leading and trailing edges. Select the top edge at the leading side, enter for Nodes , select Hyperbolic for the Mesh law , set Spacing 1 to 0.

At this point the mesh should look something like the following at the wingtip. Next, we will disassociate the edges at the wingtip from the curves we had selected in Step 3. In the Blocking tab, click on the Associate button, and click the Disassociate from Geometry a finger with an X button in the bottom left menu. For Edges , select both halves of the top edge at the wingtip and the bottom edge at the wingtip, and accept.

Next, click the Associate edge to Surface button under Edit Associations then select both halves of the top edge at the wingtip and the bottom edge at the wingtip, and accept. Now we will split these edges into a lot more pieces Edit Edge in the Blocking tab, then Split Edge as described in Step 4.

Split the top edge at the wingtip into about 6 segments and split the bottom edge at the wingtip into about 12 segments. For the upper chordwise edge inboard of the wingtip edge, split the edges into 2 segments. Splitting edges provides greater flexibility and more can be created if required. The following is what the edges should look like at this point.

The next phase will be more challenging because these edges are now associated with surfaces and moving the vertices can be tricky. In the Blocking tab, click on the Move Vertex button an arrow with two vertices. With Move Vertex selected in the bottom left menu, click on the button to the right of Vertex and adjust the vertices of the upper and lower wingtip edges to look like the following image.

Making Surfaces visible as a wireframe from the model tree should also help. This process will require some patience. Rotating the view should show if the vertices actually moved to the desired location. If you see an overlapping or collapsed mesh, check the associations of the edges. Right click on Edges in the model tree and click on Show Association.

If an edge associated with a surface does not have an arrow pointing toward the surface, splitting and dragging should fix the problem as shown earlier in Step 4.

Using the mesh quality check, we see that we have a better quality mesh at this point although it can certainly still be improved with more fine tuning and splitting of edges.

I have worked with the Pointwise staff for many years now and have always found them a great group of people to work with. It is very easy to adjust the specific grid elements I need. I also like how capable the Glyph scripting interface is. I also appreciate to meet the developers in scientific conferences AIAA , they have a research approach of the software not only a commercial one.

Since , mesh generation software from Pointwise and its co-founders has been used for CFD preprocessing on applications as diverse as aerodynamic performance of the F Lightning II and reducing fish mortality rates in a hydroelectric project. Whether you're engaged in CFD to refine an existing design, doing parametric analysis for design of a new vehicle, or researching concepts for next generation vehicles, Pointwise provides all your mesh generation capabilities.

From geometry model import to flow solver export, Pointwise provides tools for every step of the meshing process including mesh editing down to the individual grid point to global mesh metric evaluation. You can even customize the software using the plugin API. Hybrid Berlin, Germany August Presenting. Hybrid Salzburg, Austria October Presenting.

Give us a call or send us an email to learn more about how we can work together on mesh generation for CFD. You can learn about the capabilities of our products and the range of the services we offer. We can learn more about your applications of CFD and the mesh generation challenges you are facing. Our worldwide team of dedicated CFD professionals is ready to assist you. Just click below to contact us. Most often geometry is exported from a CAD package, and this process quite often results in problems, which are difficult for repairing.

Volume mesh generation has been a research topic over many decades. Block-structured meshes allow for low memory usage due to the order of cells in the mesh. However, they are difficult to generate in complex geometries without sacrificing geometry details.

This has motivated development of unstructured methods which are more automatic, but still require high quality input data. Recently, a novel class of methods, so called inside-out, became popular due to high level of automation, speed and simplicity. The software comprises automatic meshing workflows with an intuitive user interface that allows for superior user experience and productivity. The implemented methodology is able to generate very large and complex volume meshes at only a fraction of time and effort needed by most of the other meshing software.

It is a perfect companion to those who require an efficient, easy-to-use, yet fully automated meshing process able to resolve complex domains faced in industrial settings. The meshes have been successfully used in various types of CFD simulations, from the automotive aerodynamics see e.

Due to its ability to generate volume meshes composed of tetrahedral elements only, the software has also found successful usage within the finite element analysis FEA realm. That is all that is required in most of the situations. Even large volume meshes with tens of millions of cells representing complex geometries can typically be generated during less than an hour on a desktop PC. The software comes with extensive and continuously updated online and offline documentation, while our customers also greatly benefit from our expert and prompt support available to them via our online support center.

You are welcome to submit your request for a day free-trial period on this link. Resolving complexity. The implemented meshing methodology is designed to provide quality meshes on arbitrarily complex geometries. The available workflows are robust and sensitivity to input data is minimized. Simple setup. Minimum user input is needed to prescribe settings for the meshing process. The meshing workflow is fully automated and meshes are obtained in a single run.

Implemented algorithms are parallelized and computational resources are used efficiently. Meshing processes can also be set up and started from the batch mode scripting. Access to expert support. Our mission is to help our customers being productive in their simulation efforts. While the software is being regularly upgraded with the new features that facilitate this process, our customers also greatly benefit from our meshing expertise and support. In certain circumstances, it is also possible to provide for customized meshing solutions and workflows.

In addition, special care has been taken on memory usage, which is kept low by implementing data containers that do not require many dynamic memory allocation operations as a consequence of mesh modification. The library supports generation of meshes of arbitrary cell types, and the implemented workflows generate cartesian type of polyhedra in both 2D and 3D space, hexahedra, tetrahedra and arbitrary polyhedra.

The available workflows are based on the inside-out method starting from a mesh template adjusted to fit the geometry, and the modifiers are designed to be least sensitive on the input data.