Assigning Point Spacing
Point spacings are a function of the geometry. Areas with high curvature or a lot of detail require small point spacings and lots of points. Also, places where high activity in the solution is expected require tight spacings. Areas which are mostly planar or little activity is expected in the solution don't require lots of points and will have larger point spacings. The previous tutorial was intended to illustrate how to control point spacings and density. This tutorial is to illustrate methods in actually applying individual point spacings and point grouping. You can continue from the last step of the Surface Splitting for Point Efficiency Tutorial or download the file flying_minnow_clean_split.igs.gz.
| 1. Read the file flying_minnow_clean_split.igs.gz in with gluing and trimming enabled. |
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| 2. Points can be added to groups like surfaces, so groups of
points that will have the same spacings can be added to a group for easier
spacing. Click all the groups except Prop and FYI: Another easy way of setting the point spacing on the prop would be to do it before rotating and creating the other 4 blades (see the end of the last tutorial). The point spacings are retained when rotating, translating, ... This method is perhaps easier/cleaner than grouping points. For large geometries with many groups, these extraneous groups may get in the way. |
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| 3. Select the next ring of points just inside the ones selected
in the previous step including the two in the middle of the blade at the
base. Be sure to get the points on both sides of the blade on all
five blades. Enter "BladeMidPoints" in the name field of the group
editor and click |
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| 4. Select the innermost point on both sides of the blade on
each of the five blades. Enter "BladeInnerPoints" in the name field
of the group editor and click |
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| 5. Select all the points at the front of the hub (where it meets
the base) as shown. Enter "HubCollarPoints" in the name field of
the group editor and click |
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| 6. Click the Prop group and |
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| 7. Select the next inner course of points. Be sure to get
the points on both sides, top and bottom, of the airfoil. Enter "WingMidPoints"
in the name field of the group editor
and click |
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| 8. Select the innermost course of points. Again, be sure
to get the points on both sides of the airfoil. Enter "WingInnerPoints"
in the name field of the group editor
and click |
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9. One way to start is to hit "e" to set the pick type to "Everything"
and pick all points. Enter a reasonable value, about 0.75, for the
point spacing of most points in
and |
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| 10. Hit "Esc" to clear the pick list and |
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11. Now we will enrich critical areas.
Click the LeadTrailPoints
and WingMidPoints groups. Change the value in the
field to 0.1 and .
This takes the spacing at the points selected and multiplies them by 0.5.
Repeat this for the other two points on the opposite wingtip. Click
|
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| 12. Click the Mouth, Body, and both Wing groups and
|
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| 13. Hit "esc". Click the HubCollarPoints group and select the
point on the tip of the hub as shown. Set the spacing at 0.3 and |
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| 14. The grid is still too coarse between the blades. Select
the point on the blade closest to the selected curve. Click the |
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| 15. Select the point shown on the opposite blade and the
same curve. Click the |
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| 16. The hub is still too coarse, so select the HubCollarPoints
group and the point at the nose of the hub (like in step 13). Click |
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| 17. Click the Mouth, Body, and both Wing groups and |
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| 18. Turn the surfaces and S_grid back on. You can easily see the problem. This is probably due to a bad surface parameterization. Select the surfaces shown. |
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| 19. In the |
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| 20. Save your work for use in the next tutorial. |
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The final step in the grid generation process is to build the outer boundary, apply boundary conditions, and generate the volume grid. This will be covered in the next tutorial: Volume Generation Tutorial.