A mesh of solid elements represents the bodies of interest and the FE method solves for stress, temperature, acceleration, etc. This method differs from SolidWorks Simulation and other programs that incorporate the finite element (FE) method. A good FV mesh is a must to accurately capture the solid/fluid boundary and the fluid within the domain. During solution of the Navier-Stokes fluid flow equations, the FV method establishes a balance of mass, energy and momentum at every fluid cell and at the extent of the fluid volume under consideration (the computational domain boundaries). SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation uses the finite volume (FV) method to represent fluid and solid volumes with a mesh of three-dimensional rectangular cells. In subsequent blogs I plan to provide a deeper dive into the global manual settings and local mesh control. The global automatic settings can help get started in the correct direction and is the subject of this blog.įirst things first! I want to establish a general understanding of the solution method used by SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation and the process used to develop the mesh, with emphasis on the influence of the global automatic settings. It is easy to overdo it and end up with a solution that takes far too long to complete or underdo it and not capture important features of the geometry or flow.
SOLIDWORKS FLOW SIMULATION STUCK AT MESH CAPTURING HOW TO
One question that arises with users of SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation is how to create an accurate mesh without an excessive cell count.