Can anyone help?

I am trying to generate a 3-d structured mesh using Gambit. The objective is to model multiphase flow in a 3-d pipe in Fluent4.5. I've tried: (1) Generating a mapped volume mesh in Gambit (not suitable for Fluent4.5) (2) Decomposing the geometry into two half cylinders and joining the meshed volumes (3) Extruding a face mesh to create a volume. None of these have worked because rotationally cyclic 3D geometries need (a) Z-axis as the centreline (b) a finite Inner Radius (which eliminates the possible use of a symmetry boundary for a half cylinder)

Can anyone help recommend a way of generating a 3-d cylindrical structured mesh for a simple pipe geometry to be used in Fluent4.5? Thanks.

Elvin.

(1). I am not using the code. But I think you can first generate a 2-D structured mesh and rotate it along the axis to generate a 3-D structured mesh. (2). Similar to the cylindrical coordinates system. First, in the z-r plane, you create a long rectangular domain and generate a structured mesh. Then, define the axis, and rotate the domain and the mesh to create the 3-D structured mesh for the pipe.

Hi,

I assume from your email address that you are from a university ? If so then for a discounted rate (800GBP) you could purchase a new mesh generation tool. If you have a regular requirement for fully structured meshes then investing in ICEM CFD (www.icemcfd.com) could save you a lot of time in the long term. You could then also use your mesh with any of the 100 supported solver formats.

I hope this helps and good luck

regards

David

The best structured mesh for such a domain would be an O -type mesh. You can create such a mesh in Gambit with few steps : 1) Divide the cylindericl volume in four volumes using a brick, 2) ensure that two of the volumes are "disconnected" at one interface 3) mesh each volume with wedge/hex elements.

Please see the "FAQ" available through online help of Gambit, for more details along with a sample journal file.

Dear Elvin

I think that you can acheive your purpose by using following commands, by 'text user interface' of Fluent 4.x.

S1(setup 1) --> MG(Manipulate Grid) -> 3D-from-2D

S1 --> MG --> SWAP IJK (if necessary)

S1 --> MG --> SWAP XYZ (if necessary)

Sincerely, Jinwook