[mchith]

hey everyone, I was wondering if Introduction to ANSYS ICEM CFD Online Course, is any good or useful for beginners? Is it worth the $900?

Thank you

[PSYMN]

This depends on what your time is worth and how long you think it would take to learn ICEM CFD on your own.

Certainly, taking the course will get you going much faster (save you time). It will also save you a lot of stress that you would have had while trying to learn a tool like ICEM CFD on your own. Beyond the tutorials, you will get a lot more background about how certain meshers work and tips for the best ways to setup a model.

If you are a commercial user, your cost to the company probably far exceeds the cost of software, training, etc. Paying to get thru training more quickly, and back to production, is probably a good business decision (well worth it), especially if you are new to the tool.

I taught many ICEM CFD courses (years ago) and a bigger concern was always the time lost from productive work... We usually made up for that with the instructor guided help on the students own models. Many times, I heard students say that not only did they get in their training, they got their meshing work done for the week as well and still had a day or two to spare.

One of the main benefits of the class room training that I used to give was that students were away from their meetings, emails and phones and could actually focus on something for a few days... This new web based training doesn't actually remove the student from their production environment, so I hope the students can still find the time to focus.

[Matthew Middleton]

The course is designed as introductory, so it is especially useful for beginners, if using a general and powerful grid generator is what you are looking for. I am one of the instructors that may teach it. The online course is probably not as easy to access the instructor as an in-person class, but its pretty effective. You can share your desktop for any questions you have, that the instructor might need to see or show you how it's done, or just ask a question at any time. You will get extra information, with probably a leaning toward what is practically done by the instructor.

The question of whether it is worth it is a personal one.
If you don't use it after learning it, and you forget it quick, then it wouldn't be worth it. You could learn the material on your own for free if you'd like. You can download the training that is covered during the class from the customer portal (https://www1.ansys.com/customer) and learn it yourself, but you'll get more information and be able to ask questions in a class. A useful thing in class is that you can bring questions and get directions for your own model. A student on a very restricted budget might not consider the class worth it, and he/she might prefer to go through the training material on his/her own.
The class, online or in person, will get you into and using ICEM MCFD the quickest. Certainly, if it helps you on your job in time or quality of work, it's worth it.

[mchith]

Thanks a lot for the advice sounds reasonable! I would love to do the course however I think $900 is above my budget. I am a Masters student and my Dissertation is on open channel flow modelling, and i only have 11 weeks to learn how to model, model and give in my Dissertation. so I am trying to get my hands on anything that would help me learn in the shortest time possible.
Thank you again for your replies !

[user_of_cfx]

I learned how to mesh using ICEM with only the built-in tutorials to guide me. I had already used CFX before, but never for meshing, so I was familiar with some concepts such as y+, prisms layers etc but I was pretty much a novice).

I found them more effective in the description of hexa mesh than that of tetra mesh.

For a geometry as simple as an open channel (which I am guessing is a nice symmetric geometrical shape?) and for a Master's degree (for which you have already paid tuition fees as well right?) a $900 course sounds like a bit much.

Isn't there a post-doc or a PhD student to guide you in your first attempts at a mesh and give you some advice on the tricks you can use to make your mesh better?

[mchith]

Unfortunately I don't know any PhD students who could help me out. what I an trying to accomplish is a 3D model of an open channel with different arrangements of cylinders and the affect they have on the flow (clustered, spread out different numbers..possibly different dimensions) I might add other objects in flow paths, so it is purely modeling i wouldn't be looking at any specific open channel. At first i was going to do it with real vegetation and try to model them, however I thought that would be too difficult for me so I came up with this instead. I will also be looking at how to compensate for the lack of representation of vegetation in models.

seems like i wrote a lot.
Thank you guys.

[user_of_cfx]

I'm surprised you don't have guidelines for such basic things for your project :S

Anyway, I suggest you try the tutorials and learn tetrahedral meshing which can be learned faster I think. As for making up for the vegetation, perhaps adding some smaller horizontal cylinders on the vertical ones at different heights could be a better representation of branches?

Good luck with your work.