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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.

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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.
  - 3D-CAD Environment
    The 3D-CAD environment provides you with a feature tree from which you can activate all steps for creating and modifying geometry, and a 3D-CAD View scene in which you interact with the geometry. Many of the same feature actions are available for selection in the 3D-CAD View scene.
  - Sketches in 3D-CAD
    3D-CAD supports two types of sketch—2D sketches that are created on a planar surface and 3D sketches that are built from points located anywhere in geometric space. You can use both types of sketch in 3D geometry operations such as extrude, revolve, or sweep.
  - 3D-CAD Geometry Modeling
    Bodies represent the individual objects that make up the 3D-CAD model. Imported CAD geometry appears as bodies in 3D-CAD, and you can also create your own bodies directly using 3D-CAD features.
  - Freeform Surface Modeling
    Freeform surface modeling is a modeling technique in 3D-CAD that allows you to deform existing surfaces for desired shapes.
  - Importing and Exporting Geometry
  - Working with 3D-CAD Models
  - Geometry Repair and Preparation
    Simcenter STAR-CCM+ provides a suite of tools in 3D-CAD that helps you to prepare your CAD geometry so that it is suitable for meshing. CAD that is designed for manufacture can have gaps or inaccuracies that cause problems when trying to generate a watertight mesh.
  - Design Parameters
    Design parameters allow Simcenter STAR-CCM+ to update geometry designs during design exploration studies. Although you define them within the 3D-CAD environment, they are exposed outside 3D-CAD for manual or automatic update.
- 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.
- 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.

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.

In general, the process of building a model in 3D-CAD begins with the creation of a sketch. You can convert this sketch to a body by extruding or revolving. You can add or remove material from this body by creating more sketches and performing extrusions, revolutions, sweeps, lofts, and cuts. Body operations allow you to modify the geometry further. In addition to solid modeling, 3D-CAD also supports surface modeling. You can create body groups to organise and control the hierarchy of multiple bodies. See Overview of Bodies in 3D-CAD.

You can modify geometry that you created in 3D-CAD at any time by reactivating 3D-CAD and modifying the model. When the model is updated the changes are applied throughout the simulation, requiring you only to remesh and rerun the case.

A major feature of 3D-CAD is design parameters, which allow you to modify the 3D-CAD model from outside of 3D-CAD. These design parameters allow you to solve for a particular geometry, change the size of one or more components, and rerun the case quickly. If a solution has already been computed, it is mapped across to the modified geometry, decreasing the overall run time. See Working With Design Parameters.

You can check the validity of geometries that you create as well as geometries that you import in 3D-CAD.

3D-CAD in Parallel

Unlike the rest of Simcenter STAR-CCM+, when you open 3D-CAD in parallel the memory required to run the 3D-CAD module is placed on the master node instead of distributing the memory across multiple cores. This arrangement reduces the overall memory consumption of 3D-CAD and ensures equivalent performance between running 3D-CAD in serial and in parallel. As the performance of 3D-CAD is not dependent on the number of processes used, you are able to import larger models into 3D-CAD without any reduction in performance.