What is a tool for grid generation for a shelf break
 

Hello, I am new to CFD and would like to simulate a flow on a shelf break which will employ a curvilinear grid similar to the following: http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~vskar...earch/mesh.jpg What tools can I use to generate such a mesh? Do you have any general suggestions on how to go about generating such a grid? How do you typically generate your grids? What are some of the difficulties that I might run into? Are there any papers that you recommend? Any input will be good. Thank you. PS: I heard that TFI would be a good method to generate this grid, can someone expand on that?

Hello crocomut and welcome to the world of CFD.

There are a lot of tools that can create a mesh like in your sample. I will mention our Pointwise software first, but ICEM Hexa, GridPro, Centaur, and the tools that come with OpenFOAM are just of a few of the meshers that you could use.

TFI (transfinite interpolation) is one such way to generate a grid. It's relatively easy to program and runs very fast. You just give it all the boundary points and it fills the interior.

I think the first thing you should ask is whether the flow solver you're going to use comes with its own mesher and if so, learn it.

If you want to learn to write your own structured grid generator (that makes grids like the one in your picture), the first place to look is Joe Thompson's classic book on the subject. http://www.hpc.msstate.edu/publications/gridbook/

We could spend hours talking about the challenges of grid generation.

Good luck.