Workflow Improvements

The Autodesk Simulation CFD workflow is very flexible, and provides several ways to accomplish most tasks. In addition to the implementation of the Ribbon into the user interface, several other workflow enhancements were made to further support this flexibility.

Autodesk® Inventor Fusion

Autodesk® Inventor Fusion further strengthens the workflow between CAD and Autodesk Simulation CFD.

To use Autodesk® Inventor Fusion as a CAD Reader:

Open the CAD model directly into Autodesk® Inventor Fusion (which is included in the Autodesk Simulation CFD installation).
Use the extensive collection of Autodesk® Inventor Fusion geometry tools to prepare the model for simulation.
To transfer the model into Simulation CFD, click Autodesk Simulation CFD from the Simulation tab:

The visible model is launched, and the Design Study Manager opens.

While available for all supported CAD systems, Fusion is the designated workflow path for the following systems:

CATIA v5
Pro/Engineer® Wildfire 3

(Wildfire 4 and higher are supported by direct CAD connection.)

Fusion removes several limitations of the direct CATIA v5 CAD launcher:

Fusion supports interfering components.
Fusion supports Geometry Tools such as Small Object Removal or Void Fill.
Fusion supports models with analysis length units other than mm.

For more about CAD launchers...

Fully Developed Boundary Condition Profile

Unless the objective of an internal flow simulation is to study entrance effects, most pipe and duct flows are assumed to be fully developed. The fully developed flow profile is generally more physically realistic than a uniform (slug) profile. Its use eliminates the need to add an entrance length upstream of the model inlet.

The Fully Developed profile is an option for the Velocity (Normal direction) and Volume Flow Rate boundary conditions. It is available for the following planar surface types: quadrilateral (4 edges), circular (1 edge or 2 edges), or triangular (3 edges).

To assign a fully developed flow profile, check Fully Developed on the Boundary Conditions quick edit dialog.

For more about flow boundary conditions...

Improved Support for 3D Mouse Navigation Devices

The "3D Mouse" device is a powerful navigation alternative to the standard mouse. The company 3Dconnexion offers a full line of navigation tools that are often used with CAD systems. Many users have found that these devices improve their work flow through a more natural, interactive navigation method.

The connection with the 3Dconnexion API has been improved, and is more consistent with many CAD systems. To complement model navigation, a set of pre-defined button commands provide access to several user-interface actions. These commands allow convenient control of the user-interface through the navigation device.

For more about 3D Mouse Navigation...

Monitor Points Workflow

A new graphical method for defining monitor points has been implemented that uses the 3D Triad for defining the point location. This method complements the slider-based method on the Monitor Points dialog.

Setup Monitor Points

To start, right click off the model, and select Monitor point...

A red sphere at the origin of the Monitor Point triad shows the current location. To position the monitor point with the triad:

Hover over the desired axis of the triad until it highlights.
Press and hold the left mouse button.

Drag the axis in the highlighted direction.

Optionally, after defining the position, you can assign a name to the point. Click the Add button to create the point:

For more about monitor points....

Results Monitor Points

There are two new ways to define the location of a Summary Point:

Method 1

To create the point at the origin of the triad:

Drag the triad so that the origin is at the desired location.
Left click off the triad, and click the Add icon on the Context toolbar.

Method 2

To create the point on a geometric surface, iso surface, or result plane:

Left click off the model, and click the Align to Surface icon.
Click on the desired location of a surface.

Note: Note that the selection tool gives higher priority to shaded surfaces. To position a monitor point on an outlined surface, be careful not to click too close to a shaded surface.

For more about Summary Points...

Particle Trace Seeding: "Grid Spacing"

There are currently four ways to assign seed points for particle traces: Pick on plane, Rectangular Grid, Circular Grid, and Key in).

The Grid Spacing option bases the trace seed distribution on the vector density grid spacing. Use this to create a uniform distribution of traces throughout the entire results plane. This method is useful when computing Erosion.

To enable the Grid spacing option:

On the Traces dialog, select Rectangular grid as the Seeding method.
Check Use grid spacing.

To adjust the Grid spacing density:

Enable vectors on the results plane.
On the Vector settings tab of the Plane Control dialog, drag the Grid spacing slider.

For more about particle traces...

Flag Manager (Usability options)

Flags are configuration options that are a useful way to modify many different aspects of .

Select, invoke, and manage these flags using the Flag Manager.

The Flag Manager organizes and provides visibility to the collection of flags.
The Flag Manager provides clarity as to which flags are used in a scenario.
The Flag Manager ensures consistency for sharing design studies that use flags.

Historically, flags were managed with an external text file, but this method had several shortcomings.

For more about the Flag Manager...

Autodesk® Revit CAD Connection

The CAD connection between Autodesk Simulation CFD and Autodesk® Revit Architecture and MEP has been improved to leverage the following data for CFD Simulations:

Part names: Family Categories, Family Names, and Types assigned in the Autodesk® Revit model appear as part names in the Design Study bar. This improves the consistency between the Simulation and BIM models, and enables the use of Rules for assigning materials and boundary conditions to large numbers of geometric entities.

Note: The volumes of a multiple-body solid that is created with a single sketch may be named "CAD Volume" in . This may affect the associativity of settings as the design is cloned and updated. To resolve this, create a separate extrusion for each body within the solid.

Parametric Associativity: Settings are maintained more rigorously than in previous versions as the design geometry is cloned and updated. This improves the Design Study process by preserving associativity between applied conditions and the geometric model as the design is modified.

Note: You should always inspect the simulation model after updating a design to ensure that settings are located properly.

Temperature Result Quantity

The "Static Temperature" result quantity is now listed as "Temperature" in the Scalar result quantity list. This was done to improve the clarity of the list of output quantities. For compressible simulations, "Total Temperature" is listed "Total Temperature."

Note: A View Settings file created with a previous version may contain the "Static Temperature" result quantity. When applied to a design study run with Autodesk Simulation CFD 2013, the "Static Temperature" result quantity appears in the list of Scalar quantities.