How to define patches in .stl file
 

Hello all,

I have decided to try out cfMesh but I am having some trouble defining my geometry. When I create the stl file I need in solidworks it only has one patch defined in it.

In all of the cfMesh tutorials they have different patches defined within the stl file. Does anybody know how this is achieved? I can't seem to figure out a straight forward way.

For example the elbow_90degree tutorial. The patches are defined in the stl file.

Is there another way to create patches for cfMesh?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

schuyler

Isn't it funny how you can solve your own problem just by putting it into words for others?

Here are some notes that I found:

-When you run cartesianMesh on a .ftr file it outputs the surfaces it used as patches.
-When you run cartesianMesh on a .fms file it does not
-HOWEVER, if you run the openFoam utility autoPatch it generates the patches for you.

My main concern was with adding boundary layers. How could I select the patches for layering if there were no patches until AFTER you run the mesher? Well, the answer is easy actually. You just run the generateLayers utility after the mesh has been created and you run autopatch.

Maybe my experience will be helpful to someone?

Schuyler

Dear schuyler,
at the following link you can find more information regarding this topic http://sourceforge.net/projects/open...W09_P_0048.pdf

Kind regards, Franjo