Manifold Results Tutorial

Overview

This is the next step in the Manifold simulation, and follows the Manifold Setup tutorial. Before starting this tutorial, please make sure that you have completed the simulation started in the Manifold Setup tutorial.

In this exercise, we cover the following key topics:

• Cloning a design
• Modifying geometry to update the cloned design
• Lost settings
• Summary Images
• Summary Planes
• The Design Review Center
• Critical Values

Prerequisites

• You should also have Autodesk Simulation CFD installed and licensed.
• The simulation described in the Manifold Setup tutorial must be run to completion.

Clone Design 1

The last step of the Manifold Setup tutorial was to run the simulation for the first design iteration. In this step,  we will copy all of the settings and the geometry to a second design. We do this because in the following step, we will modify the CAD geometry in the second design and use the settings from the first design.

• To clone the design, right click on it, and click Clone...
• When prompted, assign a unique name to the scenario. (We suggest "Design 2" as the name.)

Suppress the Middle Outlet and Update the Second Design

If you launched the example model from a CAD system, open the model, and suppress the middle outlet using the appropriate suppression command in your system:

• Launch into Autodesk® Simulation CFD using the appropriate tool button or menu item.
• On the Design Study Manager, select the new design from the Design study list.
• Click the Update design button.

If you launced with either a Parasolid or Acis file, perform the following steps:

• Click Add/Update Design from the Setup tab.
• On the Add Geometry File dialog, browse to your examples folder, and select Manifold-design2.
• In the Designs list, click on design you just created.
• Click Update selected design.
   

Delete the Lost Settings

After removing the middle outlet part and updating the Design, the material and boundary condition that were assigned to that part cannot be associated to the model. These settings will appear with the Warning icon on the Design Study bar to indicate that they are lost. The scenario cannot be run until all lost settings are either assigned or removed.

The purpose of this step is to remove the lost settings from the scenario.
 

• Expand the Boundary Conditions branch for the new design.
• Right click on the lost boundary condition setting, and click Delete.
  

  

Run the Second Design

• Click Solve from the Setup tab.
• Click the Physics tab.

The default settings (incompressible, no heat transfer, 100 iterations) are appropriate for this scenario.

• Click the Control tab.
• Set Continue From = 0

It is better to start from the beginning instead of continuing from saved results.

• Click Solve to start the analysis.

A dialog asks if you want to delete all results after iteration 0. Click Yes.

Capture a Summary Image

• Click the Results tab.

In this task, we create a results plane that shows velocity, and capture a Summary Image. In the next step, we use this image and the Design Review Center to compare the results from the two designs.

• Click Planes from the Results tab.
• To create a Plane, click Add on the Planes context panel.
• To orient the plane, left click on it, and click the X icon from the context toolbar.

• To capture the current view to a summary image, click Summary Image from the Results tab > Image panel.

Compare Results in the Design Review Center

In this step, we compare graphical results from the two designs using the Design Review Center.
 

• To start comparing results, click Decision Center in the Quick Access toolbar.

• In the Decision Center, right click on the Design Review Center branch, and click Update all images.
• The Design Review Center tab of the Output bar should now be showing. Click the tab if it is not showing.

• Left click on the thumbnail for Design 2, and drag it into the Graphics window:

• Use the slider and "VCR" controls in the Design Review Center region to compare the two designs.
• To change the appearance of the legs, move the slider so that Design 1 is visible. Right click on each leg, and select Outline.

To exit the Design Review Center mode, click on any task icon or task branch in the Design Study bar.

Compare Outlet Flow Rates in the Decision Center

In this step, we use the Critical Values component of the Decision Center to compare outlet flow rates from the two designs. We use the summary planes that we pre-defined while assigning the outlet boundary conditions.

• In the Decision Center, right click on Critical Values, and click Update critical values.
  

  

You can view the Summary Plane data on the Critical Values tab of the Output Bar:

By comparing the Volume Flow from Design 1 and Design 2, we see that removing the middle outlet (in Design 2) caused the flow to increase for the other two outlets both planes.

• To plot the data, check the Volume Flow Plot box for the planes. Click the Plot button:

Wrap up

Congratulations! You have completed the Manifold tutorial.

In this two-part tutorial, you performed the following steps:

1. You first launched a model from CAD into Autodesk Simulation CFD.
2. You then applied the settings, and ran the first simulation.
3. When the simulation was complete, you cloned the design in Simulation CFD.
4. You then returned to the CAD system, and modified the model (creating the second design iteration).
5. You pushed the modified model into the the Design study, and updated the cloned design (from step 3).
6. A boundary condition was lost during this process, so you deleted it.
7. You ran the second design iteration.
8. You then displayed the results on a cut plane, and compared the results across the two designs.
9. Finally, you compared the flow rates from the two designs using the Decision Center and Critical Values.