ANSYS ICEM-CFD

Used for engineering applications such as computational fluid dynamics and structural analysis, ANSYS ICEM CFD’s mesh generation tools offer the capability to parametrically create grids from geometry in multi-block structured, unstructured hexahedral, tetrahedral, hybrid grids consisting of hexahedral, tetrahedral, pyramidal and prismatic cells; and Cartesian grid formats combined with boundary conditions.

• Mesh from dirty CAD and/or faceted geometry (STL, etc.)
• Efficiently mesh large complex models
• Hexa mesh (structured or unstructured) with advanced control
• Extended mesh diagnostics and advanced interactive mesh editing
• Output to a wide variety of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA) solvers and neutral formats

Various Mesh Types Generated by ANSYS ICEM-CFD

• Intuitive built-in geometry creation and highly automated functionality for the modification and repair of imported CAD data
• Ability to work with both NURBs and faceted geometry types like STL or existing meshes
• Robust tools for creating all mesh types: hexahedral, tetrahedral, prism, pyramid, quad, tri or bar elements
• Highly tolerant of imperfect/overdetailed CAD data containing sliver surfaces, gaps, holes and overlaps (Patch Independence)
• Smoothing, coarsening, refinement, element type conversion, linear or quadratic element support
• More than 100 CFD/CAE solver interface formats
• File based transfer of CFD and structural results for fluid-structure interaction simulations
• Automated batch processing through an intuitive scripting framework

ANSYS ICEM CFD User Interface

A key component of increased productivity with ANSYS ICEM CFD meshing software is it industry leading CAD and Geometry support. ICEM CFD supports a wide range of direct CAD interfaces, geometry readers, faceted geometry readers and mesh import. Components from different formats can easily be combined within one meshing session.

Presently available for all major CAD environments, our industry-unique Direct CAD Interfaces allow boundary conditions and mesh parameters to be applied within the CAD system and carried all the way through to the solver. Parametric modeling is simplified as this information is preserved with the original CAD model, even throughout design modifications. These interfaces also enable the CAD model to be transferred directly into ANSYS ICEM CFD software, avoiding the cleanup often required with third-party formats such as STEP, IGES or STL.

ICEM CFD can also read and repair 3rd party CAD such as STEP, IGES, ACIS, Parasolid, DWG/DXF, IDI, and GEMS. Other users take advantage of the ability to import and repair many forms of Faceted data (STL, VRML, etc) and Formatted point clouds. There are also options to import mesh and convert the surface mesh to faceted geometry, including feature capture, etc.

However, flexible parametric CAD geometry and faceted geometry support, combined with geometry-tolerant patch independent meshers, can reduce or eliminate the need for CAD repair or NURBS surfacing of faceted geometries.

A variety of flexible mesh generation tools within ANSYS ICEM CFD offers the capability to parametrically create volume or surface meshes from geometry or mesh in multiblock structured, unstructured hexahedral, Cartesian, tetrahedral prism, hexa hybrid and unstructured quad/tri shell formats.

ANSYS ICEM CFD includes surface-patch independent mesh methods for generating shell, tetrahedral or hexahedral meshes. Patch independence allows the user to selectively capture important geometric features, yet ignore flaws such as slivers or gaps. These meshers can walk over significant defects in the geometry without requiring it to be repaired.

ANSYS ICEM CFD Hexa uses a primarily top-down blocking approach to efficiently hex mesh complex models without the need to subdivide the geometry. ANSYS ICEM CFD Hexa offers interactive and automated tools that provide a high degree of quality and control for hex meshing. The blocking is scriptable and parametric and can be associated with topologically similar geometries, saving work on successive models and empowering simulation to lead design.

ANSYS ICEM CFD meshing software includes industry-leading mesh diagnostic and repair capabilities. In addition to comprehensive mesh checks, it includes a wide variety of quality metrics and other tools for mesh diagnosis and repair. Interactive mesh editing functions allow for precise control of node location, splitting of edges, creation of elements and much more. Automatic operations include smoothing, coarsening/refining, remeshing and merging hexa and tetra meshes. All of the mesh editing functions respect the geometry features, maintaining geometric integrity.

ANSYS ICEM CFD offers output interfaces to over 100 different CAE formats, including support for all of the major CFD solvers, neutral formats such as CGNS, and FEA solvers such as ANSYS, ANSYS LS-DYNA, ABAQUS and NASTRAN.