Workshop 7b:

Automotive External Aero

16.0 Release

Introduction
IntroductiontotoANSYS
ANSYSMeshing
Meshing
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 Introduction
Background
• This workshop will demonstrate the practical application
of ANSYS Meshing to an automotive external aero model.

Objectives
• Generating a Tetrahedral Patch Conforming mesh
• Local Mesh Controls
– Body of Influence
– Inflation
• Using Advanced Size Functions
• Named Selections
• Virtual Topology

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 Project Startup
Create the Project
• Start Workbench.
– Start  All Programs  ANSYS 16.0  Workbench 16.0

• If have access to DesignModeler, follow the

instructions below.
– This workshop uses the geometry created in workshop
5b of the DesignModeler course. Open your saved
project (DMWS7b) and drag and drop a Meshing
component system onto the Geometry Cell (A2) as
shown. If you did not complete this DM workshop, a
copy is provided in the Meshing workshop input files
(WS7b) folder.

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 Project Startup
Create the Project
• If you do not have access to DesignModeler follow
these instructions
• Drag and drop a Mesh component system into the
Project Schematic .
• Right click on the Geometry cell (A2) and select
Import Geometry  Browse.
• Locate the file “auto-aero.stp” in the Meshing
Workshops Input Files folder and select it. The
geometry cell will show a check mark indicating it is
up to date.

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 Project Startup
Starting Meshing
• On the Mesh cell right click and select Edit
– Double clicking on the Mesh cell can also startup Meshing
• ANSYS Meshing will start up and load the geometry

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 Units
Set Units
• From the main menu select Units and, if it is not already set, specify
Metric (m...).

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 Geometry
View the Geometry
• Expand the Geometry Object in the Outline and select both
bodies (CTRL click to multiple select).
• In the Details View, under Graphics Properties set
Transparency to 0.1.

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 Geometry
View the Geometry
• The smaller box will be used later in the workshop. For
now we will suppress it.
• Right click on the second of the two bodies listed under
Geometry in the Outline and select Suppress Body from
the Context Menu.

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 Preparation
Planning
• This geometry contains a symmetric model of a car
incorporating aerodynamic rear wing elements. The mesh is
intended to be used in an external aerodynamic analysis.
• The car body is complex with curved surfaces and some narrow
gaps. The Tetrahedrons Method combined with Advanced Size
Functions to capture curvature and proximity would therefore
be a good candidate. Since the geometry is clean the Patch
Conforming Algorithm will be used.
• Inflation will also be used on the car and ground surfaces to
capture boundary layer gradients.

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 Global Mesh Controls
Mesh
• In the Outline, select the Mesh object to display Details of
“Mesh”.

• In Details of “Mesh”, set the following under Defaults;

– Physics Preference: CFD.
– Solver Preference: FLUENT.
• Under Sizing, set;
– Use Advanced Size Function: On: Proximity and Curvature.

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 Preview
Preview Surface Mesh
• Before generating a volume mesh
we should check that the surface
mesh is satisfactory.

• In the Outline, right click on the

Mesh object and select Preview 
Surface Mesh.

• A mesh will be generated on all

surfaces using the global controls
applied so far.

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 Section Plane
Preview Surface Mesh (Continued) • Select the Section Plane Tool.
• Right click in the graphics window and
select View  Left. • Create a Section Plane by clicking,
dragging and releasing as shown vertically
down through the mesh.

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 Review
Review the Surface Mesh
• Right click in the Graphics Window and select View 
Front.
• Zoom in as shown using the Box Zoom Tool.

• The surface mesh has been refined automatically for

curvature (car body, wheels, rear wing elements) and
proximity (wheel arches, between wing elements).

• However, there are some areas which could be

improved. Before clearing the surface mesh we will
look at these areas in more detail.

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 Review
Review the Surface Mesh
• There are two locations where the proximity size function has created small elements due
to edges in close proximity. Since the faces bound by the edges are almost tangential
there is no need for this refinement.

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 Review
Review the Surface Mesh
• Right click in the Graphics Window and select
View  Back.
• Zoom in using the Box Zoom Tool.

• Note that the leading edge geometry of the

smaller of the two wing elements is not well
refined.
• Turn Mesh display by pressing “Show Mesh”
button.

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 Preparation
Planning
• The two issues identified in the initial surface mesh can be
dealt with by creating Virtual Topology to ‘merge’ small faces
and by making adjustments to size parameters respectively.
– In addition to rectifying these issues we will also add some controls
to accommodate for the type of analysis the mesh will be used for.
• Solution gradients are often high in the vicinity of bodies in
external aerodynamic solutions. To help capture these
gradients we will use a Body of Influence to limit the cell size
surrounding the car geometry.
• We require high accuracy in the region of the rear wing. A local
sizing will therefore be scoped to the faces forming the rear
wing geometry.
• Since we expect turbulent boundary layers in the solution we
will apply an inflation control to capture the boundary layer.

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 Virtual Topology

Add Virtual Cell

• Select the Model object in the Outline.
• Right Click and Insert  Virtual Topology.

• Right click in the Graphics Window and

select View  Front.
• Zoom into the car body.

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 Virtual Topology

Add Virtual Cell

• Select the Face Selection Filter and select the six
faces as shown. The smaller faces are highlighted
(CTRL click to multiple select).

• Right click and, from the context menu, select

Insert  Virtual Cell.

– The six faces are replaced with a single Virtual Cell.

– The edges bounding the original six faces are not
present on the Virtual Cell. The mesh will now be
unconstrained in these areas.

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 Global Size Controls

Edit Minimum Size

• Right click in the Graphics Window and select
View  Back.
• Select the Mesh object in the Outline and zoom
into the leading edge of the smaller of the two
rear wing elements.
– The circle adjacent to the cursor represents the
minimum cell size returned by the size function.
– To allow the curvature of the wing to be refined to 18°
(the default Curvature Normal Angle set in the Global
Controls) we must reduce the minimum size.

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 Global Size Controls
Edit Min Size
• In the Details of “Mesh”, under Sizing, change the value
of Min Size to 0.002m and press enter.
– The new circle adjacent to the cursor updates reflecting the
new minimum size.

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 Local Size Controls
Add Local Face Sizing
• Right click on the Mesh Object in the Outline and
select Clear Generated Data from the Context Menu
to clear the mesh. Answer Yes.
• Set the view to isometric using the iso ball.

• Zoom into the rear wing section of the geometry.

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 Local Size Controls
Add Local Face Sizing
• Select the Face Selection Filter and select the two
front faces of the wing elements as shown (CTRL click
to multiple select).

• Select Extend to Limits from the Toolbar.

• All faces forming the wing elements are now

selected.

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 Local Size Controls

Add Local Face Sizing

• Right click in the Graphics Window and select
Insert  Sizing from the context menu.
• In the Details View set Element Size to 0.01.
• Ensure Behaviour is set to Soft.
– This local sizing will prevent the mesh on the wing
element surfaces from increasing to the max value
specified in the Global Size Controls. The soft setting
will allow the sizing to be reduced as required by
curvature refinement. Keep Local Min size to Default
value.

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 Local Size Controls

Add Body of Influence

• Right click on the suppressed body in the Outline
and select Unsuppress Body from the Context
Menu.
• Click the Zoom to Fit button in the Toolbar.

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 Local Size Controls
Add Body of Influence
• Select the Body Selection Filter and select the
large outer body as shown.

• Right click in the Graphics Window and select

Insert  Sizing from the Context Menu.
– You may need to reselect the Mesh Object in the
Outline in order to see the correct Context Menu.

• In the Details View set Type to Body of

Influence.

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 Local Size Controls
Add Body of Influence
• In the Details View (Continued);
– Activate the Bodies of Influence Selection Box (click in the
box to the right of Bodies of Influence so that Apply/Cancel
appear).
– Select the smaller body and apply the selection.
– Set Element Size to 0.08m.
• This control will ensure the mesh size within the extents
of the smaller body will not exceed 0.08m (smaller sizes
as required by the global proximity/curvature functions
and local face sizing will be allowed). The Body of
Influence itself will not be meshed.

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 Geometry
Hide Body
• Select the smaller body, right click and select Hide
Body from the Context Menu.
• Switch off the Section Plane by unchecking the box
in the Section Planes Panel.

• Orientate the View to +Z by clicking the +Z axis triad.

• Select the Mesh Object in the Outline.

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 Options
Set Display Options
• From the Main Menu, select Tools  Options.
• In the Options Panel expand Mechanical and select Graphics.
– Set the Highlight Selection option to Both Sides and click OK.

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 Named Selections
Add Named Selections
• Using the Face Selection Filter and the Box Select
Tool select all faces of the car body as shown.

• Right click and select Create Named Selection from

the Context Menu.

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 Named Selections

Add Named Selections

• In the Named Selection Dialog box enter the name wall_car and click
OK.

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 Named Selections

Add Named Selections

• Select Single Select.

• Set the view to isometric and select the face as

shown.
• Using the same procedure, create a Named
Selection “outlet”.

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 Named Selections

Add Named Selections

• To select the next face, click in the
position as shown and use the Depth
Picking Selection Panes to toggle between
foreground and background faces.

• Create a Named Selection “inlet”.

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 Named Selections

Add Named Selections

• Create a Named Selection “wall_ground”.

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 Named Selections

Add Named Selections

• Create a Named Selection “wall_tunnel”
(CTRL click to multiple select).

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 Named Selections

Add Named Selections

• Create a Named Selection “symmetry”.

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 Named Selections

Add Named Selections

• Select the Body Selection Filter.

• Select the Body.

• Create a Named Selection “fluid”.

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 Inflation
Add a Local Inflation Control
• Select the Body again, right click and select Insert
 Inflation from the context menu.
• In the Details View;
– Set Boundary Scoping Method to Named Selections.
– Click in the Boundary Selection Box and select the
Named Selections “wall_car” and “wall_ground”
(CTRL click to multiple select). Press enter.
– The Boundary Selection Box will now indicate
Multiple Entries.

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 Inflation

Add a Local Inflation Control

• In the Details View (Continued);
– Leave the remaining inflation parameters set
to default as shown.

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 Global Controls

Set Triangle Surface Mesher

• Select the Mesh object in the Outline to
display the Global Controls (Details of
“Mesh”).
• Under Patch Conforming Options;
– Set Triangle Surface Mesher to Advancing
Front.
• The Advancing Front Algorithm generally
provides a smoother, more uniform
surface mesh with respect to size change
and quality when compared to the default
Program Controlled (Delaunay) algorithm.
A comparison is provided in the notes at
the end of this workshop for reference.

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 Preview
Preview Surface Mesh
• Preview the Surface Mesh to review
the changes the additional controls
have made.
• When the Surface Mesh Preview is
complete switch the Section Plane on
using the check box in the Section
Planes Panel.

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 Review

Review the Surface Mesh

• Right click in the Graphics Window and
select View  Front.
• Note the refinement within the box
region used to define the Body of
Influence Size Control.
• Zoom in using the Box Zoom Tool.

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 Review
Review the Surface Mesh
• The Virtual Cell has removed the high densities in the highlighted locations.

New Surface Mesh

Old Surface Mesh

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 Review

Review the Surface Mesh

• Right click in the Graphics Window and select
View  Back.
• Zoom in using the Box Zoom Tool.

• The Wing Elements are now well resolved due

to the reduced Minimum Size.

New Surface Mesh Old Surface Mesh

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 Preview
Preview Inflation
• Switch off the Section Plane using the
check box in the Section Planes Panel.

• Preview the Inflation Mesh prior to

generating the volume mesh to check
quality.

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 Inflation Mesh

Check the Inflation Mesh

• In the Details of “Mesh” under Statistics, set
Mesh Metric to Orthogonal Quality.
• Minimum Orthogonal Quality is acceptable.
• Please note that you may get slightly different
Min Orthogonal Quality value.

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 Inflation Mesh
Inspect the Inflation Mesh
• Note the Inflation Layer Height varies as a function of surface mesh size (Smooth
Transition).

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 Final Mesh
Generate Volume Mesh
• Generate the Mesh.
• The final mesh contains approximately 2 million
cells and will take several minutes to generate.
• When the mesh is complete, check that the quality
is acceptable.

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 Save the Project
• This completes the workshop.
• From the main menu select File  Close Meshing
– Workbench will save any application data.

• From the Workbench Project Page use the file menu and save the
project as “AMWS7b.wbpj” to your working folder.

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 Appendix I Triangle Surface Mesher

Advancing Front

Program Controlled
(Delaunay)

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