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Pre-Processing
Simcenter STAR-CCM+ solves physics problems on a computational mesh. To provide this mesh, you first define geometry using internal or external tools, and then create a mesh pipeline whose operations generate the mesh in repeatable steps.
Modeling Geometry
This part of the User Guide describes how to use 3D-CAD, the parametric solid modeler available within Simcenter STAR-CCM+. It also describes the features and tools available for further preparation of the geometry model and its surfaces.
Importing Geometry
One of the possible starting points for the meshing process is to import surface data.
XML Formats
XML files are top-level data files that typically describe the assembly structure and components of a product.

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Pre-Processing
Simcenter STAR-CCM+ solves physics problems on a computational mesh. To provide this mesh, you first define geometry using internal or external tools, and then create a mesh pipeline whose operations generate the mesh in repeatable steps.
- 3D-CAD
  3D-CAD is a feature-based parametric modeler within Simcenter STAR-CCM+ that allows you to build geometries from scratch. The geometries that you create with 3D-CAD are stored as 3D-CAD models, which you can then convert to geometry parts for integration with the meshing and simulation process.
- Modeling Geometry
  This part of the User Guide describes how to use 3D-CAD, the parametric solid modeler available within Simcenter STAR-CCM+. It also describes the features and tools available for further preparation of the geometry model and its surfaces.
  - Preparing the Geometry
    In general, a Simcenter STAR-CCM+ analysis requires one or more geometry parts from which you define the spatial construction of the regions. Simcenter STAR-CCM+ allows you to create geometry parts directly using the built-in 3D-CAD modeler, or import geometry from a wide range of source formats.
  - Importing Geometry
    One of the possible starting points for the meshing process is to import surface data.
    - Surface Mesh Formats
      A surface mesh is a discrete representation of the geometry of individual regions that are used for the volume mesh generation.
    - Neutral Formats
      Neutral format data files allow CAD model data to be exchanged between different programs while still maintaining the model integrity.
    - Native CAD Formats
      Native CAD data files are created with parametric based CAD programs and contain all the relevant solid model information for that program.
    - XML Formats
      XML files are top-level data files that typically describe the assembly structure and components of a product.
    - CAD Package Support
      This section contains a list of supported CAD Clients, the CAD import versions, and the CAD export versions.
    - Importing Surface Data into Simcenter STAR-CCM+
      All surface data (except for XML-based imports) for use in the meshing pipeline is imported into Simcenter STAR-CCM+ using the Import Surface Mesh... menu item:
    - Importing Surfaces Using an XML File
      XML-based data files can be used to import many parts with a given hierarchy, such as a CAD assembly.
    - Importing Multiple Surface Data Files
      STAR-CCM+ allows multiple surface input files of the same format to be imported simultaneously using the File > Import Surface option.
    - Reviewing the Surface Data Import Report
      A summary of the surface statistics for the imported file is reported in the Output window.
    - Using Surface Data Import Representations
      When importing surfaces as regions, an Import representation is created under the Representations node in the simulation tree.
    - Checking the Surface Validity
      The validity of the surface can be checked using one of two different methods:
  - Understanding Geometry Parts
    You can use the geometry parts manager node to control what parts are meshed and included in the simulation downstream.
  - Manipulating Parts
    Simcenter STAR-CCM+ allows leaf-level parts to be manipulated in several different ways once they have been imported or created.
  - Part Contacts
    Part contacts define the connection between two part surfaces. The meshers aim to generate a conformal mesh at the contact, which then becomes an interface in the physics region.
  - Repairing CAD Geometry
    The Geometry Repair tool provides diagnostic checks for assessing the validity of geometry and the means to repair the geometry automatically.
  - Displaying the Geometry
- The Surface Repair Tool
  The Surface Repair tool diagnoses errors in, and provides repair tools for, tessellated surfaces and part curves. The same tool allows you to reorganize discretized geometry by searching for face-based features and attributes then assigning the results to new or existing part surfaces or curves.
- Defining the Regions Layout
  An essential part of the process in setting up your simulation is to define the relationship between geometry parts and regions, boundaries, and interfaces.
- Meshing
  A mesh is a discretized representation of a geometric domain. This domain can include real-world geometry, its content, and its surrounding environment.

XML Formats

XML files are top-level data files that typically describe the assembly structure and components of a product.

XML data contains references to other files that contain the actual surface data for parts. Currently, only the PLM-based implementation is supported for file formats such as JT Open and PLM XML. For PLM XML, Simcenter STAR-CCM+ supports the 'SMARAGD' schema and the 'Team Center Unified' schema.

Supported XML Import Formats

You can import the following XML formats into Simcenter STAR-CCM+:


Format Name	File Extension	Binary/ASCII
XML	.xml	ASCII
PLM XML	.plmxml	ASCII
3DXML	.3dxml	Binary

When importing as regions, all of these formats support single or multiple region definitions in a single file. When importing multiple files as regions, the choice of generating either a single region per file or multiple regions is provided. When importing as parts, the original hierarchy of the parts is maintained. You can choose to create a single part surface per part if you wish. For more information on the various import options, see Importing Surface Data into Simcenter STAR-CCM+.

None of the neutral file formats support part curves (line cells). Part curves can be automatically created based on an angle (sharp edges) or all feature edges during the import process if desired.

All of the formats support named part surfaces, and will import every named surface as a separate part surface.

PLM XML Format: PLM XML is a format developed by Siemens for facilitating product lifecycle interoperability using XML. The file extension could be XML or PLXML. If any XML file is selected for import and does not conform to the PLMXML standards the file may not be imported.
3DXML Format: 3DXML is a proprietary lightweight format developed by 3DVIA, which is a part of Dassault Systemes. As with other XML formats, 3DXML uses an XML container to reference other files. The 3XML file is a zip archive that contains the files it is referencing.