Module 3

Mesh Generation

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 Lecture 3.1
Introduction

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 Mesh Generation Strategy
• Mesh generation is an important pre-processing step in CFD of
turbomachinery, quite analogous to the development of solid
modeling that has been discussed in the earlier module for
building the physical model of the computational domain.

• Two contrasting methodologies are developed for mesh

generation: one, the multi-block structured mesh and the other,
fully unstructured mesh using tetrahedra, hexahedra, prisms and
pyramids.

• The former method of structured mesh generation produces the

highest quality meshes from the point of view of solver accuracy
but does not scale well on PC clusters.

• By contrast, fully unstructured meshes are fast to generate and

automate the scale well on clusters, but do not allow solvers to
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deliver their highest quality solutions.
• Further, numerical tolerancing issues arise within the CAD
system and are often exacerbated while imported from the
modeler to the mesh generating tool. In the process, due to
greatly differing scales within the geometry and lack of
numerical compatibility between various geometrical
representations, the model looses “water-tightness” and
necessitates substantial “cleaning”.

• The CSG and BREP paradigms discussed in the previous

module are also applicable while developing mesh generation
algorithms and provide the required water-tightness to the
geometry.

• Most CFD analysis codes, whether commercially available or

developed in-house, follow the same (BREP) paradigm.
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• In order to solve the differential equations numerically, the
continuous physical domain needs to be identified with a large
set of discrete locations called nodes.

• The number of these discrete data points should be so large that

the characteristic variations in the flow properties, determined
after solving the differential equations by the numerical method,
should be as close to the “exact solution” or “bench-mark
solution” as possible.

• A method should be developed to mark the nodes in a fashion

that is demanded by the numerical method that is to be used for
solving the differential equation.

• The popular mesh generation methods are: structured,

unstructured and hybrid.
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 Structured Mesh Generation
• For the implementation of numerical methods such as the finite
difference, each node in the computational domain must have
easily identifiable neighboring nodes. A grid or mesh that
satisfies this demand is the structured mesh.

• Implementation of numerical methods on structured meshes

using Cartesian or cylindrical polar grid system is possible only
for simple rectangular or axi-symmetric geometries.

• In general, the generation of structured mesh for a complex flow

domain involves automatic discretization methodology with
boundary fitting coordinates and with coordinate transformations
as discussed.

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• The basic steps in the methods of generating structured meshes
for complex geometries are:

– mapping of the complex physical domain on to a simple

computational domain;

– usage of body fitting coordinates

– transformation of lengths, areas, volumes and all vector

quantities(e.g. velocity).

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• The mapping transformations should preferably be

– smooth

– conformal and

– controlled for grid spacing.

• Iso-parametric mapping of sub-domains enables creation of

multi-block structured grids. The sequence of mapping
determines whether the final mesh is a pseudo rectangular, O-
type, C-type or H-type.

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• Figure 3.1.1. demonstrates the method of generating the pseudo
rectangular mesh for a physical region ABCD, bounded by lines
x = 0.5 and y = √(1-x2).

• The co-ordinates ξ and η are body conforming.

FIG. 3.1.1 Pseudo rectangular mesh 9

• Using the transformation,
y
 and   x  0.5
(1  x 2 )
the domain ABCD in x-y plane (3.1.1 (a)) is mapped on to ξ-η
plane as a unit square. Note that this transformation is not unique
and we may have used suitable alternative transformations as
well.

• The grid formed by the intersection of ξ = constant and

η=constant lines in the physical domain shows the body
conforming nature of these coordinates (Fig. 3.1.1 (b)).

• As we noticed in Lecture 1.2 (refer Fig. 1.2.5), the

turbomachinery flow geometries are multiply connected
domains, for which three basic grid configurations: O-type, C-
type and H-type are widely used. For a given geometry, any
one of these configurations can be obtained by suitable mapping.
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• Consider the multiply connected domain shown in Fig. 3.1.2.
For the same geometry, different grid configurations (O, C or H)
are generated by adopting slightly different methodologies. This
is described in the following.
• O-type Meshing
 Introduce a branch cut and identify points (A,B,C,D) on
either side of the branch cut as shown in Fig. 3.1.2 (a). Then,
by mapping AB on A’B’, BC onto B’C’, CD on to C’D’ and
DA onto D’A’, O-type grid is obtained.
 The object boundary (AB ) and the external boundary (CD)
become opposite sides of the transformed domain. The two
sides of the branch-cut (BC and AD) are also mapped onto
two opposite sides of the rectangular domain. Now, a grid
constructed by ξ = constant and η=constant lines in the
physical domain is O-type, as shown in Fig. 3.1.2(c).
 The O-type meshes generated by this method for NACA
airfoil and a turbomachinery blade are given in Figs. 3.1.3
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and 3.1.4 respectively.
 (a) (b)

Fig. 3.1.2 O-type Grid Generation, (a) basic branch-cut scheme, (b) Cartesian
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grid in ξ-η plane (c) O-grid in the physical plane
• An O-type mesh for symmetric NACA aerofoil is shown in Fig.
3.1.3.

Fig. 3.1.3 O-type mesh for symmetric NACA aerofoil

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Fig. 3.1.4: O type mesh for a turbomachinery blade
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• C-type Meshing
 For C-type meshing of the same multiply connected domain,
a branch-cut, as shown in Fig. 3.1.5 (a) is introduced and two
points A and B are identified where the branch-cut meets the
outer boundary. Points C and D are suitably selected on the
external boundary and mapping is carried out with AB onto
A’B’, BC onto B’C’, CD onto C’D’ and DA onto D’A’.
 Note that the forward sweep of the branch-cut (AP), the
object surface (PQ) and the reverse sweep of the branch-cut
(QB) comprise one side A’B’ of the transformed region. The
object surface is mapped onto the patch P’Q’ on this side. It
can be seen that in this transformation, the η-constant lines in
the interior envelop the object and the branch-cut, thus
forming a C-type configuration.
 Figure 3.1.6 shows a C-type mesh for a turbomachinery
blade. 15
Fig. 3.1.5 C-type Mesh Generation, (a) basic branch-cut scheme, (b) Cartesian
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grid in ξ-η plane (c) C-grid in the physical plane
Fig. 3.1.6: C-type mesh for turbomachinery blade
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• H-type Meshing
 For H-type configuration, two branch-cuts are introduced on
either side of the object and the upper and lower portions
(ABCD and EFGH) are separately mapped onto A’B’C’D’ and
E’F’G’H’ in the proper sequence (Fig. 3.1.7). Here, the object
reduces to a line P’Q’ in the middle of the transformed
domain.
 It is evident form the examples that by choosing the mapping
configuration, different types of grids can be generated for the
same geometry. The appropriate choice depends on the nature
of the problem to be solved. For complex domains with many
objects, it may be necessary to map different regions
separately, using local transformations. A variety of grid
layouts such as the overlaid grids and embedded grids can be
achieved through such procedures (Fig. 3.1.7).
 Figure 3.1.8 shows a H-type mesh for a turbomachinery
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blade.
Fig. 3.1.7 H-type Mesh Generation, (a) basic branch-cut scheme, (b) Cartesian
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grid in ξ-η plane (c) H-grid in the physical plane
Fig. 3.1.8: H type mesh for turbomachinery blade
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 Summary of Lecture 3.1

Mesh generation strategies for structured mesh are discussed.

The methods for different types of meshes such as O, C and H
type grids are presented.

END OF LECTURE 3.1

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