Solidworks Flow Simulation

SOLIDWORKS FLOW SIMULATION
SOLIDWORKS 2015 TRAINING
ENG
SOLIDWORKS® 2015
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation

175 Wyman Street
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Manufacturer: Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation, 175
Wyman Street, Waltham, Massachusetts 02451 USA. Document Number: PMT1543-ENG
Contents
Introduction
About This Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Course Design Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Using this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
About the Training Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Windows® 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Conventions Used in this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Use of Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
User Interface Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Lesson 1:
Creating a SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Project
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Case Study: Manifold Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Problem Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Stages in the Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Model Preparation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Internal Flow Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
External Flow Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Manifold Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Lids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Lid Thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Manual Lid Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Adding a Lid to a Part File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Adding a Lid to an Assembly File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Checking the Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
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Internal Fluid Volume. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Invalid Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Project Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Reference Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Exclude Cavities Without Flow Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Adiabatic Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Roughness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Result Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Computational Domain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Load Results Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Monitoring the Solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Goal Plot Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Warning Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Post-processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Scaling the Limits of the Legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Changing Legend Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Lesson 2:
Meshing
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Case Study: Chemistry Hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Project Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Computational Mesh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Basic Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Initial Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Geometry Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Optimize Thin Wall Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Result Resolution/Level of Initial Mesh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Switching Off Automatic Mesh Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Cell Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Basic Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Solid/Fluid Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Refining Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Narrow Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Advanced Narrow Channel Refinement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Control Planes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Exercise 1: Square Ducting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Exercise 2: Thin Walled Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Exercise 3: Heat Sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Exercise 4: Meshing Valve Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
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Lesson 3:
Thermal Analysis
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Case Study: Electronics Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Project Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Fans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Fan Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Perforated Plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Free Area Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Exercise 5: Materials with Orthotropic Thermal Conductivity . . . . 112
Lesson 4:
External Transient Analysis
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Case Study: Flow Around a Cylinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Problem Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Stages in the Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Reynolds Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
External Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Transient Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Turbulence Intensity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Solution Adaptive Mesh Refinement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Two Dimensional Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Computational Domain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Calculation Control Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Finish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Refinement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Advanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Drag Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Unsteady Vortex Shedding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Time Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Exercise 6: Electronics Cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
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Lesson 5:
Conjugate Heat Transfer
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Case Study: Heated Cold Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Project Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Conjugate Heat Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Real Gases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Goals Plot in the Solver Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Exercise 7: Heat Exchanger with Multiple Fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Lesson 6:
EFD Zooming
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Case Study: Electronics Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Project Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
EFD Zooming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
EFD Zooming - Computational Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Lesson 7:
Porous Media
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Case Study: Catalytic Converter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Porous Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Porosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Permeability Type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Dummy Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Design Modification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Exercise 8: Channel Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
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Lesson 8:
Rotating Reference Frames
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Rotating Reference Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Part 1: Mixing Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Case Study: Table Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Part 2: Sliding Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Case Study: Blower Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Tangential Faces of Rotors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Time Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Lesson 9:
Parametric Study
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Case Study: Piston Valve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Parametric Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Steady State Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Parametric study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Part 1: Goal Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Input Variable Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Target Value Dependence Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Output Variable Initial Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Running Optimization Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Part 2: Design Scenario. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Exercise 9: Variable Geometry Dependent Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Lesson 10:
Cavitation
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Case Study: Cone Valve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Cavitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
My.SolidWorks.com v
Lesson 11:
Relative Humidity
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Relative Humidity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Case Study: Cook House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Lesson 12:
Particle Trajectory
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Case Study: Hurricane Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Particle Trajectories - Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Particle Study - Physical Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Particle Study - Wall Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Exercise 10: Uniform Flow Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Lesson 13:
Supersonic Flow
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Supersonic Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Case Study: Conical Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Drag Coefficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Shock Waves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Lesson 14:
FEA Load Transfer
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Case Study: Billboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
vi My.SolidWorks.com
Introduction
My.SolidWorks.com 1
Introduction SOLIDWORKS 2015
About This The goal of this course is to teach you how to set up, run and view
Course results of a fluid flow and/or heat transfer analysis using
SOLIDWORKS and the Standard version of SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation mechanical design automation software.
It is impractical to cover every type of computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) problem in the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation software and
still have the course be a reasonable length. Therefore, the focus of this
course is on the fundamental skills and concepts central to successfully
performing a CFD analysis. You should view the training course
manual as a supplement to, not a replacement for, the system
documentation and on-line help. Once you have developed a good
foundation in basic skills, you can refer to the on-line help for
information on less frequently used command options.
Prerequisites Students attending this course are expected to have:
I Mechanical design experience.
I Completed the course SOLIDWORKS Essentials.
I Basic understanding in the field of fluid flow and heat transfer.
I Experience with Windows operating system.
Course Design This course is designed around a process- or task-based approach to
Philosophy training. A process-based training course emphasizes the processes and
procedures you follow to complete a particular task. By utilizing case
studies to illustrate these processes, you learn the necessary commands,
options and menus in the context of completing a task.
Course Length The recommended minimum length of this course is 2 days.
Using this Book This training manual is intended to be used in a classroom environment
under the guidance of an experienced SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation instructor. It is not intended to be a self-paced tutorial.
Lessons The lessons give you the opportunity to apply and practice the material
in front of an instructor so questions can be asked and answered during
each lesson.
2 My.SolidWorks.com
SOLIDWORKS 2015 Introduction
About the A complete set of the various files used throughout this course can be
Training Files downloaded from the SOLIDWORKS website, www.solidworks.com.
Click on the link for Support, then Training, then Training Files, then
SOLIDWORKS Simulation Training Files. Select the link for the
desired file set. There may be more than one version of each file set
available.
Direct URL:
www.solidworks.com/trainingfilessimulation
The files are supplied in signed, self-extracting executable packages.
The files are organized by lesson number. The Case Study folder
within each lesson contains the files your instructor uses while
presenting the lessons. The Exercises folder contains any files that are
required for doing the laboratory exercises.
Windows® 7 The screen shots in this manual were made using the SOLIDWORKS
software running on Windows 7. If you are not using Windows 7, or if
you have a different theme setting, you may notice slight differences in
the appearance of the menus and windows. These differences do not
affect the performance of the software.
Conventions Used This manual uses the following typographic conventions:
in this Book
Convention Meaning
Bold Sans Serif SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation commands

and options appear in this style. For example,
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation, Project,
Wizard means choose the Wizard option from
the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation,
Project menu.
Typewriter Feature names and file names appear in this
style. For example, Heat Source.
Double lines precede and follow sections of
17 Do this step the procedures. This provides separation
between the steps of the procedure and large
blocks of explanatory text. The steps
themselves are numbered in sans serif bold.
My.SolidWorks.com 3
Introduction SOLIDWORKS 2015
Use of Color The SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation user

interface make extensive use of color to highlight selected geometry
and to provide you with visual feedback. This greatly increases the
intuitiveness and ease of use of the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
software. To take maximum advantage of this, the training manuals are
printed in full color.
User Interface Throughout the development of the software, there have been some
Appearance cosmetic User Interface changes, intended to improve visibility, that do
not affect the function of the software. As a policy, dialog images in the
manuals which exhibit no functional change from the previous version
are not replaced. As such, you may see a mixture of current and “old”
UI dialogs and color schemes.
4 My.SolidWorks.com
Lesson 1
Creating a SOLIDWORKS
Flow Simulation Project
Objectives Upon successful completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
I Understand the model preparations required for a Flow Simulation
Project.
I Create simple lids.
I Check the geometry for invalid contacts.
I Calculate the internal volume.
I Create a SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Project using the Project
Wizard.
I Apply flow boundary conditions.
I Apply Goals.
I Run an analysis.
I Use the Solver Monitor window.
I View the results.
My.SolidWorks.com 5
Lesson 1 SOLIDWORKS 2015
Case Study: In this lesson, we will learn how to set up a SOLIDWORKS Flow
Manifold Simulation project using the Wizard. Prior to setting up our project, we
Assembly will learn how to properly prepare our model for the analysis. We will
run the simulation and learn how to interpret the results. In addition, we
will see the many options available when post-processing the results.
Problem Air enters an intake manifold assembly at
Description 0.05 m3/s and flows out through the six
openings as seen in the figure. The
common goal of intake manifold design
is even distribution of the combustion
mixture to the piston heads. This will
insure optimum engine efficiency. We
will keep this in mind when analyzing
our intake assembly.
The objective of this lesson is to introduce the complete set up of a
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation project within SolidWorks, from
model preparation to post-processing. Study goals will be defined and
discussed. In addition, the results will be post-processed using the
various options in SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation.
Stages in the I Prepare model for analysis.
Process Use the Lids tool to close the model in preparation for an internal
analysis. The Check Geometry command will be used to make
sure that your model is ready for a flow simulation.
I Set up flow simulation.
Use the Wizard to set up the flow simulation project.
I Apply boundary conditions.
Boundary conditions are applied to inlets and outlets.
I Declare calculation goals.
Goals can be defined that are special parameters that the user will
have information for after the analysis is run.
I Run the analysis.
I Post-process the results.

The results can be processed using many available options in
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation.
1 Open SolidWorks.
6 My.SolidWorks.com
SOLIDWORKS 2015 Lesson 1
2 SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Add-Ins.

Once installed, SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation can be activated on
SOLIDWORKS Add-Inns tab of the CommandManager.
Note Alternatively, add-ins can be activated using the Tools, Add-Ins menu.
3 Open Assembly.
Open Coletor from the Lesson01\Case Study folder.
Model In any static analysis, it is often necessary to modify the SolidWorks

Preparation geometry to allow the simulation to run. The same is true in flow
simulations. SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation groups flow analysis
into two separate categories, internal analysis and external analysis.
Before beginning model preparations, it is necessary to ask yourself
which type of analysis you wish to perform.
Internal Flow Internal flow analysis involves fluid flow bounded by outer solid
Analysis surfaces, e.g. flows inside pipes, tanks, HVAC systems, etc. Internal
flows are confined inside the SolidWorks geometry. For internal flows
the fluid enters a model through the inlets and exits the model through
the outlets with the exception of some natural convection problems that
have no openings.
To perform an Internal flow analysis, the SolidWorks model must be
fully closed (no openings) using lids. The SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation, Tools, Check Geometry command tool can be used to
ensure that the model is fully closed.
External Flow External flow analysis involves a solid model which is fully surrounded
Analysis by the flow, e.g., flows over aircraft, automobiles, buildings, etc. The
fluid flow is not bounded by an outer solid surface, but bounded only
by the Computational Domain boundaries and does not require a lid
unless the application involves a flow source (such as a fan).
If both internal and external analysis is required simultaneously, e.g.,
flows over and through a building, the analysis is treated as an External
analysis in SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation.
Manifold Analysis Now that we know the difference between internal and external
analysis, we can characterize our manifold analysis as internal. We will
only study the flow on the inside of the manifold assembly and are not
concerned with any flows around the body. As mentioned previously, to
perform an internal flow analysis, the SolidWorks model must be fully
closed using Lids.
My.SolidWorks.com 7
Lids Lids are used in internal flow analysis. In this type of analysis, all
openings within a model must be covered using the SolidWorks “lids”
features. The surfaces of the lids (which contact the fluid) are used to
apply boundary conditions which introduce a mass flow rate, volume
flow rate, static /total pressure, of Fan condition within a fluid volume.
Note Situations that do not require the use of lids include external analysis
that measure flow over bodies such as: cars, planes, buildings, ...etc. In
addition, lids are not used in natural convection problems.
Introducing: Create The Create Lids tool automatically creates lids for all openings in the
Lids selected planar surface of the model. This tool is available for both part
and assembly files. The lids are necessary for an internal analysis
(problems such as flow through a ball valve or pipe).
Where to Find It I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Create Lids

I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Tools, Create Lids
I Flow Simulation Main toolbar: Create Lids
4 Create a lid on the inlet face.

Under Tools, Flow Simulation, Tools, select Create Lids.
Select the annular face defining the plane of the inlet that should be
closed by the lid.
In the Create Lids PropertyManager, select Adjust Thickness and
enter 1mm as the Thickness.
Click OK.
You’ll notice that a new part called LID1 gets created in the
FeatureManager design tree. The part is a blind extrusion from the
selected planar face into the opening with a distance that was specified
as the Thickness.
8 My.SolidWorks.com
Note Multiple planar faces can be selected using the Create Lids tool. If the
user is working with an assembly, new parts named LID1, LID2... will
be created. If the user is working with a single part, new LID1,
LID2...features will be created.
Tip It is good practice to rename your lids when working in an assembly.
This can avoid problems with multiple assemblies with lids open at the
same time.
Lid Thickness If necessary, the thickness of the lid can be adjusted by clicking the
Adjust Thickness icon and input the value in the Thickness box (as
done in the previous step).
The thickness of an external lid for an internal analysis is usually not
important for the analysis. However, the lid should not be so thick that
the flow pattern is affected downstream in some way. If this is both an
external and internal analysis then creating a lid that is too thin will
cause the number of cells to be very high. For most cases the lid
thickness could be the same thickness used to create the neighboring
walls.
Manual Lid The Create Lids tool cannot be used if there are no planar faces to use
Creation as references. In this instance, the user must create the lids manually by
creating lid parts or features.
Adding a Lid to a I Click on the surface adjacent to where you would like to add the lid
Part File and open a sketch.
I Select the inside edge(s) and select Sketch Tools, Convert
Entities.
I Insert, Boss/Base, Extrude and select the Mid Plane option.
Note Selecting the Mid Plane option is very important. The Blind option
would create an invalid contact (disjointed body) between the lid and
the body. SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation is unable to apply
boundary conditions onto a surface when there is an invalid contact.
Mid-Plane extrusion Blind extrusion
Correct Lid Creation In-correct Lid Creation
My.SolidWorks.com 9
Adding a Lid to an There are several ways to create lids within a SolidWorks assembly
Assembly File file. The following steps outline one of these recommended ways.
I Within the SolidWorks assembly mode go to Insert, Component,
New Part.
I Select the surface adjacent to where you would like to add the lid.
I Select the inside edge(s) and select Sketch Tools, Convert
Entities.
I Insert, Boss/Base, Extrude and select the Mid Plane option.
I Click OK to close the part edit mode. A new Part will be added to
the assembly.
Note It's usually a good idea to create the lids as a part file within an
assembly especially if your analysis involves heat transfer. These lids
can then be assigned a different material, such as an insulator so that
the lid does not affect the heat transfer analysis.
5 Remaining lids.
Create the remaining lids on the outlet faces using the manual lid
creation method described above. Use a Mid Plane extrusion of 2mm.
Note We could have used the Create Lids tool to create the remaining lids,
however the tool would have closed all of the openings on the selected
face, therefore closing the bolt holes. This is not necessary, and this
also gives us the opportunity to practice manual lid creation.
10 My.SolidWorks.com
Discussion When creating lids before the analysis, keep in mind that they have two
purposes; closing off any openings and allowing for solid geometry on
which boundary conditions (i.e. static pressure, mass flow rate, etc.) are
defined. In this model, we could have used a single part to close off all
six outlet ports as shown in the figure. This type of lid would not be
applicable if we required different boundary conditions on each outlet.
In addition, this lid is inappropriate because to evaluate the design, we
require information about the flow through each individual outlet
(remember, a well designed manifold will distribute the combustion
mixture evenly). We will see that this type of lid will make it more
difficult to obtain the information about each port.
Checking the The SolidWorks model must be checked to determine if there are any
Geometry problems with the geometry that may cause problems meshing the
body and fluid regions.
There are two main reasons that prevent meshing of the solid and fluid
bodies.
I Openings in the geometry that prevent SolidWorks from fully
defining a fully closed internal volume. This is for an internal
analysis only.
I Invalid contacts exist between parts in an assembly. (An invalid
contact is defined as a line or point contact between part files.)
These will be discussed later in the lesson.
Note Invalid contacts affect both internal and external analysis.
My.SolidWorks.com 11
Introducing: Check A SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation tool, called

Geometry Check Geometry, allows users to check the
SolidWorks geometry. This tool also allows you to
check bodies for possible geometry problems (e.g.,
tangent contact) that cause SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation to create an inadequate mesh.
The State field allows you to disable some of the
assembly components from the geometry check.
Provided the fluid volume exists, Show Fluid
Volume command will graphically indicate it.
Check command will run the geometry check on
the assembly.
Where to Find It I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Check Geometry

I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Tools, Check Geometry
I Flow Simulation Main toolbar: Check Geometry
6 Check for invalid fluid geometry.

From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu choose:
Tools, Check Geometry.
Keep all assembly components selected.
Under Analysis Type, select Internal.
Click Check.
The results are presented in the text field

below the graphics area.
The non-zero values for the fluid and solid
volumes indicate that the internal fluid volume
is water tight and suitable for flow simulation.
Close the text area with the results, and the Check Geometry property
manager.
Note The Check Geometry command will check for possible invalid
contacts, e.g., tangency, zero thickness, etc. If a problem has been
detected, the message appears in the Invalid contacts output box.
Tip When the geometry is deemed ready for analysis, it is good practice to
set all components as fixed. This insures that none of the components
move when defining boundary conditions, etc.
Internal Fluid SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation will also calculate the total volume
Volume of solid components and the total fluid volume.
For internal flow analysis, the internal fluid volume must be greater
than zero. If there are no invalid contacts and the internal fluid volume
is still zero, then there is a small gap or an opening that connects the
internal domain to the external space. Once the small gap or opening is
detected and corrected, rerun the Check Geometry tool to ensure that
the internal fluid volume is greater than zero.
Invalid Contacts If invalid contacts exist, SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation will not be
able to calculate an internal fluid volume (within the computational
domain), and the Check Geometry tool will report the internal fluid
volume to be zero even if the model is perfectly closed and has no
openings or gaps. Invalid contacts must be fixed before a flow analysis
can be performed.
The invalid contacts can be fixed by either separating the two parts
with a very small distance so that they are no longer touching, or by
creating an interference fit between the two parts.
Invalid Contact Some typical types of invalid contact are

Examples shown in the figure.
In our example, if a Blind extrusion was

used, an invalid line contact would be
created as shown in the figure.
If an invalid contact is detected, you may

click the contact in the list of invalid
contacts to show the location.
Note Not every tangent contact causes an invalid contact. SOLIDWORKS

Flow Simulation uses SolidWorks API boolean operations to compute
fluid and solid bodies. If SolidWorks is able to construct the resulting
bodies successfully, then SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation will
consider the bodies as valid for its analysis even with potentially bad
contacts, like “line contact.”
In some models, even with invalid contacts the user will be able to
apply boundary conditions and solve the analysis. Users in these cases
may receive the “Failed to complete” error message when trying to
define Cut Plots. The user would have to correct the invalid contact to
plot and rerun the analysis before defining Cut Plot images.
Important! For internal flow analysis, boundary conditions can not be applied until
all openings are closed.
7 Modify lid position.

To demonstrate lid positions that are not ideal, you will now change the
position of the last lid.
Edit the position of the last lid so
that its internal edge forms a line
contact along the edge of the
outlet.
Edge contact
8 Check geometry.
Follow step 6 on page 12 to check geometry for invalid contacts. Make
sure you specify Internal analysis type.
The result text window indicates 16 detected unresolved contacts,
which were fixed.
Because the invalid contacts were fixed, the Check geometry tool was
also able to calculate both the fluid and solid volumes.
Note In most of such situations, software is able to heal invalid contact and
calculate the fluid and solid volumes.
Click on any of the invalid contacts to see it in the graphics area.
Close the text area with the results, and the Check Geometry property
manager.
9 Modify lid position again.

Follow step 7 and change the
position of the lid to form a clear
gap between the lid and the outlet.
Gap (leak)
10 Check geometry.
Follow 8 to check the geometry for invalid contacts. Make sure you
specify Internal analysis type.
The result text window indicates that the
geometry check failed. Both the solid and fluid
volumes show zero volumes indicating that
they could not be calculated.
Introducing: Leak Leaks in geometry are sometimes difficult to detect. Leak tracker tool
Tracker makes this task easy.
Where to Find It I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Tools, Leak Tracking
11 Leak tracker.
Go to Tools, Flow Simulation, Tools and select Leak Tracking.
Select one face on the inside of the
manifold, and one face on the outside of
Outside
it. face
Click Find Connection.
Inside face
The trajectory from the inside face to

the outside face will be graphically
shown on the model.
12 Close Leak Tracer.
13 Modify lid position.

Face to face contact
Return the lid to its correct
position where it forms the
face to face contact with the
outlet.
Note You may run the Check geometry command for the last time to verify
that your geometry is water tight.
Project Wizard Project wizard is the most convenient way to create and specify the
basic configuration of your simulation project.
Introducing: Wizard The flow simulation project Wizard is used by even the most
experienced users of SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation. It walks you
through the basic steps of setting up a flow analysis. Additional
commands may then be needed to complete the definition of more
complicated analyses. The Wizard addresses the following parts of
modeling:
I Project Configuration
Select the configuration that you want to use with the simulation.
You can create a new configuration or use one that is currently
defined. It is recommended that you associate each flow simulation
project to a new configuration. This insures that your files and
results will be organized.
I Unit System
Defines the unit system that will be used in the simulation. This can
be changed after finishing the Wizard in the Flow Simulation
menu by selecting Units. In addition, each custom defined unit
systems can be created that mix and match from the different
universal systems.
I Analysis type
The analysis is defined as internal or external. In addition other
features about the analysis can be defined (i.e., reference axis).
I Default Fluid
Defines the default fluid that is used in the analysis as well as the
type of flow it will encounter (i.e., laminar, turbulent, both).
I Wall Conditions
Defines the boundary conditions for the flow at the walls of the
SolidWorks geometry.
I Initial Conditions
Defines the initial and ambient conditions of the solids and fluids in
the model.
I Results and Geometry Resolution
Can define the density of the mesh based on the geometrical
features of the model (thickness of thin wall and gaps) as well as
the overall result accuracy.
Where to Find It I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Wizard

I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Project, Wizard
I Flow Simulation Main toolbar: Wizard
14 Create a project using a wizard.

From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, choose: Project, Wizard.
15 Create a new project.
Under Configuration, click Use Current (default setting).
Note You can also select Create New to create a new configuration, or
Select to associate your project with any of the existing SolidWorks
configurations.
In the Configuration Name box, enter Project 1.
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation will store all data in a separate folder
numbered sequentially, i.e. “1”, “2”, “3”,...etc. based on how many
projects have been defined. This folder is located in the same directory
as the assembly file.
Click Next.
16 Select units.
Select SI (m-kg-s) as the Unit System for this project.

You can change the unit system anytime by going to Tools, Flow
Simulation, Units.
Click Next.
Note You can also create your own system of units (by mixing and matching
unit systems). This is done by checking the Create New check box and
entering the custom name for the new unit system.
17 Select analysis type.
Select Internal under Analysis Type.

Under Consider closed cavities, clear Exclude cavities without
flow conditions.
Defining the Reference axis is not required for this analysis.
Accept all other default settings.
Click Next.
Reference Axis The Reference Axis is defined through the Wizard. It is used to define
the Dependency of a specific quantity (i.e., radiation or rotation).
Exclude Cavities The status of the Exclude cavities without flow conditions option is
Without Flow not important in this analysis; there is only one internal space within
Conditions this model. If there were multiple unconnected internal spaces, then
selecting this box would prevent SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
from meshing and solving for any internal spaces that do not have
boundary conditions.
18 Select fluid type (gas or liquid).
Expand the Gases tree. Using the scroll box in the database of fluids,
click Air.
Click Add. This will move Air under the Project Fluids list.
Accept all other default settings.
Click Next.
19 Set wall conditions.
In the Parameter list, the value for Default wall thermal condition is
Adiabatic wall and the value for Roughness is 0. Click Next.
Adiabatic Wall Since this project does not involve any type of heat transfer, the default
Adiabatic wall selection is recommended. Adiabatic wall assumes the
walls are perfectly insulated.
Roughness This value is used in the calculation of the velocity profile within the
boundary layer. If the default value of zero is used (recommended if the
roughness is not known), the solver assumes the walls are smooth.
Please consult the Flow Simulation help on how to determine
appropriate roughness parameters.
20 Initial and ambient conditions.
Click Next to accept the default standard ambient conditions as the

initial conditions for this analysis.
Note The closer the initial values are set to the final values determined in the
analysis, the quicker the analysis will finish. Since we do not have any
knowledge of the expected final values, we will not modify them in this
lesson.
21 Set automatic initial mesh.
Accept the default Result Resolution setting of 3.

Click Finish.
Note In some situations, entering values for the Minimum gap size and
Minimum wall thickness is important and ensures that any small
features are not ignored during meshing. Since this model has a fairly
uniform diameter, no minimum gap or minimum wall thickness is
required.
Result Resolution The Result Resolution is a measure of the level of accuracy of the
results. It controls not only the resolution of the mesh, but also sets
many parameters for the solver, e.g., the convergence criteria. The
higher the Result Resolution, the finer the mesh, which means higher
total cell counts and increased physical RAM requirements.
Higher Result Resolution levels narrow the convergence criteria,
raising the number of iterations to achieve convergence, i.e. longer
CPU time to solve. Thus, the Result Resolution setting requires a
balance between precise results and computation time.
22 Review input data in the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis

tree.
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation will create a new project associated
with the Default SolidWorks configuration and a SOLIDWORKS
Flow Simulation analysis tree will also be created.
The Flow Simulation analysis tree tab in the SolidWorks
FeatureManager should be automatically created and selected.
If, after a later date, changes are
needed to be made to the input data
within the project, the user can right-
click Input Data in the
analysis tree and select the
appropriate option to update the
input information.
Expand the options under Input Data

within the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
analysis tree. The SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation analysis tree is used to define
additional analysis settings for the project.
The Computational Domain, shown as a
wireframe box enveloping the model, is used
to visualize the volume being analyzed.
Computational The Computational Domain is defined as a volume fixed with respect

Domain to a coordinate system within a fluid flow field. Although the fluid
moves into and out of the computational domain, the computational
domain itself remains fixed in space.
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analyzes the model geometry and
automatically generates a Computational Domain in the shape of a
rectangular prism enclosing the model. The computational domain’s
boundary planes are orthogonal to the model’s Global Coordinate
System axes. For external flows, the computational domain’s boundary
planes are automatically distanced from the model capturing the fluid
space around the model. However, for internal flows, the computational
domain’s boundary planes automatically envelop the model walls only.
Introducing: A boundary condition is required to describe where the fluid enters or
Boundary exits the system (Computation Domain) and can be set as a Pressure,
Conditions Mass Flow, Volume Flow or Velocity. Boundary conditions can also
specify parameters of a wall such as ideal, stationary, or rotating.
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Boundary Conditions in the Flow

Simulation analysis tree and click Insert Boundary Condition
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Boundary Conditions
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Insert, Boundary Condition
23 Insert boundary
condition.
In the SOLIDWORKS
Flow Simulation analysis
tree, under Input Data,
right-click Boundary
Conditions and select
Insert Boundary
Condition.
Select the inside surface of the SolidWorks feature representing the

inlet, as shown in the figure.
Note To access the inner face, right-click the outer face on the lid and click
Select Other. In the Select Other window, cycle through the faces by
moving the pointer to highlight each face dynamically in the solid
geometry.
24 Set up the boundary condition.

In the Boundary Conditions PropertyManager,
under Type, select the Flow openings button
.
Still under Type, select Inlet Volume Flow.
Under Flow Parameters, click the Normal to
face button and enter 0.05 m3/s.
Click OK.
The new Inlet Volume Flow1 item appears in
the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis
tree under Boundary Conditions.
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation will apply a
0.05 m3 of air per second across the inlet area,
normal to the selected face.
Note Since the volume flow rate is required as an output at each outlet, a
pressure condition should be used to identify the outlet condition. If the
pressure is not known at the outlet of each port, an ambient static
pressure condition can be used as the boundary condition across each
outlet face for this analysis.
25 Insert boundary condition.
In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
analysis tree, under Input Data, right-click the
Boundary Conditions icon and select Insert
Boundary Condition.
Select the inner face of one of the outlet ports.
26 Set up the boundary condition.

In the Boundary Conditions window, under
Type, select the Pressure openings button .
Still under Type, select Static Pressure.
Click OK to accept the default ambient values .
The new Static Pressure1 item appears in the
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree.
27 Create additional outlet boundary conditions.

Each outlet port should have a static pressure boundary condition
assigned to the inside outlet lid surface. Create five additional static
pressure boundary conditions for the remaining five outlets.
Introducing: SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation contains built-in criteria to stop the

Engineering Goals solution process. However, it is best to use your own criterion by using
what SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation calls Goals. You can specify
the Goals as physical parameters at areas of interest in the project, so
that their convergence can be considered as obtaining a steady state
solution from the engineering viewpoint.
Engineering goals are user specified parameters of interest, which the
user can display while the solver is running and obtain information
about after convergence is reached. Goals can be set throughout the
entire domain (Global Goal), in a selected area (Surface Goal, Point
Goal), or within a selected volume (Volume Goal). Furthermore,
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation can consider the average, minimum
or maximum value when examining goals.
In addition, you can also define an Equation Goal, which is a goal

defined by an expression (basic mathematical functions) using the
existing goals as variables. This allows you to calculate a parameter of
interest (e.g., pressure drop) and keeps this information in the project
for later reference.
There are five different types of goals that can be defined in
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation:
I Global Goal I Point Goal
I Surface Goal I Volume Goal
I Equation Goal
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Goals in the Flow Simulation analysis
tree and click Insert Goals
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Flow Simulation
Features > Goals
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Insert, Goals
Use in Instructions Choose the type of goal you want to define.
28 Insert surface goal.

analysis tree, right-click Goals, and
select Insert Surface Goals.
To select the inlet surface for the Surface
Goal, split the feature pane and in the
upper portion click the boundary
condition Inlet Volume Flow1 item in
the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
analysis tree to input the face where the
surface goal is to be applied.
In the Parameter list, locate Volume
Flow Rate and click the check box next
to it.
Click OK.
The new SG Volume Flow Rate1 item
appears in the SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation analysis tree under Goals.
29 Rename surface goal.

Rename the SG Volume Flow Rate1 in the SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation analysis tree so that it appears as Inlet SG Volume Flow
Rate.
30 Insert surface goal.
Repeat the earlier steps to apply a surface
goal for the volume flow rate at the outlet
ports.
When selecting the Static Pressure
boundary conditions, hold the control key
and select all of the outlet boundary
conditions.
Click the Create goal for each surface
check box. This will create 6 surface goals
for each of the 6 outlets.
Rename each surface goal to reflect the outlet
port.
31 Insert equation goal.

The Equation Goal is used in this lesson to sum the outlet volume flow
rates. The Equation Goal will determine the total Volume flow rate
leaving the manifold.
In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click the Goals icon and
select Insert Equation Goal.
Select the Outlet SG Volume Flow Rate1 surface goal from
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree to add it to the
Expression box.
Click + in the Equation Goal window.
Repeat the last 2 steps to add each of the remaining 5 outlet flow rates
to complete the equation.
In the Dimensionality list, select Volume Flow Rate.
Click OK.
32 Rename the equation goal.
Rename the equation goal to Sum of outlet flow rates.
Once the solution has converged, the sum of the outlet volume flow
rates should approximately be equal to the inlet volume boundary
condition.
33 Save file.
Click File, Save to save the assembly file.
Introducing: Run The Run command solves the simulation.
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click the project folder (Project 1) in the
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree and click Run
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Run
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Solve, Run
Load Results Because the results from SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation may
Option become large, it is necessary to Load them for post-processing. This
option automatically loads SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation results
once the solver completes.
Note If multiple configurations/solutions are obtained, only a single solution
set can be loaded at a time. Before loading a new set of results, the
currently loaded results must be unloaded.
Monitoring the The solution monitor window will appear after the solver has started.
Solver On the left of the Solver window is a log of each step taken in the
solution process. On the right is an information dialog box with mesh
information and any warnings concerning the analysis.
Goal Plot Window The Goal Plot window will list each goal selected in the Add/Remove
Goals window. Here you can see the current value and graph for each
goal as well as the current progress towards completion given as a
percentage. The progress value is only an estimate, and the rate of
progress generally increases with time.
Warning Messages Warning messages are also displayed in the Info section of the Solver
window. In this analysis, you may see a warning message that reads “A
vortex crosses the pressure opening”. This message indicates that
there is a pressure difference across the outlet, which sometimes
indicates a recirculation across the outlet. After running the analysis,
the user can look at the result plots to see if the flow is entering through
the outlets. This message is only a warning and can be ignored for this
analysis, but if there was flow entering through the outlet, then the user
would have to extend the outlet until the flow vectors were all leaving
the outlet.
34 Solve the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation project.

In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click
Project 1 and select Run.
Make sure that the check boxes next to Load Results is selected.
Click Run with default settings.
The solver should take approximately 5 minutes to run.
Note The Flow Simulation solver supports parallel computations. This
allows you to select the number of CPUs to be used in the calculation.
35 Insert goal plot.
While the solver is running, In the Solver toolbar, click Insert Goal
Plot to open the Add/Remove Goals window.
Click Add All to add all the goals you want to plot.
Click OK.
36 Insert preview.
With the solver running, after
a few iterations, click Insert
Preview on the Solver
toolbar.
In the Preview Settings
window, selecting any
SolidWorks plane from the
SolidWorks FeatureManager
Tree and clicking OK will
create a preview plot of the
solution on that plane. For
this model, the Top Plane is
a good choice to use as the
preview plane. The preview
plane can be chosen anytime
from the SolidWorks
FeatureManager.
Click the Settings tab.
In the Parameter list, click
Velocity.
Click OK.
Note The preview allows one to look at the results while the calculation is
still running. This helps to determine if all the boundary conditions are
correctly defined and gives the user an idea of how the solution will
look even at an early stage. It is important to note that at the start of the
run the results might look odd or change abruptly. However, as the run
progresses, these changes will lessen and the results will settle in on a
converged solution. The results can be displayed either in contour,
isoline or vector representation.
37 Close the Solver window.
Click File, Close. This will close the Solver window.
Post- The first step to view the results is to generate a transparent view of the
processing geometry, a 'glass-body' image. This way, you can easily see where cut
planes etc. are located with respect to the geometry.
Introducing: Cut A Cut plot displays any result on any SolidWorks plane. The
Plots representation can be as a contour plot, as isolines, or as vectors and
also in any combination of the above (e.g. contour with overlaid
vectors).
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Cut Plots under Results in the Flow
Simulation analysis tree and click Insert
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Cut Plot
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Results, Insert, Cut Plot
38 Set model Transparency.

In the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, select Results, Display,
Transparency.
Move the slider to the right to increase the Value to set. Set the model
transparency to 0.75.
Click OK.
Tip You can also right-click each part in the SolidWorks FeatureManager
tree and select Change Transparency.
Note As selected when initializing the solution, the
results will be automatically loaded. The
associated result file is indicated in the
parentheses next to the Result folder.
39 Create Cut Plots.

In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click Cut Plots under
Results and select Insert.
In the Section Plane or Planar Face box, select the Top plane view.
Click OK.
We can observe that the total pressure magnitude varies from

101,254 Pa to 101,462 Pa.
A Cut Plot 1 icon will be created in the Flow Simulation analysis tree
under the Cut Plots icon.
40 Hide the cut plot.
Right-click the Cut Plot 1 icon and select Hide.
41 Add a cut plot.
Right-click the Cut Plots icon and select Insert.
Choose the Top Plane as the cut plane.
Make sure that the Contours button is selected.
Under Contours select Velocity and increase
Number of Levels slider to 50.
Click OK.
Note The limits of the legend default to the global maximum and minimum.
Use the Adjust Maximum and Minimum button under the Contours
dialog to change them.
The maximum velocity close to 15.3 m/s is reached close to the inlet
where the rapid narrowing of the profile ends.
To modify the options for this and other plots, either double-click on
the color scale or right-click the plot name and select Edit Definition.
Double-click
Scaling the Limits Click directly on the lower or upper limit

of the Legend value in the legend. The desired limit value
can then be entered in the text field.
Model Cut Plane
To the right of the text field, there are two Maximum Maximum
auto-scaling buttons. The first button (left
side) auto-scales the maximum value of the
legend to the maximum value existing in
the model. The second button auto-scales
the maximum value of the legend to the
maximum value in that cut plane. These
buttons also exist for adjusting the minimum values of the legend.
Changing Legend To edit various legend settings such as color

Settings palette, out of range colors, font and its size and
others, right click directly on the legend and use
the Edit and Appearance commands.
42 Animate cut plot through the model.

The animation feature can be used to view how the quantity plotted on
the cut plot (total pressure in our example) varies through the model.
Right-click on the
Cut Plot 2 item
under the Cut Plots
folder and select
Animation.
The animation toolbar on the bottom of the SolidWorks window allows
you to Play, Loop, and Record animation.
Click the Play button to automatically move the cutting plane (Top
plane in our example) through the mode and view how the plotted
quantity varies.
Close the animation toolbar.
Note The animation can be saved into an AVI file by clicking the Save
button on the animation toolbar. For the animation of transient
analysis see Lesson 4: External Transient Analysis.
43 Create vector cut plot.
Right-click the Cut Plot 2 icon under Cut Plots and select Edit
Definition.
Under Display, deselect Contours and click Vectors.
Click OK.
Note The vector Spacing, their Size, and other vector parameters can be
adjusted in the Vectors dialog of the Cut Plot window. Notice how the
flow must navigate around the sharp corners on the Ball.
44 Hide Cut Plot 2.
Right-click the Cut Plot 2 icon under Results, Cut Plots in the
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree and select Hide.
Introducing: Surface A Surface Plot displays any result on any SolidWorks surface. The
Plot representation can be as a contour plot, as isolines, or as vectors - and
also in any combination of the above (e.g. contour with overlaid
vectors).
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Surface Plots under Results in the
Flow Simulation analysis tree and click Insert
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Surface Plot
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Results, Insert, Surface Plot
45 Create surface plot.

In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click the Surface Plots
icon under Results and select Insert.
Select Use all faces.
Make sure Contours is selected and specify Pressure as the quantity
to plot.
Click OK.
A Surface Plot 1 icon will be created in the SOLIDWORKS Flow

Simulation analysis tree under Surface Plots. The same basic options
are available for Surface Plots as for Cut Plots. Feel free to experiment
with different combinations on your own.
46 Probe.
In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click Results and select
Probe. Select points of interest in the graphics window.
The pressure at those locations will appear in the graphics window.
To turn the Probe tool off, right-click Results and select Probe again.
To turn off the probe displays, right-click Results and select Display
Probes.
47 Hide Surface Plot 1.

Right-click the Surface Plot 1 and select Hide.
Introducing: Flow Using Flow trajectories, you can show the flow streamlines and paths
Trajectories of particles with mass and temperature that are inserted into the fluid.
Flow trajectories provide a very good image of the 3D fluid flow. You
can also see how parameters change along each trajectory by exporting
data into Microsoft Excel. Additionally, you can save trajectories as
SolidWorks reference curves. The trajectories can also be colored by
values of whatever variable chosen in the View Settings window.
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Flow Trajectories under Results in

the Flow Simulation analysis tree and click Insert
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Flow Trajectories
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Results, Insert, Flow
Trajectories
48 Create flow trajectory.

In the SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation FeatureManager, right-
click the Flow Trajectories icon
under Results and select Insert.
Click the Flow Simulation analysis
tree tab.
Under Boundary conditions, click
Static Pressure1 item. This will
select the inner face of the outlet Lid
2 part as the origin for the
trajectories.
In the Number of points box, type
16.
Click OK.
Discussion Notice the trajectories that are entering and exiting through the exit lid.
This is the reason for the warning (A vortex crosses the pressure
opening) during the solution process. When flow both enters and exits
the same opening, the accuracy of the results will be affected. In a case
such as this, one would typically add the next component to the model
(such as a pipe extending the computational domain) so that the vortex
does not occur at an opening.
Another approach to deal with this warning message could be to
change the boundary condition at the pressure opening. We applied a
static pressure boundary condition to each outlet face. This applies
static pressure to both sides of the lid. In reality, we know that if the lid
was extended, the flow would experience some amount of pressure
difference. To account for this, we could have used an environment
pressure boundary condition. The environment pressure boundary
condition applies total pressure to the face of the lid where the flow
enters the model and static pressure to the face of the lid where the flow
leaves the model. This type of boundary condition will provide us with
more reliable results than the static pressure condition.
Introducing: XY XY-Plot allows you to see how a parameter changes along a specified
Plots direction. To define the direction, you can use curves and sketches (2D
and 3D sketches). The data are exported into an Excel workbook,
where parameter charts and values are displayed. The charts are
displayed in separate sheets and all values are displayed in the Plot
Data sheet.
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click XY Plots under Results in the Flow
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > XY Plots
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Results, Insert, XY Plots
49 Hide Flow Trajectories 1.

Right-click the Flow Trajectories 1 icon under Results, Flow
Trajectories in the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree and
select Hide.
50 Plot XY plot.
We have already created a SolidWorks sketch containing a line through
the manifold. This sketch can be created after the analysis is finished.
Take a look at Sketch-XY Plot in the SolidWorks FeatureManager
analysis tree.
In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree, under Results,
right-click the XY Plots icon and select Insert.
Under Parameters, select Pressure and Velocity.
Under Selection, select Sketch-XY Plot from the SolidWorks
FeatureManager.
Leave all options as defaults and click Show.
The window with the graphs of the selected results will open on the
bottom of the screen.
Close the plot window by clicking the close button (see the figure
above).
Still in the XY Plot property manager, click the Export to Excel button.
Microsoft Excel will open and generate two lists of data points as well
as two graphs, one for Velocity and the other for Pressure. You will
need to toggle between different sheets to view each graph.
Introducing: Surface Surface Parameters can be used to determine pressures, forces, heat
Parameters flux as well as many other variables on any face within your model
contacting the fluid. For this type of analysis, it would probably be of
interest to calculate the average static pressure drop from the valve inlet
to outlet.
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Surface Parameters under Results in

the Flow Simulation analysis tree and click Insert
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Flow Simulation Results
Features > Surface Parameters
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Results, Insert, Surface
Parameters
51 Create Surface Parameters.

right-click the Surface Parameters icon and select Insert.
In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree, under
Boundary Conditions, click the Inlet Volume Flow 1 item. This
will select and add the inner face of the inlet Lid 1 part to the Faces
list.
Select All from the Parameters list.
Click Show. At the bottom of the screen, two tables will appear. The
table on the left will contain the local parameters and the table to the
right contains the integral parameters.
Shown in the Local table are the Minimum, Maximum, Average, and
Bulk Average values for a number of parameters (including Pressure,
Temperature, Density, etc.) for the inlet face. The same information
can be obtained if the outlet lid faces were selected.
Close the two tabs by clicking the Close Table mark at the right hand
side of the screen.
Click Export to Excel.
An Excel spreadsheet will be automatically created containing the
values in the Surface Parameter window.
Note The Integral table contains integrated values taken across the face of
the selected surface. We can see that the volume flow rate on this inlet
face is equal to the volume flow rate boundary condition of 0.05 m^3/s
that we specified.
Introducing: Goal The goal plot allows you to see how the goal changes throughout the
Plot flow simulation as well as the final value of the goal at the end of the
calculation.
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Goal Plots under Results in the Flow
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Goal Plot
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Results, Goal Plot
52 Goals plot.
In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis
tree, under Results, right-click Goal Plots and
select Insert.
Select All Goals in the Goal Filter and check All
in the Goals to Plot list.
Click Show.
The table of the goal values will open on the
bottom of the screen.
Change the view from Summary to History.
Close the goal plot window by clicking the close button (see the figure
above).
Still in the Goal Plot property manager, click the Export to Excel
button.
An Excel spreadsheet will be automatically created containing
information about the goals.
Close the Goal Plot property manager.

Note The spreadsheet contains the final, maximum, minimum and averaged
values of the goal during the calculation. In addition, there are plots
showing how the goal changed during the calculation.
Negative values represent flow out of the computational domain.
Here, we can also verify that our inlet volume flow rate boundary
condition was also applied properly during the calculation. In addition,
the total flow out is equal to the total flow in.
Introducing: Save Postprocessing images such as cut plots and surface plots can be
Image exported in various image formats, and also in the eDrawings format.
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click the Results folder and select Save
Image
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation Results > Save Image
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Results, Screen Capture, Save
Image
53 Save image as eDrawings.

Show all your result plots.
Right-click on the Results folder and select Save Image.
Select eDrawings as the format, and keep the default name
Project 1.easm.
Click Save.
The file will be saved in the directory associated with this project.
Close the property manager.
54 Open eDrawings file.

Navigate to the result folder associated with this project, and open
Project 1.easm by double-clicking on it.
eDrawings will open the model with all defined results plots.
All plots shown in the Flow Simulation feature tree will be included.
55 Save and Close.
Save and Close the assembly.
Discussion We specified an inlet volume flow rate of 0.05 m^3/s and have verified
that this boundary condition was applied properly using Surface
Parameters and Goal Plots that this value was applied.
Due to conservation of mass, we also know that the total volume flow
rate into the manifold should equal the total volume flow rate out of the
manifold. We can verify that this is true using the Goal Plot and
looking at our goal for the Sum of outlet flow rates.
Furthermore, we would like to determine if the design of the manifold
will result in efficient engine performance. In the beginning of the
lesson, we said that the ideal situation would have similar flow through
all of the outlet ports. When looking at our goals, we can see that the
volume flow rate can vary significantly through the outlet ports. It is up
to the engineer to decide whether design modification would be
necessary to produce a more uniform outlet flow through each port.
Summary In this lesson we learned how to set up a Flow Simulation project. The
Wizard was used to create all of the general settings of the analysis.
Both inlet and outlet boundary conditions were defined and a number
of goals were created. The results of the simulation was thoroughly
post-processed using many of the options available in SOLIDWORKS
Flow Simulation. The stages of flow simulation that were outlined in
this lesson will be followed throughout the book.
Lesson 2
Meshing
I Generate proper mesh in the presence of thin walls and narrow
channels.
I Use mesh features.
I Display mesh.
I Use Thin wall optimization feature.
I Apply manual mesh controls and use control planes.
Meshing
Case Study: In this lesson, we will introduce the different mesh controls available in
Chemistry Hood SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation. You will learn many of the manual
meshing options available in SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation that
will allow you to analyze intricate problems with small geometrical and
physical features. Using automatic mesh settings, these types of
problems would require lots of computational resources. The manual
settings allow you to analyze these problems much more efficiently.
Project A chemistry hood is shown in the figure. A chemical reaction is
Description occurring at the bottom of the blue ejector that is emitting a gas into the
environment. There is an opening at the front of the hood and an
exhaust fan causes a volume flow rate at the top opening. In addition,
three thin baffle walls separate the inlet and outlet. The goal of this
lesson is to develop an appropriate mesh to properly resolve the small
ejector opening, the thin baffle walls, as well as the rest of the model.
The mesh must be small enough to resolve the small geometry, but also
large enough so that our computer resources are not exhausted.
Exhaust
Open
Ejector
Ejector Opening
Meshing
Stages in the I Review the geometry.

process Before meshing, any gaps or thin walls in the geometry must be
identified as areas of concern.
I Create the project.
Create a project using the Wizard.
I Change initial mesh settings.
The initial mesh settings can be changed to address the thin walls or
gaps.
I Mesh the model.
Once the mesh has been generated, it can be evaluated so that
further refinements can be made. If the mesh is good quality, the
analysis can then be run.
I Run the flow simulation.
1 Open an assembly file.

Open Ejector in Exhaust Hood from the Lesson02\Case Study
folder.
2 Create a new project using a wizard.
From the Flow Simulation menu, choose: Project, Wizard.
Configuration Select:
name Select Hood mesh configuration.
Project name: “Mesh 1”
Unit system SI (m-kg-s)
Analysis Type Internal
Physical Features None

Database of Fluids In the Gases list, double-click Air.
Wall conditions In the Default outer wall thermal condition list, select Adiabatic
wall.
In the Roughness box, type 0 micrometer.
Initial conditions Default
Results & Geometry Default
Resolution Notice that if you click Manual specification of the minimum gap
size and Manual specification of the minimum wall thickness, you
will see that their default values are both 0.8144m.
Make sure you only check them to see the default values. Clear them
before clicking Finish.
Click Finish.
Meshing

In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree, under Input
Data, right-click Boundary Conditions and select Insert Boundary
Condition.
Apply Environment Pressure to the inside face of the hood opening.

Data, right-click Boundary Conditions and select Insert Boundary
Condition.
Select the inside face of the outlet port.
In the Boundary Conditions PropertyManager, under Type, select the
Flow openings button .
Still under Type, select Outlet Volume Flow.
Meshing
Under Flow Parameters enter 0.5 m3/s.

Click OK.
Computational SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation automatically generates a

Mesh computational mesh. The mesh is created by dividing the
computational domain into slices, which are further subdivided into
rectangular cells. The mesh cells are then refined as necessary to
properly resolve the model geometry. SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation discretizes the time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations and
solves them on the computational mesh. Under certain conditions,
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation will automatically refine the
computational mesh during the calculation of the flow.
Basic Mesh The Basic Mesh is formed by dividing
the computational domain into cubes
using parallel and orthogonal planes
which are aligned with the Global
Coordinate System’s axes.
The Basic Mesh can be shown by right-
clicking the project name in the Flow
Simulation analysis tree and selecting
Show Basic Mesh.
Meshing
Initial Mesh The Initial mesh is constructed from the Basic mesh by refining the
basic mesh cells in accordance with the specified mesh settings. The
mesh is named Initial since it is the mesh the calculation starts from,
and it could be further refined during the calculation if the solution-
adaptive meshing is enabled.
Although the automatically generated mesh is usually appropriate, thin
and small geometrical features can result in extremely high cell counts,
causing the physical RAM required to solve to increase or exceed the
amount of RAM available on your computer.
Introducing: Initial The mesh is controlled by the set of parameters specified in the Initial
Mesh Mesh, Automatic Settings window or in the Wizard - Results and
Geometry Resolution window.
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Input Data in the Flow Simulation
analysis tree and click Initial Mesh
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Initial Mesh
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Initial Mesh
5 Review Initial Mesh settings.

In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click Input Data and select
Initial Mesh.
Check the default settings by clicking Manual specification of the
minimum gap size and Manual specification of the minimum wall
thickness. You will see that their default values are now 0.1524m
and 0.8123m respectively.
Click Cancel to discard these changes.
Note Flow Simulation recognized and changed the default minimum gap
size to be equal to the width of the outlet opening.
Geometry In the Initial Mesh, Automatic Settings window, SOLIDWORKS

Resolution Flow Simulation calculates the default Minimum gap size and
Minimum wall thickness using information about the overall model
dimensions, the Computational Domain, and faces on which you
specify boundary Conditions and Goals. However, this information
may be insufficient to recognize relatively small gaps and thin model
walls. This may cause inaccurate results. In these cases, the Minimum
gap size and Minimum wall thickness must be specified manually.
Meshing
Optimize Thin The Optimize thin walls resolution option should be checked
Wall Resolution whenever a flow model contains thin walls (walls with fluid on both
sides). This option improves the meshing of thin wall features and, in
many cases, reduces the overall number of cells required to mesh thin
wall features. In earlier versions of SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation,
additional mesh refinement was required to properly resolve thin wall
features, but the refinement would cause a large increase in the number
of cells in the model, especially in the narrow channels between the
walls.
If this additional mesh refinement is critical for obtaining the proper
results and you want to perform a calculation on the same mesh as in
earlier versions of SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation, clear the
Optimize thin walls resolution check box. In this case, the mesh will
be almost the same as in earlier versions; the main difference is the
absence of irregular cells.
6 Insert boundary
condition.
In the SOLIDWORKS
tree, under Input Data,
right-click Boundary
Conditions and select
Insert Boundary
Condition.
Select the tiny face of the
ejector inlet port.
In the Boundary
Conditions
PropertyManager, under
Type, select the Flow
openings button .
Still under Type, select
Inlet Volume Flow.
Under Flow Parameters, click the Normal to face button and enter
6e-5 m^3/s.
Click OK.
Note There is a chemical reaction happening inside the ejector that is
releasing the gas into the chemistry hood through this small opening.
Meshing
7 Review Initial Mesh settings.

Initial Mesh.
Check the default settings by clicking Manual specification of the
minimum gap size and Manual specification of the minimum wall
thickness. You will see that their default values are now 0.00136m
and 0.8123m respectively.
Click Cancel to discard these changes.
Note Because we added another boundary condition to a smaller face, the
default minimum gap size has changed to the diameter of the inlet face.
Discussion At this point, we could accept the default

mesh settings and attempt to solve the
model with confidence that all small gaps
will be resolved. Upon trying to mesh and
solve, we are very likely to see long run
times and depleted computer resources due
to the large aspect ratio between the model
and minimum gap size. All small gaps will
be resolved, however many cells will be
placed in areas where they are not
necessary. Furthermore, if the aspect ratio
between the model and minimum gap size
is greater than 1000, Flow simulation may
not resolve the mesh properly.
A cut plot of the mesh created with these settings is shown. The mesh
has over 600,000 cells. Rather than settle with this mesh, we will use
our own settings for the Minimum gap size and Minimum wall
thickness.
Small Features Prior to starting the calculation, we recommend that you check the
geometry resolution to ensure that small features will be recognized.
You can link the Minimum gap size or the Minimum wall thickness
values to features or reference dimensions so that the values will be
equal to the dimensions.
Tip In case of internal analyses, boundaries between internal flow and
ambient space are always resolved properly because SOLIDWORKS
Flow Simulation distinguishes the internal flow volume and ambient
space. If your model does not contain walls with both sides contacting
the fluid and does not contain thin features protruding into the fluid,
then the minimum wall thickness value should not be changed.
Meshing
8 Review model geometry.

We know that the default settings for the minimum gap
size will produce excessive mesh splitting due to the very 20mm
small inlet of the ejector. Although the splitting is
necessary in this region, it is excessive in the overall
model. We should review the overall geometry and select a
more appropriate minimum gap size.
Aside from the inlet face on the ejector, the smallest gap in
the model is between the thin baffles at the back of the
hood. We can use this for the Minimum gap size.
9 Initial Mesh settings.
Initial Mesh.
Select Manual specification of the minimum gap size and enter
0.0204216m for the Minimum gap size.
Select Manual specification of the minimum wall thickness and
enter 0.0204216m for the Minimum wall thickness.
Click OK.
Note We specified a Minimum wall thickness to avoid excessive mesh
splitting.
10 Mesh.
Click Run.
Clear the Solve check box and select Run. This will only mesh the
model.
11 Cut plot.
When the solver completes, right-click Cut
Plots under Results and select Insert.
In the Section Plane or Planar Face box,
select the CENTERLINE plane.
Click OK.
The resulting mesh has nearly 60,000 cells.
This is far fewer than the mesh generated
using the automatic settings. We notice that
the mesh is fairly well resolved in the gaps
through the thin baffles, however the mesh
inside the ejector is too coarse for reliable
calculations. This is also an area of great
interest because we want to know how the gas coming out of the ejector
is distributed throughout the rest of the fluid.
Meshing
Discussion We can now distinguish two very different parts of our model. The
large, open area with the thin baffle walls, and the ejector region with
small geometrical features. These regions are very different, and in
turn, their meshes should be different. We will try to solve this by
adjusting the Level of initial mesh.
Result The Result Resolution or Level of initial mesh governs the solution
Resolution/ accuracy through mesh settings and convergence criteria. The user
Level of Initial specifies a result resolution level in accordance with the desired
solution accuracy, available CPU time, and computer memory. Because
Mesh
this setting has an influence on the number of generated mesh cells, a
more accurate solution requires longer CPU time and more computer
memory.
Note If you specify very small values of the Minimum gap size and
Minimum wall thickness and a high result resolution, the number of
mesh cells will dramatically increase, resulting in increases in memory
requirements and CPU time.
Using the slider for Level of initial mesh, you can select one of eight
resolution levels. The first level will give the fastest results but the level
of accuracy may be poor. The eighth level will give the most accurate
results but may take a long time to converge. The resolution level that
will return stable results depends on the task. For the majority of tasks
you can achieve stable results starting from level three. However, some
types of tasks require increasing the result resolution level (e.g.
external flows with separation from smooth surfaces).
Meshing

Initial Mesh.
Adjust the Level of initial mesh to 5.
Click OK.
13 Mesh.
Click Run.
Clear the Solve check box and select Run.
14 Cut plot.
Show the Cut Plot 1 that was previously
created.
The new mesh has about 200,000 cells.
This is significantly less than our mesh
with the default settings. In addition, the
mesh inside the ejector is well resolved.
Discussion At this point we might be able to proceed with our analysis, however
200,000 cells is still significant. In addition, the mesh is still
unnecessarily resolved in many regions where the flow field will
remain relatively unchanged. We can attempt to deal with this by turing
off the Automatic Settings of the Initial Mesh and setting up our
mesh manually.
Switching Off The Initial Mesh, Automatic Settings window controls the mesh
Automatic Mesh options within the entire computational domain. Deselect the
Definition Automatic Settings check box to turn off the automatic mesh
definition. SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation gives you four tabs when
manually defining your mesh.
I Basic Mesh I Solid/Fluid Interface
I Refining Cells I Narrow Channels
Meshing
Cell Types SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation uses the following four types of
rectangular cells:
I Fluid cells – These are cells entirely in the fluid.
I Solid cells – These are cells entirely in the solid.
I Partial cells – These are cells partly in the solid region and partly in
the fluid region. For partial cells the following information is
known: coordinates of intersections of cell’s edges with the solid
body, solid face area within a cell, and normal to the solid face.
I Irregular cells – partial cells with an undefined normal to the solid
face.
Basic Mesh The Basic Mesh settings define how the basic mesh is created. You
can specify the number of cells in the global x, y, and z direction and
the basic mesh will be constructed by dividing the computation domain
into slices by mesh planes. By default, the basic mesh planes are
arranged so that the computational domain is divided uniformly.
Solid/Fluid The Solid/Fluid Interface settings define the refinement levels for
Interface Small solid feature refinement level, Curvature refinement level,
and Tolerance refinement level. More information about these
settings can be found in the Help menu.
Refining Cells The Refining Cells settings describe the refinement level of each cell
type.
Narrow Channels The Narrow Channels settings specify additional mesh refinement in
the flow passages of the model. The Narrow channels refinement
level defines the smallest size of the cells in the flow passages with
respect to the basic mesh. More information about these settings can be
found in the Help menu.
Advanced Narrow The Advanced narrow channel refinement option is located in the
Channel automatic settings of the Initial Mesh. This setting applies the default
Refinement Narrow channels refinement level greater than the Tolerance
refinement level by one.

Initial Mesh.
Clear the Automatic Settings check box at the bottom of the window.
In the Narrow Channels tab, select Enable narrow channels
refinement and set the Narrow channels refinement level to 1.
This will reduce the number of cells between the baffle walls and the
back wall of the hood.
Click OK.
Meshing
16 Mesh.
Click Run.
Clear the Solve check box. Check the Mesh checkbox.
Select Run. This will only mesh the model.
17 Cut plot.
Show the Cut Plot 1 that was
previously created.
The new mesh has about 80,000
cells. The ejector region is still a bit
coarse, especially in the region near
the inlet.
Discussion The ejector inlet is still poorly resolved. We need a way to refine the
mesh in only this area without refinement anywhere else. For this, we
will use the Local Initial Mesh feature of SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation.
Introducing: Local The Local Initial Mesh option is intended for resolving the mesh
Initial Mesh around a local region (solid or fluid). The local region can be defined
by a component, face, edge, or vertex. Local mesh settings are applied
to all cells intersected by a component, face, edge, or a cell enclosing
the selected vertex.
If you would like to resolve the mesh within an entire fluid region, a
SolidWorks solid feature is required to represent the fluid. You must
then disable the solid component representing the fluid region using
Tools, Flow Simulation, Component Control. Once disabled in
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation, you can select the SolidWorks
component representing the fluid region in the Local Initial Mesh
option.
The local mesh settings do not influence the basic mesh but are basic
mesh sensitive: all refinement levels are set with respect to the basic
mesh.
Meshing
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Local Initial Meshes in the Flow
Simulation analysis tree and click Insert Local Initial Mesh
Features > Local Initial Mesh
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Insert, Local Initial Mesh
Note To add Local Initial Mesh to the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-
click your study an select Customize Tree, then choose Local Initial
Mesh.
18 Local initial mesh.

From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, choose: Insert, Local Initial
Mesh.
Select the small inlet on the ejector or use the boundary condition
defined on the inlet to select the face.
Clear the Automatic settings to set the initial mesh manually.
In the Refining Cells tab, click Refine all cells and use the slider to set
the Level of refining all cells to 7.
Click OK.
19 Mesh.
Click Run.
Clear the Solve check box. Check the Mesh checkbox.
Select Run. This will only mesh the model.
20 Cut plot.
created.
The mesh has slightly more cells, but is
much more refined around the inlet region.
Note We also could have used automatic settings for the Local Initial Mesh.
Meshing
Control Planes As we noted before, the basic mesh is formed by splitting the
computational domain into into cubes using parallel and orthogonal
planes which are aligned with the Global Coordinate System’s axes.
The Basic Mesh tab of the Initial Mesh defines the settings for how
the planes are created.
By default, three Control intervals
are created to define the cell
distribution in the x, y, and z
directions of the model. The Min
and Max fields define where the
splitting begins and ends. For
instance, the image shows the
default maximum and minimum
control planes for the x direction.
Notice that they are located at the ends of the computational domain.
Additional Control intervals can be introduced into the computational
domain to define additional planes used for splitting. The location of
the planes can be clicked on the screen or the user can select reference
geometry for a plane location. Furthermore, you can set up the how the
cells grow around the planes by editing the Number of cells or Ratio.
Discussion Although our mesh is well resolved around the orifice, it is not
symmetric about this face. This could pose problems with the boundary
condition. We would like the mesh to be created symmetrically about
the center of the small ejector inlet. Therefore, we will need to create a
plane at the center of the orifice to insure that the cells are split about
the center of the orifice.
Meshing
21 Insert control plane.

Initial Mesh.
Under Control intervals, select Add Plane.
The Create Control Planes window will open. Under Creating
mode, select Reference Geometry.
Under Parallel to, select the XY plane.
Select the circular edge of the ejector orifice inlet.
Click OK in the Create Control Planes window.
In the Control intervals list, there are now two plane sets in the z
direction. The first set goes from one end of the computational domain
up to the center of the orifice. The second set goes from the center of
the orifice to the other end of the computational domain.
Click OK to close the Initial Mesh window.
Z1 Plane Set Z2 Plane Set
22 Mesh.
Click Run.
model.
Meshing
23 Cut plot.
created.
The mesh is very similar, however the cells
are now symmetric about the small orifice.
Discussion If we additionally showed a cut

plot taken on the Top plane, we
would see that the mesh is also
symmetric in the xz plane. This is
shown in the figure to the right.
With these mesh settings, we have
certainly accurately resolved the
geometry of the model. When
developing a mesh it is important
to have accurately resolved the
model geometry, however it is
equally important to have resolved
regions of small flow peculiarities. A small stream of gas is inlet into
the ejector through the orifice. This could mean that small flow
peculiarities within the ejector that may not be present in the overall
model.
Again, we need the use of a Local Initial Mesh in the ejector so that it
is accurately resolved without excessive mesh splitting in the overall
model. To achieve this, a SolidWorks part has been created that will
enclose the ejector to define the region for the local mesh.
24 Unsupress part.
In the FeatureManager design tree right-click the LocalMesh2 part
and click Unsuppress.
An error message is shown telling you that the inlet volume flow
condition is not in contact with the fluid region.
Click Close twice to close the error messages.
Meshing
Discussion This error appears because the new LocalMesh2 part fully encloses
the ejector and blocks the ejector inlet boundary condition from the rest
of the fluid domain. We only want the LocalMesh2 part to define the
local mesh. We do not want to include the solid geometry in the
calculations.
Introducing: Whenever you have SolidWorks geometry that
Component Control you do not want to include in your simulation,
you must disable it using Component Control.
This type of situation is always seen when
applying a local initial mesh inside a fluid region
defined by a SolidWorks part.
This situation could also be seen when Goals must be set in regions
where no solid geometry exists. If this type of goal is needed, a dummy
body can be created as a SolidWorks part file to mark the region of
interest. The goals would be set on the faces of that region, then the
region would be disabled using Component Control.
analysis tree and click Component Control
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Component Control
25 Component control.
In the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, select Component Control.
Uncheck the checkbox next to the LocalMesh2 component.
The component will then be treated as fluid region.
Click OK to close the Component Control window.
26 Rebuild.
Rebuild the Flow Simulation project by right-clicking the project name,
Mesh 1 in the Flow Simulation analysis tree and selecting Rebuild.
From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, choose: Insert, Local Initial
Mesh.
Select the LocalMesh2 part from the FeatureManager design tree.
Clear the Automatic settings to set the initial mesh manually.
In the Narrow Channels tab, specify the Characteristic number of
cells across a narrow channel to 15.
Use the slider to set the Narrow channels refinement level to 3.
Click OK.
Note When creating a Local Initial Mesh in a fluid region using a part, the
component can also be disabled in the Component Control.
Meshing
28 Mesh.
Click Run.
model.
29 Cut plot.
previously created.
The mesh has about 106,000 cells
and is well resolved for both small
geometry in the ejector as well as
flow peculiarities.
Discussion The mesh from step 28 could already be used for a reliable solution. At
times, manual design of mesh is not the most efficient approach, and
automatic mesh refining and coarsening algorithm can be utilized.
Introducing: To achieve better resolution in difficult regions,
Adaptive mesh especially those where high gradients may exist,
adaptive meshing can be used. With adaptive
meshing turned on, software will automatically
refine or coarsen the mesh depending on the
local gradients and other solution characteristics.
Adaptive meshing can be requested in the entire
domain, or in the local region.
analysis tree and click Calculation Control Options and select the
Refinement tab.
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Calculation Control Options
Meshing
30 Adaptive mesh.
Right-click the Input Data folder and select Calculation Control
Options.
Select the Refinement tab.
Keep adaptive refinement for the Global Domain as Disabled.
Expand Local Regions and for Local Initial Mesh 2 specify level=2.
Set Approximate Maximum Cells count to 750,000.
Under Refinement strategy, select Periodic Refinement.
Keep the rest of the options at their default setting.
Click OK.
Note The level settings controls how many times the initial mesh cell
(currently designed in step 28) can be split to achieve the solution-
adaptive refinement criteria, and thus governs the minimum
computational mesh cell size.
31 Run the project.
At this point, in order to view the refined mesh, we need to launch the
calculation to adaptively refine the mesh. Due to the time required, the
results of this simulation have already been computed, and we will use
them for the post-processing.
32 Activate project.
Activate project completed.
33 Load results.
Right click the Results folder and select Load.
Meshing
34 Cut plot.
previously created.
The mesh was refined somewhat
throughout.
A detailed view of the ejector

inlet port shows more cells
adjacent to the inlet.
35 Mesh parameters.
To determine the number of cells in the final
mesh, right-click the Results folder and select
Summary. The total number of cells increased to
approximately 120,000. Adaptive algorithm split
cells efficiently where higher gradients were
detected.
Meshing
36 Result file parameters.

Alternatively, you can determine the number of cells in meshes directly
from the available result files.
Right-click the Results folder and select Load from file. The folder
will contain 5 files. Click on each one of them to see the summary on
the right side of the dialog window.
1.cpt contains initial mesh. The number of cells is the same as in step
29.
r_000000.fld contains initial mesh and initial flow results. The
number of cells is the same as in 1.cpt.
The remaining r_xxxxxx.fld files are intermediate files as the solver
progressed towards the solution. Here, they correspond to the instances
where the mesh was refined by the adaptive algorithm. Clicking on
each reveals the number of cells at iteration where the mesh was
refined.
Finally, 1.fld contains the final converged results, as well as the final
mesh. Clicking on this file reveals that the final mesh contained
approximately 120,000 cells, as already shown in step 35.
37 Velocity Cut Plot.

Define a new Cut Plot for
Velocity. Use CENTERLINE
plane.
The higher velocity of the
fluid can be easily seen in this
cut plot.
Meshing
Summary The overall goal of this lesson was to introduce some of the many
options available when trying to generate a quality mesh using Flow
Simulation. Although the automatic mesh settings are often adequate
for many models, they can be inadequate when the model has multiple
regions where different mesh settings may be required. In these
situations, the automatic mesh settings require substantial computer
resources that could prevent the problem from solving. To deal with
this, we learned about the manual mesh settings.
We learned that a quality mesh not only requires accurate resolution of
the model geometry, but also accurate resolution in regions of flow
peculiarities. Local initial meshes were used to accurately resolve both
model geometry and flow peculiarities.
It is important to remember that developing an accurate mesh for a
model such as this can be difficult. Often times a trial and error type of
technique that was employed in the lesson will be needed when
defining the mesh settings.
It is also important to note that the accuracy of the flow simulation
results are very dependent on the quality of the mesh. Taking the time
to properly resolve your geometry and flow peculiarities using manual
settings or local initial meshes can not only provide a more accurate
result, but could also reduce the run time with respect to the automatic
settings.
Adaptive meshing algorithm helps with progressive refining and
coarsening of the mesh during the calculation. This feature is especially
valuable for regions with difficult geometries where high gradients may
exist.
Exercise 1 SOLIDWORKS 2015
Square Ducting
Exercise 1: In this exercise, we will create a mesh for a flow analysis on the square
Square Ducting ducting.
This exercise reinforces the following skills:
I Computational Mesh on page 55.
I Geometry Resolution on page 56.
I Advanced Narrow Channel Refinement on page 62.
I Introducing: Local Initial Mesh on page 63.
Problem Statement The square tube shown in the
figure has two mid-walls that
separate it into three
sections. The model has
already been simplified and a
lid has been created for the
inlet flow.
Because we only wish to
investigate the mesh
controls, a simulation has been defined that will allow us to mesh, but
not run the analysis.
Open Mesh exercise from the Lesson02\Exercises\
Square Ducting folder.
2 Activate the proper project.
Activate the Mesh1 project. The
associated configuration Mesh exercise
will be activated automatically. With this
project, you should be able to navigate to
the Flow Simulation analysis tree and see
that the Mesh1 study has already been
defined using the Wizard.
It is always possible to go back and make any necessary changes to the

analysis setup, however in this case study, we only wish to mesh the
model.
Note As you activate the project Mesh1, the following warning will be
issued:
Flow Simulation has detected that the model was modified.
Do you want to rest mesh settings?
Click No to continue.
SOLIDWORKS 2015 Exercise 1
Square Ducting
3 Review small gaps in the geometry.

Use the Measure tool to determine the
size of the small gap in the model. This
number can then be used later when
defining our mesh settings.
Selecting the two faces that create the
small gap tells us that there is a 0.15 in
clearance; we expect a pressure drop
and associated velocity rise in this gap,
so this is a crucial feature in our flow
model.
4 Review the thin walls in the

geometry.
Another important feature is the thin
wall, and, by selecting an edge, we see
that it is 0.10 in thick.
Again, this is another number that will
be used when defining our mesh
settings.
5 Change Initial Mesh settings.

Initial Mesh.
In the Level of initial mesh settings, choose level 3.
6 Set the minimum gap size.
Select the Manual specification of minimum gap size check box.
In the Minimum gap size box, enter the value 0.15 in.
Note Alternatively, the specification can be made with the help of a
SolidWorks feature. This will be demonstrated in the specification of
the Minimum Wall Thickness parameter.
Square Ducting
7 Set the minimum wall thickness.

Select the Manual specification of the
minimum wall thickness and the Minimum wall
thickness refers to the feature dimension
check boxes.
Select the 0.1 in dimension identifying the
thickness of the wall.
The Optimize thin walls resolution check box
should be selected.
The Advanced narrow channel refinement check box should be
cleared.
Click OK.
Note To display the dimension, expand the Gaps and Thin Walls part in the
FeatureManager tree. Right-click Annotations and select Show
Feature Dimensions.
8 Create mesh without running solver.
In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click Mesh 1 and select
Run.
Clear the Solve check box.
The Load results check box should be selected by default. Make sure
this box is checked.
Click Run.
Note The results will be automatically loaded.
Square Ducting
9 Create cut plot.

In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, under Results, right-click the
Cut Plots icon and select Insert.
Make sure that Front plane is selected in the Section Plane or Planar
Face field.
Under Display, click the Mesh button.
Click OK.
Now, after the plot has been created, zoom into the areas around the
small gap and thin wall. Note that there are only two cells through the
gap in the top left; minimally there should be three cells (but at least
four are recommended) for such a small gap to capture the flow
gradients here.
Square Ducting
10 Review different mesh cells.

We can understand the different cell types that were created by showing
them in color. To do this, right-click on the Mesh icon just below
Results in the Flow Simulation analysis tree and choose 3D View.
Expand the Cell Options folder and change the Fluid, Solid and
Partial cells from None to All by clicking on the box and selecting All
from the drop-down menu.
Tip You can change the color of the cell type by clicking on the given color
and selecting the color that you want. Note the different colors for the
three cell types.
Expand the Region folder and change the dimensions in the Z-
direction to Zmin -0.25 in and Zmax 0.25 in to show only a few layers
of cells in that direction.
Click OK.
Square Ducting
Partial cells, shown in green, are lying both in the small gap and around
the thin wall regions. This view shows additional information about
how the solid and fluid volumes were resolved by the mesher.
Advanced Narrow We will try to improve the mesh by using another option, called
Channel Refinement Advanced narrow channel refinement, available in the Initial Mesh
options.
11 Refine mesh.
Initial Mesh.
Select the Advanced narrow channel refinement check box located
on the bottom of the Initial Mesh dialog window.
Click OK.
Run.
Make sure the Load results check box is checked.
Select the Mesh check box.
Click Run.
Note The results will be automatically loaded.
Square Ducting
13 Show cut plot and review Mesh.

In the Flow Simulation analysis
tree, under Results, right-click the
Make sure that Front plane is
selected in the Section Plane or
Planar Face field.
Under Display, click the Mesh
button.
Click OK.
Zooming in on the small gap again reveals a fine mesh near the walls
and about 5 cells through the gap. This is a much better mesh than the
one created previously, but it comes at a cost of increasing cell count
and run time.
If this were not such a simple example model, using the Advanced
narrow channel refinement method might dramatically increase the
computation time. A linear relationship between cell count and
computation time does not exist, but because of the nature of fluid
dynamics, run times can be disproportionately longer.
Square Ducting
Local Initial Mesh A part called local_initial_mesh to define the local initial mesh has
already been defined and added to the assembly. Currently, it is hidden
and disabled from the Flow Simulation project using Component
Control.
14 Show the local initial mesh region.
In the FeatureManager design tree, show the part called
local_initial_mesh.
Local Initial Mesh Region
Note Before defining the Local Initial Mesh, always be sure to disable it
from the project using Component Control. To do this, in the Flow
Simulation analysis tree, right-click Input Data and select
Component Control. Then, uncheck the checkboxes next to the
components you wish to disable.
15 Define the local initial mesh.
From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, choose
Insert, Local Initial Mesh .
Select the solid body associated with the local_initial_mesh part from
the FeatureManager design tree. This will add the component to the
local mesh Region.
In the Local Initial Mesh window, select the Automatic Settings tab.
Select the Manual specification of the minimum wall thickness and
the Minimum wall thickness refers to the feature dimension check
boxes.
Select the 0.1 in dimension identifying the thickness of the wall.
The Advanced narrow channel refinement check box should be
selected.
Square Ducting
16 Modify mesh settings.

Right-click Input Data in the Flow Simulation analysis tree and select
Initial Mesh.
Clear the Manual specification of the minimum gap size, Manual
specification of the minimum wall thickness and Advanced
narrow channel refinement check boxes.
Click OK.
Run.
Make sure the Load results check box is checked.
Select the Mesh check box.
Click Run.
18 Show cut plot and review Mesh.
Make sure that Front plane is selected in the Section Plane or Planar
Face field.
Under Display, click the Mesh button.
Click OK.
Notice that the mesh is refined in the region of the local initial mesh,
however outside this region, the mesh remains coarse. This option can
improve computation time in complicated models where results in only
certain areas are important. Less important areas can be meshed with
coarser settings, while regions of interest can be meshed finer.
19 Close the model.
Thin Walled Box
Exercise 2: In this exercise we will use the thin wall optimization feature to
Thin Walled Box perform an analysis on the thin walled box.
I Geometry Resolution on page 56.
I Optimize Thin Wall Resolution on page 57.
Problem Water flows through a part with

Inlet
Statement several very thin baffles as shown in
the figure below. The water can enter
the model through the inlet on the
back face of the box and exit the
model through the opening on the
bottom face of the box.
Outlet
1 Open a part file.

Open box from the Lesson02\Exercises\Thin Walled Box folder.
Make sure that the default configuration is active.
2 Create a project.
Using the Wizard, create a new project with the following properties:
Configuration name Create new:

“Thin Wall Optimization”
Project name “Run 1”
Database of Fluids In the Fluids list, double-click Water.
Wall conditions Default conditions
Initial conditions Default conditions
Results & Geometry Default conditions (Do not switch off the
Resolution Optimize thin walls resolution option.)
Click Finish.
Thin Walled Box
Thin Wall The Optimize thin walls resolution option resolves thin wall features
Optimization Option without any manual refining of the mesh around the thin wall because
both sides can reside within the same cell. Cells in the thin wall regions
contain more than one fluid and/or solid volume. During the
calculation, each such volume has an individual set of parameters
depending on its type (fluid or solid).
3 Set inlet boundary
condition.
In the SOLIDWORKS
tree, expand the Input
Data folder, right-click
Boundary Conditions
and select Insert
Boundary Condition.
Select the inner face of the
inlet lid.
Click Flow openings and
select Inlet Velocity.
Under Flow Parameters,
enter 0.5 m/s in the
Normal to Face direction.
Click OK to save the boundary condition.
4 Set outlet boundary
condition.
Simulation analysis tree, right-
click Boundary Conditions
and select Insert Boundary
Condition.
Select the inner face of the
outlet lid.
Click Pressure openings and
select Static Pressure. The
default outlet pressure and
temperature of 101325 Pa and
293.2 K are acceptable for this
problem.
Click OK.
Thin Walled Box
5 Insert Surface Goal.

Under Input Data, right-click Goals and
select Insert Surface Goals.
Select the inlet face. (Alternatively, you can
click on the Inlet Velocity 1 boundary
condition from the Flow Simulation
analysis tree, prior to defining the goal.
This will load the correct face
automatically.)
In the Surface Goals window, under
Parameter, select the Av check box in the
Static Pressure row.
Note The already selected Use for Conv. check box means that the created
goal will be used for convergence control.
Click OK.
The new SG Av Static Pressure 1 item appears in the
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree under Goals.
6 Insert Surface Goal on outlet face for the Mass Flow Rate.
Under Input Data, right-click Goals and select Insert Surface Goals.
Select the outlet face. Alternatively, you can select the Static
Pressure1 boundary condition from the SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation analysis tree which will load the correct face automatically.
In the Parameter table, select the Mass Flow Rate check box.
Note The Use for Conv. check box will be selected automatically.
Click OK.
The new SG Mass Flow Rate 1 item appears in the SOLIDWORKS
Flow Simulation analysis tree under Goals.
Thin Walled Box
7 Run the analysis.

Right-click on the Run 1 icon and select Run to open the Run
window.
Make sure that the Load results and Solve check boxes are selected.
Click Run.
Note You can monitor the solution progress in the Solve dialog window. The
solver should take approximately 5 minutes to run depending on the
processor speed.
As explained in Lesson 1: Creating a SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
Project, with the Load results option turned on, the results will be
automatically loaded for post-processing once the solver is finished.
8 View the mesh.
Choose the Front Plane as the cut plane and specify 0.005m for the
Offset.
Make sure that the Contours button is deselected and the Mesh button
is selected.
Click OK.
Thin Walled Box
Note The mesh created looks rather coarse in the vicinity of the thin baffle
walls. Many cells span from one side of the fluid across the thin wall to
the fluid on the other side. Traditionally, without the Thin Wall
Optimization algorithm, such a mesh would not be acceptable to
correctly resolve the fluid on both sides. Furthermore, with heat
conduction in the solid walls requested, multiples of the solid cells
would be requested through the thickness of the walls. Such conditions
would drastically increase the mesh size and computation time. With
Thin Wall Optimization turned on, the current mesh is acceptable for
accurate fluid solution, as well as for the heat transfer solution in the
solid walls.
9 Velocity cut plot.
Right-click the Cut Plot 1 icon and select Edit Definition.
Deselect Mesh and click the Contours button.
Select Velocity as the parameter to plot.
Increase Number of Levels to 50 and click OK.
The maximum velocity reaches 1.24 m/s in the narrowest location

between the baffles.
Thin Walled Box
10 Hide the cut plot.

Right-click the Cut Plot 1 icon and select Hide.
11 Insert Flow Trajectory.
Right-click the Flow Trajectories icon and select Insert.
In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree, click the Static
Pressure1 item to select the inner face of the outlet.
Click OK.
12 Unload the results.

Right-click the Results icon and select Unload Results.
Note This step would only be required if we wished to post-process a
different set of results (if such different set exists).
Heat Sink
Exercise 3: In this exercise we will develop a mesh for an analysis of a heat sink.
Heat Sink This exercise reinforces the following skills:
I Optimize Thin Wall Resolution on page 57.
I Introducing: Local Initial Mesh on page 63.
I Control Planes on page 65.
Problem Statement The solid body is generating heat and
we would like to evaluate the
performance of the fins. We must
generate an appropriate mesh for this
analysis. To do this, we will use and
evaluate two techniques; control
planes and thin wall optimization. We
will then comment on the reliability of
each technique with respect to model
results and computation time.
Open heat sink from the Lesson02\Exercises\Heat Sink folder.
2 Activate the proper project.
Activate the optimization project. The associated configuration will
be activated automatically. This project already has the study defined.
We will first mesh the model using thin wall optimization.
3 Review geometry.
To properly apply our mesh
settings, we must review the
geometry. Find the minimum gap
size and minimum wall thickness to
enter into the initial mesh settings.
The minimum gap size is 0.7 in.
The minimum wall thickness is
0.05 in.
4 Change Initial Mesh settings.

Initial Mesh.
In the Level of initial mesh settings, choose level 3.
5 Set the minimum gap size.
Heat Sink
6 Set the minimum wall thickness.

the Minimum wall thickness refers to the feature dimension check
boxes.
Select the 0.05 in dimension identifying the thickness of the wall.
The Optimize thin walls resolution check box should be selected.
Click OK.
In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click Optimization and
select Run.
Click Run.
When the solver is completed, approximately 100,000 cells should be
created.
8 Create cut plot.
In the Flow Simulation analysis tree,
under Results, right-click the Cut
Plots icon and select Insert.
Make sure that Top plane is selected
in the Section Plane or Planar
Face field.
Enter 1 in as the Offset.
button.
Click OK.
Notice how due to the thin wall optimization, no additional cells are
needed to resolve the thin features in the model.
Heat Sink
9 Activate the control plane project.

Activate project control planes. The associated configuration will be
activated automatically. This project already has the study defined. We
will use a local initial mesh to insure that the thin gaps are well
resolved and we will use control planes to resolve the thin walls.
From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, choose
Insert, Local Initial Mesh .
Select the solid body associated with the heat sink part from the
FeatureManager design tree. This will add the component to the local
mesh Region.
In the Local Initial Mesh window, clear the Automatic Settings
checkbox.
Select the Solid/Fluid Interface tab.
Set the Small solid features refinement level to 1.
Select the Refining Cells tab.
Select the Refine partial cells box and set the slider bar to 2.
Select the Narrow Channels tab.
Make sure the Enable narrow channels refinement is not checked.
Clear this box if necessary.
Click OK.
11 Initial Mesh.
Initial Mesh.
Clear the Automatic Settings.
Set the following values for the Number of cells in each direction:
Number of Cells
Number of cells per X: 42

Number of cells per Y: 49
Number of cells per Z: 88
Edit the existing control planes in

the x and y directions as shown in
the figure at right.
Heat Sink
Edit and add the control planes in

the z direction as shown in the
figure at right.
Tip Rather than adding these planes then editing them, it is helpful to select
Reference Geometry as the Creating Mode and then selecting the fin
edges as shown in the figure.
Select the Solid/Fluid Interface tab.

Set the Small solid feature refinement level to 1.
Select the Refining Cells tab.
Select the Refining partial cells box and set the slider bar to 2.
Select the Narrow Channels tab.
Make sure that Enable narrow channels refinement is active and the
Characteristic number of cells across a narrow channel is set to 5.
Click OK.
Heat Sink

In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click control planes and
select Run.
Click Run.
When the solver is completed, approximately 215,000 cells should be
created.
13 Create cut plot.
Make sure that Top plane is
selected in the Section Plane or
Planar Face field.
Enter 1 in as the Offset.
button.
Click OK.
Notice how the mesh planes resolved the thin walls well such that no
cell is split by a solid region. In addition, the thin gaps are resolved
such that an ample number of cells cross the region.
Heat Sink
Discussion The question now becomes, which mesh is better for this type of
analysis?
To properly answer that question, we need to know the results of each
analysis. If fully run, the optimization study takes about 10 minutes
while the control planes study takes about 25 minutes. Both studies
produce approximately the same maximum temperature. See below for
a cut plot of their results.
Thin Wall Optimization Control Planes
When viewed with the same scale, both studies produce nearly
identical results. As expected, the control planes study does produce
a slightly more resolved result, however this result comes at the
expense of substantially more computation and set up time. Because
the results are so similar, we can conclude that control planes will not
normally be needed to make engineering decisions. If design criteria
are stringent, the control planes will provide us with means to achieve
additional accuracy with the expense of mesh set up and computation
time. In addition, control planes are not suitable for curved geometry as
in the previous exercise.
The thin wall optimization allows the user to produce a good result
without sacrificing the computation and set up time that is required of
control planes. In addition, the thin wall optimization can not only
handle geometry that is orthogonal to the global coordinate system, but
also curved geometry.
Meshing Valve Assembly
Exercise 4: In this exercise, you will mesh

Meshing Valve the valve assembly to properly
Assembly resolve the basket openings and Inlet
compute the pressure drop. Outlet
Basket
This exercise reinforces the
following skills:
I Initial Mesh on page 56.
I Optimize Thin Wall
Resolution on page 57
I Local Initial Mesh on
page 63.
I Component Control on page 68
Problem The valve in the image features a

Description basket with rows of holes for the
fluid flow. To allow smooth
increase in the flow as the valve
opens, the hole sizes increases
vertically. To correctly calculate
the pressure drop at various
basket positions, all holes need
to be resolved with proper mesh,
i.e. 3 to 4 fluid cells across the
diameter of the hole.
In this exercise consider only the
fully open configuration for the
valve (SolidWorks configuration
Maximum open 25 mm)
Boundary You need to specify the volume inflow of 0.001 m^3/s, and an
Conditions environmental pressure boundary condition at the outlet location.
Goal Mesh the valve assembly and properly resolve each of the openings.
Your mesh should feature less than 350,000 cells.
The assembly file Regulator valve for this exercise is located in the
Lesson02\Exercises folder.
Note Use local initial mesh feature to generate appropriate mesh in relatively
short time.
Meshing Valve Assembly
Lesson 3
Thermal Analysis
I Use the Engineering Database for your materials.
I Apply heat loading.
I Learn to create a fan in your model.
I Use perforated plates.
I Understand Fan Curves.
I Model an electronics enclosure.
I Learn good modeling approaches to complicated geometry.
Thermal Analysis
Case Study: In this lesson, we will perform a Flow Simulation on an electronic

Electronics enclosure. A simulated fan will be used to model the effects of a real
Enclosure fan. To save time in the analysis, a coarse mesh will be used. In
addition, heat sources will be applied to the various electronic
components within the enclosure. We will then post-process the results
of the analysis.
Project The electronics enclosure shown below is cooled by a fan. To simplify
Description the model, the fan and other complicated features will be suppressed.
The enclosure is closed with a lid on the top (not shown), and
additional lids are in place so that an internal analysis can be
performed. An external inlet fan will be applied to the lid to simulate
the presence of the fan. The temperature of the heat sink and op-amp
must be minimized. Heat is generated from the resistors, op-amp, heat
sink, and coil while the capacitors operate at a constant temperature.
Capacitors
Resistors
Op-Amp
Heat Sink
Coil
Stages in the I Prepare the model for analysis.

Process Many of the unnecessary features in the model have been
suppressed.
I Create the study.
Create the study using the Wizard.
I Apply materials.
Apply the material properties for conduction calculations.
I Apply boundary conditions and fan.
Apply the fan to the inlet lid and apply the boundary conditions.
I Run the analysis.

Thermal Analysis

Open PDES_E_Box from the Lesson03\Case Study folder.
2 Review the model.
Configuration Full model contains all of the parts in the state that they
will be when the model is created. There are many small features and
cuts in the parts that will have little effect on the analysis and prove
very complicated when meshing. At this point, we need to consider
simplifying the model so that we achieve reasonable run times without
sacrificing the accuracy of the results.
Notice that many of the parts have two separate
configurations; one for the model as built and one
with the small features suppressed for the analysis.
This proves especially useful when creating the
assembly for the analysis. Instead of suppressing
features on the assembly level, you can simply use
the already created configurations in the assembly.
3 Activate configuration.
Activate configuration Simplified. This configuration contains
simplified geometry used in this simulation.
Thermal Analysis
As you activate the configuration Simplified, a sequence of warning

messages will be issued.
Flow Simulation has detected that the model was modified.
Do you want to rest mesh settings?
Click Yes to continue.
Project has some substances which are missing in the
Engineering database. To work with project you need to add
all missing substances.
Click Add All.
Tip Even with these simplifications, this model will prove computationally
intense for meshing. There are many curved features where a finer
mesh will be needed. A first step in any simulation should be to
simplify the model as much as possible. For a first run at this
simulation, it would be wise to further simplify these features by
removing small gaps and thin features to ease meshing. We will
proceed with the model in its current state.
Note The completed project will load by default. Ignore it, and continue
with definition of a new project in the next step.
4 Create a new Project.
Using the Wizard, create a new project with properties as follows:
Configuration name Use Current:

“Simplified”
Project name “Electronics cooling”
Change the units for Temperature to °C.
Physical Features Select the Heat conduction in Solids check box.
Database of Fluids In the Fluids list, under Gases, double-click Air
to add it to the Project Fluids.
Solids Default solid should be set to Insulator under the
Glasses and Minerals list.
Wall conditions The default Roughness value of 0 micrometer
is acceptable for this analysis.
Results & Geometry Set the Result resolution to 3.
Resolution
Thermal Analysis
Introducing: So far, we have been selecting our default fluid from the list, but we
Engineering have not yet seen where this list comes from or what information is
Database located in these fluid definitions. This information is located in the
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Engineering Database.
The Engineering Database contains:
I Physical information on a wide variety of gases, liquids, non-
Newtonian liquids, compressible liquids and solid substances. It
includes both constant values and various physical parameters as
functions of temperature and pressure (pressure dependence is only
for a liquid's boiling and solidification points).
I Fan curves defining volume flow rate (or mass flow rate) versus
static pressure difference for selected industrial fans.
I Properties of porous media.
I Custom visualization parameters which are defined by an equation
(basic mathematical functions) with the specified default
parameters as variables and can be visualized in addition to the
standard parameters.
I Properties of radiative surfaces.
I Units in which you can see and specify data in the project.
Where to Find It I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Engineering Database
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Tools, Engineering Database
5 Create a new material.

The transformer is made of a special user defined
material which is not a default material in the
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Engineering
database. To add this material, do the following
before setting up the SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation project:
From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, choose:
Tools, Engineering Database.
Under Database tree, expand the Materials
folder and select Solids, User Defined.
Click New Item in the Engineering database
toolbar, or right-click on the User Defined folder
and select New Item.
Thermal Analysis
6 Enter the material properties.

A blank Item Properties tab appears. Specify the following material
properties (double-click the empty cell to set the corresponding
property value):
Name Transformer Material

Density 5000 kg/m^3
Specific Heat 640 J/(kg*K)
Thermal Conductivity 170 W/(m*K)
Melting Temperature 1250 K
Click Save.
7 Apply materials.
Under Input Data, right-click Solid Materials and select Insert
Solid Material. Apply the following Pre-Defined materials to the
parts as shown in the figure below.
Copper Gold Aluminum
Stainless Steel 321 Silicon Transformer Silicon

Material
Note Any materials that have not be defined will be treated as Insulator
because that is what we have defined as our Default Solid.
Thermal Analysis
8 Apply PCB material.

Using similar procedure apply PCB 4-layers
material to SPS_PC_Board. This material
can be found in the Non-Isotropic subfolder
under the Pre-Defined folder.
Under Anisotropy, keep Global Coordinate System and under Axis

select Y.
Note PCB 4-layers material features an Axisymmetrical/Biaxial
conductivity type. The Anisotropy dialog is used to specify the
orientation of the out-of-plane direction. The two in-plane material
directions will be aligned with the remaining two global coordinate
system axes.
Introducing: Heat You can specify Heat Sources either on a surface (Surface Source)
Source where neither Boundary Conditions (or Transferred Boundary
Condition) nor Fans are specified (i.e. through which the fluid does not
flow), or in the medium, which can be either solid or fluid (Volume
Source).
I In Surface Source you can specify heat sources on solid
surfaces in the form of Heat Transfer Rate, Heat Flux if Heat
transfer in solids is not considered, and in the form of Heat
Generation Rate, Surface Heat Generation Rate if Heat
transfer in solids is under consideration (in both cases, a positive
value denotes heat generation, a negative value denotes heat
absorption).
I In Volume Source you can specify internal (volume) heat
sources in the form of Temperature, Heat Generation Rate or
Volumetric Heat Generation Rate (in all cases, a positive value
denotes heat generation, a negative value denotes heat absorption).
You can use Volume Source in a component (a part or
subassembly in assemblies, as well as a body in multibody parts)
that is treated as either solid or fluid. If the component is treated as
a solid, heat transfer in solids has to be considered. If the
component is to be treated as a fluid, you must disable the
component in the Component Control dialog box.
Thermal Analysis
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Heat Sources in the Flow Simulation
analysis tree and click Insert Surface Source or Insert Volume
Source
Features > Surface Source or Volume Source
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Insert, Surface Source or
Volume Source
Note To add Heat Sources to the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click
your study and select Customize Tree, then choose Heat Sources.
9 Apply heat sources.

2W
In the Flow Simulation analysis (Cap_A)
tree, right-click the Heat Source
icon and select Insert Volume
Source.
Select the SPS_Cap_A-1 and
SPS_Cap_A-2 parts and apply 2 0.5W
W as the Heat Generation Rate. (SOP-8)
Click OK.
Repeat the process for the 1W
remaining parts shown in the Coil
figure with their respective Heat
Generation Rates. 3W
Heat Sink
10 Apply heat sources.

35°C
In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, 45°C Cap_C
Cap_B
right-click the Heat Source icon
and select Insert Volume Source.
Under Parameter, select
Temperature and apply 45°C to
the four blue capacitors.
Repeat this procedure and apply 35°C to the four pink capacitors.
Thermal Analysis
Fans The Fan creates a volume flow rate into or out of the boundary based
on the difference between the inlet and outlet pressures averaged over
the face. The direction of the fan can be specified as Normal to Face,
Swirl, or 3D Vector. Swirl allows for the specification of swirling flow
about a reference axis at a given angular and radial velocity at the inlet
or outlet. For more information on Fans, refer to the Flow Simulation
Help menu.
Fan Curves A fan curve is defined as the dependency of
Pressure Difference
the volume or mass flow rate versus the Stall Region
pressure difference. An example of a fan
curve is shown in the figure. Notice that most
fans have a “stall region” where at a given
pressure difference, the fan can jump
between two flow rates.
It is recommended to select your fan to Flow Rate
operate on the right of the stall region to
ensure stability. Fan curves can usually be
obtained from the manufacturer of the fan.
Introducing: Fan A Fan is a type of flow boundary condition. It can be applied on
artificial lids as Inlet Fans or Outlet Fans.
Where to Find It In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click your study and select
Customize Tree, then choose Fans. This will create a Fans item in the
Input Data folder of the Flow Simulation analysis tree. You can also
find Fans in the following locations:
I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Fans in the Flow Simulation analysis
tree and click Insert Fan
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Fan
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Insert, Fan
Note To add Fans to the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click your
study and select Customize Tree, then choose Fans.
Thermal Analysis
11 Create a fan.
In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, under
Input Data, right click Fans and select Insert
Fan.
Under Type, select External Inlet Fan.
Select the inside face on the Fan_Cap.
Under Fan, select Pre-Defined, Fan Curves,

Papst, DC-Axial, Series 400, 405, 405.
Leave the default Inlet Flow Parameters and
Thermodynamic Parameters.
Note The pre-defined fan parameters are used to
illustrate the fan capability of the engineering
database. It is highly recommended that all fan
parameters are thoroughly checked with the fan
manufacturer.
12 Set outlet boundary condition.
In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, under Input Data, right-click the
Boundary Conditions icon and select Insert Boundary Condition.
Select the nine lid faces on the inside of the enclosure.
In the Boundary Conditions window, under Type, select the

Pressure openings button and Environment Pressure as the Type
of Boundary Condition.
Click OK, accepting the default ambient values.
Thermal Analysis
Perforated You have probably noticed that one of the simplifications of the model
Plates was to cut a large hole where there was a series of triangularly stacked
circular holes in the side of the enclosure. These holes were removed
because they are time consuming to mesh and solve. To take them into
account after removing them, we have several approaches.
I Apply a pressure boundary condition and assume the holes have a
negligible effect on the flow field (what we have done now). This is
a bad approximation of this condition.
I Use a porous media (discussed in Lesson 7: Porous Media) to
approximate the presence of the holes. This is an acceptable
approximation, however the properties of the porous media would
be necessary to properly model this situation. To obtain these
properties, it would be possible to remove the wall completely and
run computational experiments on the wall to calculate the
properties. This approach can be time consuming to calculate the
properties, but will provide an acceptable approximation.
I Use the perforated plates option. This will give us the next best
approximation of the series of holes outside of leaving them in the
model.
In this lesson, we will choose the third option.
Introducing: Perforated plates can be defined in the Engineering Database and
Perforated Plates applied to your model.
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Perforated Plates in the Flow

Simulation analysis tree and click Insert Perforated Plate
Features , Perforated Plate
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Insert, Perforated Plate
Note To add Perforated Plates to the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-
click your study an select Customize Tree, then choose Perforated
Plates.
13 Define perforated plate.

From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, choose: Tools, Engineering
Database.
Under Database tree, expand the Perforated Plates folder and select
User Defined.
Click New Item in the Engineering database toolbar, or right-click

on the User Defined folder and select New Item.
Thermal Analysis

property value):
Name electronics enclosure

Hole Shape Round
Diameter 2mm
Coverage Checkerboard Distance
Distance between centers 4mm
The Free area ratio should be calculated automatically as

0.226724917.
Click Save.
Free Area Ratio The free area ratio is defined as the area
of voids divided by the area of solid. This
can be easily verified with a manual
calculation. Consider the area enclosed
by the red square.
15 Add Perforated plate.

under Input Data, right click
Perforated Plates and select Insert
Perforated Plate.
Select the inside face of the large
pressure outlet.
Under Perforated Plate dialog select
User Defined, electronics
enclosure.
Thermal Analysis
16 Define Engineering Goal (Volume Goal).

As stated in the problem description, the temperatures of the heat sink
and the op-amp must be minimized. To obtain this data, we will use
engineering goals.
Right-click the Goals icon in the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
analysis tree and select Insert Volume Goal.
In the Volume Goals dialog window, in the Parameter list, find
Temperature (Solid).
Select the check box in the Max column.
In the SolidWorks FeatureManager design tree, select Heat Sink to
update the Components to apply volume goal list.
Click OK.
Repeat this procedure to apply a Temperature of Solid goal to SOP-8.
17 Solve the Flow Simulation project.
From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, click: Solve, Run.
Make sure Load results is checked.
Click Run.
This analysis can take about eight minutes to complete. Let the project
run for a few minutes to insure it meshes properly and begins running,
then stop and activate the electronics cooling - completed
configuration and load the results from this project.
18 Create cut plot.
tree, under Results, right-click
the Cut Plots icon and select
Insert.
In the Section plane or Planar
face box, select the Top plane
with an Offset of 1mm.
In the Display dialog, click
Contours.
In the Contours dialog select
Temperature and increase
Number of Levels to 50.
Click OK to generate the plot.
Hide the cut plot when done
reviewing it.
Thermal Analysis
19 View flow trajectory.

In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click Flow
Trajectories and select Insert.
Select External Inlet Fan 1 as the reference.
Click OK.
20 View the volume temperatures.

Under Results, right-click Goal Plots and select Insert.
Click Add All and then either Show or Export to Excel to open the
goal results.
The maximum temperature of the heat sink is almost 57 °C while the
maximum temperature of the op-amp is 48 °C.
Thermal Analysis
Discussion Our results show that the maximum temperature of the heat sink was
about 67°C. If this was near the critical value, another analysis may be
needed with a more refined mesh in the heat sink. Although the thin
wall optimization does a good job in this area, a more refined mesh
would provide even better results, however the run time would
increase. To deal with the larger run times, we will learn about a
technique known as EFD zooming later on in the course.
To lower the temperature of the heat sink you are encouraged to try
other fans or even create your own to try to further lower the
temperatures of these parts. Another approach could be to change the
orientation of the heat sink.
Summary In this lesson, we performed a flow analysis on an electronics
enclosure. We learned that simplifying the geometry as much as
possible for a first pass analysis will allow the simulation to run
quicker. If we were interested in the effectiveness of the heat sink, a
local initial mesh would allow for finer mesh settings in this area,
providing a more accurate result.
Goals were also created to reflect the design intent of minimizing the
temperatures of the op-amp and the heat sink. These goals allowed us
to validate our fan selection.
In addition, we learned about fans and how they are defined. Fan
curves are a measurement of the fan’s performance and should always
be obtained through the fan manufacturer. It is critical to select a fan
with a fan curve based on the operating conditions of the fan.
Materials with Orthotropic Thermal Conductivity
Exercise 5: In this exercise, we will perform a thermal analysis on an electronic

Materials with microchip with a heat sink.
Orthotropic This exercise reinforces the following skills:
Thermal I Introducing: Heat Source on page 103.
Conductivity I Introducing: Engineering Database on page 101.
Problem The enclosure housing a heated

Statement electronic chip (maintained at
100 °C), mounted within a cut out of
the middle plate, has two separate
(upper and lower) flow paths. An
aluminum heat sink is mounted
directly above the chip on the upper
half of the enclosure. A gold plate is
mounted on the other side of the chip
in the lower half of the enclosure. heat sink
The lower flow path has room
temperature air (20 °C) blowing on
the chip at 5 m/s. The upper flow path has colder (5 °C) air blowing
over the heat sink at 5 m/s.
Materials used to manufacture the chip and the middle plate feature
orthotropic conductivity (i.e. direction dependent thermal
conductivity).
The objective of this analysis is to obtain the distribution of
temperature in both the chip and the middle plate.
Open TEC gas cooling from the Lesson03\Exercises folder.
2 Create a project.
Configuration Use Current:

name “Model”
Project name “Orthotropic material”
Unit system SI (m-kg-s) (change temperature from K to C)
Physical Features Select Heat conduction in Solids.
Default Fluid In the Fluids list, under Gases, double-click Air.
Default Solid Select Insulator from the Glasses and Minerals list.
Results and Set the Result resolution to 4.

Geometry Select the Manual specification of the minimum gap
Resolution size check box and type 0.00381 m as its size.
Click Finish.
3 Create new material.

Plate-1 and TEC-1 are made of materials called Orthotropic plate
and Orthotropic plate 2, respectively. Because these materials are
not in the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation engineering database, we
must define them.
In the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, choose: Tools, Engineering
Database. In the Database tree, select Materials, Solids, User
Defined.
Click New Item on the toolbar. A blank Item Properties tab appears.
Double-click the empty cell to set the corresponding property value.
Specify the following material properties:
Name = Orthotropic plate
Comment = Orthotropic Material
Density = 2700 kg/m^3
Specific heat = 1000 J/(kg*K)
Conductivity type = Orthotropic
Thermal conductivity in X = 1.5 W/(m*K)
Thermal conductivity in Y = 0.5 W/(m*K)
Thermal conductivity in Z = 3.0 W/(m*K)
Melting temperature = 4400.33 K
Click Save.
4 Create new material.

Stay in the Database tree, under Materials, Solids, User Defined.
Click the New Item icon on the toolbar.
A blank Item Properties tab appears. Double-click the empty cell to
set the corresponding property value.
Specify the following material properties:
Name = Orthotropic plate 2
Comment = Orthotropic Material
Density = 2700 kg/m^3
Specific heat = 1000 J/(kg*K)
Conductivity type = Orthotropic
Thermal conductivity in X = 1.5 W/(m*K)
Thermal conductivity in Y = 50 W/(m*K)
Thermal conductivity in Z = 0 W/(m*K)
Melting temperature = 3140.33 K
Click Save.
Click File, Exit to exit the database.
Note You can enter the material properties in any unit system by typing the
unit name after the value and SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation will
automatically convert the value to metric. You can also enter material
properties that are temperature dependent using the Tables & Curves
tab.
5 Assign the Solid Materials.
Under Input Data, right-click Solid Materials
and select Insert Solid Material.
In the SolidWorks FeatureManager, select Heat
Sink.
Expand the list of Pre-Defined materials and
select Aluminum.
Click OK.
6 Assign the rest of the materials.

Repeat the above procedure and assign the solid materials as follows:
Orthotropic plate (User defined material) to the TEC-1 part. Make
sure that the material X axis is aligned with the global X axis.
Gold to the TEC-2 part.
Orthotropic plate 2 (User defined material) to the plate-1 part.
Make sure that the material X axis is aligned with the global X axis.
7 Inlet boundary condition 1
(upper half).
Simulation analysis tree,
right-click the Boundary
Conditions icon and select
Insert Boundary
Condition.
Select the vertical face of the
inlet lid on the upper half of
the enclosure.
Under Type, click the Flow
openings button. Select
Inlet Velocity, and specify
the Normal to Face flow of
5 m/s.
Under Thermodynamic
Parameters, specify a
Temperature of 5 °C.
Click OK.
8 Inlet boundary condition 2 (lower half).
In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click the
Boundary Condition.
Select the vertical face of the inlet lid on the lower half
of the enclosure.
Following the same procedure, specify a Normal to
Face, Inlet Velocity boundary condition of
5 m/s at a Temperature of 20 °C.
9 Outlet boundary condition 1 (upper half).

In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click the Boundary
Conditions icon and select Insert Boundary Condition.
Select the inner face of the outlet lid on the upper half of the enclosure.
Under Type, click the Pressure openings button and select Static
Pressure.
The default outlet pressure and temperature of 101325 Pa and 20.05 °C
(293.2 K) are acceptable for this problem.
Click OK.
10 Outlet boundary condition 2
(lower half).
Specify an identical pressure
boundary condition for the lower
half outlet lid.
11 Insert heat source.

Under Input Data, right-click Heat Sources and
select Insert Volume Source.
From the SolidWorks feature manager tree, select
the TEC-1 feature.
Under Parameter, click the Temperature button
and enter 100 °C.
Click OK.
12 Insert volume goals for the temperature.

Under Input Data, right-click the Goals icon and select Insert
Volume Goals.
Under Parameter, scroll down until you find Temperature (Solid) and
select the Max box.
From the SolidWorks feature manager tree, select Heat Sink.
Click OK.
The new VG Max Temperature (Solid) item appears in the
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree under Goals. You can
change the name to VG Max Temp of Heat Sink.
Similarly, define volume goals for the Max value of the Temperature
(Solid) in TEC<1> and TEC<2> parts.
13 Solve, Run.
In the Tools, Flow Simulation drop down menu, select Solve, Run.
Make sure that Load results is selected.
The solver should take approximately 3 minutes to run, depending on
the processor speed of the computer.
Once the solver is finished, access the results.
14 Plot the temperature distribution on the Heat Sink and plate.

Under Results, right-click the Surface Plots icon and select Insert.
Select the Heat Sink and plate components from the SolidWorks
FeatureManager flyout tab.
Select Temperature (Solid) and set Number of Levels to 50.
Click OK once again to show the plot.
Note To access additional options for this and other plots, either double-click
on the color scale or right-click the Results icon and select View
Settings.
Lesson 4
I Create a 2D plane flow analysis.
I Use the Reynolds number equation to apply a velocity boundary
condition to an external analysis.
I Use the Solution Adaptive Mesh refinement option.
I Use animation techniques to visualize the results.
I Create a transient animation.
Case Study: In this lesson, we will utilize two dimensional plane flow while
Flow Around a analyzing fluid flow around a cylinder. Because this flow will be
Cylinder occurring around a solid body, and not through it, it will be considered
external. The Reynolds number equation will be used in the definition
of our velocity boundary condition. We will also use the adaptive mesh
technique to ensure that a good quality mesh is used in the simulation.
The flow pattern of this example substantially depends on the Reynolds
number which is based on the cylinder diameter. At low Reynolds
numbers (4 < Re < 60), two steady vortices are formed on the rear side
of the cylinder and remain attached to the cylinder, as shown below
schematically.
Flow past a cylinder at low Reynolds numbers (4 < Re < 60)
At higher Reynolds numbers, the flow becomes unstable and a von

Karman vortex street appears in the wake past the cylinder. Moreover,
at Re > 60…100, the eddies attached to the cylinder begin to oscillate
and shed from the cylinder. The flow pattern is shown schematically
below.
Flow past a cylinder at low Reynolds numbers (Re > 60...100)
Problem Water at a temperature of 293.2 K and a

Description pressure of 1 atm flows over a cylinder of
0.01 m diameter. Calculate the cylinder’s drag
coefficient if the flow has a Reynolds number
(Re) of 140.
We will enter 1% as the incoming stream
turbulence intensity. Further discussion on
turbulence intensity is given later in the lesson.
Stages in the I Create the project.
Process Using the Wizard, the external analysis can be created.
I Define computational domain.
Symmetry conditions can be used in the model to simplify the
computational domain.
I Setup adaptive mesh refinement.
The adaptive meshing technique will be used to guarantee a good
quality mesh in areas of high turbulence.
I Run the analysis.

Reynolds The Reynolds number is a dimensionless quantity often used to
Number characterize different flow regimes (i.e. laminar or turbulent). It is a
measurement of the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces in a flow.
At low Reynolds numbers viscous forces are dominant and the flow is
laminar. Turbulence occurs when the intertial forces are dominant, and
the Reynolds number is high.
The equation for the Reynolds number is given as:
ρVL
Re = -----------
μ
where ρ is the density of the fluid, V is the mean velocity, L, is the

characteristic length, and μ is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid.
External Flow The purpose of the study is to see how flow moves around, not through,
the solid body, therefore we will choose an external study. External
studies do not require the definition of lids for inlet and outlet boundary
conditions. The flow conditions are defined in the overall computation
domain.
1 Open a part file.

Open cylinder from the Lesson04\Case Study folder.
2 Create a Project.

name “Default”
Project name “Re 140”
Analysis Type External
For this specific model the Exclude cavities without flow conditions
check box does not have to be checked because there is no internal
space.
Physical Features Select the Time-dependent check box.
In the Total analysis time box, type 80s.
In the Output Time step box, type 4s.
Database of Fluids In the Liquids list, double-click Water.
Wall conditions In the Default wall thermal condition list, select Adiabatic wall.
Initial conditions Under Velocity Parameters, click in the Velocity in the X-direction
box.
Click Dependency.
In the Dependency Window, under Dependency type list, click
Formula definition.
In the Formula box, type: 140*(0.00101241/0.01/998.19). This is the
Reynolds number equation solved for the free stream velocity.
Click OK.
Under Turbulence Parameters, set the Turbulence Intensity to 1%.
See below for a discussion on turbulence intensity.
Resolution Click Finish.
Transient It is interesting to note that the Flow Simulation solver assumes that all
Analysis analyses are transient. For a “steady-state” analysis, the solver runs the
transient analysis and looks for convergence in the flow field which
would mean that the analysis has reached a steady-state.
We specifically defined this analysis as Time-dependent when setting
it up using the wizard so that we could study the development of the
separation. When that selection was made, we decided that the analysis
should be run for 80 seconds and results would be saved every 4
seconds. We chose the time of 80s to give the flow enough time to
develop and 4s so that our result would be fairly resolved.
Note that 4 seconds is not the selected time step, only the time step at
which the results will be saved. Therefore, the analysis will save results
for 21 time steps (80/4 + 1 step for the initial time). At this point, we do
not know what the solver will use for time steps, only that the results
will be saved every 4 seconds.
Discussion Consider what would happen if we attempted to solve this problem
without activating the Time-dependent flag. The solver would run the
analysis looking for the steady-state solution. Because of the nature of
this problem (the turbulent eddies shedding from the cylinder in an
oscillatory fashion), a steady-state solution does not exist and the solver
may not converge. If convergence is achieved, the solution would not
be completely accurate because of the time dependent nature of the
oscillatory shedding.
It is important to note that there are problems such as this where the
steady-state solution is either unable to converge, or does not make
physical sense because of instabilities in the flow field. In these
situations, it may be important to run the transient analysis to fully
understand the behavior of the flow field.
Turbulence Turbulent flow can be characterized into two categories; fluctuating
Intensity flow and mean flow. Turbulence intensity is defined as the fluctuating
velocity divided by the mean (i.e. free stream) velocity and multiplied
by 100.
Turbulence in general is a complicated phenomenon, and not yet fully
understood from a theoretical standpoint. A measure of the turbulence
intensity in a flow, therefore, can only be derived through a series of
experiments.
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation sets default values of 0.1% for
external flow and 2% for internal flows. Typically, this value is difficult
to obtain. However, the flow over a cylinder has been heavily studied
and the value of 1% has been verified both experimentally and
analytically.
Recommendation The default values for turbulence intensity have been selected to
provide the most accurate result for the widest range of problems. It is
strongly recommended to keep these default values unless the problem
is well studied and the turbulence intensity is known. We only change
the value in this example because the problem is well studied.
Solution The solution adaptive mesh refinement is turned on by default when the
Adaptive Mesh result resolution is set at 6 or greater. The solution adaptive meshing is
Refinement a procedure for adapting the computational mesh to the solution during
the calculation. The solution adaptive mesh additionally refines the
mesh cells within the high-gradient flow regions, and merges the mesh
cells within the low-gradient regions. See the figure below for an
example of the solution adaptive meshing. SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation allows you to change the values of the parameters
governing the default solution adaptive meshing procedures. In
addition, the solution adaptive meshing can be turned on for models
with a result resolution lower than 6, however this needs to be done
manually.
Geometry Refinement Solution Adaptive

Refinement
Two In general, fluid dynamics is the study of flow in three dimensions.

Dimensional Pressure, velocity, temperature, and other fluid properties can vary
Flow significantly in any direction. In computational fluid dynamics, the
calculations of these properties in each dimension can get very time
consuming. Often times, however these properties may only vary in
one (i.e. pipe flow) or two dimensions (i.e. flow around a cylinder),
allowing for significantly less computation time. In our example, we
assume that the cylinder is infinitely long, therefore the flow field will
not change through the length of the cylinder (z direction). We can then
take advantage of symmetry by using plane flow.
3 Define flow symmetry condition and domain

size.
tree, under Input Data, right-click the
Computational Domain icon and select Edit
Definition.
Under Type select 2D Simulation in XY plane.
Under the computational domain Size and
Conditions enter the dimensions shown in the
figure.
Note In the Z direction, the boundary type and size are automatically set to
Symmetry and +-0.001m, respectively.
Click OK.
No other boundary condition is needed for this problem.
Computational For most external analyses, the default computational domain is

Domain sufficient. In this example, however, we would like to make sure that
the flow field is fully developed when it reaches the cylinder and also
fully developed when it leaves the computational domain. We therefore
manually edit the size to insure that the flow field is fully captured.
Calculation The Calculation Control Options define different parameters with
Control Options respect to the solver. The Calculation Control Options dialog has four
tabs to define the different settings: Finish, Refinement, Saving, and
Advanced.
Finish The finish conditions define when the solver has decided if
convergence has been reached. There are six different things that can be
looked at when deciding when the solver has converged:
I Maximum Refinement number
This parameter defines how much the mesh may be refined during
the calculation if the adaptive mesh refinement is active.
I Maximum iterations
Defines the maximum number of iterations the solver will compute
before finishing the calculation.
I Maximum physical time

Defines the maximum physical time that the analysis will run. In
our example, our maximum physical time is 80 seconds as entered
when setting up the analysis using the wizard.
I Maximum calculation time
Defines the maximum time that the calculation will take.
I Maximum travels
A travel is defined as the time it takes for the flow to travel across
the computational domain. This defines the maximum number of
travels during the calculation.
I Goals Convergence
Defines whether or not the goals have converged before the
calculation is stopped.
Refinement The refinement conditions define the parameters that govern the
solution adaptive mesh refinement. For more information on these
parameters, refer to the Help menu.
Saving This defines when the results are saved during the solution process.
Advanced The advanced option allows you to be e-mailed when the solution is
completed.
4 Set the finish conditions.

Right-click Input Data in the Flow Simulation analysis tree and select
Calculation Control Options.
Under Finish, select the Refinements check box and set the value to 2.
Request that all criteria must be satisfied in order for the calculation to
stop.
5 Set the calculation refinement.

Still in the Calculation Control Options window, click the
Refinement tab.
For Global Domain select level = 2.
Select the Approximate Maximum Cells check box and set the value
to 750,000.
In the Refinement Strategy list, select Periodic.
Click OK.
Tip For additional information regarding the Solution adaptive settings

select the Help button in the Calculation Control Options command
while in the Refinement tab.
6 Define Engineering Goal.
Goals, and select Insert Global Goals.
In the Parameter list, locate the Force (X) and select the check box.
Click OK.
Drag Equation The drag equation is defined as:

1 2
F d = --- ρV C d A
2
where ρ is fluid density, V is the free stream velocity, A is the frontal

area (area seen by the oncoming flow), and Cd is the drag coefficient.
Different shaped objects have different drag coefficients. In addition,
flows with different Reynolds numbers can also affect the drag
coefficient.
Important! The drag equation is based on a very idealized situation and should be
used only as an approximation.
7 Insert Equation Goal.

We will use the drag equation along with our knowledge of the x
component of force to solve for the drag coefficient.
In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click the
Goals icon and select Insert Equation Goal.
Click the GG Force (X)1 global goal from SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation designs tree to add it to the Expression box.
In the Expression box, complete the equation by manually typing
*2*998.19/1.01241e-3^2*0.01/(2*0.001)/140^2. This equation is
derived from a combination of the drag equation and the Reynolds
number equation.
In the Dimensionality list, click No units.
Click OK.
8 Rename the Equation Goal to Cd.

Cd is the drag coefficient.
9 Run the analysis.

Right-click on the Re 140 icon and select Run to open the Run
window.
Click Run.
It takes approximately 10 minutes to solve.
10 Create Cut Plot.
In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click the Cut Plots icon
under Results and select Insert.
Plane1 view plane will already be selected in the Section plane or
Planar face box.
Under Display, click the Contours and Vectors buttons.
Select Pressure and set Number of Levels to 100.
Click OK to show the plot.
Note The difference between the maximum and minimum pressure is

0.245 Pa.
Unsteady Vortex The unsteady vortex shedding from a cylinder at Re > 60 - 100 yields
Shedding oscillations of both drag and lateral forces acting on the cylinder and a
von Karman vortex street is formed past the cylinder. An X-velocity
field over and past the cylinder is shown in the following figure.
Velocity contours of flow over and past cylinder Re = 140
11 Include Mesh in Cut Plots.

Cut Plots, right-click Cut Plot1 and select Edit Definition.
Click the Contours and Vectors buttons to clear them.
Click the Mesh button and select OK.
Time Animation Lesson 1: Creating a SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Project

introduced the result animation in which a cut plane is moved through
the model to view how the results at a certain time (or at the end of the
steady state analysis) vary through the model. The following steps will
demonstrate how to create a transient animation at a fixed location.
12 Edit cut plot.

Edit Cut Plot 1.
Deactivate Mesh plot and show back the velocity contours.
13 Animate the cut plot.
Right-click Cut Plot 1 and select Animation.
14 Setup the animation using
the wizard.
Expand the animation
manger.
Click the Wizard button on
the animation toolbar.
15 Delete existing tracks.

In the first panel of the Animation Wizard, select the Delete all
existing tracks option.
Keep 10s as your Animation time.
Click Next.
16 Specify the view animation.

Accept the default that the model is not rotated during animation.
17 Choose the type of animation.
In the third panel, select the Scenario option.
Click Next.
18 Set units and distribution.

In the fourth panel select Uniform distribution and the Physical time
for Units.
Click Finish.
Hover with the mouse over the Animation 1 time line. The callout
should read as is shown in the figure below.
Note You can also drag the last control point (diamond shaped icon) to adjust
the duration of the Animation 1 track.
The brown colored time line indicates the instances of the results
loaded to the memory.
19 Insert Control Point.
Right-click in the time line at time equal to zero (make sure you are
adjacent to the Cut Plot 1) and select Insert Control Point.
Select just the inserted control point at time zero and drag the time line
to 10 seconds.
20 Click the Play button.

The animation can be saved on the disk by clicking the Record button.
21 Save and close the part.
Discussion The example of two dimensional flow over a cylinder has been heavily
studied both experimentally and analytically. It is well known that the
drag coefficient of the cylinder actually decreases with higher Reynolds
number flows. You are encouraged to investigate this phenomenon
further by changing the Reynolds number and seeing its effect on the
drag coefficient.
The vortex shedding that was seen occurs at a given frequency that is
directly related to the Reynolds number of the flow. Knowing this
frequency can become very important when designing structures that
may be subject to this type of shedding. If the natural frequency of the
structure lies within the range of frequencies of the vortex shedding, the
structure could lose its stiffness and collapse.
Summary In this lesson, we investigated the classic fluid dynamics problem of
flow over a cylinder. Symmetry boundary conditions on an external
flow analysis were used to simplify the calculations. The solution
adaptive mesh technique was used to ensure that quality results were
obtained in the wake of the cylinder. Turbulence and vortex shedding
were observed and discussed. Finally, animation techniques were used
to visualize the flow.
Electronics Cooling
Exercise 6: In this exercise, we will perform a time-dependent heat transfer

Electronics analysis on a microchip testing bed.
Cooling This exercise reinforces the following skills:
I Introducing: Engineering Goals on page 28.
I Introducing: Heat Source on page 103.
Problem Four microchips made up of a

Statement special microchip material are
sitting on a ceramic porcelain
substrate and stand inside of an
Aluminum enclosure. The
microchips generate 2 W of power
and are turned off and on at
different time increments. Cooling
occurs as air flows into the
enclosure from one side at a flow
rate of 0.15 ft^3/in.
Determine the temperature
distribution inside the enclosure after 1 second.
Open Computer Chip from the Lesson04\Exercises folder.
2 Create a new material.
The chips and substrate are made of a special user
defined material which is not a default material in
the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Engineering
database. To add this material, do the following
before setting up the SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation project:
From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, choose:
Tools, Engineering Database.
Under Database tree, expand the Materials
folder and select Solids, User Defined.
Click New Item in the Engineering database
toolbar, or right-click on the User Defined folder
and select New Item.
Electronics Cooling

property value):
Name Chip Material

Density 2330 kg/m^3
Specific Heat 670 J/(kg*K)
Thermal Conductivity 130 W/(m*K)
Click Save.
Note You can enter material properties that are temperature dependent using
the Tables and Curves tab.
4 Add substrate material.
Switch to the Items tab and repeat the previous step to add the substrate
material with the following properties:
Name Ceramic Porcelain

Density 2330 kg/m^3
Specific Heat 877.96 J/(kg*K)
Thermal Conductivity 1.4949 W/(m*K)
Click File, Exit to close the Engineering Database.
Electronics Cooling
5 Create a project.
Click Tools, Flow Simulation, Project, Wizard. Using the Wizard,
create a new project with the following properties:
Configuration Use current:

name “Default”
Project name “Transient Heat Source”

Select the Time-dependent check box.
In the Total analysis time box, type 1s.
In the Output Time step box, type 0.1s.
Database of In the Gas list, double-click Air.
Fluids
Solids Default solid should be set to Ceramic Porcelain.
In the Roughness box, type 0 micro inch.
Geometry Select the Manual Specification of Minimum Gap Size check box
Resolution and type 0.00254m as its size.
Select the Manual Specification of Minimum Wall thickness check
box and type 0.000508m as its size.
Click Finish.
Note SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation will create a new configuration

within the SolidWorks Configuration Manager. A SOLIDWORKS
Flow Simulation analysis tree will also be created. The name of the
new configuration will be the same as the name entered in the Project
Wizard.
Electronics Cooling
6 Apply inlet boundary conditions.

under Input Data, right-click Boundary
Conditions and select Insert Boundary
Condition.
Select the inside face of the enclosure.
In the Boundary Conditions window,
under Type, select the Flow openings
button and Inlet Volume Flow as the Type
of Boundary Condition.
Under Flow Parameters, click the Normal to face button and enter
the air flow rate value of 0.005 m3/s in the Volume flow rate normal
to face box.
Click OK.
7 Apply outlet boundary condition.
As in the previous step, right-click
Boundary Conditions and select Insert
Boundary Condition.
Select the opposite inside face of the
enclosure.
In the Boundary Conditions window,
under Type, select the Pressure
openings button and Static Pressure as
the Type of Boundary Condition.
Electronics Cooling
8 Apply heat source for Chip<1>.

A heat source is required to simulate the heating of
the chips. In the Flow Simulation analysis tree,
right-click the Heat Source icon and select Insert
Volume Source.
Select the Chip<1> part.
Under Parameters, click Heat Generation Rate.
Click the Dependency button . In the
Dependency dialog window, select F(time) -
table and enter the following values, or copy them
from the provided excel file in the lesson directory:
Values t Values f(t)

(secs) (W)
0 2
0.099 2
0.1 0
0.399 0
0.4 2
0.499 2
0.5 0
0.799 0
0.8 2
0.899 2
0.9 0
1.0 0
Select Preview chart to plot a graph of your input.

Click OK.
Click OK to close the Volume Source window.
In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation design tree, under Heat
Sources, rename VS Heat Generation Rate 1 to VS Chip1-1.
Electronics Cooling
Cut and Paste In the Dependency table dialog box for Volume heat source, you can
Heat Source Data highlight all the values by clicking and dragging the mouse cursor
across all the values in the table. Right-clicking over the highlighted
table does not work within this function, but if you press Ctrl+C, the
data will be copied to the clipboard. When you open a new heat source
Dependency table, select the first cell in the table and press Ctrl+V,
and the values will be correctly pasted to the table. You can also modify
the time points for each chip heat load so that the heat is applied at
different intervals.
9 Open Heat Transfer.xls for inputting all chip data.
Repeat the previous step to apply volume heat source for Chip<2>,
Chip<3>, and Chip<4> using the values from the table given below or
from the table listed in the Heat Transfer.xls file.
Type in the following table values.
Chip<2> Chip<3> Chip<4>
Values Values Values Values

Values t Values t
f(t) f(t) t f(t)
(secs) (secs)
(W) (W) (secs) (W)
0 0 0 0 0 0
0.099 0 0.199 0 0.299 0
0.1 2 0.2 2 0.3 2
0.199 2 0.299 2 0.399 2
0.2 0 0.3 0 0.4 0
0.499 0 0.599 0 0.699 0
0.5 2 0.6 2 0.7 2
0.599 2 0.699 2 0.799 2
0.6 0 0.7 0 0.8 0
0.899 0 1.0 0 1.0 0
0.9 2
1.0 2
Electronics Cooling
10 Review volume heat source graphs for all chips.
11 Define material conditions for chips.

tree, right-click Solid Materials and select Insert
Solid material.
Under Selection, select Chip<1>, Chip<2>,
Chip<3>, and Chip<4>.
Under Solid, browse to User Defined and assign
Chip material to the chips.
Click OK.
12 Define material for cover.
Similarly to the previous step, assign Aluminum
(from the Pre-Defined material folder) to Top
Cover-1, Bottom Cover-1, and Enclosure.
Note Since the default material was set to Ceramic Porcelain using the
Wizard, the components not selected (Substrate<1>, Stand-
offs<1>) will be automatically assigned the Ceramic Porcelain
material. You can check to see the default material by right-clicking the
Input Data folder in the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis
tree and selecting General Settings, Solids.
Electronics Cooling

Right-click the Goals icon in the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
analysis tree and select Insert Volume Goal.
In the SolidWorks FeatureManager design tree, select Chip<1> to
update the Components to apply volume goal list.
Click OK.
14 Create similar Volume Goals for the other three chips.
15 Define Engineering Goal (Global Goal).

Right-click the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree Goals
icon and select Insert Global Goals.
In the Global Goals dialog window, in the Parameter list, find
Temperature (Solid) select Max.
Click OK.
From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, click: Solve, Run.
Make sure Load results is checked.
Click Run.
Note This analysis should take about 10 minutes to run on a 3.6 GHz Intel
Xeon E5 machine with 16 GM RAM.
The result values shown in the next few pages may differ from your
results depending on how you had applied the time-dependent heat
sources for each chip.
In the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, click: Results, Display,
Transparency.
Click OK.
Note You will be able to view results once the fluid simulation is complete.
However, if you reopen a model, the results will need to be loaded.
The *.fld file contains results for all the time steps, including the last
time step. In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation project folder there
are 10 other result files called r_00xxx.fld, where xxx refers to a
specific iteration number which corresponds to the saved time points
0.1s, 0.2s, 0.3s...etc.
Electronics Cooling
18 Create Cut Plot.

right-click the Cut Plots icon and select Insert.
In the Section plane or Planar face box, replace the Front view
plane with the Top view plane and set Offset to -0.005m.
In the Display dialog, click Contours and Vectors .
Select the Temperature and increase Number of Levels to 50.
Click OK to close the Cut Plot window.
19 Hide Cut Plot 1.
Electronics Cooling
20 Create surface plot.

Make sure the Enclosure<1> and the Top and Bottom Covers<1>
are either transparent or hidden.
right-click Surface plot and select Insert.
From the SolidWorks FeatureManager Tree, select Chip<1>,
Chip<2>, Chip<3>,Chip<4>, Substrate<1>, and Stand-offs<1> so
that all items appear in the Selection area.
Under Display, select the Contours button.
Specify Temperature (Solid) and increase Number of Levels to 50.
Click OK.
21 View flow trajectory.

In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click Flow Trajectories
and select Insert.
Select the Right Plane as a reference.
Under Appearance, from the Draw trajectories as list, select Line
with Arrows.
In the Width text box, enter a value of 0.00075 m.
Under Constraints, in the Maximum length text box, enter a value of
0.75 m.
Click OK.
Electronics Cooling
22 View results.
Under Results, right-click on Goal Plots and select Insert.
Under Goals select the All button and Physical time for Abscissa.
Under Options check Group charts by parameter to see all
temperature goal plots in a single graph.
An Excel spreadsheet opens. The spreadsheet will show the summary
of goal temperatures for each chip as a function of physical time.
23 View the plot.

In the Excel file, select the Temperature (Solid) tab at the bottom of
the spreadsheet. This plot shows the temperature of each chip as a
function of physical time.
In the Excel file, you can select the Plot Data tab sheet to see the actual
values used to make the previous plot.
Electronics Cooling
Lesson 5
I Create a steady state conjugate heat transfer analysis for a cold
plate using a real gas.
I Define multiple fluid regions.
I Use real gases.
I Create temperature plots in the solid and fluid regions.
Case Study: In this lesson, we will perform a steady state conjugate heat transfer
Heated Cold analysis using a real gas and multiple fluid domains. Multiple fluid
Plate regions will be defined. We will learn to properly post-process the
results of this type of analysis by creating various cut plots through the
results.
Project A heated cold plate sits in an
Description open air filled environment.
Heat is generated at 200 W on
the top surface of the plate.
The plate is cooled by a Outlet
cooling tube as shown in the
figure below. The tube
contains R-123 at -5°C Inlet
flowing at 0.001 kg/s through
the inlet.
Determine the steady state temperature distribution through the plate
and surrounding air.
Process Using the Wizard, the transient heat transfer analysis can be
created.
I Define fluid subdomain.
Because more than one fluid exists in the model, a separate fluid
subdomain must be defined.
The conditions for the fluid flow into and out of the enclosure must
be defined.
I Apply heat source.
A way for heat to enter the model also needs to be defined.
I Run the analysis.

Conjugate Heat Conjugate heat transfer is the combination of convection and

Transfer conduction heat exchange. By default, SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation considers the heat transfer due to convection within a fluid,
however will not consider conduction through solids. This option must
be selected when defining the simulation.
Real Gases In addition to the Navier-Stokes equations, Flow Simulation uses state
equations to solve its problems. In general, gases are considered ideal.
This means that the size of the gas molecules is neglected. The
intermolecular forces between molecules are also neglected. This
allows the pressure in the gas to be directly related to the temperature.
If the considered gas gets near the gas-liquid phase transition or above
the critical point (i.e. becomes supercritical fluid), the ideal gas state
equation can no longer describe the gas behavior properly (e.g. the
Joule-Thomson effect) due to the increased intermolecular forces
having an effect on the pressure. A real gas fluid should be selected
from the Engineering Database, so that the real gas state equations are
used.
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation allows users to use real gases in a
broad range of parameters, including both sub- and supercritical
regions.

Open Liquid Cold Plate from the Lesson05\Case Study folder.
2 Create a Project.

name “Default”
Project name “Conjugate Heat Transfer”
Select the Gravity box.
The Y-Component -9.81 m/s^2 is the correct direction and value for this
analysis.
Database of In the Fluids list, under Gases, double-click Air to add it to the Project
Fluids Fluids. Also, add Refrigerant R-123 (Real Gases) under Real Gases.
Make sure the Default fluid type is set to Air (Gases) by deselecting the
check box for Refrigerant R-123 (Real Gases).
Solids Default solid should be set to Aluminum under the Metals list.
Wall conditions The default Roughness value of 0 micro meter is acceptable for this
analysis.
Results & Set the Result resolution to 3.
Geometry Select the Manual specification of the minimum gap size and enter a
Resolution value of 0.007874 m.
enter a value of 0.000889 m.
Note The above parameter values specifying the minimum gap size and wall
thickness relate to the inner diameter of the pipe and its wall thickness.
3 Set computational domain.
Under the Input Data folder, right-click Computational Domain
and select Edit Definition. Set the size of the computational domain to
the following values:
Size (meters)
X max: 0.5
X min: -0.25
Y max: 0.25
Y min: -0.10
Z max: 0.50
Z min: -0.25
The computational domain around the model can affect the results and
must be large enough to allow the flow to develop correctly and reduce
the effects of any gradients which occur around the model. The domain
specified in this lesson is designed to minimize the CPU time and RAM
required to solve, yet still give reasonably accurate results.
4 Set the fluid subdomain.

Right-click Fluid Subdomain in the
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree
and select Insert Fluid Subdomain.
Select an internal face of the tube that is filled
with R-123.
Under Fluid Type, deselect Air (Gases) and
select Refrigerant R-123 (Real Gases).
Click on the Thermodynamic Parameters
double arrows to expand the option. Enter -5 °C
for the temperature (T).
Click OK.
5 Inlet boundary condition.

tree, under Input Data, right-click the
Boundary Condition.
Select the inner face of the fluid port (see the
figure at the beginning of this lesson).
In the Boundary Conditions window, under
Type, click the Flow openings button and select
Inlet Mass Flow.
Under Flow Parameters, enter 0.001 kg/s as the
mass flow rate.
Under Thermodynamic Parameters, leave the
default inlet temperature of -5°C.
Click OK.
6 Setting outlet boundary conditions.

A pressure condition will be used to identify the outlet condition. If the
pressure is not known at the outlet, an ambient static pressure condition
can usually be used as the boundary condition across the outlet face.
Data, right- click the Boundary Conditions icon and select Insert
Boundary Condition.
Select the inner face of the other outlet port.
In the Boundary Conditions window, under Type, click the Pressure
openings button and select Static Pressure.
Click OK accepting the default ambient values for pressure and
temperature.
7 Define Heat Source.
In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click on
Heat Sources and select Insert Surface Source.
Select the top surface of the Cold Plate (see the figure).
Under Parameter, click the Heat Generation Rate button and enter
200 W.
Click OK.
Goals icon and select Insert Global Goal.
In the Parameter list, click the Max check boxes for both the
Temperature (Fluid) and the Temperature (Solid).
Click OK.
9 Run the project.

Make sure that the Load results check box is checked.
Click Run.
The solver should take approximately 13 minutes to run on a 3.6 GHz
Intel Xeon CPU platform.
10 Monitor the Solver.
In the Solver window, click Insert Goal Plot on the Solver toolbar.
The Add/Remove Goals window appears. Select the Add All check
box.
Click OK.
Goals Plot in the In the Goals window, each defined goal will be listed. Here you can see
Solver Window the current value and graph for each goal as well as the current progress
towards completion given as a percentage. The progress value is only
an estimate, and the rate of progress generally increases with time.
Once the solution has achieved convergence and the solver is finished,
continue on with the next step. You can also close the Solver monitor
window.
11 Change display transparency.

Transparency and set the Model Transparency to 0.75.
12 Show surface plots.
Under the Results folder, right-click the Surface Plots icon and
select Insert.
Click the top surface of the Cold plate.
Under Display, select the Contours button.
Select Temperature (Solid) and set the Number of Levels slider to
120.
Click OK.
13 View Air Mass Cut Plot.

Hide the Surface Plot.
Under the Results folder, right-click on the Cut Plot icon and select
Insert.
Select Top as the Section Plane.
Change the Offset value to 0.02915 m to cut through the pipe filled
with refrigerant liquid.
Select the Mass Fraction of Air as parameter to plot.
Note If Mass Fraction of Air is not available, expand the Parameters pull
down list and select Add Parameter. Expand the Main list and add it.
Click OK again to close the Cut Plot definition window.
The air surrounding the cold plate will be in blue, representing an air
mass fraction of 1. The liquid cooling pipes filled with R-123 does not
contain any air.
14 View Temperature Cut Plot.

Edit the parameter in the Cut Plot 1 and change it to Temperature.
The cut plot shows the temperature distribution in both the air and the
R-123 refrigerant.
15 View Temperature Cut Plot in the vertical plane.
Define a new Cut Plot in the vertical plane. Use the SolidWorks Right
plane as reference and specify 0.049 m for the Offset.
16 Animate cut plot.

Animate the previous cut plot to see the variation of the temperature as
the vertical cut plane slides through the model.
Summary In this lesson a conjugate heat transfer analysis was performed on a hot
plate sitting in air. A tube with R-123 was used to cool the hot plate. A
real gas was used to model the R-123 in the simulation and it was seen
that the gas was actually a liquid. If this occurs, the accuracy of the
results may be significantly affected because the phase change is not
modeled. The results of the model were post-processed using cut plots.
Heat Exchanger with Multiple Fluids
Exercise 7: In this exercise, we will perform a steady state thermal analysis on a

Heat Exchanger copper heat exchanger.
with Multiple This exercise reinforces the following skills:
Fluids I Conjugate Heat Transfer on page 149.
I Introducing: Engineering Goals on page 28.
I Post-processing on page 35.
Problem A copper heat exchanger Air inlet

Statement is used to transfer heat
between air and water Air outlet
systems.
450 K of hot air is
entering the heat Water outlet
exchanger (at the inlet
indicated in the figure) at
a rate of 0.15 kg/s. Water
is pushed through the heat
Water inlet
exchanger at a rate of
0.1 kg/s. The objective of
this exercise is to obtain the temperature profile in both media.
Open HX from the Lesson05\Exercises folder.
2 Create a project.

name “Default”
Project name “Heat Exchanger”
Physical Features Select the Exclude cavities without flow conditions check box.
Select the Heat conduction in Solids check box.
Database of In the Gases list, double-click Air.
Fluids In the Liquids list, double-click Water.
Under Default Fluid make sure the box is checked for Air (Gases).
Solids Default solid should be set to Copper.

Geometry Select the Manual specification of minimum wall thickness check
Resolution box.
In the Minimum wall thickness box, enter a value of 0.02 m.
Click Finish.
3 Set computational domain.

Exploiting half symmetry, it is only necessary to examine the flow
through half the model. In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
analysis tree, under the Input Data folder, right-click Computational
Domain and select Edit Definition.
In the Size and Conditions dialog, specify 0 m and Symmetry for At
X min.
Click OK.
Important! Though two fluids have been defined in the wizard, Flow Simulation
needs to be told where these liquids flow through the model. Thus,
Fluid Subdomains must be created. The two sub-domains must be
independent and must not have any mixing.
4 Define air sub-domain.
Right-click Fluid Subdomains in the
Input data folder and select Insert Fluid
Subdomain.
Select the inner surface of the inlet of the
outer shell.
Make sure that the Air check box is
selected.
Under the Thermodynamic Properties list, enter 450 K for the
Temperature.
Click OK.
5 Define water sub-domain.
Follow the same procedure to define the
fluid sub-domain for Water.
Use the water inlet, as shown in the
figure.
Do not modify the temperature and
pressure - this information remains
unknown.
6 Specify water inlet boundary

condition.
Create a Fully developed, Inlet Mass
flow of 0.05 kg/s (remember, however,
we are using the half symmetry so the
total mass flow is 0.1 kg/s) on the inner
surface of the inlet of the tube.
Rename this to Water Inlet Mass Flow.
7 Specify air inlet boundary condition.

Create a Fully developed Inlet Mass flow
of 0.075 kg/s (once again, because of half
symmetry, the total mass flow is 0.15 kg/s)
on the inner surface of the inlet of the outer
shell.
Under Thermodynamic parameters,
make sure that the Temperature field
reads 450 K.
Click OK.
Rename this condition to Air Inlet Mass Flow.
8 Specify air and water outlet conditions.
In both cases, specify an Environment Pressure boundary condition
with the default Pressure and Temperature of 101325 Pa and
293.2 K, respectively.
Rename these conditions to Air Outlet and Water Outlet.
9 Define air outlet surface goal.

Using the Air Outlet boundary condition, define a Temperature
(Fluid) (Average value) surface goal.
10 Define water outlet surface goal.

Using the Water Outlet boundary condition, define Temperature
(Fluid) (Average, Minimum, and Maximum values) surface goals.
Also, define a Mass Flow rate surface goal as a sanity check.
11 Run the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation project.
12 Create Cut Plot.

Create a Temperature Cut Plot using Contours on the Right plane.
13 Examine surface parameters.

Evaluate the surface parameters on the outlet face of the water.
14 Create Goal Plot.
Create goal plot using the water outlet average temperature of fluid
surface goal.
Lesson 6
EFD Zooming
I Use EFD Zooming to solve complex models.
I Properly apply transferred boundary conditions.
EFD Zooming
Case Study: In Lesson 3: Thermal Analysis, we performed an analysis on an

Electronics electronics enclosure. We simplified the model so that it could be
Enclosure reasonably run, however the run time was still significant. In addition,
we noted that the maximum temperature of the heat sink may not have
been adequate. A design change was proposed where the heat sink
would be repositioned. In addition, the heat sink could be redesigned
with thicker fins.
In this lesson we will attempt to investigate the effect of repositioning
the heat sink. Rather than run the full model twice, we will use a
technique known as EFD Zooming to allow us to run the simulations
faster.
Project The goal of this lesson is to minimize
Description the temperature of the heat sink. To do
this, we will investigate two different
heat sink positions as shown in the
figure.
In the former lesson, it was
determined that the temperature of the
heat sink was near the maximum
allowable temperature. For that
reason, a more refined mesh is needed
in the area of the heat sink to properly
resolve the temperature. This could be Design A Design B
easily achieved with a local initial
mesh, however we would also be sacrificing significant computation
time. In addition, to evaluate both designs, the model would be solved
twice; further increasing computations. In this lesson, we will use a
different approach called EFD Zooming.
EFD Zooming EFD Zooming is a technique that allows users to focus in on singular
areas of interest while still accounting for flow fields surrounding that
area. An overall model can be run quickly with a coarse mesh to solve
for the flow field throughout. Using the results from this overall model,
transferred boundary conditions can be applied to a “zoomed-in” model
that focuses only on the area of interest. The “zoomed” model can have
a finer mesh to better resolve the flow field and heat distribution in that
area of higher importance.
To solve this model using EFD Zooming, we will first replace the heat
sink with a generic dummy body. We will then solve for only the flow
field and heat distribution in the overall model. The heat sink will then
be placed back into the model. We will then set up a zoomed-in model
with a computational domain focusing only on the heat sink. The
boundary conditions from the overall model will be transferred to the
zoomed model. From here, we can make our design changes and we
will only need to re-solve the zoomed model.
EFD Zooming
Stages in the I Insert dummy heat sink.

Process The heat sink will be removed from the model and replaced with a
simple block. This will allow for much easier meshing of the model
that will improve the solve time. In addition, the flow field results
will not be compromised because the general shape of the heat sink
will still be maintained by the solid.
I Solve overall model.
The overall model will be solved with the dummy body.
I Solve zoomed model.
The boundary conditions calculated in the overall model will be
used to solve the zoomed model.
I Design changes.
The heat sink will be re-positioned and the zoomed model will be
solved again. Note that you will not have to re-solve the overall
model because the boundary conditions will be the same.

Open PDES_E_Box_1 from the Lesson06\Case Study folder.
As you open the model, the following warning messages may be
issued.
Project has some substances which are missing in the
Engineering database. To work with project you need to add
all missing substances.
Click Add All.
Make sure that project overall (configuration Dummy heat sink) is
active.
2 Review the study.
heat sink dummy
A flow simulation study has been
created that is associated with this
configuration. Review it and notice
that everything is the same as in
Lesson 3: Thermal Analysis.
The only difference is that the heat
sink has been replaced with a simple
block.
3 Heat source.
A 3 W heat source has been applied to the heat sink dummy to match
the 3 W that is generated by the actual heat source.
This study has already been solved and the results are included.
Load the results and review them.
EFD Zooming
Discussion By replacing the complicated heat sink with a dummy box, we have
significantly simplified the mesh and computation without significantly
sacrificing the accuracy of our overall results. In the overall model, we
are only interested in how the flow and heat behave in general
throughout the computational domain. Replacing the heat sink with a
similarly shaped box will have little affect on the flow and heat in the
overall model.
5 Create a Project.
Activate the CFD - 1 Fan - a configuration.

name “CFD - 1 Fan - a”
Project name “Zooming a”
Database of In the Fluids list, under Gases, double-click Air to add it to the Project
Fluids Fluids.
Solids Default solid should be set to Insulator under the Glasses and
Minerals list.
Wall conditions The default Roughness value of 0 micrometer is acceptable for this
analysis.
Geometry Activate Manual specification of the minimum gap size and enter
Resolution 1.778mm as the Minimum gap size.
EFD Zooming
6 Define Computational Domain size.

Under the Input Data folder, right-click Computational Domain
and select Edit Definition.
Set the size of the computational domain to the following values:
Size (meters)
X max: -0.03175
X min: -0.08
Y max: 0.0298
Y min: -0.0065
Z max: 0.1416
Z min: 0.065
Click OK.
EFD Zooming - Specifying the proper computational domain for the zoomed study is
Computational very important and guidelines must be followed:
Domain
I The flow and solid parameters taken from the overall study at the
zoomed domain boundaries must be as uniform as possible.
I The zoomed domain boundaries should not lie too close to the
object of interest.
I The boundary conditions transferred at the boundaries must be
consistent with the problem statement.
In our model, we are focusing only on the heat sink, therefore our
computational domain has been adjusted accordingly. The top, bottom,
back , and right walls of the enclosure have been included in the
domain. The enclosure is assumed insulated and will not influence the
main chip temperature since it is also insulated by the airflow
separating the two. The walls that are not enclosed by the enclosure
will use the transferred boundary condition.
EFD Zooming
7 Apply materials.
Under Input Data, right-click Solid Materials and select Insert
Solid Material. Apply the Aluminum to the heat sink.
Repeat the procedure to apply PCB-4 Layers to the green PCB called
SPS_PC_Board. Use Y axis of the Global Coordinate System under
the Anisotropy dialog to specify proper material orientation (see step 8
on page 103 for more information).
Note Heat conduction in solids is activated, therefore we must define
material properties. In addition, these material properties should be the
same as those that were specified in the overall model for the boundary
conditions to be transferred properly.
Introducing: Transferred Boundary Conditions allows you to focus your

Transferred simulation on a specific region within the model. The simulation uses
Boundary results obtained from a previous calculation as the boundary conditions
Conditions for the current simulation. The Transferred Boundary Condition is
applied in three steps:
1. Selecting Boundaries
You select the boundaries of the current project to be transferred
from the results of the previous project (i.e. X max, X min, etc.).
2. Selecting Results to Transfer
You select the project from which the results will be transferred to
the current simulation.
3. Specifying Type of Condition
You select the flow field parameters whose values will be
transferred.
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Transferred Boundary Conditions in

the Flow Simulation analysis tree and click Insert Transferred
Boundary Condition
Features , Transferred Boundary Condition
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Insert, Transferred Boundary
Condition
Note To add Transferred Boundary Conditions to the Flow Simulation
analysis tree, right-click your study an select Customize Tree, then
choose Transferred Boundary Conditions.
EFD Zooming
8 Transferred Boundary Condition.

From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, choose: Insert, Transferred
Boundary Condition.
Select X min from the Computational domain boundaries list and
click Add. Repeat this process to add Z min.
Click Next.
Select Flow Simulation project and click Browse.
Select the overall project from the list and click OK.
Click Next.
Select Ambient as the Boundary condition type.
Click Finish.
Note Because heat conduction in solids is used in both the overall model as
well as the zoomed model, the solid temperatures are taken from the
overall model and transferred to the zoomed model as part of the
Transferred boundary condition. In addition, by selecting Ambient
as the type, the conditions at the boundaries in the overall model will be
transferred to the zoomed model in the same way that ambient
conditions are treated in external analysis.
9 Apply heat source.
In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click the Heat Source icon
and select Insert Volume Source.
Select the heat sink part and apply 3 W as the Heat Generation Rate.
Click OK.
Right-click the Goals icon in the Flow Simulation analysis tree and
select Insert Volume Goal.
In the SolidWorks FeatureManager design tree, select Heat Sink to
update the Components to Apply Volume Goal list.
Click OK.
Tip We will wait on running this project so that we can set up our project
with the design change, then use Batch Run to run both project.
EFD Zooming
Introducing: Clone Clone Project allows you to copy the project to a new configuration if
Project you would like to change settings, but keep the results of the previous
project. Once the settings are changed, you can re-run the project and
view the new results to compare them to the initial design.
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click the project name in the Flow
Simulation analysis tree and click Clone Project
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Clone Project
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Project, Clone Project
11 Clone Project.
Right-click the project name in the Flow
Simulation analysis tree and select Clone Project.
Under Project Name enter Zooming b.
Under Configuration choose Select and check
the checkbox next to CFD - 1 Fan - b.
The checkbox next to Copy results should
remain unchecked.
Click OK.
You will get two warning messages about the geometry and
computational domain. Click No through these message. To compare
the two models, we need the same computational domain and mesh
settings in both simulations.
This step will create a new project Zooming b associated with
configuration CDF - 1 Fan - b. All of the settings from the previous
project will be copied into the new project.
Introducing: Batch You can use Batch Run to solve sets of projects in a prescribed order
Run or simultaneously.
Where to Find It I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, choose: Solve, Batch Run
EFD Zooming
12 Batch Run.
From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, choose: Solve, Batch Run.
Select the Solve box for the CFD - 1 Fan - a and CFD - 1 Fan - b
projects.
Click Run.
Note You can also move the order at which to solve them or choose to solve
them simultaneously if you have available processors. Also, if we
chose to solve all three projects simultaneously, the overall model
would need to be solved first because its results are used in the other
two projects as the Transferred Boundary Condition. If your system
features more processors and sufficient amount of memory, the fastest
way to obtain a solution is to request simultaneous calculation of both
projects with half of the total number of CPUs allocated to each.
13 Create cut plot.
Activate project Zooming a
(configuration CFD - 1 Fan - a)
and load the results.
In the Section plane or Planar
face box, select the Top view plane
with an Offset of 5mm.
In the Display dialog, turn
Contours on.
Select Temperature and increase Number of Levels to 100.
Click OK to close the Cut Plot window.
14 Create goal plot.
Create a Goal Plot for the maximum temperature volume goal defined
in step 10.
EFD Zooming
Introducing: To enhance users’ ability to compare various designs and make

Compare decisions on the most effective modifications, SOLIDWORKS Flow
Configuration Mode Simulation allows you to easily compare results from various projects.
It is possible to compare active scenes (result plots), goals or point,
surface and volume parameters. Comparison can be presented in both
the graphical and numerical formats.
Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Results in the Flow Simulation

analysis tree and click Compare
I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Compare
I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Results, Compare
Use in Instructions Choose from active scene, goals or any defined parameter. Then select
any number of solved projects and click Compare.
15 Compare results.
Keep the cut plot view from step 13 active.
In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click Results and select
Compare.
On the Definition tab of the compare widget, in the Data to Compare
section, select Active Scene and Goal Plot 1.
In the Projects to Compare section select CFD - 1 Fan - a and CFD
- 1 - Fan - b projects.
Click Compare.
EFD Zooming
16 Active scenes comparison.

Switch to the Active Scene tab.
The comparison indicates that the difference in the two heat sink
configuration is minimal.
Note To enlarge any of the two plots, double click it. Also, the active scene
(result plot) requested in the comparison widget does not need to be
defined in other projects. Flow Simulation will create them in the
selected projects automatically.
17 Goals comparison.
Switch to the Goal Plot 1 tab.
The numerical comparison shows that both configurations result in

very similar maximum temperatures.
Request History to show the
graphical comparison of the
goal from both selected
projects.
Notice that the graph indicates
nearly the same maximum
temperature.
Note Additional options allow you to change the abscissa, displayed value
and to export data to Excel.
Click OK to close the compare configuration widget.
18 Save and close the assembly.
EFD Zooming
Summary As it turns out, the difference in the two heat sink configurations is
minimal. This was not immediately apparent when the problem was
formulated.
To use the EFD Zooming technique, we simplified the overall model so
that it could be run faster. The block representing the heat sink was a
good enough approximation to solve for the overall flow field in the
model. The heat sink was then placed back into the zoomed model and
the boundary conditions were transferred to the boundaries of the
zoomed computational domain. Careful guidelines for defining the
computational domain in the zoomed model were noted and followed
as closely as possible.
The EFD Zooming technique allowed us to quickly analyze both
designs and get a better estimate for the temperature distribution
around the solid. We also used Batch Run to run our projects
simultaneously.
Results from both projects were conveniently postprocessed using the
Compare configuration mode. This mode allowed us to display results
plots, goals and parameters side by side and make the necessary design
conclusions more easily.
Lesson 7
Porous Media
I Create a flow analysis using the porous media option.
I Use the Component Control command.
I Evaluate velocity profiles.
Porous Media
Case Study: In this lesson, we will use the porous media capability of Flow
Catalytic Simulation to analyze flow through a catalytic converter. We will use
Converter dummy bodies within the flow field to apply engineering goals. We
will compare two different porous designs and evaluate their
performance based on the development of the flow fields through the
cross section of the model.
Problem Gases released from the engine
Substrate
Description during combustion are often very
toxic and need processing before
being released to the atmosphere.
The catalytic converter is used to
reduce the toxicity of the Inlet
emissions.
Flow enters the exhaust at 12 m/s.
The gases travel through the exhaust piping and enter the catalytic
converter where it is met with the substrate of the converter. The
substrate is coated with the catalyst that will react with the gases to
transform the toxic gases. A large substrate with a lot of surface area
will allow the most reaction with the gases, however it will also restrict
the flow of the exhaust gases. In addition, uniformly developed flow
entering the substrate will allow for the most efficient use of the
converter because the entire substrate will work equally.
We will use the porous media capability of Flow Simulation to model
the substrate due to its complicated geometry. In this lesson, we will
use two different types of porous media and evaluate which is most
suitable for our application.
Process Using the Wizard, the internal analysis can be created.
be defined.
I Define the porous media.
Define the properties of the porous media and disable the solid
body that is being defined as porous.
I Declare calculation goal.
The defined calculation goal will be used to evaluate the results.
I Run the analysis.

Porous Media

Open Catalyst from the Lesson07\Case Study folder.
2 Create Project.
Create a new study using the Wizard with the following settings:

name “Default”
Project name “Isotropic”

Wall conditions In the Default outer wall thermal condition list, select Adiabatic
wall.
Initial conditions Default
Results & Geometry Default

analysis tree, under Input Data, right-click
the Boundary Conditions icon and select
Insert Boundary Condition.
Apply an Inlet Velocity of 12 m/s to the
inside face of the lid covering the inlet.
Note The velocity can also be defined as a function. To achieve this, click the
Dependency button under Flow Parameters. Be sure to set the
proper coordinate system to define a variable velocity definition with
respect to a given direction.
Porous Media

analysis tree, under Input Data, right-
click Boundary Condition and select
Insert Boundary Condition.
Select the inside face of the channel on the
other end converter body.
Under Type, click the Pressure Openings
button and select Static Pressure.
Click OK, accepting the default ambient
values.
Porous Media SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation is able to treat some solid bodies as
porous media with a certain resistance to fluid flow. The Engineering
Database of Flow Simulation has various materials with
predetermined properties that define the material porosity. In addition,
the porosity properties can be entered by the user.
Porosity The Porosity is defined as the total fluid volume divided by the total
volume of the porous media. Therefore, a value of 0.5 means that 50%
of the porous media is fluid. The porosity governs the flow velocity in
the porous medium channels.
Permeability Type Our porous screen is defined as isotropic, which is to say that the
porosity of the media is the same in every direction. The other options
for the Permeability Type are: Unidirectional, Axisymmetrical, or
Orthotropic. Similarly to defining elastic and thermal properties, the
resistance can be defined in given directions under the Permeability
type property.
Resistance The resistance is how the flow is resisted by the porous medium. It can
be defined by an input plot with respect to pressure drop, flow rate, or
model dimensions. In addition, it can be defined with respect to
velocity. This parameter is something that needs to be determined
beforehand as it is a property of the porous body.
Porous Media
5 Define Porous Media.

First, we have to define the properties of the porous media in the
Engineering Database.
In the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, select Tools, Engineering
Database.
Expand the Porous Media folder. Right-click User Defined and
select New Item.
Click the Item Properties tab.
In the Name box, type Isotropic.
In the Porosity box, type 0.5.
For the Permeability type property make sure Isotropic is selected.
For the Resistance calculation formula property, click in the value
field and use the down arrow to select Dependency on velocity.
Note In our case, the resistance to flow (or permeability) of the media will
vary with the flow velocity. The equation that will define this parameter
is k = (A×V+B)/r (named Dependency on velocity), where V is the fluid
velocity and r is fluid density, A and B are constants. You specify A
[kg/m^4] and B [kg/(s×m^3)] only (V and r are calculated). Usually
these values are supplied by the porous media manufacturer.
In the A box, type the value 57 kg/m^4.
In the B box, type the value 0.
Click File, Save.
Click File, Exit.
Porous Media
6 Customize SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree.

In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click the study Isotropic
and select Customize tree.
Click Porous Media.
Click in the graphics area to finish customizing the Flow Simulation
analysis tree.
7 Set porous conditions.
Right-click Porous Media in the Flow Simulation analysis tree and
select Insert Porous Medium.
Select the two Monolith parts from the Graphics window.
In the Porous Medium box, expand the User Defined folder and
select the Isotropic porous media created in the previous step.
Click OK to close the Porous Media window.
Rename the porous medium Isotropic.
Dummy Bodies Often times, you may want to have goals set up for specific regions of
your model where there is no SolidWorks geometry to select. Without
the geometry, there is no reference to select for the creation of the goal.
In situations such as these, we can use dummy SolidWorks geometry to
define geometry in these regions. If this technique is used be sure that
Component Control is used to disable the body in the flow, otherwise
it would affect the flow field.
In our model, we may be interested
in the flow just as it enters into the
catalytic converter. That way we
could calculate the pressure drop
from the inlet to the converter. In
addition, we could calculate the
pressure drop across the converter Dummy Body
itself. A dummy body has been
created at the inlet of the converter
to define goals at this location.
8 Define Engineering Goal. Inlet Total

Outlet Total
In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Pressure Pressure
Simulation analysis tree, right-
click Goals, and select Insert
Surface Goals.
In the Parameter list, find Total
Pressure.
Mid-Total
Pressure
Porous Media
Beside the Total Pressure list item, select the Av check box.
Select the two faces that define the inlet and outlet. Also, select the face
on the dummy body as shown in the figure.
Check Create goal for each surface under Selection.
Rename the goals as shown in the figure above.
9 Disable dummy body.
analysis tree, right-click Input Data and
select Component Control.
In the Component Control dialog, disable
Dummy Body.
Click OK.
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation treats the
disabled component as a fluid region with the default fluid initial
conditions.
Note The two Monolith bodies should also be disabled. This should happen
by default when they are defined as porous media.
Goals icon and select Insert Equation Goal.
Select the Inlet Total Pressure goal, click -, then select the Mid-
Total Pressure goal.
Click OK.
Rename this goal Pipe Drop.
Repeat this process to define a goal for the pressure drop across the
catalytic converter.
Name this goal Converter Drop.
12 Run the project.
Click Run.
Porous Media
13 Cut Plot.
In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation FeatureManager, right-click
the Cut Plots icon under Results and select Insert.
In the Section plane or Planar face box, select Plane2.
Under Display, click the Contours button.
Select Velocity and increase Number of Levels to 100.
Click OK.
Hide the cut plot when you are done reviewing.

In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation FeatureManager, right-click
the Flow Trajectories icon under Results and select Insert.
Click the Flow Simulation analysis tree tab.
Under Boundary conditions, click Inlet Velocity 1 item as the
reference.
Increase Number of Points to 60 and click OK.
Porous Media
Discussion From these two plots, we can easily see that much of the flow enters the
catalyst coated substrate at one single end. In the flow trajectory plot,
we even see that there is some backflow. Upon entering the substrate,
the flow then quickly begins to develop because it is retarded by the
porosity of the substrate. Upon reaching the outlet, the flow looks fully
developed. We can use XY Plots to verify this.
15 XY plot.
XY Plots icon and select Insert.
In the SolidWorks FeatureManager tree, select Sketch1 and Sketch2.
Under Parameter list, select the Velocity (Z) check box.
Porous Media
Discussion The blue line of this plot is the z-velocity

distribution in the x-direction at the inlet
of the catalyst. The red line represents the
outlet. As we suspected, the flow is fully
developed when it reaches the outlet.
Looking at the inlet, we can also verify
that much of the flow enters through the
far side of the substrate. So much flow
enters through this side that there even
exists a back flow out of the first substrate
on the opposite side. We can see this
because the velocity is positive on that
side rather than negative.
Design With all the velocity entering the substrate on one end, the converter
Modification will wear on this side much quicker. One obvious way to correct this
would be to change the geometry of the inlet. Often times, however, the
converter must fit into a tight space and geometry modifications may
not always be possible. For this case, we will try a different type of
porous media.
16 Clone Project.
Right-click the project name in the Flow Simulation analysis tree and
select Clone Project.
Enter Uni-Iso as the Project Name.
Under Configuration choose Use Current.
Click OK.
This will create a new project associated with configuration Default.
All of the settings from the previous project will be copied.
Porous Media
17 Define Porous Media.

In the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, select Tools, Engineering
Database.
Expand the Porous Media folder. Right-click User Defined and
select New Item.
Click the Item Properties tab.
In the Name box, type Unidirectional.
In the Porosity box, type 0.5.
For the Permeability type property make sure Unidirectional is
selected.
For the Resistance calculation formula property, click in the value
field and use the down arrow to select Dependency on velocity.
In the A box, type the value 57 kg/m^4.
In the B box, type the value 0.
Click File, Save.
Click File, Exit.
18 Set porous conditions. Isotropic
Edit the definition of the Isotropic
porous medium and remove the
Monolith part that is closest to the
inlet. We will define this as the
Unidirectional porous medium
defined in the previous step. Unidirectional
Right-click Porous Media in the
Flow Simulation analysis tree and select Insert Porous Medium.
Select the Monolith part that is closest to the inlet.
In the Porous Medium box, expand the User Defined folder and
select the Unidirectional porous media created in the previous step.
Select Z as the reference Direction.
Rename the porous medium Unidirectional.
19 Run the project.
Click Run.
Porous Media
20 Cut Plot.
Show the Cut Plot 1 that was created in the previous project.
Hide the cut plot when you are done reviewing.

Show the Flow Trajectories 1 that was created in the previous
project.
Porous Media
22 XY plot.
Edit the definition of the XY Plot 1 that was created in the previous
project.
Porous Media
Discussion From these plots, we can see that the unidirectional porous medium
takes in a slightly more uniform flow field. This is because the flow can
only travel in one direction once it enters the unidirectional medium.
This could prove helpful in making the catalyst last longer.
Another way to evaluate the performance of the converter is the
amount of time it takes the flow to pass through the substrates. The
longer it takes, the more chance the flow has to react with the catalyst
to remove the toxic substances.
We can evaluate this by showing the cut
plots of the z-velocity in the two studies
with the same scale (shown to the right).
As we can see, the flow moves through Isotropic
the unidirectional medium at a
consistently low speed. The flow through
the isotropic medium may be
inconsistent, but reaches an even lower
speed at the end of the first medium.
This is because the flow in the isotropic Unidirectional
medium can expand in all directions,
allowing for the flow to slow
significantly quicker than in the
unidirectional medium.
Summary For the application of the catalytic converter, both the unidirectional
and isotropic porous medium have their advantages. The unidirectional
medium forces a more uniform velocity distribution that would allow
the converter to wear evenly. The isotropic medium allows the gas to
expand much more easily, causing lower flow speeds which allow the
gas to spend more time with the catalyst providing for more efficient
conversion. Perhaps an optimal design would have a shorter
unidirectional medium to produce a more uniform flow field. A longer,
isotropic medium could then further expand the gases and allow for
more reaction.
We also showed that with the inlet on one side of the converter there are
significant non-uniformities in the incoming flow which is detrimental
to the performance of the converter. If re-design was possible, one
might want the inlet to be head on so that the flow is uniform when it
reaches the first porous medium.
Channel Flow
Exercise 8: In this exercise, we will utilize the porous media capability to perform
Channel Flow an analysis of flow through a channel with a screen. We will use a
variable velocity profile when specifying the inlet boundary condition.
I Porous Media on page 176.
I Porosity on page 176.
Problem Cold air flow is forced through a porous screen within a channel. At the
Statement channel inlet the velocity profile is a function of the inlet height.
Y
Air
Porous Screen X
Example description with non-uniform inlet velocity profile
The channel height is 0.15m, the channel length is 0.65m, the porous
screen thickness is 0.01m. All walls have a thickness of 0.01m. The
flow through a channel is symmetric, therefore two dimensional
symmetry can be used to simplify the problem.
Non-uniform inlet velocity (Air)
Porous Screen

Open Channel Assembly from the Lesson07\Exercises folder.
Channel Flow
2 Create Project.
name “Default”
Project name “Porous”

Fluids
Wall conditions In the Default wall thermal condition list,
select Adiabatic wall.
Geometry Click Finish.
Resolution
You will receive the following message:

Fluid volume recognition has failed because the model
currently is not watertight. An internal task must has a
sealed internal volume. You need to close openings and holes
to make the internal volume sealed.
You can close openings with the Create Lids tool. Do you
want to open the Create Lids tool?
Click No. The simulation will be run in 2D, and so the open sides of the
model do not need to be closed with lids.
Channel Flow
Non-uniform Inlet A boundary condition is required to describe where the fluid enters or
Velocity exits the system and can be set as a Pressure, Mass Flow, Volume Flow
or Velocity. This exercise will include a variable inlet velocity profile,
as shown below.
3 Set computational domain to 2D.

Data, right-click Computational Domain and select Edit Definition.
Under Type specify 2D flow in the XY plane.
Click OK.
4 Create variable inlet velocity.
analysis tree, under Input Data, right-
click the Boundary Conditions icon
and select Insert Boundary Condition.
Select the inside surface of the
SolidWorks feature representing the
inlet as shown in the figure.
Under Type, click the Flow openings button.
Still under Type, select Inlet Velocity.
Under Flow Parameters, click the Normal to face button. The
velocity profile will be specified in the table.
Click the Dependency button . In the Dependency window, under

the Dependency type list, select F(y) - table.
Open the X-Velocity.xls file stored in the Lesson 7 folder. You can
copy the values from the table to the Design window. Highlight the
Excel data and use CTRL+C and CTRL+V to copy the entries.
Channel Flow
Alternatively, type in the following values:
Face Based - Y
X - Velocity (m/s)
direction (m)
-0.075 m 0 m/s
-0.074333333 m 16.0341 m/s
-0.0726129 m 19.2855 m/s
-0.0653871 m 22.6 m/s
-0.0540323 m 22.6 m/s
-0.0433656 m 22.6 m/s
-0.0326989 m 22.6 m/s
-0.0227204 m 22.6 m/s
-0.0134301 m 22.562 m/s
-0.0027634 m 16.9184 m/s
-0.0020753 m 16.0875 m/s
0.0072151 m 12.693 m/s
0.0175376 m 12.42 m/s
0.028204 m 13.0918 m/s
0.039559 m 12.42 m/s
0.048505 m 11.7826 m/s
0.058484 m 9.97044 m/s
0.068462 m 8.38286 m/s
0.070183 m 8.97531 m/s
0.07328 m 8.68414 m/s
0.074312 m 7.96345 m/s
0.074656 m 7.17069 m/s
0.075 m 0 m/s
Click OK twice.
Note The y-coordinates are based on the face-based local coordinate system
with an origin at the center of the selected face.
Channel Flow
Tip To set the Global coordinate system for a Dependency boundary

condition, you should click in the window where the coordinate system
is set and press the delete key on your keyboard. Instead of the local
coordinate system, the global coordinate system will appear
automatically.
5 Apply outlet Boundary Condition.
Simulation analysis tree, under
Input Data, right-click Boundary
Condition and select Insert
Boundary Condition.
Select the inside face of the channel
on the other end of the inlet velocity.
Under Type, click the Pressure Openings button and select Static
Pressure.
6 Set porous conditions.
Right-click Porous Media in the Flow Simulation analysis tree and
select Insert Porous Medium.
Select the Porous<1> part from the Graphics window.
In the Porous Medium box, expand the Pre-Defined folder and select
the Screen Material.
7 Disable porous media.
analysis tree, right-click Input Data and
select Component Control.
In the Component Control dialog,
disable the part Porous<1>.
Click OK.
Channel Flow
8 Set Engineering Goals.

Right-click Goals in the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree
and select Insert Surface Goals.
In the Parameter list, find Static Pressure.
Beside the Static Pressure list item, select the Av check box.
Select the inlet face used for the velocity boundary condition. You can
also select the Inlet velocity1 boundary condition from the
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation feature manager tree and the inlet
face will be automatically updated to the Faces to Apply Surface
Goal list.
Click OK.
9 Run the project.
Click Run.
Transparency.
Click OK.
11 Create Cut Plot.
Using Plane1, create a cut plot showing the Velocity distribution.
Note Due to the user defined inlet velocity profile the velocity is highest near
the bottom of the channel.
Channel Flow
12 Change the cut plot to show Dynamic Pressure.
Note You may need to add Dynamic Pressure to the list of the available
parameters. To do this, expand the Parameter pull down list and select
Add Parameter.
13 Create XY-Plot near inlet and outlet.
XY Plots icon and select Insert.
In the SolidWorks FeatureManager tree, select Sketch2 and Sketch3.
Under Parameter list, select the Velocity (X) check box.
The porous screen has little effect on the velocity profile.
Channel Flow
Lesson 8
I Select a proper computational approach based on the problem
parameters.
I Set up problems using Rotating Reference Flow.
Rotating SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation allows for the use of rotating

Reference reference frames within the computational domain. These rotating
Frame reference frames can be defined either globally or locally.
If defined globally, the model assumes that all of the walls rotate at the
same speed of the reference frame and that the corresponding Coriolis
and centrifugal forces are taken into account.
When defined locally, the rotating region is only applied to that area
(i.e. area around a fan or impeller). The region must be defined as a
component in the model to be defined as rotating. Two solution
approaches are available:
I In the Mixing Plane approach, the fluid flow within the rotating
region is calculated in the rotating region’s local reference frame.
Flow field parameters are transferred from adjacent flow regions to
the rotating region’s boundary as boundary conditions. The flow
field must be axially symmetric at the rotating region’s boundary.
The rotating regions must not intersect with each other.
I In the Sliding Mesh approach, it is assumed that the flow field is
unsteady and it is available for transient analysis only. This
assumption allows to obtain more accurate simulation the rotor-
stator interaction is strong. However, because this approach
requires an unsteady numerical solution, it is computationally more
demanding than the Mixing Plane approach.
Part 1: Mixing This lesson is divided into two parts. In the first part you will use the
Plane mixing plane method to analyze a table fan. The flow field in this
problem is axially symmetrical; axial symmetry in the flow field is one
of the requirements when using mixing plane method.
Case Study: In this lesson, we will use a local rotating reference frame to model
Table Fan flow through a table fan. Our mesh settings will be set up manually and
we will learn how to properly post-process the results.
Problem The fan shown in the figure rotates
Description at 200 rad/s. The fan is surrounded
by environmental pressure. The fan
also experiences a constant wind
velocity at 0.1 m/s in the z-
direction. Analyze how the flow
moves through the fan by using a
local rotating reference frame in the
area of the blades.

I Define computational domain and set up the mesh.
The initial mesh and mesh settings will be generated manually.
I Define rotating region.
A rotating region around the fan blades will be defined.
Environmental pressure will be defined around the fan.
The defined calculation goal will be used to evaluate the results.
I Set calculation control and run the analysis.
Some calculation control options will be defined to minimize the
run time.
Procedure Follow the procedure below:

Open Fan_Assy from the Lesson08\Case Study\Table Fan folder.
The local rotating region has been defined around the fan blades and is
called Part1.
Note The entire fan is surrounded by the External cylinder part. In
rotating problems such as this, creating an outer cylindrical shell to
enclose the fan helps the problem obtain convergence. Thus, the
problem will be defined as an internal analysis.
2 Create a project.
Configuration Use Current: “Default”

Name
Project name “Fan Flow - mixing plane”
Unit System SI
Set units of Length to mm.
Analysis type Internal.
Also, select Rotation.
Select Local region(s) (Mixing plane).
Default Fluid Air

Name
Project name “Fan Flow - mixing plane”
Wall conditions Default
Initial conditions Clear the Pressure Potential check box in
Thermodynamic Parameters.
Set velocity in z direction to 0.1 m/s and clear the
Relative to rotating frame check box.
Results and Result resolution level set to 3.
Geometry
Resolution
3 Set Initial Mesh.

Right-click Input Data and select Initial Mesh.
Clear the Automatic Settings check box.
Click the Basic Mesh tab and set the number of cells to the following:
Set all the Ratio values to 1.
4 Set up the mesh interface.

Click the Solid/Fluid interface tab.
Set the Small solid features refinement level to level 3.
Click the Narrow channels tab.
Set the Narrow channels refinement level to level 3.
Click OK.
5 Create rotating region.
Right-click Rotating Regions in the
analysis tree and select Insert Rotating
Region.
Using the SolidWorks flyout
FeatureManager, select Part1.
Apply an angular velocity of 200 rad/s.
Click OK.
Also, be sure that the body gets excluded in Component Control after
it is specified as rotating.
Note If you cannot see Rotating Regions in the Flow Simulation analysis
tree, right-click the Fan Flow study and select Customize Tree. You
can then select Rotating Regions from the list.
6 Apply environmental pressure.
Apply an environmental pressure to the inner
walls of the cylindrical outer shell.
7 Create a local initial Mesh.

Right-click Local Initial Mesh in the Flow Simulation analysis tree
and select Insert Initial Local Mesh.
Select Part1.
Clear the Automatic Settings box.
Click the Solid/Fluid interface tab.
Set the Small solid features refinement level to level 5.
Click the Narrow channels tab.
Set the Narrow channels refinement level to level 2.
Click OK.
Note If you cannot see the Local Initial Mesh in the SolidWorks Simulation
menu, right-click Fan Flow and select Customize Tree. You can then
select the Local Initial Mesh from the list.
8 Create surface goal.
Select the Fan_blade part and apply a Force (Z) and Torque (Z)
surface goal.
9 Set calculation control options.
Right-click Input data in the Flow Simulation analysis tree and select
Check Refinement and set it to 0. Also, click Iterations and set it to

3600.
Clear the Calculation time, Travels, and Goals convergence check
boxes.
Click OK.
10 Run the project.

The analysis takes approximately 50 minutes to solve on a 3.6 GHz
Intel Xeon E5 machine with 16 GM RAM.
At this point, we would go ahead and run the simulation. Due to the
time required, the results of this analysis have already been computed,
and we will use them for the post-processing.
Activate project completed - mixing plane.
12 Load results.
13 View cut plot.
Right-click Cut Plot in the Results section of the Flow Simulation
analysis tree and select Insert.
Select Right Plane from the SolidWorks FeatureManager tree.
Under Contours select Velocity and increase Number of Levels to
100.
Under Vectors select Velocity.
Click OK.
14 Show surface plots.

Right-click the Surface Plots icon and select Insert.
Click the whole part Fan_Blade-1 in the SolidWorks FeatureManager
tree. This will select all the surfaces of that part.
Under Display, click the Contours button.
Under Contours, select Velocity and increase Number of Levels to
100.
Click OK.

Flow Trajectories icon and select Insert.
In the SolidWorks FeatureManager fly-out tree, click the Sketch1
item. This will select the curves of Sketch1 as Reference.
Under Starting Points, in the Number of Points box, type 100.
Under Appearance, in the Width box, enter 5 mm.
Under Constraints, in the Maximum length, increase the value to
30000mm.
Click OK.
16 Create second flow trajectory.

Define a new set of the flow trajectories with the same parameters as in
the previous step. Use the Front Plane as reference.
The resulting plot shows a combination of flow trajectories from both
of the previous steps.
Part 2: Sliding In the second part of this lesson you will use a more robust sliding
Mesh mesh approach to simulate flow through a blower fan. This method
assumes unsteady flow field and is therefore available for transient
solutions only. While this method can be used for various flow
configurations, it is especially suitable to provide solutions in cases
where the rotor-stator interaction is strong, and in cases where the
flows exits the rotating components radially. It is computationally
significantly more demanding that the Mixing Plane approach.
Case Study: In this case study you will use sliding mesh method to analyze flow in a
Blower Fan blower fan. The basic characteristics of this model are that the flow
exits the rotor radially, and that there is strong interaction between the
rotor and stator.
Problem The blower fan shown in
Description the figure rotates at 700
rpm (36.65 rad/sec) and
moves air from one side of
the system to the other.
Analyze how the flow
moves through the fan by
using a sliding mesh
approach.

Open fan from the Lesson08\Case Study\Blower Fan folder.
The fan inlet is formed by a dome shaped lid to help flow obtain more
suitable distribution on entry to the fan.
Note Because setup of this simulation is similar to the setup of the table fan
model in part 1, some of the study features were prepared beforehand
and will only be reviewed here.
2 Activate project.
Activate project Blower fan - sliding mesh.
The table below summarizes the project setup. Review it.

Name
Project name “Blower fan - sliding mesh”
Unit System SI
Units of Length are set to mm.
Analysis type Internal.
Selected features: Rotation, Local region(s) (Sliding
mesh).
Default Fluid Air
Initial conditions The Pressure Potential check box in Thermodynamic
Parameters is cleared.
Results and Result resolution level is set to 4
Geometry
Resolution
3 Review initial mesh.

Advanced Settings are used for initial mesh in this project.
Review the Basic Mesh tab where number of cells was manually
specified.
On the Solid/Fluid interface tab, both Small solid features

refinement level and Tolerance refinement level to level 4.
Tolerance refinement criterion is set to 0.0015m.
On the Refining Cells tab, Refine Fluid Cells and Refine partial cells
are both set to level 1.
On the Narrow channels tab, Enable narrow channels refinement is
checked, and Characteristic number of cells across a narrow
channel is set to 5. Narrow channels refinement level is set to level
2.
4 Review rotating region.
Similar to the table fan model, rotating
region surrounding rotor must be defined.
Review Rotating Region 1 project
features. The angular velocity is set to 700
rpm (73.3 rad/s).
Review also that rotating region part is
disabled in the Component Control tool.
Tangential Notice that the rotating region used in this project does not include the
Faces of Rotors top and bottom faces of the flat sheet metal on the top and bottom of the
rotor. While rotating region could include them, an alternative
approach is used here.
Rotating region
Rotor top
sheet metal
Rotor
blade
When there is an entire wall moving in tangential direction with respect

to the fluid, it is recommended that an explicit Real Wall boundary
condition is used instead. This recommendation applies in general to
faces both inside and outside of the rotating region. A 700 RPM
absolute angular velocity is therefore applied on all tangential faces.
5 Tangential walls of rotor. Rotor top

Define a Real Wall boundary
condition on the three
indicated faces on the top of
the rotor, and four faces on
the bottom of the rotor.
Specify an Absolute, 700
RPM for Angular Velocity Rotor bottom
with respect to the global Z
axis.
Note Because this boundary condition is applied to tangential faces both

outside and inside of the rotating region, absolute value must be used.

Inlet boundary is formed by a dome
shaped lid to allow for more realistic
flow distribution at the entry to the
fan.
Apply an Environmental Pressure
boundary condition on the inside
face of the dome lid.
7 Outlet boundary condition.

Apply an Environmental Pressure boundary
condition on the inside face of the outlet lid.
8 Review local initial mesh.

Two local initial mesh conditions are specified in this project.
The first condition is specified on the rotating region part to refine
mesh immediately surrounding the rotor.
The second condition is specifically
created to further refine mesh at the tips
of the blades where complex and
unsteady flow patters may be expected.
lm2 part with dummy cylinders at the
leading edges on both sides of each
blade is used for this condition.
Review both local initial mesh
conditions.
9 Review goals.
Several goals are already defined in the project. Review all defined
goals.
10 Set calculation control options.
Right-click Input data in the Flow Simulation analysis tree and select
On the Finish tab check Physical time and specify 0.2s. The rest of
the criteria should be unchecked.
Note The project will simulate a little more than two full rotor revolutions.
The period of one revolution (obtained from the angular velocity of 700
RPM) is 0.0857s.
On the Refinement tab make sure that Global Domain refinement is
Disabled, and local regions use global settings (disabled).
On the Solving tab, specify manual time step of 0.0002s.
Time Step Time step is very important parameter in any transient solution. Too
large a time step will cause solver to diverge or generate inaccurate
results, while too small a time step will cause simulation to run for
extremely long times. Automatic setting will, in general, use
conservative time step size, which will ensure that simulation results
are correct. Unfortunately, calculation times may be prohibitive in
traditional desktop setting.
Manual setting, on the other hand, allows operator to specify larger
time step and speed up the calculation. It is important to note, however,
that it is the responsibility of an operator to ensure that manually
specified time step is small enough to provide correct and converged
results.
In this project, we will base our time step assumption on the absolute
time required for one blade to move from its position to the position of
the neighboring blade. For the angular velocity of 700 RPM, 32 rotor
blades, the time required for a blade to move from its position to the
position of the neighboring blade is:
60 –4
Δt = ------------------------------ = 2.67 ×10 s
700 ⋅ 32 ⋅ 10
Note The time step is equal to one tenth of the time required for a blade to
move from one position to the position of its neighboring blade.
On the Saving tab, under Full Results, check Periodic and specify
Physical time [s]. Enter 0s for Start and 0.004s for Period.
Note A total of 50 instances of the calculated results will be saved.

Click OK.
11 Run the project.
At this point we would go ahead and run the simulation. The analysis
takes approximately 52 hours to solve on a 3.6 GHz Intel Xeon E5
machine with 16 GM RAM.
Due to the time required, the results of this analysis have already been
computed. Due to the disk space requirements results files are not
provided as part of the training file set.
Postprocessing section will conclude with two velocity cut plots and a
transient animation.
12 Velocity cut plot.

The two cut plots below show distribution of the velocity field close to
the beginning (1st saved time step corresponding to the 20th
computational time step), and at the end of the simulation.
t=4e-3 s
Notice that close to the beginning of the simulation only air in the
direct neighborhood of the rotor moves with significant velocity.
t=0.2 s
The highest speeds indicated by the red sphere reach approximately 48

m/s.
13 Animation.
The first two revolutions of the rotor are captured in the attached
animation1.avi.
The captured event has a duration of only 0.2s with a frame rate of 100
fps. To better see the animation slow the playback speed to
approximately 25%, or less.
Summary In this lesson, we learned about two distinct solution approaches to

rotating flow problems: mixing plane and sliding mesh.
Mixing plane is a simpler approach imposing certain assumptions on
the flow field distribution. One of the major assumption is that ignoring
the rotational characteristics, the flow must be asymmetrical. This
means that majority of flow must enter and exit the rotating region
axially. The advantage of this approach is relatively short time required
to obtain solution.
Sliding mesh is a robust solution able to tackle complex rotational
flows with unsteady fields. In the examples presented in this lesson,
blower fan with air exiting in the radial direction was used.
Calculations using this method must be transient, and will take a
considerable amount of time to complete.
Lesson 9
Parametric Study
I Create an analysis using the Parametric (optimization) Study
feature.
I Create a quarter model using symmetry planes.
I Properly post-process parametric analysis results.
Parametric Study
Case Study: In this lesson, we will perform a

Piston Valve parametric optimization on a piston
valve assembly using
The model will allow for the use of
symmetry to simplify the
calculations. A single variable
parameter will be defined using a
model dimension. A single goal will
also be defined and used to determine
convergence.
Problem Water enters the assembly shown below through the inlet and moves
Description axially towards the orange piston. Pressure is built on the piston and the
water can then move radially out through the exit holes. The piston is
constrained by a spring that requires a 6 N force on its face to allow it
to move. Find the configuration of the assembly (i.e. piston location)
that will produce that force if the pressure at the inlet is 2 bar and the
outlet is 1 bar. The geometry of the valve allows for the usage of a
quarter model through symmetry.
Piston
Inlet

I Define computational domain.
Symmetry conditions can be used in the model to simplify the
computational domain.
be defined.
The defined calculation goal will be used to evaluate the results of
each iteration.
I Define parametric study.
Define the variable parameters and goal of the model.
Parametric Study
I Run the analysis.

Parametric In parametric analysis (often called optimization) a set of calculations
Analysis are run where certain parameters are varied iteratively within selected
boundaries until a specified goal has been met, or to study specific
trends influencing design.
Steady State Parametric study can only consider the steady state analysis of a fixed
Analysis model geometry. If you wish to investigate the time needed for the flow
to reach steady state, a transient analysis is required and the parametric
study cannot be used. Each transient study must be modified and run
individually.

Open Piston Valve from the Lesson09\Case Study folder. Make
sure that the default configuration is active.
2 Create Project.
Configuration Use current: “Default”

name
Project name “Piston”
Under the Main category in the table of parameters, select
Bar for units of Pressure & stress. (1 bar = 105 Pa)
Analysis type Internal flow
Also, make sure the Exclude cavities without flow
conditions check box is selected.
Default Fluid Water
Wall Conditions Default adiabatic smooth walls (0 micrometer)
Initial Conditions Default
Result and Result resolution level set to 3.
Geometry Click Finish.
Resolution
Parametric Study
3 Set Computational Domain.

From the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click Computational
Domain and select Edit Definition.
Enter the following values and specify the appropriate conditions in the
Size and Conditions dialog.
Size (meters) Condition

X max: 0.00335 -
X min: -0.013 -
Y max: 0.0065 -
Y min: 0 Symmetry
Z max: 0.0065 -
Z min: 0 Symmetry
When finished, click OK.

4 Apply inlet pressure boundary
condition.
analysis tree, right-click Boundary
Condition.
Locate and select the inner face of the
inlet lid.
Under Type, click the Pressure
Openings button and select Static Pressure.
Under Thermodynamic Parameters enter 2 bar as the pressure.
Click OK.
Rename the inlet condition to Inlet p = 2 bar.
Parametric Study
5 Set outlet boundary conditions.

analysis tree, right-click Boundary
Condition.
Locate and select the inner face of the
exit lids.
Under Type, click the Pressure
Openings button and select Static
Pressure.
Specify a pressure value of 1 bar.
Click OK.
Rename the inlet condition to Outlet p = 1 bar.
6 Set Global Goal.
Goals and select Insert Global Goal.
Click the box for Av corresponding to Static Pressure. Make sure Use
for Conv. is checked as well.
Select OK.
Parametric Study
7 Set Surface Goal.

In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click Goals
and select Insert Surface Goal.
Select the box corresponding to Force (X) and make sure Use for
Conv. is checked.
Change the transparency of Part2 to see the orange piston. Select the
four faces exposed to the flow on the piston (see the following figure).
Click OK.
Parametric study Parametric study allows you to launch a set of calculations with the
goal to study trends of selected quantities, or to find an optimum value
of a selected parameter until a specified goal is met (optimization).
Parametric Study
Introducing: In parametric study, each iteration creates a new configuration with a

Parametric study different set of parameter values (defined as dimensions or boundary
conditions) that will change the flow field. Two types of parametric
study can be defined:
I One dimensional optimization (Goal Optimization)
Upon each iteration, a specified goal is calculated and compared to
the target goal (defined as constant, table, or a function). At each
iteration, the software automatically updates the variable parameter
using the secant method and solves the study. This procedure is
repeated until either the goal is met, or the maximum number of
iterations has been reached, or it is decided that the goal cannot be
reached within the variable parameter limits.
I Multi variable design scenario (What If)
Each iteration can vary multiple number of parameters until the
desired grid of values is calculated. The scenario postprocessing
allows you to study trends of selected quantities and their
dependence on the study parameters.
Where to Find It I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Run

I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Solve, Parametric Study
I Flow Simulation Main toolbar: Wizard
Part 1: Goal In this part of the lesson you will prepare a goal optimization study. The
Optimization objective is to find an optimum position of a valve.
8 Set up Parametric Study.
In the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, select Solve, New Parametric
Study. to open the optimization study setup widget.
Set optimization study to the Goal Optimization mode.
Note In the Goal Optimization mode, only one variable parameter can be
varied.
Parametric Study
Input Variable You have an option to optimize a selected dimension or the flow
Types parameter (mass flow rate, inlet volume flow rate, etc.).
In this project we want to know the piston position that results in a 6N
force. We will therefore use the Add Dimension Parameter option to
vary the SolidWorks mate controlling the position of the piston.
9 Specify input variable type.

In the Input variables tab, click Add Dimension Parameter to open
the Add Parameter selection field.
Click the Piston X dimension mate controlling the position of the
piston to add it to the Add Parameter selection field.
Click OK to close the Add Parameter field.
Edit Variable
Add Dimension Parameter
10 Specify input variable range.

Click the Edit Variation button (see the figure
above) and enter 0.003m and 0.006m for the
minimum and maximum dimensions.
Click OK to close the Edit Variation dialog.
Parametric Study
11 Specify output variable.

On the Output Parameters tab,
click the Add Goal button.
In the Add Goal dialog, check the checkbox

next to SG Force (X) 1.
Click OK to close the Add Goal dialog.
12 Specify target value.

Still in the Output Parameters tab, click the
Target Value button and specify 1.5 N for the
target value and 0.3 N for the study Maximum
Deviation.
Click OK to close the Target Value dialog.
Target Value You have an option to specify the target value dependence type. In this
Dependence lesson, you specified a Constant target value of 6 N in step 12.
Types Constant is also the default dependence type setting for the target value.
The dependence
button (see the
figure in step 12) in
the target value dialog
allows you to specify
more complex
dependence types such as Table of values of Formula. The Formula
type enables you to create a dependence of the target value directly on
the input variable (in your case the dimension controlling the position
of the piston).
Output Variable The Initial Values button on the output
Initial Values parameters tab enables you to save calculation
time by specifying the output variable values
(i.e. solutions of the flow simulations) at the
limits of the input variables specified in step
10. If these values are unknown leave these
fields empty. SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
will automatically run two extra calculations to obtain solutions at the
limits of the input variable.
Parametric Study
13 Study Options.
Click the Scenario tab.
In the Study Options dialog, enter 10

for Maximum number of
calculations. Keep the default values
for the rest of the options.
Running SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation will attempt up to 10 calculations to

Optimization obtain the input variable value (position of the piston) at which the
Study output variable (force acting on the piston) is 1.5 N (with the
convergence criterion of 0.3 N). If this position is not found, more
calculations are necessary. Note that if more complex dependencies are
specified, the number of calculations can be substantial.
Optimization Study Each new calculation will be associated with a new study under the
Results same SolidWorks configuration. It is therefore possible to review
solution for each value of the input variable.
Running on Multiple Add Computer button on the scenarios tab enables you to add
Computers multiple network connected computers. This computer can be
requested for running the study in the study options tab specified in
step 13. A proper software license is required for this configuration.
14 Run the study.

Review the study settings in the summary table located on the
Scenario tab and click Run.
Note If you do not want to run the
Parametric Study
immediately, save the setup
busing the Save Study As
button on the Scenario tab.
When ready to run the
Parametric Study, use the
Load Study button to load the
parametric study project.
Parametric Study
15 Review Results.
The following message indicates the end of the optimization procedure:
Solution converged.
Dismiss this message and review the optimization results.
After all studies are calculated, the solutions (design points) are
presented on the Scenario tab, with the last design point SolidWorks
configuration activated and the corresponding results files loaded.
In this project, you can see that it took 3 iterations to obtain an
optimized solution.
The optimized position of the piston is at 4.84 mm when the piston

force reaches 1.21 N (for a quarter of the piston only).
.The project setup is saved into the Flow
Simulation tree.
16 Load results.
Right-click the converged design point
(here Design Point 3), and select Create
project.
The following message will be displayed:

Creating project can change geometry in all configurations in
accordance with the Design Point temporarily in the current
session.
Do you want to create new project and change the geometry?
Click Yes.
Parametric Study
A new configuration with the project titled

Design point 3 will be created, and become
active.
In the new project Design Point 3, right-click
the Results folder and select Load. The correct
result file will be loaded.
Note Alternatively, you can access all parametric study result files by right-
clicking the Results folder under the original project Piston, and
selecting Load from file. You can then navigate to the lesson folder
corresponding to the project Piston, Parametric Study, and the
subfolder with the highest number.
17 View Cut Plot.
Right-click Cut Plot in the Results section of the Flow Simulation
analysis tree and select Insert.
Click the Contours and Vectors buttons.
Select Plane 1 (not PLANE1) from the SolidWorks FeatureManager
tree as the reference.
Select Velocity and click OK to show the plot.
The maximum velocity at the optimized position of the piston reaching

approximately 17.5 m/s.
Parametric Study
18 Examine surface Parameters.

Right-click Surface Parameters under the Results folder and select
Insert.
In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree click the
SG Force (X) 1 goal to select all four faces on the piston.
Select All from the Parameters list.
Click Show.
Notice that the force is close to the goal of 1.5 N and within the 1.2 N to
1.8 N convergence criterion interval.
Close the tables and click OK to close the Surface Parameters
property manager.
19 Define Goal Plot.
In the Results section of the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
analysis tree, right-click Goal Plots and select Insert.
Select the check box next to SG Force (X) 1.
A Microsoft Excel file opens and displays information about the goal.
Click the SG Force (X) 1 tab at the bottom to display a graph of how
the optimized solution was reached.
Part 2: Design In the second part of this lesson you will define “What If” type of the
Scenario parametric study. It allows you to analyze effects of various input
parameters on the selected result quantities.
The objective of this part of the study is to determine the effect of input
pressure and the valve position on the piston force.
20 New parametric study.
Right-click the Parametric Studies
folder (under Default configuration,
Piston study in the top project tree and
select New.
Parametric Study
21 Set up Parametric Study.

On the Input variables tab, make
sure that the optimization is set to the
What If Analysis mode.
Note In the What If Analysis mode, multiple variable parameters can be

varied.
22 Specify the first input variable.
Follow steps 9 and 10 and specify the Piston X dimension mate
controlling the position of the piston as the first input variable
parameter.
Select Discrete Values and input the following values: 0.003m,
0.004 m, 0.005 m and 0.006m.
23 Specify the second input variable.
The second input variable will vary the input pressure.
Click the Add Simulation Parameter button .
In the Add Parameter dialog window expand
Boundary Conditions and the Inlet p= 2 bars
folder.
Select Static pressure. and click OK.
Specify the Range with Number input type

and enter 1.3 bar and 2 bar for the lower and
upper limits correspondingly. The number of
calculation positions for this parameter is equal
to 3.
Click OK to close the Range with Number
dialog.
The Input Variable tab with both input
variables defined is shown in the figure below.
Parametric Study
24 Specify output variable.

Follow step 11 and define the output variable.
Note Contrary to the Goal Optimization mode, output variables do not have
any target value. The What If optimization mode calculates a grid of
result values from which you may analyze various trends in the output
variables.
25 Design points.
Click the Scenario tab and review twelve design points, or input
variable combinations, at which results will be calculated.
Note It is possible to add an additional design point by clicking the Add

Design Point button , or to delete it by right clicking the respective
column and selecting Delete Design Point.
26 Run the study.
Review the design points and click Run.
27 Review Results.
Review the results for all finished design points.
The extreme values of the piston force within the limits of both input
variables are 0.83 N and 7.99 N (for the whole piston). While these
extremes were reached at design points 1 and 12, they can in general
occur at any considered design point.
Click OK to close the design study widget.
Parametric Study
Note Each design point results are associated with saved Flow Simulation
project. You can activate any of these projects, load its results and
analyze them.
28 Close assembly.
Summary In this lesson you learned how to perform an optimization using the
parametric study feature. Parametric study can be defined in two
modes: Goal Optimization and What if.
Goal optimization (Single variable design scenario) represents a one
dimensional optimization using the secant method. SOLIDWORKS
Flow Simulation calculates the problem with adjusted input variable as
long as the calculated value is not within the desired limits of the output
variable, or until the maximum number of iterations is reached.
What If (Multi variable design scenario) parametric study allows you to
define multiple input variables, and define their range. Flow Simulation
then calculates grid of result quantities at every combination of the
input variables. This way, you are able to study various trends in the
results quantities.
The input parameters may include input variables (general settings,
mesh settings or boundary conditions), model dimensions and the
design table values. Output variable can be any defined project goal.
Results are saved for all computed projects and can be activated and
postprocessed.
Variable Geometry Dependent Solution
Exercise 9: In this exercise, you will solve the

Variable safety valve assembly. This model
Geometry features dependence of the flow
solution and the position of the
Dependent
valve.
Solution
This exercise reinforces the Valve
following skills:
Outlet
I Parametric Analysis on
page 215.
Inlet
Problem The safety valve in the image features a spring loaded plunger. To open
Description the valve, i.e. move the plunger up, some minimum level of flow is
required. Consider the mass inflow of 0.001 kg^3/sec; this inflow is
sufficient to keep the valve open. To correctly solve this problem, you
need to use parametric study and design proper mesh, especially in the
vicinity of the plunger.
The spring is compressed by
3mm at a fully closed
position. The maximum
opening of the plunger is
30mm.
3mm
Closed
position
Variable Geometry Dependent Solution
The force generated in the spring can be expressed using the following
nonlinear equation:
2
F[ N ] = 7708.2 ⋅ ( compression ) + 2
The correct solution is with the plunger position somewhere between 7
mm to 16 mm above Sitz_SW component.
Note The dimension controlling the
position of the plunger is
indicated in the image to the
right. (In this image, the plunger
opening is 2 mm.)
Boundary The water mass inflow is 0.001 kg^3/s. The outlet features
Conditions environmental pressure boundary condition.
Goal Mesh the valve assembly and solve the flow simulation. Your solution
needs to find the correct position of the valve opening.
The assembly file Safety valve for this exercise is located in the
Lesson09\Exercises folder.
Note Use local initial mesh to generate optimum mesh in the vicinity of the
valve.
Lesson 10
Cavitation
I Select the cavitation flow type.
I Display cavitation results.
Cavitation
Case Study: This lesson covers the flow of water through a cone valve. The
Cone Valve objective of this lesson is to introduce the cavitation flow type option.
Symmetry will be used to simplify the analysis. The results will be
post-processed using cut plots.
Problem A pipe with a cone valve is shown in the figure. Water at 363 K flows
Description through the pipe at 3.5 m/s. The water is partially blocked by the valve
in the middle causing a dramatic pressure drop and cavitation.
Symmetry can be used to heavily simplify the calculations. Mesh
controls will be used to ensure quality results.
Cavitation Cavitation is a common problem for many engineering devices in

which the main working fluid is in liquid state. The deleterious effects
of cavitation include: lowered performance, load asymmetry, erosion
and pitting of blade surfaces, vibration and noise, and reduction of the
overall machine life. Cavitation models used today range from rather
crude approximations to sophisticated bubble dynamics models.
Details about bubble generation, growth, and collapse are important for
the prediction of a solid surfaces erosion, but are not necessary to
estimate the performance of a pump, valve or other equipment.
In SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation, an engineering model of
cavitation is employed to predict the extent of cavitation in industrial
fluids and its influence on the performance of the analyzed device.

Open 01 - cone valve from the Lesson10\Case Study folder.
Cavitation
2 Create a project.

name “55deg”
Project name “Cavitation”
Default Fluid In the Liquids list, double-click Water.
Check the Cavitation check box under Flow Characteristic.
Initial conditions Default conditions - except for Temperature enter 363.15 K
Results & Geometry Default conditions
3 Initial mesh settings.

In the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click Input
Data and select Initial Mesh.
Uncheck the Automatic settings box at the bottom of the dialog
window.
Modify the number of cells as follows:
In the Solid/Fluid Interface tab, set the Small solid features
refinement level slider bar to 5.
In the Refining Cells tab, activate Refine all cells and set the level to
1.
In the Narrow Channels tab, click the Enable narrow channels
refinement box and set the Characteristic number of cells across a
narrow channel parameter to 7.
Keep the Narrow channels refinement level at 1.
Click OK.
Cavitation

tree, right-click the Boundary Conditions icon
Select the inner face of the inlet lid, located at the

end of the shorter side (see the figure above).
Click the Flow openings button and select Inlet
Velocity flow.
Under Flow Parameters, make sure the Normal to Face button is
clicked and enter 3.5 m/s.
Click OK.
Select the inner face of the outlet lid, located at the

end of the longer side (see the figure above).
Click the Pressure openings button and select Static Pressure.
The default outlet Static Pressure of 101325 Pa and Temperature of
363.15 K are acceptable for this problem.
Click OK.
Cavitation
6 Insert global goals for the density.

Under the Input Data folder, right-click the Goals icon and select
Insert Global Goals.
Under Parameter, check the Min (Minimum) and Av (Average) boxes
for the Density (Fluid).
Click OK.
The new GG Min Density (Fluid) and GG AV Density (Fluid) items
appear in the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree under
Goals.
7 Run the project.
Click Run.
8 Activate project.
9 Load results.
10 Right-click the Cut Plots icon and select Insert.
Choose the Top plane as the cut plane.
Select Density (Fluid) and set the Number of Levels parameter to
100.
Click OK again to show the plot.
The blue regions in the Cut plot represent very low density regions,
which indicate that cavitation is occurring in these regions.
Cavitation
Discussion To study the effects of cavitation, we used a cut plot of the density. We
also could have used a cut plot of the water mass fraction, water
volume fraction, vapor mass fraction, or vapor volume fraction to see
where the cavitation has occurred. Note that the model does not
describe the behavior of individual bubble.
The cavitation area grows slowly during the calculation and there is
some risk that the calculation could stop before the cavitation area is
completely developed. To combat this, we specified a global goal of
average density and made sure that it was used in convergence. We also
could adjust the calculation control options to insure that the
calculation runs longer.
Summary In this lesson, we used the cavitation option to solve for the cavitation
of water flowing through a valve. We evaluated the cavitation by
showing a cut plot of the density. The low density regions represent
cavitation and the formation of a vapor. We also could have plotted the
vapor volume fraction to evaluate the cavitation.
Lesson 11
Relative Humidity
I Apply Relative Humidity as a boundary condition.
I Display Relative Humidity results.
Relative Humidity
Relative Relative humidity is defined as the ratio of the current water vapor
Humidity density to the water vapor density in saturation under the current
pressure and temperature. Relative humidity allows you to specify the
existence of water vapor in a gas or mixture of gases. Rather than
directly specifying water vapor in a Flow Simulation project, a relative
humidity can be specified within the initial or boundary condition.
Case Study: In this lesson, we will apply humidity parameters to our boundary
Cook House conditions to simulate the presence of water vapor in the gas. We will
also learn how to properly post-process the results of this type of
analysis.
Problem A cook house internal environment is controlled by a centralized
Description system. The exhaust vent blowing hot, humid air is located near the
back of the room on top of the table. There are two openings located on
either side of the room near the ceiling. One outlet has an exhaust fan
pulling air out at a defined constant flow rate, while the other one is
open to ambient air and has no fan.
Outlet without fan

Hot humid air exhaust
Outlet with fan
Procedure Follow the procedure below:

Open Cook_House from the Lesson11\Case Study folder. Make
sure that the default cook-house configuration is active.
Relative Humidity
2 Create a project.

name “Default”
Project name “Relative Humidity”
Under Parameter, Loads&Motion, change the units for Volume Flow
Rate to m^3/min and the Temperature (under Main) to ° C.
Under Physical Features, select Gravity.
The default value of -9.81 m/s^2 in the y direction is correct for this
model.
Fluids Check the Humidity check box at the bottom of the dialog window.
Initial conditions Expand the Humidity list.
Enter a value of 60% for the Relative Humidity.
Results & Move the Result Resolution bar to 4.
Geometry Specify 0.1 m and 0.01 m for the Minimum gap size and Minimum
Resolution wall thickness, respectively.
Click Finish.
Relative Humidity

tree, right-click the Boundary Conditions icon and
select Insert Boundary Condition.
Select the top face of the pot on the stove as shown
in the figure below.
Click the Flow openings button and select Inlet

Volume Flow.
Under Flow Parameters, make sure the Normal to
Face button is clicked and enter 0.1 m^3/min.
Under Thermodynamic Parameters, enter a
Temperature of 100 C (373 K).
Under Humidity Parameters, enter values of 100%, 101325 Pa, and
100 C for the Relative Humidity, Humidity Reference Pressure and
Temperature, respectively.
Click OK.
Relative Humidity

Select the face shown in the figure below.
Click the Flow openings button and select Outlet

Volume Flow.
Under Flow Parameters, make sure the Normal to Face button is
clicked and enter 1 m^3/min.
Click OK.
Apply a Pressure Openings, Environmental Pressure boundary
condition to the inner face of the other outlet lid near the back of the
room.
The default outlet Environmental Pressure and Temperature
parameters of 101325 Pa and 20.05 C (293 K) are acceptable for this
problem.
Under Humidity Parameters, specify a value of 35%.
Click OK.
Note The Relative Humidity and Temperature parameters are only used if
there is a recirculation near the outlet and flow is entering back into the
room. If all the flow is exiting through the outlet, these parameters are
ignored.
Relative Humidity
6 Insert Heat Source.

Under the Input Data folder, right-click Heat
Sources and select Insert Surface Source.
Select the three circular patterns that are mounted
flush with the top of the table.
Under Parameter, enter 1000 W for the Heat Transfer Rate.

Click OK.
7 Insert Surface Goal.
Right-click the Goals icon and select Insert Surface Goals.
Select the Environmental Pressure1 boundary condition from the
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis tree. This will load the
correct face automatically.
In the Parameter table, select the Av check box for Temperature
(Fluid) and the Max box for Mass Flow Rate.
Click OK.
8 Insert Temperature Surface Goal on outlet face with fan.
Insert Temperature (Fluid) (Av value) surface goal on Outlet Volume
Flow 1.
9 Insert global goals for the density.
Under the Input Data folder, right-click the Goals icon and select
Insert Global Goals.
Under Parameter, check Av (Average) for the Density (Fluid).
Click OK.
Relative Humidity
10 Run the project.

Click Run.
12 Load results.
13 Create Cut Plots.
Define a cut plot for Relative Humidity. Use Front Plane with
1.0765m offset as a reference.
We can observe that the maximum relative humidity around the

mannequin is approximately 51%.
Relative Humidity
14 Display Flow Trajectories.

Under Results, right-click the Flow Trajectories
icon and select Insert.
From the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation design
tree, select the Inlet Volume Flow1 boundary
condition. This will automatically select the inlet
surface for the flow trajectories.
Reduce the Number of Points field to 10.
Under Appearance, reset the legend limits to the
global maximum and minimum values.
Click OK to show the plot.
Rotate the view so that you can inspect the flow trajectories entering
the room through the hot exhaust vent and mixing throughout the room.
Relative Humidity
15 Crop Flow Trajectories.

In large models, you may want to crop the flow trajectory region.
Right-click the flow trajectory plot created in the preceding step and
click Edit Definition.
Expand the Crop Region dialog and edit the
region dimensions as shown in the figure.
Click OK to view the plot.
The flow trajectories will show only in the reduced region around the
mannequins.
Summary In this lesson, we used relative humidity to analyze the conditions in a

cook house. Like in cavitation, relative humidity problems run the risk
of the calculation finishing before the condensation develops
completely. We specified the global goal for average density to ensure
complete calculations because the density is strongly dependent on
condensation. To see the condensation areas, we used a cut plot of
Relative Humidity. We could also visualize condensation using the
Condensate Mass Fraction.
Relative Humidity
Lesson 12
Particle Trajectory
I Inject a physical particle into a flow stream.
I Use the Particle Study command.
I View particle trajectory results.
Particle Trajectory
Case Study: In this lesson, we will perform a particle study on particles injected into
Hurricane a hurricane generator assembly. Gravity will be applied and we will
Generator learn to specify the type of solid particle injected. In addition, we will
set up different boundary conditions applied to how the particles move
in the model.
Problem A hurricane generator can be used as an educational tool when learning
Description how hurricanes form. When the sun heats the ocean water, it evaporates
to form a rising cloud of moist air. The surrounding cooler air is then
drawn into the cloud in a swirling motion.
In our generator, there are four bulbs
towards the top that generate 100 W Bulbs
of heat. At the bottom of the
generator, a 600 W heater heats
water in a bed to help the Inlets
evaporation. The air is then drawn in Bulbs
at the slits on the sides of the wall
faces. Due to the placement of the
slits, a swirling motion ensues and
the hurricane forms. Inlets
We will use the particle trajectory Water Bed
capability of Flow Simulation to
show how the water droplets might evaporate out of the heated bed. We
will also investigate all of the options available to us when using
particle trajectories.
Particle In accordance with the particle motion model adopted in
Trajectories - SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation, particle trajectories are calculated in
Overview the post-processor after completing a fluid flow calculation (for either
steady state or time-dependent analysis). The particle mass and volume
flow rates are assumed to be substantially lower than those of the fluid
stream, so particle motions and temperatures have a negligible
influence on the fluid flow parameters, and particle motion obeys the
following equation:
dV p ρf ( Vf – Vp ) ⋅ Vf – Vp
m --------- = – ----------------------------------------------------- C d A + F g
dt 2
where m is the particle mass, t is time, Vp and Vf are the particle and
fluid velocities (vectors), accordingly, ρ f is the fluid density, Cd is the
particle drag coefficient, A is the particle frontal surface area, and Fg is
the gravitational force.
Particle Trajectory
Particles are treated as non-rotating spheres of constant mass and

specified (solid or liquid) material, whose drag coefficient is
determined from Hendersons semi-empirical formula. At a very low
velocity of particles with respect to fluid-carrier (i.e., at the relative
velocities Mach number M=0), this formula becomes:
24 4.12
C d = ------ + ----------------------------------------------------------- + 0.38
R e 1 + 0.03 ⋅ R + 0.48 R
e e
where Reynolds number (Re) is:

ρf Vf – Vp d
R e = -----------------------------
μ
where d is the particle diameter and μ is the fluid dynamic viscosity.

Open hurricane_generator from the Lesson12\Case Study
folder.
2 Create Project.
Configuration name Use Current: “Default”

Project name “hurricane”
Select the Gravity box.
The Y-Component -9.81 m/s^2 is the correct direction
and value for this analysis.
Database of Fluids In the Fluids list, under Gases, double-click Air to
add it to the Project Fluids.
Solids Default solid should be set to Titanium under the
Metals list.
Wall conditions The default Roughness value of 0 micrometer is
acceptable for this analysis.
Resolution
Particle Trajectory
3 Define Computational Domain.

In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, under Input Data, right- click the
Computational Domain icon and select Edit Definition.
Enter the following values for each respective item.
Size (meters)
X max: 1
X min: -1
Y max: 2
Y min: -0.25
Z max: 1
Z min: -1
Note We are significantly reducing the computational domain because we

are only studying what is going on inside the generator.
4 Heat Source.
In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click
the Heat Source icon and select Insert Volume
Source.
Select the four bulb parts from the graphics
window.
Enter 100 W as the Heat Generation Rate.
5 Heat Source.
Repeat the previous step and apply 600 W to
the heater component.
6 Global Goal.
Insert a global goal to calculate the Max of Temperature (Fluid).
Particle Trajectory
7 Component Control.
Disable the four Part1 bodies that were
created in-context. These bodies are lids for
the inlets in the generator and we do not
want to include them in the analysis. We will
use them when reviewing the results.
8 Run the analysis.

Click Run.
9 Cut Plot.
Insert a Cut Plot using the Top Plane as a
reference and 0.3m as the Offset.
Deselect the Contours button and select
Vectors.
Under Vectors, specify Velocity and set
Spacing, to 0.03m, Max Arrow Size to 0.15m,
and Min/Max Arrow Size Ratio to 0.01m.
Click OK.
You can see the swirling flow in the generator.

Hide the Cut Plot 1 when you are through reviewing.
Particle Trajectory
10 Flow trajectory.
Show the lid Part1 from the FeatureManager
design tree.
Use the inside surface of the lid to create a Flow
Trajectory plot.
Under Appearance, keep Pipes and enter 0.01m
for the Width.
Select Velocity and increase the Number of
Levels to 100.
Under Constraints specify the generation of the
trajectories in the Forward direction only.
Click OK.
The flow enters the slits and then begins swirling, forming a hurricane-
like cloud.
Hide the Flow Trajectory1 plot.
Particle Trajectory
11 Particle study.
right-click the Particle Studies icon and select Wizard.
In the Name dialog keep Particle Study 1.
Click Next.
Select the top face of the heater as a reference

where the particles will be injected into the
domain.
Under Particle Properties, enter 0.00001m for
the Diameter and specify Water (under Liquids)
as the material of the particles.
Under Mass Flow Rate enter the value 1 kg/s.
Click Next.
Note Additional injection definitions can be specified by clicking the More

Injections button on the bottom of the Injection Property Manager.
Particle Trajectory
Particle Study - This menu allows the user to specify additional physical features: the
Physical Settings Gravity, wall Erosion caused by the particles or the particle Accretion
at walls.
12 Settings.
Under Physical Features, Gravity is turned on
by default.
Keep both the Accretion and Erosion
unchecked.
Click Next.
Particle Study - This menu allows the user to specify what happens if the particle comes
Wall Condition in contact with a wall. For this lesson, we will keep the default wall
condition to Absorption which means if the particle(s) come in contact
with a wall the particle will be absorbed by that wall. The other options
allow for reflection of the particle after contact with the wall.
13 More settings.
Under Default Wall Condition, keep
Absorption and click Next.
Keep all parameters in the Calculation Settings

property manager at their default values.
Click Next.
In the last property manager click Run.

The particle study will complete very quickly.
Particle Trajectory
14 Particle Study.
Under the Particle Studies folder, Show Injection 1.
15 Animate.
Right-click the Injection 1 and select Animate to animate the particle
study.
Summary In this lesson, we performed a particle study on water particles in a

hurricane generator. The study allowed us to begin to understand how
hurricanes are formed. You are encouraged to continue investigating
the different settings of the particle studies.
Uniform Flow Stream
Exercise 10: In this lesson, we will perform a particle study on particles injected into
Uniform Flow a uniform flow field. Gravity will be applied and we will learn to
Stream specify the type of solid particle injected. In addition, we will set up
different boundary conditions applied to how the particles move in the
model.
Problem To simplify the analysis,

Statement this problem will be solved
as a 2D (i.e. in the XY-
Uniform
plane) flow problem. Fluid Flow
The corresponding
SolidWorks model is shown Particle Injection
below. Both of the walls are
Injection of a particle into an uniform fluid flow
ideal to simulate symmetry
conditions, the channel has a length of 0.233 m and height of 0.12 m,
and all the walls have a thickness of 0.01 m. The problem will consist
of a uniform fluid velocity Vinlet, a fluid temperature of 293.2 K, default
values for turbulent flow with a laminar boundary layer at the channel
inlet, and a static pressure of 1 atm at the channel outlet. The fluid flow
calculations will be performed at a result resolution level of 5.
1 Open a part file.

Open Channel from the Lesson12\Exercises folder. Make sure that
the default configuration is active.
2 Create a Project.
name “Default”
Project name “Gravity”
Database of Fluids In the Gas list, double-click Air.
Uniform Flow Stream
Wall conditions In the Default outer wall thermal

condition list, select Adiabatic.
You will receive the following message:

Fluid volume recognition has failed because the model
currently is not watertight. An internal task must has a
sealed internal volume. You need to close openings and holes
to make the internal volume sealed.
You can close openings with the Create Lids tool. Do you
want to open the Create Lids tool?
Click No. The simulation will be run in 2D, and so the open sides of the
model do not need to be closed with lids.
3 Define Computational Domain.
Specify 2D simulation domain in the XY plane.
4 Create inlet velocity.
Specify Normal to Face, Inlet
Velocity of 0.6 m/s on the inside
surface of the SolidWorks feature
representing the inlet as shown in
the figure.
5 Apply outlet Boundary Condition.

Specify Static Pressure boundary
condition on the inside face of the
channel on the end opposite from the
inlet.
Accept the default ambient values.
Uniform Flow Stream
Ideal Wall The Ideal Wall condition allows you to apply adiabatic, frictionless
wall boundary conditions instead of the default fluid friction wall. If
appropriate, you can also use the Ideal Wall condition to introduce a
flow symmetry plane, which can assist in reducing the computational
resources.
6 Select faces for Ideal Wall
conditions.
Select the top and bottom faces (walls).
Use the Ctrl key to accept both the top
and bottom surfaces.
Right-click the Boundary Conditions
icon and select Insert Boundary
Condition.
Under Type, click the Wall button and select Ideal Wall.
Click OK.
7 Set Engineering Goals.
Specify a surface goal for the average value of the static pressure on the
inlet face used for the velocity boundary condition.
8 Run the analysis.
Click Run.
9 Create Particle Study With One Injection.
right-click the Particle Studies icon and select Wizard.
In the first property manager keep the default name Particle Study 1.
Click Next to define the first injection.
In the Injection 1 property manager, under Starting Points click the
Coordinates button and enter the coordinates of the injection: 0m, 0m,
0m. Click the Add point button to add point to the list.
Still in the Injection 1 property manager, specify particle Diameter of
0.001m, Iron as the Material, 1 kg/s for the Mass Flow Rate, 0 K for
the Relative initial particle Temperature, and the following Absolute
initial velocity:
Velocity in X direction = 0.6 m/s,
Velocity in Y direction = 1.2 m/s,
Velocity in Z direction = 0 m/s.
Click Next.
Uniform Flow Stream
10 Set particle study boundary conditions and physical features.

In the Physical Settings property manager, activate Gravity and enter
-9.81 m/s^2. in the Y-Gravity field.
Click Next.
In the Default Wall Condition property manager, keep the default
Absorption condition.
Click Next.
In the Calculation Settings property manager, keep all parameters at
their default values and click Next.
In the Run property manager click Run. The calculation completes
very quickly.
11 Display Flow Trajectory.
Right click Injections folder from the SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation analysis tree and select Show All.
You can also right-click Injection 1 from the SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation analysis tree and select Show to view the particle trajectory.
Uniform Flow Stream
Note You can Edit Definition of the Particle Study 1, turn off the gravity
and rerun the particle study to see the effects with the gravity term off.
You can also go back and use a different material, diameter, and/or
velocity to see these affects.
If time allows, you can try the following three cases:
I Air flow with Vinlet = 0.002 m/s, gold particles of d = 0.5 mm,
injected at the velocity of 0.002 m/s perpendicularly to the wall.
I Water flow with Vinlet = 10 m/s, iron particles of d = 1 cm, injected at
the velocities of 1, 2, 3 m/s perpendicularly to the wall.
I A particle trajectory in the Y-directed gravitational field
(gravitational acceleration gy = -9.81 m/s2, air flow with Vinlet = 0.6
m/s, an iron particle of d = 1 cm, injected at the 1.34 m/s velocity at
the angle of 63.44o with the wall).
Lesson 13
Supersonic Flow
I Create an external supersonic flow analysis.
I Use the solution adaptive mesh feature for supersonic flows.
I Create contour plots of Mach number.
Supersonic Flow
Supersonic Flow is considered supersonic when it is traveling faster than the speed
Flow of sound. In subsonic flow, a fluid is able to react to a disturbance
because a pressure difference develops at the disturbance and
propagates downstream so that the oncoming flow can react and
change due to the disturbance.
In supersonic flow, however, these pressure differences do not develop
upstream because the fluid is moving so rapidly. The disturbance
downstream, therefore, cannot be sensed by the oncoming flow. When
the flow reaches the disturbance, a violent change in flow properties
occurs known as a shock wave.
Case Study: As can be expected, supersonic flow behaves
Conical Body very differently than subsonic flow. In this
lesson, we will study an external supersonic
flow of air over a segmental conical body. As
we have done in previous lessons, symmetry
will be used to simplify the model. The adaptive
meshing technique will be used to ensure good
quality results in the areas that result in shock
waves. We will also use engineering goals to calculate the drag
coefficient of the body.
Problem The conical body of study is shown in the figure below. The flow
Description around the body has a Mach number of 1.7, a static pressure of 1 atm,
static temperature of 660.2 K, and turbulence intensity of 1%. These
flow conditions represent a Reynolds number of 1.7×106 (defined with
respect to the body frontal diameter).
10.481
R0.300
R4.700
27o 6
R11.971 R0.57
3.225
Model sketch dimensioned in centimeters
To reduce the computational domain, the Z = 0 flow symmetry plane

will be utilized for this analysis. Additionally, the Y = 0 flow symmetry
plane will also be specified. A result resolution of level 6 will be used
because of the automatic solution adaptive mesh refinement at this
level.
Supersonic Flow
Drag Coefficient The longitudinal aerodynamic drag coefficient is defined using the drag
equation as follows::
F
t
C = ------------------
t 2
1ρU
-----------------S
2
where Ft is the aerodynamic drag force acting on the body in the t

direction, U2/2 is the incoming stream dynamic head, and S is the body
frontal cross section (being perpendicular to the body axis) area.
The longitudinal aerodynamic drag coefficient equation will be used
later in this lesson when defining the Equation Goal in Flow
Simulation.
1 Open a part file.

Open cone from the Lesson13\Case Study folder. Make sure that
the default configuration is active.
2 Create a project.

name “Default”
Project name “000 dg”

Under Flow Characteristic, select the High Mach number flow check
box.
Initial conditions Under Thermodynamic Properties, in the Temperature box, enter a
value of 660.2 K.
Under Velocity Parameters, in the Parameter list, click Mach
Number.
In the Mach number in the X direction box, type a value of 1.7.
In the Mach number in the Y direction box, type a value of 0.
In the Mach number in the Z direction box, type a value of 0.
Under Turbulence Parameters, change Turbulence Intensity to 1%.
Supersonic Flow

Computational Domain and select Edit Definition.
The computational domain can be reduced to model a quarter of the
conic body to reduce the solution size and time to solve.
Specify Symmetry condition at Y min and Z min locations.
Specify the following dimensions for the domain
Size (meters)
X max: 0.4
X min: -0.15
Y max: 0.25
Y min: 0
Z max: 0.25
Z min: 0
Click OK.
4 Setting Calculation Control Options.
Right-click Input Data in the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
analysis tree and select Calculation Control Options.
Select the Finish tab.
Under Finish Conditions, select the Refinements check box and set
the value to 1.
Click the Refinement tab.
Set Global Domain refinement to Level=1.
Select the Approximate Maximum Cells check box and set the value
to 350000.
Under Refinement Settings, set Refinement Strategy to Periodic
Refinement.
Keep the rest of the parameters at their default values.
Click OK.
icon and select Insert Global Goal.
In the Parameter list, find Force (X) and select the Max check box.
Click OK.
Supersonic Flow
6 Define Equation Goal.

icon and select Insert Equation Goal.
Enter the following equation for the longitudinal aerodynamic drag
coefficient mentioned earlier in this lesson:
4*{GG Force (X) 1}/1.7^2/1.399*2/101325/3.14159*4/0.1^2.
Set the Dimensionality to No Units.
Click OK.
7 Rename the Equation Goal to Cd.
8 Run the project.

Click Run.
This analysis will take about seven minutes to run on a 3.6 GHz Intel
Xeon E5 machine.
Supersonic Flow
9 Create Cut Plots.

Under Selection, make sure that Plane1 is selected.
Specify Mach Number as Parameter and increase the Number of
Levels to 100.
Click OK to generate the plot.
Supersonic Flow
Shock Waves As stated before, a shock wave occurs when the properties of the flow
are forced to change dramatically due to the presence of a disturbance.
The shock wave seen in this example consists of two parts. First, a bow
shock exists in the direction normal to the flow. The presence of a bow
shock significantly increases the drag force on the object. An oblique
shock is also seen propagating from the edge of the cone as the flow
moves around the edge. Because the supersonic flow encounters a
convex corner, an expansion fan of rarefaction waves (often called a
Prandtl-Meyer expansion fan) are seen after the oblique shock that
further accelerate the flow. The subsonic wake region past the body can
also be seen.
Normal Shock
Oblique Shock
10 View Cut Plot with Mesh.

Right-click Cut Plot1 and select Edit definition.
Under Display, click the Mesh button and deselect both the Contours
and Vectors buttons.
Click OK.
Supersonic Flow
11 Create Goal Plot.

right-click Goal Plots and select Insert.
In the Goals dialog, click All.
The X-Component of Force is shown along with the equation goal for
drag (Cd).
Discussion The conical shape in this lesson has been used as a design for vehicles
that undergo re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere. It is important to
note, however, that our model does not simulate this situation. That
type of analysis would require flow with an even larger mach number,
often referred to as hypersonic flow (> Mach 5). In this type of flow,
there are further physical changes in the fluid properties of the flow
(i.e. ionization, molecular dissociation). SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation is not capable of modeling these effects.
Summary In this lesson, we studied supersonic flow over a conical shaped body.
Symmetry was used to simplify the analysis. In addition, the automatic
mesh refinement technique was used to ensure high quality results.
Both normal and oblique shock waves appeared as a result of the
simulation. The results were analyzed using cut plots.
Lesson 14
FEA Load Transfer
I Transfer flow results to SolidWorks Simulation for a finite element
analysis.
I Create a SolidWorks Simulation study using results from
SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation as input boundary conditions.
I View results in SolidWorks Simulation.
FEA Load Transfer
Case Study: In this lesson, we will demonstrate how SOLIDWORKS Flow

Billboard Simulation data can be transferred into SolidWorks Simulation for
Finite Element static analysis. The Flow Simulation will be created and
run, then the results will be used as a loading condition in SolidWorks
Simulation.
Problem The billboard shown in the figure
Description stands in hurricane force winds of
40 m/s. Using Flow Simulation, find
the force caused by the incoming
wind. Export those results to
SolidWorks Simulation to find the
maximum stress on the model.

Open Billboard from the Lesson14\Case Study folder. Make sure
that the default configuration is active.
2 Create a Project.

Name
Project name “Billboard”
Unit System SI (m-kg-s)
Analysis type External, and select exclude cavities without flow conditions.
Default Fluid Air
Ambient Set Velocity in X direction to -40 m/s (negative because of direction
conditions of coordinate system relative to model).
Results and Set Result resolution level to 3.
Geometry Set Minimum gap size to 0.3m and set Minimum wall thickness to
Resolution 0.05m.
FEA Load Transfer

Select the Size tab and enter the following values:
Size (m)
X max: 30.5
X min.: -30.5
Y max: 26
Y min: 0
Z max: 30.5
Z min: -24
4 Create Surface Goal.

Insert Surface Goal on the
following face using Force (X)
and use for convergence.
5 Run Project.
6 Create Velocity Cut plot.

Create a Velocity cut plot using fluid Vectors and Contours. Use the
Front plane and offset it by 6m.
FEA Load Transfer
7 Examine the Surface Goal.

Use the Surface Goal to examine the surface force.
8 Export Results to Simulation.
From the Tools, Flow Simulation menu, select Tools, Export Results
to Simulation.
9 Define a SolidWorks Simulation Study.
From the Simulation menu, select Study.
Name the study Wind effects.
From the Type list, select the Static icon.
Click OK.
The Simulation Study tree will appear in the lower
part of the FeatureManager.
10 Apply material properties.
Right-click on the Parts folder in the Simulation Study tree and select
Apply material to all.
Under the Aluminum Alloys folder, select 2024 Alloy.
Click Apply.
Click Close to close the window.
FEA Load Transfer
11 Import loads from SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation.

Right-click the Wind Effects study in the Simulation Study tree and
select Properties.
Click the Flow/Thermal effects tab.
Under Fluid Pressure option, click the check box next to Include
fluid pressure effects from SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation.
Click the ... button next to the blank space, choose the SOLIDWORKS
Flow Simulation results file, and click Open.
Keep Use reference pressure (offset) in .fld file 101325 N/m^2
selected.
Note Reference pressure is obtained from Flow Simulation and its value is
typically equal to the atmospheric pressure of 101325 Pa. Use Define
reference pressure (offset) option to use different value.
Click OK.
FEA Load Transfer
12 Create Fixed Restraint.

Right-click Fixtures in the Simulation Study tree
and select Fixed Geometry.
Select the bottom face of the base of the billboard
and apply a Fixed Geometry restraint.
Click OK.
13 Create Mesh.
Right-click Mesh in the Simulation Study tree and select Create
Mesh.
Accept the default mesh settings and click OK.
14 Run the analysis.
Right-click Wind Effects in the Simulation Study tree and select Run.
15 View Stress plot.
To view the results, expand the Results folder and double-click
Stress1.
16 View animation.
Right-click the Stress1 plot and click Animate.
Click the play button to animate the model.
Click OK when finished.
FEA Load Transfer
17 View a Displacement plot.

To view the displacement of the model, double-click the
Displacement1 plot in the Results folder.
Summary In this lesson, we used Flow Simulation to solve for the pressure
distribution from wind on a billboard. We then used that pressure
distribution to run a linear static analysis in SolidWorks Simulation to
study the response of the structure. Flow Simulation gives us the
opportunity to export results (pressure, temperature, convection) to
SolidWorks Simulation for linear static analysis. From here, we can
further evaluate the response of our structures.
FEA Load Transfer
Index
A G R
A vortex crosses the pressure opening Geometry Resolution 56 Real Gases 149
33 Global Goal 28 Reference Axis 21
Adiabatic Wall 22 Goal Plot 32 Relative Humidity 238
Advanced Narrow Channel Refinement goal plot 46 Resistance 176
79 Goals 28 Result Resolution 60
Aerodynamic Drag Coefficient 263 I Result Resolution and Geometry Reso-
Automatic initial mesh 56 Ideal Wall 258 lution 56
B inertial forces 121 Result Resolution definition 25
Basic mesh 56 Initial Mesh 56 Reynolds Number 121
Batch Run 168 Initial mesh 56 Reynolds number 134, 262
Boundary Conditions 26 Internal Flow Analysis 7 Rotating Reference Frame 196
Bow Shock 267 Internal Fluid Volume 13, 18, 218 Rotating Region 199
C Invalid Contact 13 Roughness 22
Calculation Control Options 127 Invalid contacts 13 Run 31
Cavitation 232 Irregular cells 62 S
centrifugal 196 L Shedding Vortex 120
Check Geometry 12, 16 Lid Thickness 9 Shock Waves 267
Clone Project 168 Lids 8 Solid cells 62
Component Control 68 Local Initial Mesh 63 Solution Adaptive Mesh Refinement
Computational Domain 125, 165 M 124
Computational domain definition 26 Mach number 262 Supersonic Flow 262
Computational mesh 55 Minimum gap size 56 Surface Goal 28
Coriolis 196 Minimum wall thickness 56 Surface Parameter 45
COSMOSMotion O Surface Plot 39
Add-Ins 7 oblique shock 267 T
Create Lids 8 Optimize Thin Wall Resolution 57 Thin Wall Optimization 84
Cut Plots 35 Orthotropic 113 Time Animation 131
D P Transferred Boundary Conditions 166
Drag Coefficient 263 Parametric Analysis 215 Transient Analysis 123
Drag Equation 128 Partial cells 62 Transparency 35
E Particle Drag Coefficient 248 Turbulence 121, 134
EFD Zooming 162 Particle Motion Equation 248 Turbulence Intensity 123
Engineering Database 101, 176 Perforated Plates 107 Two Dimensional Flow 124
Engineering goals definition 28 permeability 177 U
External Flow 121 Permeability Type 176 User-Defined Material 101, 135
External Flow Analysis 7 Point Goal 28 V
F Porosity 176 Variable Inlet Velocity 189
Fan Curves 105 Porous Media 176 viscous forces 121
Fans 105 Porous Media property input 177 Volume Goal 28
Flow Trajectories 41 Prandtl-Meyer expansion fan 267 von Karman vortex street 130
Flow Trajectory 259 W
Fluid cells 62 Wizard 18
Free area ratio 108 X
XY-Plot 42
Index SOLIDWORKS 2015

Solidworks Flow Simulation - Solidworks 2015 Training

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SOLIDWORKS 2015 TRAINING

SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation

Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation

Internal Fluid Volume. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Bold Sans Serif SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation commands

Use of Color The SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation user

I Post-process the results.

2 SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Add-Ins.

Model In any static analysis, it is often necessary to modify the SolidWorks

Where to Find It I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Create Lids

4 Create a lid on the inlet face.

Correct Lid Creation In-correct Lid Creation

Introducing: Check A SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation tool, called

Where to Find It I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Check Geometry

6 Check for invalid fluid geometry.

The results are presented in the text field

Invalid Contact Some typical types of invalid contact are

In our example, if a Blind extrusion was

If an invalid contact is detected, you may

Note Not every tangent contact causes an invalid contact. SOLIDWORKS

7 Modify lid position.

9 Modify lid position again.

Where to Find It I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Tools, Leak Tracking

The trajectory from the inside face to

12 Close Leak Tracer.

13 Modify lid position.

Where to Find It I CommandManager: Flow Simulation > Wizard

14 Create a project using a wizard.

Select SI (m-kg-s) as the Unit System for this project.

Select Internal under Analysis Type.

18 Select fluid type (gas or liquid).

19 Set wall conditions.

20 Initial and ambient conditions.

Click Next to accept the default standard ambient conditions as the

21 Set automatic initial mesh.

Accept the default Result Resolution setting of 3.

22 Review input data in the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation analysis

Expand the options under Input Data

Computational The Computational Domain is defined as a volume fixed with respect

Where to Find It I Shortcut Menu: Right-click Boundary Conditions in the Flow

I Menu: Tools, Flow Simulation, Insert, Boundary Condition

Select the inside surface of the SolidWorks feature representing the

24 Set up the boundary condition.

26 Set up the boundary condition.

27 Create additional outlet boundary conditions.

Introducing: SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation contains built-in criteria to stop the

In addition, you can also define an Equation Goal, which is a goal

28 Insert surface goal.

29 Rename surface goal.

31 Insert equation goal.

In the Dimensionality list, select Volume Flow Rate.

Introducing: Run The Run command solves the simulation.

34 Solve the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation project.

38 Set model Transparency.

39 Create Cut Plots.

We can observe that the total pressure magnitude varies from

Scaling the Limits Click directly on the lower or upper limit

Changing Legend To edit various legend settings such as color

42 Animate cut plot through the model.

45 Create surface plot.

A Surface Plot 1 icon will be created in the SOLIDWORKS Flow

47 Hide Surface Plot 1.