How to Patch by Zone to Initialize Complex VOF Geometry
 

Hello,

I am running a VOF model of a wastewater pump station where pumps and their respective piping need priming by initializing with water. I am familiar with Region Adaption for simple geometries, and I am sure, as with most things, that a UDF could also be employed, but it seems most practical to patch by zone, having separated the regions of interest into a separate zone when creating the geometry. The new zone appears under Solution Initialization>Patch>Zones to Patch, and upon patching it I receive expected text in the console window, however there is no patched phase when I view a contour plot.

I have already checked for common blunders, such as remembering to set water for secondary phase, and also created a simplified case to test patching by zone, but I get the same result, or lack thereof. I realize I could get away with a number of "cheater" approaches with Region Adaption, as any excess region patched would just drain down to the floor, and any missed region would result in an air bubble that would get pumped out of the system, both with negligible effect on the result I'm after, but I'd like to know how to patch by zone on principle of the matter, and to add something new to my CFD toolbox. Any insight is appreciated.

Attached is a screencap of the geometry with the zone to patch highlighted in orange.

Thanks,
Alan

Hello,

Do you specify the right water volume fraction (1 in your case) when you patch the zone ? Simple question maybe but it happens sometimes to forget about it ...

Good luck

Annan,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have set the volume fraction to 1. As far as I can tell, I have done everything the same as with the Adapt>Region approach, which leads me to believe there is something I don't understand about how cell zones work. Reading the User's Guide again to see if there is something I missed.

Thanks again,
Alan