In complex flows, it is often useful to track the flow of discrete particles through the flow field. These particles interact with the fluid, following a path that is determined by the particle properties, as well as by the mean and turbulent flow behavior. The tracking is useful in two ways:
Particle tracking can trace the mean flow behavior in and around complex geometries.
The injection of several particles from a point can help to display the turbulence properties of the flow.
In Ansys Fluent, particle tracking information is contained in a Fluent Particle Track XML file. For details on creating a particle track file in Ansys Fluent, see Exporting Steady-State Particle History Data in the Fluent User's Guide. To learn how to import such a file into a case loaded in CFD-Post, see Import Fluent Particle Track File. Once the Fluent Particle Track file has been loaded, a button appears in the Particle Track details view. Clicking that button causes the particle track file to be reread and automatically updates any object that has a dependency on that file.
In Ansys CFX, particle tracking information is written to the
results file. The parameters are set in the pre-processor. CFD-Post also
provides support for track files created in CFX by enabling the import
of particle tracking data from a separate file. If a CFX results file
contains particle tracking data, an object will exist in the tree
view of type Res Particle Track.
The following characteristics of particle tracks will be discussed:
Note: There are several ways to insert a particle track:
To insert a Fluent particle track, select File > Import > Import Fluent Particle Track File.
From the menu bar, select Insert > Particle Track.
From the toolbar, click the Particle Track
icon.Depending on the context, you may be able to perform an insert from the shortcut menu in the tree view.