Preparing and Executing the Mesh

Create mesh operations for the stator and rotor passages.

The initial surface tessellation must be of appropriate size and quality. A poor quality tessellation can lead to defects in the mesh such as folded or semi-folded faces. To make sure that the input surface mesh is of good quality, you can remesh the initial surface using the Surface Remesher before executing the Turbomachinery Mesh operation.
  1. Right-click the Geometry > Operations node and select New > Mesh > Automated Mesh.
  2. In the Create Automated Mesh Operation dialog, select the following parts and meshers:
    Property Setting
    Parts RotorPassage, StatorPassage
    Surface Meshers Surface Remesher
  3. Click OK.
  4. Select the Automated Mesh node and set the following properties:
    Property Setting
    Per-part meshing Activated
    Mesher Execution Mode Concurrent
  5. Expand the Automated Mesh > Default Controls node and set the following properties:
    Node Properties Value
    Base Size Base Size 0.01 m
    Target Surface Size Percentage of base 50
    Minimum Surface Size Percentage of base 0.5
    Surface Proximity # Points in gap 0.1
  6. Right-click the Geometry > Operations node and select New > Mesh > Turbomachinery Mesh.
  7. In the Create Turbomachinery Mesh Operation dialog, select the RotorPassage and StatorPassage parts, and click OK.
The rotor geometry contains a fillet on the hub. The Turbomachinery Mesh operation supports hub or shroud fillets only if the fillet surfaces are not part of the hub or shroud surfaces. In this simulation, the fillet surfaces are combined with the blade surfaces (SS).
  1. Select the Turbomachinery Mesh node and set the following properties:
    Properties Value
    Mesher Execution Mode Concurrent

    For concurrent execution, you require a minimum of three processors—two workers (one for each part) and one controller.
    Inlet Surfaces
    • RotorPassage > Surfaces > Inlet
    • StatorPassage > Surfaces > Int_2
    Outlet Surfaces
    • RotorPassage > Surfaces > Int_1
    • StatorPassage > Surfaces > Out
    Hub Surfaces
    • RotorPassage > Surfaces > Hub
    • StatorPassage > Surfaces > Hub
    Shroud Surfaces
    • RotorPassage > Surfaces > Shroud
    • StatorPassage > Surfaces > Shroud
    Blade Surfaces
    • RotorPassage > Surfaces > LE, PS, SS, and TE
    • StatorPassage > Surfaces > LE, PS, SS, and TE

    The fillet surface is part of the SS part surface, which is assigned to the Blade Surfaces.
    Blade Tip Surfaces
    • RotorPassage > Surfaces > Tip

You can specify the near wall thickness around the blade profile, that is, the first layer mesh thickness on all blade surfaces excluding the tip surface, through the Near Wall Thickness under the Blade Parameters node.

Under the Spanwise Settings node, the Hub Near Wall Thickness and Shroud Near Wall Thickness allow you to specify a suitable mesh resolution to resolve the boundary layer at the hub and shroud wall boundaries. Additionally, you can specify the mesh properties of the gap between the rotor tip and shroud surfaces. The Number of Intervals In Tip Gap property defines the number of mesh layers between the rotor tip and shroud surface. The first layer thickness at the blade tip wall boundary is the specifed Shroud Near Wall Thickness.

  1. Expand the Turbomachinery Mesh > Default Controls node and set the following properties:
    NodePropertiesValue
    Blade ParametersNear Wall Thickness5.0E-6 m
    Number of Intervals200 (default)
    Spanwise SettingsNumber of Intervals from Hub to Shroud70
    Number of Intervals In Tip Gap10
    Hub Near Wall Thickness5.0E-6 m
    Shroud Near Wall Thickness5.0E-6 m


    NoteThe default Pitchwise Settings properties are appropriate.
  2. To refine the mesh around the RotorPassage, you can define custom Spanwise Settings:
    1. Right-click Custom Controls and select New.
    2. Select Custom Controls > Part Control and set Parts to RotorPassage.
    3. Expand the Controls node and set the following properties:
      Node Properties Value
      Spanwise Settings Spanwise Settings Custom
      Customize Number of Intervals from hub to Shroud Activated
    4. Expand the Values > Spanwise Settings node and set Number of Intervals from Hub to Shroud to 80.
  3. Execute the Turbomachinery Mesh operation.
  4. To visualize the compressor stage mesh, create a mesh scene.
  5. In the Vis toolbar, click (Save-Restore-Select Views) and select Views > +Y > Up +X.