What Are Representations?

Representations help you keep track of the surface and volume meshes that Simcenter STAR-CCM+ uses as part of the meshing and simulation setup process. Several different representations are available.

The types of representations are:

  • Import—imported surface mesh (using the regions import mode option)
  • Geometry—geometry surface (using the parts import mode option)
  • Input Surface—input surface for operations that create output parts
  • Volume Mesh—volume mesh (with optional prismatic layers)
  • Extracted Surface—surface boundary mesh that is extracted from a volume mesh
  • Proxy—placeholder that you apply to scenes, report, and plots so that you can control the representation of these items from one place
  • Recorded Solution—copy of the volume mesh that is stored on an external solution history file (containing selected solution data)
  • Overset Mesh—contains the background mesh and all overset region cells, regardless of whether they are active or inactive
  • Latest Surface/Volume—contains the latest mesh from the most recent mesh operation that you executed on the geometry parts. This representation is persistent, meaning that even if you clear the mesh, the representation remains in the simulation tree. This behavior is useful if you want to view the latest mesh on your parts without having to change descriptions in the scene. For example, if the latest mesh is a surface mesh, the surface mesh is displayed in the scene. After generating the volume mesh, this is automatically displayed in the scene. Using this representation in scalar scenes can save time and effort compared to using other representations that become out of date and require updating if you delete the volume mesh.
  • HB Solution View—displays the state of the harmonic balance solution as selected in the corresponding HB solution view node. For more information see HB Solution View.
  • Normal Modes View—in solid stress simulations, displays the normal mode surface along with corresponding annotations for specified eigenmodes. For more information see Normal Modes View Reference.

The representations are stored in the Representations node in the simulation tree.

A representation node is added whenever an operation results in the creation or import of that kind of mesh. For example, when a new simulation is made, no representations exist. When a surface mesh is imported using the regions import mode option, then an Import node appears in the simulation tree. Similarly, importing a surface as a part results in a Geometry node being created instead. If a volume mesh is imported or generated, then a Volume Mesh representation node is shown. Except for the Geometry node (which simply acts as a place holder), the properties of the mesh can be seen by clicking the node and viewing the Properties for it. For example, the total number of cells, interior faces and vertices for a volume mesh region can be seen by selecting the region name of interest:

Only one of each kind of mesh representation can exist for a given simulation although multiple extracted surfaces are allowed. The result of a second import operation adds the properties of the new mesh to the existing node. The result of generating a new mesh replaces the properties of the existing node. Representation nodes can be deleted like any other object, but at least one representation must always remain. All meshes (and appropriate representations) generated within Simcenter STAR-CCM+ can be cleared in one go if preferable.