In a coupled analysis performed in one of System Coupling's user interfaces, data are transferred between the two sides of a given coupling interface.
- Coupling Interfaces
A coupling interface defines two sets of regions, each set belonging to one participant, between which data can be transferred during the coupled analysis. A single coupling interface encompasses all transfers in either direction between a given set of regions on the two sides of the interface.
Interfaces support two-way data transfers, so a given participant can be both a source and a target in the same interface. Because of this, both the interface sides and their associated participants and regions are referred to as "side one" and "side two," instead of "source" and "target."
For more information, see Rules for Adding Coupling Interfaces.
- Data Transfers
A data transfer is the transfer of a single quantity type in one direction between the two sides of the interface.
Because data transfers go in only one direction, associated participants and regions may still be referred to as "source" and "target" when discussed in relation to a data transfer.
For more information, see Rules for Adding Data Transfers.
For more information on supported data transfers, see Participant Variables and Quantity Types Supported by System Coupling.
When you add a coupling interface in one of System Coupling's user interfaces, the following rules apply:
Interfaces are given default names according to the convention Interface-<
#>, where "#" indicates the order in which the interfaces were created. For example, if three interfaces are created for an analysis, they are named Interface-1, Interface-2, and Interface-3.Interface names must be unique within an analysis.
An interface encompasses all data transfers between sets of regions on side One and side Two of the interface.
Each side of an interface must be associated with a unique participant and a unique set of regions. The same participant cannot serve as both side One and side Two of the same interface, and only one interface can have a given combination of side One and side Two regions.
Each interface side can have regions of only a single topology.
An interface can be created between participant regions with different topologies (for example, planar surface and volume).
For data transfers between like topologies, both sides of the resulting interface must have regions of the same topology. For example, if side One of the interface has surface regions, then side Two of the interface must also have surface regions.
For data transfers between unlike topologies, each side of the resulting interface can have regions of a different topology. For example, side One can have volume regions and side Two can have planar surface regions.
Whether a coupling interface can comprise single or multiple source regions depends on participant support of multi-region interfaces.
Generally, an interface can include only a single source region and a single target region.
The exception is when the interface has a side associated with a Fluent and/or a Maxwell participant. These participants support multiple regions on both source and target locations.
For optimal mapping on an interface between regions of different topologies, the geometries must be aligned. See Defining Geometry Transformations for Models with Different Orientations.
An interface must have at least one valid data transfer. See Rules for Adding Data Transfers and System Coupling Data Transfers.
In a single interface, there can be multiple data transfers of different quantities in both directions.
When you add a data transfer in one of System Coupling's user interfaces, the following rules apply:
Data transfer objects are assigned default names according to the convention <
TargetVariableDisplayName>-<#>, where "<TargetVariableDisplayName>" is the target participant's internal name for the target variable and "#" indicates the order in which the data transfers with the same target variable are created on the interface.Data transfer names must be unique per coupling interface. For example, if three temperature data transfers with the same target participant are created on three different interfaces, they will be created with the same name. They must be in ASCII format and cannot include forward slashes (/).
Whether a single target region can receive send/data from multiple source regions on an interface depends on the source participant's support of multi-region coupling interfaces. Currently, only Fluent and Maxwell support multiple regions on both source and target locations.
For data transfer creation details that are generally applicable to all System Coupling contexts, see Rules for the Creation of Data Transfers.