Visualizing Shell Normals

When shells are imported in a CAE model, Simcenter STAR-CCM+ automatically locates the positive and negative sides, or front and back, of each shell. It is often useful to be able to check which side of the shell is which, and this can be achieved by visualizing the face normals of each shell side.

Start by adding one of the shell sides to the vector displayer of a vector scene:
  1. Create a vector scene.
  2. Click-and-drag the Imported Elements > shell > Boundaries > shell side node onto the scene.
  3. Release the mouse button and select Add to Vector 1 in the pop-up menu.
    In the example below, the negative side of the manifold shell, Manifold: NEG, is added to the scene.

  4. In the scene, set the Vector Field to Area.
    Vector glyphs are displayed on the shell surface. The direction of the vectors shows which side of the shell the surface is on.
    For example, in the following screenshot, the negative surface is on the inside of the manifold shell. Had you displayed face normals on the positive surface of the shell, the arrows would be facing outward, indicating that the positive surface is on the outside of the manifold shell.

    In the above screenshot, the gray surface was activated by adding the same negative shell surface, Manifold:NEG, to a geometry displayer and enabling surfaces on the displayer.