[ICEM] Unstructured meshing of a 3D multi element wing

rsunil · July 7, 2022, 16:33

Hello everybody,

I have been looking for solutions on generating a tetra/prism mesh of a 3D multi element wing or even multi zone meshing but I could not find ones which could solve exactly my problem.

Tetra/Prism approach

When I generate the mesh for the multi element wing using the tetra/prism approach, the overall cell quality reduces a lot after generating prism layers mainly due to the trailing edges (square blunt edges). In order to accommodate better quality cells at the trailing edge, my mesh size increases to around 20 million or more. Like Simon suggested in other posts, I tried making internal wall baffles at the trailing edges of the elements, which helps so much by reducing the cell count but still ends up with very poor quality cells (~0) at the end of the surface and the airfoil tips.

So I gave up on this approach and went for the multi zone strategy since it proved to generate high quality boundary layer meshes.

Multizone approach

For this approach I recreated my geometry to have square tip trailing edges in order to help with blocking. It was all fine when creating the 2D surface blocking. But when I apply the 2D to 3D multizone fill, it throws an error saying that it did not create volume cells. All the elements except the flap are in contact with the symmetry plane. I read in an older post that if they are not in contact with all the faces in the domain then it won't be able to create the mesh as desired.

At this stage I am not sure what to do, I would prefer to stick with any other method except for a structured mesh.

I would be very grateful for your suggestions and advice

Thank you for your time in advance

mluckyw · July 9, 2022, 09:01

From my personal experiences, I given up on doing unstructured with ICEM. I only use it if I need a structured blocking. I suggest giving ANSYS mesher or Fluent meshing a try.

Unstructured in ICEM giving me a lot of problem that occurs because of the geometry is not water tight? (I think it need to create a topology again in ICEM) even though, it is water tight if I opened it Spaceclaim.

July 7, 2022, 16:33	Unstructured meshing of a 3D multi element wing	#1
rsunil New Member Rohan Sunil Join Date: Jul 2021 Posts: 7 Rep Power: 5	Hello everybody, I have been looking for solutions on generating a tetra/prism mesh of a 3D multi element wing or even multi zone meshing but I could not find ones which could solve exactly my problem. Tetra/Prism approach When I generate the mesh for the multi element wing using the tetra/prism approach, the overall cell quality reduces a lot after generating prism layers mainly due to the trailing edges (square blunt edges). In order to accommodate better quality cells at the trailing edge, my mesh size increases to around 20 million or more. Like Simon suggested in other posts, I tried making internal wall baffles at the trailing edges of the elements, which helps so much by reducing the cell count but still ends up with very poor quality cells (~0) at the end of the surface and the airfoil tips. So I gave up on this approach and went for the multi zone strategy since it proved to generate high quality boundary layer meshes. Multizone approach For this approach I recreated my geometry to have square tip trailing edges in order to help with blocking. It was all fine when creating the 2D surface blocking. But when I apply the 2D to 3D multizone fill, it throws an error saying that it did not create volume cells. All the elements except the flap are in contact with the symmetry plane. I read in an older post that if they are not in contact with all the faces in the domain then it won't be able to create the mesh as desired. At this stage I am not sure what to do, I would prefer to stick with any other method except for a structured mesh. I would be very grateful for your suggestions and advice Thank you for your time in advance

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July 9, 2022, 09:01		#2
mluckyw Member Chrowale Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: Bandung, Indonesia Posts: 63 Rep Power: 5	From my personal experiences, I given up on doing unstructured with ICEM. I only use it if I need a structured blocking. I suggest giving ANSYS mesher or Fluent meshing a try. Unstructured in ICEM giving me a lot of problem that occurs because of the geometry is not water tight? (I think it need to create a topology again in ICEM) even though, it is water tight if I opened it Spaceclaim.