UDF for Mapping 3D Experimental Data (Heat Generation) to Mesh

jbo214 · May 11, 2017, 12:00

I have used an in house tool to calculate the volumetric heat generation for our problem domain and then exported that data to a CSV file. I would like to be able to import that data and map it to my Fluent mesh to be used as the volumetric heat generation term, however neither Ansys or Fluent have a built in tool to import and map field data like this.

For a regular structural/thermal problem we could use the 'External Data' module, but (to my knowledge) that doesn't work with Fluent to bring in data. Since I want to map the heat gen rate to the volume and not just a boundary, using the 'profile' function will not work either.

The data is not amenable to a curve fit, so using an analytic expression with DEFINE_SOURCE will not work.

My last idea is to use a UDF (DEFINE_SOURCE) to read in the data, interpolate, and then map it to the mesh. Any ideas on how to implement/get started?

jbo214 · May 15, 2017, 16:47

You can now define (version 16+, I think) a profile for a cell zone and not just at the boundary, so for anyone that finds this that is also an option.

May 11, 2017, 12:00	UDF for Mapping 3D Experimental Data (Heat Generation) to Mesh	#1
jbo214 Member Joshua Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 49 Rep Power: 12	I have used an in house tool to calculate the volumetric heat generation for our problem domain and then exported that data to a CSV file. I would like to be able to import that data and map it to my Fluent mesh to be used as the volumetric heat generation term, however neither Ansys or Fluent have a built in tool to import and map field data like this. For a regular structural/thermal problem we could use the 'External Data' module, but (to my knowledge) that doesn't work with Fluent to bring in data. Since I want to map the heat gen rate to the volume and not just a boundary, using the 'profile' function will not work either. The data is not amenable to a curve fit, so using an analytic expression with DEFINE_SOURCE will not work. My last idea is to use a UDF (DEFINE_SOURCE) to read in the data, interpolate, and then map it to the mesh. Any ideas on how to implement/get started?

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May 15, 2017, 16:47		#2
jbo214 Member Joshua Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 49 Rep Power: 12	You can now define (version 16+, I think) a profile for a cell zone and not just at the boundary, so for anyone that finds this that is also an option.