[Commercial meshers] Best Mesh Tool

TommyM · October 15, 2019, 13:35

Hi All,
I am new in OpenFOAM and I was asked to create the mesh of a converging-diverging nozzle.
I tried with blockMesh but I found it difficult in creating curved surfaces.
I know that other tools exist, like Gmsh, Salome, SnappyHexMesh, and so on, but I don't know which is the best mesh tool for my problem.
Do you have any advice, please?
Thanks!

TommyM

Krao · October 16, 2019, 04:13

Hi Tommy,

you can go through these tutorials for blockmesh http://www.wolfdynamics.com/wiki/mes..._blockmesh.pdf.

I would also suggest you to have a look into cfMesh, during my early days I found cfMesh was little straight forward and easy to learn compared to snappyHexMesh. Both are great tools!

K. Rao

Carlo_P · October 16, 2019, 04:37

I think that with snappy would be very easy if you have the .stl file.
You can use every standard setup.

TommyM · October 16, 2019, 06:19

Hi Carlo,
I would like to use snappyHexMesh, but I'm not able to generate the .stl file properly from the CAD file. I generate my geometry with SolidWorks but I can't define the patches (like inlet, outlet, walls) in the file, which are necessary in snappy.
How can I do this?
Thanks for your reply.

TommyM · October 16, 2019, 06:35

Hi Krao,
I have some basic knowledge about snappyHexMesh because I used it for a university class, where the professor gave me the .stl file.
Unfortunately, now I don't have the .stl file and I have to generate it.
Anyway, if I fail with snappy, I will try with cfMesh.
Thanks for your reply.

Carlo_P · October 16, 2019, 08:31

Hey, in every mesher you have to define the patches.
One solution is to divide in the CAD the surfaces, creting different stl files and using surfaceToPatch after you do the mesh:

https://www.openfoam.com/documentati...ceToPatch.html

or otherwise, you can use surfaceSplitByAngle. It split by a particolar angle the surface. In this way you can have your patch splitted.
I think you have to perform this before meshing.
Try..

Carlo_P · October 16, 2019, 08:50

If you want, you can also try this softwware Helyx-Os, that provide a GUI for openFOAM and snappy.
It would be easier to mesh there.

TommyM · October 17, 2019, 14:13

I succeeded in creating .stl file from GMSH but then I used snappy for the mesh. It sounds strange, but I'm not able to properly "control" the mesh generation in GMSH (using GUI).
Again, thank you all for your help!

October 15, 2019, 13:35	Best Mesh Tool	#1
TommyM Member Tommaso M. Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: Milan, Italy Posts: 67 Rep Power: 7	Hi All, I am new in OpenFOAM and I was asked to create the mesh of a converging-diverging nozzle. I tried with blockMesh but I found it difficult in creating curved surfaces. I know that other tools exist, like Gmsh, Salome, SnappyHexMesh, and so on, but I don't know which is the best mesh tool for my problem. Do you have any advice, please? Thanks! TommyM

October 16, 2019, 04:13		#2
Krao Senior Member Kmeti Rao Join Date: May 2019 Posts: 145 Rep Power: 8	Hi Tommy, you can go through these tutorials for blockmesh http://www.wolfdynamics.com/wiki/mes..._blockmesh.pdf. I would also suggest you to have a look into cfMesh, during my early days I found cfMesh was little straight forward and easy to learn compared to snappyHexMesh. Both are great tools! K. Rao TommyM likes this.

October 16, 2019, 04:37		#3
Carlo_P Senior Member Carlo_P Join Date: May 2019 Location: Italy Posts: 176 Rep Power: 8	I think that with snappy would be very easy if you have the .stl file. You can use every standard setup. TommyM likes this.

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October 16, 2019, 06:19		#4
TommyM Member Tommaso M. Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: Milan, Italy Posts: 67 Rep Power: 7	Hi Carlo, I would like to use snappyHexMesh, but I'm not able to generate the .stl file properly from the CAD file. I generate my geometry with SolidWorks but I can't define the patches (like inlet, outlet, walls) in the file, which are necessary in snappy. How can I do this? Thanks for your reply.

October 16, 2019, 06:35		#5
TommyM Member Tommaso M. Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: Milan, Italy Posts: 67 Rep Power: 7	Hi Krao, I have some basic knowledge about snappyHexMesh because I used it for a university class, where the professor gave me the .stl file. Unfortunately, now I don't have the .stl file and I have to generate it. Anyway, if I fail with snappy, I will try with cfMesh. Thanks for your reply.

October 16, 2019, 08:31		#6
Carlo_P Senior Member Carlo_P Join Date: May 2019 Location: Italy Posts: 176 Rep Power: 8	Hey, in every mesher you have to define the patches. One solution is to divide in the CAD the surfaces, creting different stl files and using surfaceToPatch after you do the mesh: https://www.openfoam.com/documentati...ceToPatch.html or otherwise, you can use surfaceSplitByAngle. It split by a particolar angle the surface. In this way you can have your patch splitted. I think you have to perform this before meshing. Try..

October 16, 2019, 08:50		#7
Carlo_P Senior Member Carlo_P Join Date: May 2019 Location: Italy Posts: 176 Rep Power: 8	If you want, you can also try this softwware Helyx-Os, that provide a GUI for openFOAM and snappy. It would be easier to mesh there.

October 17, 2019, 14:13		#8
TommyM Member Tommaso M. Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: Milan, Italy Posts: 67 Rep Power: 7	I succeeded in creating .stl file from GMSH but then I used snappy for the mesh. It sounds strange, but I'm not able to properly "control" the mesh generation in GMSH (using GUI). Again, thank you all for your help!