In some cases, such as when using multizone meshing, you can use the Manage Zones task prior to generating the volume mesh in order to separate zones, split cylinders and create edge labels in preparation for other tasks in the workflow.
Note: Managing zones before volume meshing is not available when Separate Zone By is set to face in the Import Geometry task (see Importing Geometries).
In other cases, after you have generated your volume mesh, you can use the Manage Zones task to make additional changes to your cell and/or face zones (such as renaming or merging) prior to proceeding to the Fluent solver. This can especially useful for large models with numerous zones.
Note: This task allows the support of models with "multiple" body labels that might originate as named spaces from SpaceClaim or DesignModeler (such as the numerous parts of an electric motor, for instance). Body names between each body label should be unique, however, while inside a body label, the names can be the same.
Note: Labels and bodies should not have the same name, since doing so would lead to ambiguities. Bodies whose name contains the string 'fluid' will automatically be assigned as fluid regions, however, the same is not true for solids, since that is usually the default name for any body in both SpaceClaim and DesignModeler.
Managing Zones Before Volume Meshing
For cases when you have added the Manage Zones task before the Generate the Volume Mesh task, you can perform the following steps.
Choose whether to Select By the label or zone name in the list below.
Note: Labels originate from the CAD geometry, such as from group names in SpaceClaim geometries, or from named selections in DesignModeler geometries.
When selecting by labels, for imported CAD geometries that include body labels (and if you have set the Use Body Labels field to Yes in the Import Geometry task, see Importing Geometries), body label names are also listed in the selection list.
Use the Filter Text option in the drop-down to provide text and/or regular expressions in filtering the list (for example, using *, ?, and []). You can also choose the Use Wildcard option in the drop-down to provide wildcard expressions in filtering the list. When you use either
?or*in your expression, the matching list item(s) are automatically selected in the list. Use^,|, and&in your expression to indicate boolean operations for NOT, OR, and AND, respectively. See Filtering Lists and Using Wildcards for more information.For the selected region(s), choose a zone management Operation from the drop-down menu. You can choose to:
Separate Zones and provide a value for the Separation Angle for which zones are separated. The lower the value for the angle, the higher the number of faces that will be separated. The default value is 40 degrees. Separated faces are merged back after you generate the volume mesh.
Note: Bodies for multizone meshing will need a separation by zones, such that it will be enforced if it is not performed in this task or in the Generate the Surface Mesh task.
Split Cylinders for selected cylindrical regions. The splitting operation also creates edge labels around split faces.
Split normal to X, Split normal to Y, or Split normal to Z for selected non-cylindrical regions (such as heat exchanger tubes), to split bodies in a selected direction normal to a global direction.
Extract Edges in preparation for using edge sizing.
Regardless of the operation chosen, you can also provide a Control Name (or keep the default).
Managing Zones After Volume Meshing
For cases when you have added the Manage Zones task after the Generate the Volume Mesh task, you can perform the following steps.
Set the Type of zone to Cell Zone or Face Zone.
You also have the choice of Body Labels as the Type, if your imported CAD geometry contains bodies with multiple body labels. You can use this task to merge such bodies, noting the Merge Body Label Bodies field in the Generate Volume Mesh task (Generating the Volume Mesh)
Note: When using multizone meshing and body labels, body label cell zones are always merged.
Apply type filtering for the zones:
For cell zones, use the Type Filter to filter the list of available objects as Fluid or Solid or All.
For face zones,use the Type Filter to filter the list of available objects as Internal, Fluid-Fluid, Solid-Fluid, Fluid-Solid, External-Solid, External-Fluid, or External.
Apply value filtering for the zones:
For cell zones, use the Volume Filter to only display a list of cell zones within a certain volume.
For face zones: use the Area Filter to only display a list of face zones within a certain area.
You can set either filter to All, Less than, More than, or Equal to the corresponding Area value (for face zones) or Volume (for cell zones). When using the Equal to option, for the Equal within a range of (%) field, specify a percentage range for the volume/area.
Additional filtering options and wildcards are available in the list as well to help in selecting cell zones.
Use the Filter Text option in the drop-down to provide text and/or regular expressions in filtering the list (for example, using *, ?, and []). You can also choose the Use Wildcard option in the drop-down to provide wildcard expressions in filtering the list. When you use either
?or*in your expression, the matching list item(s) are automatically selected in the list. Use^,|, and&in your expression to indicate boolean operations for NOT, OR, and AND, respectively. See Filtering Lists and Using Wildcards for more information.To merge selected cell/face zones:
Select Merge as the Operation.
Specify the portion of the Name of the selected zones that you want to merge, or keep the default name. The task attempts to create an appropriate name. If the target name already exists, then a numerical value will be appended to the name (such as
my_label_1,my_label_2, etc.).For Do you want to merge adjacent faces?, select either Yes or No.
Note: The merging of cell zones also allows you to merge the underlying face zone(s). Zones with face labels (named selections), however, are not supported during the face merge.
To change the prefix of the names of selected cell/face zones:
Select Change Prefix as the Operation.
Use the From field to indicate the prefix that you want to change, and use the To field to indicate what you would like to change the prefix to. The task attempts to change the prefix accordingly. If the target name already exists, then a numerical value will be appended to the name (such as
my_label_1,my_label_2, etc.).
To rename selected cell/face zones:
Select Rename as the Operation.
Specify a new Name for the selected zone. The task attempts to create an appropriate name. If the target name already exists, then a numerical value will be appended to the name (such as
my_label_1,my_label_2, etc.).
To merge selected cell/face zones of bodies with multiple body labels:
Select Body Labels as the Type.
Select the body labels in the list.
Select Merge cells within each body label as the Operation.
Specify a new Name for the selected zone, or use the default name. The task attempts to create an appropriate name. If the target name already exists, then a numerical value will be appended to the name (such as
my_label_1,my_label_2, etc.).For Merge Adjacent Faces?, select either Yes or No.
Click Manage Zone to apply your changes for this task. Use the Draw Mesh button to display the surface mesh to inspect any zone changes.
If you need to make adjustments to any of your settings in this task, click Revert and Edit, make your changes and click Update, or click Cancel to cancel your changes.