Abstract

During the conceptual design stage several concepts are generated, and a few are selected for detailed analyses. CAD models from conceptual design often follow the "over-the-wall" approach for downstream analyses such as FEA, CFD, heat transfer, and vibrations. A CAD-centric approach will be applied to the CAD-to-CFD process to help industry in an ongoing quest to shorten the design cycle time. The CAD-centric approach consists of using the CAD model as a source of data for downstream applications such as mesh generation, and CFD setup. The CAD model used in the CAD-centric approach contains the geometry to be analyzed and non-geometric data required to solve the CFD problem in the form of attributes.

Attributes can be associated to entities of the geometry such as the faces, edges, and volumes. Any operations changing geometry require the CAD-centric model be reworked. One class of topology alterations is the discrete feature problem that is encountered when an array of features change in number. A method is proposed, developed and reported on that adapts the CAD-centric approach to account for discrete feature changes that occur during preliminary design.

Degree

College and Department

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology; Mechanical Engineering

Rights

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