Workshop 4.

3
Body Fitted Cartesian - Femur
14.5 Release

Introduction to ANSYS
ICEM CFD
© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 1 Release 14.5
 Set Working Directory
• Set working directory
– File > Change Working Dir…
– Choose Femur
– Click OK

© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 2 Release 14.5

 Import Geometry
• File -> Workbench Readers
– Select the file LeftFemur.agdb
(Design Modeler Geometry)
– Click the “Open” button
– Before importing the Geometry,
the user is presented with options
– Select on Create Subset(s) from
Named Selections
– Keep all other Workbench
defaults
– Create Subset from Named
Selection
• Named Selections can be
setup in DM, Simulation or
CAD packages such as UG
NX, ProE, or SolidWorks
• No Named Selections are
previously set in this model
– Accept the defaults and click
Apply
© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 3 Release 14.5
 Create Parts from Subsets

• The Named Selections appear as Geometry Subsets

– These can be used to control display or selection
– These can be turned into Parts
• Convert subsets to parts
– Make sure all the Subsets are active
– Right Click on “Subsets” and choose “Create Part”
– Each subset transfers to a Part

© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 4 Release 14.5

 Global Mesh Setup
• Mesh > Global Mesh Setup >
Global Mesh Size
– Set Max element = 15
– Click Apply
• Mesh > Global Mesh Setup >
Volume Meshing Parameters
– Set the Mesh Type to
“Cartesian”
– Set the Mesh Method to
“Body-Fitted”
– Keep the defaults as shown
– Refinement Type is set to
“Uniform”
– Project Inflated Faces is
Checked
– Click Apply

© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 5 Release 14.5

 Part Mesh Setup
• Set mesh sizes and inflation
• Mesh -> Part Mesh Setup
– This brings up the Part Mesh Setup dialog
• Left Click on the max size header
– This bring up a dialog in order to set one value for the entire column
– Set max size to 5
– Click Accept
• Left Click in the BONESHAFT max size field
– Change the max size of 5 to 15
• Left Click on the Prism header
– This toggles prism on/off for all parts
• Deselect Prism option for OUTLET_1_1
• Click Apply
• Click Dismiss
• The prism control is used to control
which surfaces are inflated in BFCart
– Only one layer can be inflated

© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 6 Release 14.5

 Initialize hexa blocking
• Blocking -> Create Block
– This step is optional, BFCart could create its own
cartesian input mesh
– This enables us to control the biasing with ICEM CFD
Hexa’s advanced edge parameter and splitting
functionality (discussed more in hexa section)
• Initialize Blocks
– Type should be set to 3D Bounding Box
• We just want a rectangular box to represent
cartesian space
– Click the “select geometry” icon
– Click on the “all” icon in the Select geometry toolbox
• Or use the “a” hotkey
– Click the middle mouse
button to end selection

© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 7 Release 14.5

 Split Block
• The Two primary ways to create Cartesian Stations
are splitting and Edge Params
• Blocking > Split Block
– Set the Split Method to Curve parameter
– Click on the “Select edges” icon
• Left click on one of the 4 longest edges
• It will now switch to selecting the curve, so select
any location along the curve dividing the
BALLJOINT and BONESHAFT
– Apply
– Click on the “Select edges” icon again
• Left click one of the 4 longest edges again
• Select anywhere along the curve between the
KNEEJOINT and BONESHAFT
– Apply

Split in 2 places
© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 8 Release 14.5
 Pre-Mesh Params

• Expand the Blocking Branch of the Model Tree

• Right click on Edges
– Left click on Bunching
– This will display Edge Bunching (Station Distribution)
• Blocking -> Pre-Mesh Params
– The blocking is a separate entity from the geometry
– This next step will transfer the Part Mesh Params to
the blocking).
• Update Sizes
– Update All
– Click Apply

Watch the node positions change when you apply

© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 9 Release 14.5
 Pre-Mesh Params
• Blocking -> Pre-Mesh Params -> Edge Params
• Click the “Select edges” icon and Left Click on one
of the 4 longest edges (along the shaft)
– Depending on your exact split locations, this should
show approximately 28 Nodes
– Change the Spacing 1 and Spacing 2 to “5”
• This will match the spacing at the ends
– Change the Ratio 1 and Ratio 2 to “1.2”
– Turn on Copy Parameters
– Set Copy Method to “To All Parallel Edges”
– Click Apply

Select one of these

© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 10
long edges Release 14.5
 Write Cartesian Grid
• File -> Save project As
– Save as Femur.prj
• File -> Blocking -> Write Cartesian Grid
– This converts the splits and biasing to Cartesian
Stations
– The file (Femur.crt) is saved in the project directory
• Called “blocking.crt” if no project is opened or
saved

You don’t need to view the

Cartesian mesh. But if you did,
it would look like this

© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 11 Release 14.5

 Compute Mesh
• Select Mesh > Compute Mesh > Volume Mesh
– Mesh Type is automatically set to “Cartesian” and
Mesh Method to “Body-Fitted” from global settings
– The Volume Part will be automatically created
– Set Enforce Split method as “Final”
• This is why we made the cartesian file
– Click on the File Browse icon and select the
Femure.crt file we just created
• Note: one was also included in the tutorial files
(FEMUR_Cart.crt)
– Ensure Inflate Parts is set to “Defined
• This will use the Part Mesh Params to control
the inflation
– Compute
• If you are prompted to save the tetin file, type
a name and accept it
• BFCart is a batch process that runs off the last
saved file

© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 12 Release 14.5

 Mesh
• The mesh should take about 30 seconds to generate.

Biasing toward high aspect ratio

hexas in the middle

• Note: this mesh is pure Hexa.

There is a global option for
creating pyramids which is useful
if the model has sharp features
inducing poor quality.
• Body Fitted Cartesian is best with
“biomedical models” which are all
curvy
– Hard corners cause severe
problems with BFCart if they are
not aligned along an XYZ direction
© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 13 Release 14.5
 Cutplane View
• In the model tree, Right Click on Mesh
• Select Cut Plane -> Manage Cut Plane
• Set the Method to “Middle Y Plane”
• In the Model Tree, turn on Mesh -> Volume
• Adjust the Fraction Value slider to cut thru different
parallel slices.
– Try out some other Methods
• When you find a cross section you want to “keep”
– Click Create mesh subset at bottom
– You can view these later thru the Mesh
subsets in the model tree

© 2012 ANSYS, Inc. April 1, 2013 14 Release 14.5