Star-CCM vs Fluent Mesh Wrapping Capabilities
 

Hey guys,

Sorry for yet another comparison thread but my company is getting ready to decide on purchasing either Star-CCM or Fluent for our CFD needs. We've been evaluating both quite extensively but have yet to be able to exercise the each code's capability of meshing complex geometries.

So I was wondering if anyone has any deep understanding and knowledge of each tools surface wrapping capabilities. The Star-CCM guys claim they have an edge over Fluent in terms of generating meshes around or inside complex CAD surface models. Fluent also mentioned their tool called "Space Claim" that is supposed to be pretty awesome.

So I was hoping to receive feedback about these features and whether anybody has any recommendations.

Thanks in advance,

Jonathan

How complex are the models you will use this feature for?

We routinely use STAR-CCM+ surface wrapping tools to perform thermal flow simulations of vehicle underhood compartments. The starting surface for these simulation consists an entire vehicle (thousands of individual components, millions of triangles) which are in no way connected or imprinted. From there, leaks into the vehicle interior are sealed and the surface wrapper is used to extract the closed volume of fluid from inside and outside the vehicle (one big volume). This surface is subsequently remeshed and a trimmed mesh is built to represent the fluid domain.

The tool is very versatile and powerful but like any tool, requires some experience to use effectively.

Sorry, but I don't know enough about the Fluent tool to comment on it.