28.2. User Line

You can define a user line, which may be a polyline, by specifying points using either Cartesian (x, y, z) or cylindrical (Axial, Radial, Theta) coordinates. The coordinates must be specified relative to the global coordinate frame, Coord 0.

Creating a User Line

Select Insert > User Locations > User Line.
The Insert User Line dialog box appears.
Set Name to a unique name for the user line and click OK.
The details view for the user line appears.
Select an option for defining the line:
- From File
  Using the From File option, you can define a user line from a .csv file, for example one that was exported from CFD-Post. For details on the export of polyline data from CFD-Post, see POLYLINE Data Format in the CFD-Post User's Guide.
  Select a Data Storage option:
  - Use External File
    Data is defined by the file you specify under File Name and by the section of data within that file, selected under Section Name. The CFX-Solver will use the selected data section of the specified file.
    Note: When submitting a run to a cluster or running on a different machine, the path to the .csv file must be valid on that cluster/machine.
  - Internal
    Data is read from the file that you select after clicking Copy Data Into Setup. This data is copied into the case definition when you click Apply or OK. The CFX-Solver will use the data stored with the case definition.
    Note that, after you click Copy Data Into Setup, the Copy Data Into Setup dialog box appears, where you specify the data file to read. If the specified file has an incorrect format, an error message will appear; after making corrections to such a file, click Reload to reassess the format of the file.
  Line connectivity can be defined but is not required; if connectivity data is missing then the connectivity is dictated by the order of the points in the file.
- Two Points
  Specify the total number of points (at least 2) in the line and the two end points of the line.
  You can specify the coordinates of the end points using your choice of coordinate system:
  - A Cartesian (x, y, z) coordinate system.
    The coordinates must be specified relative to the global coordinate frame, Coord 0.
  - A Cylindrical (Axial, Radial, Theta) coordinate system.
    The coordinates must be specified relative to the global coordinate frame, Coord 0.
  - A coordinate system defined by a profile function.
    The end points of the line are defined by two points that are specified in custom coordinates (determined by the reference profile function; see Coordinate System Definition). The intermediate points on the line are created equally spaced in the custom coordinate system. This may result in a curved line when all of the points are mapped to Cartesian coordinates. If some of the intermediate points cannot be mapped to Cartesian coordinates, and Ignore Unmapped Intermediate Points is selected, then these points are skipped, and the line will have fewer points than specified and will be broken into segments. If either of the end points cannot be mapped, or if intermediate points cannot be mapped and Ignore Unmapped Intermediate Points is not selected, then the line will not be generated and an error message will be given.
  Note: The intermediate points are calculated as equally-spaced points in the specified coordinate system; for end points specified in cylindrical coordinates, the intermediate points are equally spaced in cylindrical coordinates and the line will not necessarily be a straight line.
In the details view, optionally select Visibility to view the line in the graphics window.
Click OK.
An object named after the user line is created and listed in the tree view under Simulation > User Locations.