With beta-features enabled (as described in Introduction), additional Slot options are available for Hole Shape on the Virtual Hole Geometry form. All of these options are aimed for use with rotating machinery-type models, and require an axis to be set on the parent cell zone. The intersection of these slot shapes to create the Boundary Interface is performed in a cylindrical frame, and so the underlying boundary is assumed to be a surface of revolution.
Axisymmetric Slot
The Axisymmetric Slot is a general option that creates rectangular slot holes, with centre locations defined from the input profile, and a defined Width and Pitch. These can be constant, or slot-specific. The pitch is measured about the zone axis, and the width is tangential to the boundary. The specified Hole Direction is used to define the orientation of each slot, based on the relationship between that and the boundary normal at the slot centre.
Cylindrical Slot
The Cylindrical Slot option creates a polyline of rectangular line segments, based on the connectivity specified in the input profile. Currently, only the [Faces] section is supported for CSV connectivity, and this Slot option infers the point connectivity from this with each 'face' entry representing a single polyline. Each line segment runs between the point coordinates references by the connectivity, and so no Hole Direction is defined.
However, a Width is required and this can be constant or segment-specific derived from the input profile (it is the average of the width specified for the points at each end of the segment). It is measured tangential to the surface. In addition, if a non-constant Temperature is specified for this Slot and refers to point values in the input profile, a linear variation in Temperature is applied to each segment based on the values of the points at each end of the segment.
Ring Slot
The Ring Slot is a special case of the Axisymmetric Slot where each slot hole is always oriented circumferentially about the defined axis, orthogonal to it. Because of this, no Hole Direction is defined. Also, the slot will always run from one rotationally periodic boundary to the other (if periodicity is defined), implying that the ring covers the full 360 degrees.
In addition, the location of the ring is derived only from the axial position of the input hole coordinates, and the specified slot width is measured in the axial direction, not tangential to the surface.