Tutorial: Manifold Design Study
In this air distribution system, air enters a manifold and is distributed across three outlet ports. The objective of this study is to understand the effects of removing each of the outlet ports.
The geometry consists of an inlet tube, three outlet tubes, and a distribution chamber:
The CAD model contains four different design permutations:
- Design 1 contains all three outlets.
- Design 2 is missing the middle outlet.
- Design 3 is missing the left outlet.
- Design 4 is missing the right outlet.
The CAD model has been prepared with four distinct geometry permutations. The Inventor model uses an iAssembly and iParts, the Pro/Engineer model uses a Family table, and the SolidWorks model uses Configurations. Using CAD Entity groups and the Design Study Builder, we will create the design study with the four designs and assign all settings. After launching once from CAD, we will use the Solver Manager to launch all four designs.
After running the design study, we will visually compare the results using Summary Images and the pressure drop with a summary plane and the Critical Values table.
Key Topics
- Creating a Template to define specific settings
- Creating Rules to automate application of settings
- Tagging entities in the CAD model by collecting them into CAD Entity Groups
- Launching multiple design permutations into the Design Study Builder
- Defining settings of a scenario and cloning the design for each CAD design
- Associating scenario settings with CAD Entity Groups
- Using clone to create a design for each CAD design
- Associating designs in the study with the CAD designs
- Running the study using the Solver Manager
- Tracking analysis progress with the Solution Monitor
Goals
- Associate CAD entities directly to Autodesk® CFD settings
- Use the Design Study Builder to create a complete design study before launching into Autodesk® CFD
- Use the Solver Manager to run all scenarios in the study from a single dialog
For more about the Design Study Builder...