Defining the Simulation Topology

Assign the part to a region and define the symmetry of the problem.

Before you generate a mesh for the imported part, the part must be assigned to a Simcenter STAR-CCM+ region, and the part surfaces to region boundaries. In general, it is good practice to keep the number of boundaries to a minimum, and to have a single boundary definition for part surfaces that are subject to a common condition.

In this tutorial, you are going to apply a symmetry condition and a loading condition. Symmetry conditions are set on boundaries, whereas loading conditions are applied directly on part surfaces using segments.

As you are modeling only a quarter of the plate, you require two symmetry planes. Also, to fully constrain the part and to achieve a plane stress condition, you set a constraint on the front surface of the plate, to prevent movement in the normal direction. Since a zero normal displacement constraint is equivalent to a symmetry condition, you can fully constrain the part by specifying an additional symmetry plane.

Create a boundary for the part surfaces representing the symmetry planes, and a separate boundary for all the remaining part surfaces. The loading condition does not require an additional boundary definition, as it is set directly on the part surface.

Assign the plate part to a region:

  1. Right-click the Geometry > Parts > Plate node and select Set New Region....
  2. In the Input dialog, set New Region Name to Plate and click OK.
  3. Right-click the Regions > Plate > Boundaries > Default node and select Delete.
Create a boundary for the part surfaces where you apply symmetry conditions:
  1. Expand the Geometry > Parts > Plate > Surfaces node.
  2. Multi-select the symmetry plane, symmetry plane 2, and front nodes.
  3. Right-click one of the selected nodes and select Set New Boundary....
  4. In the Input dialog, set New Boundary Name to symmetry planes and click OK.
Create a boundary for the remaining part surfaces:
  1. Multi-select the back, loaded surface and other faces part surface nodes.
  2. Right-click one of the selected nodes and select Set Boundary > New....
  3. In the Input dialog, set New Boundary Name to remaining faces and click OK.
Set a symmetry condition on the symmetry planes boundary:
  1. Select the Regions > Plate > Boundaries > symmetry planes node and set Type to Symmetry Plane.
    The part and the region appear as shown below.

  2. Save the simulation.