GridPro v6

Program Development Company © 2016

GridPro v6.5


Introduction to UI

Empty Space referred as drawing space

Top Menu bar

Global Dock

Workplane toolbar

Status Bar Toggle Surface Section

Right side toolbar


Graphics User Interface

The GridPro GUI is divided into five tabs such as

Only right side toolbar varies in all tabs


Graphics User Interface

Opening the GUI

Windows Users-Double click icon available in the desktop.

Linux or MAC users, Open a terminal, type ws and press return(enter).

Setting the working directory:

Go to File menu .

Select the Working directory option.

Navigate the path to specified directory and

click on select folder button


New Workspace:

Click on the New button to create an empty workspace.

Select the appropriate dimension from the drop down list.


Global Dock

New Workspace

Save Topology and Grid

Delete Topology, surface and grid entities

Load Topology, Surface/s

and Grid

Undo and Redo

topology creation

step

Zoom-in and Zoom-Out

Topology And Grid Information

Frame the Screen to Topology/ Surfaces


Global Dock

Pick Centre of Rotation

Show all the surfaces

Show only current surface

Change the surface/grid display type

Display type for all surfaces

Display type for all

surfaces while panning

Display type for current surface

Snap the screen axis

Select surface


Global DockToggle Wireframe,

Surfaces, Workplane,

Grids and Geometry

Start Ggrid

Stop Ggrid

Check Topology

validity

Geometry Display options


Surface Formats

• GridPro deals with 3 kinds of surfaces.

Linear surfaces (dat, lin)- Can be imported or created in GridPro.

Triangles (tria) - Created from imported stl geometry.

Quads (quad) - Can be imported or created in GridPro

• Analytical surfaces defined by GridPro are

2D 3D

Line Plane

Circle Cylinder

Ellipse Ellipsoid

Periodic Periodic

Other surface that is dealt with GridPro - Tube

Linear

Tria

Quad


Analytical Surfaces

The analytical surfaces can be created in the GridPro GUI


Analytical Surfaces

The analytical surfaces can be created in the GridPro GUI

Automatically calculates the

workplane position and enter

the required information in the

respective fields

Ok – Creates the

surface and

closes the dialog

box

Cancel – Closes the dialog

box without any changes in

the UI

Apply– Creates the surface

and keeps the dialog box

open


Contd…

Power – Determines the Shape of the

surface. If the power is >2, it creates a

super ellipsoid or super cylinderLength dir – Axis along

the length of the cylinder

Surface which define the

translational symmetry/periodicity

of the given geometry

Rotational symmetric surface – Surface

which define the rotational

symmetry/periodicity of the given geometry


Contd…

Sphere Ellipsoid

Cylinder

Circle Ellipse

Xpolar

XYZ

NOTE: Sphere is a special case of Ellipsoid


CURRENT Surface

• In GridPro, effect of functions related to surfaces, are

performed on the single selected surface which is referred

as CURRENT SURFACE.

• Current surface is always seen in sea blue color.

• By default, when any geometry or topology is loaded, the

last surface which has been read by GridPro is set as

Current Surface.Current surface


Toggle Surfaces

• All surfaces loaded into GUI have an id starting from 0, which is referred as surface id.

Current surface id. As one scroll through surfaces, the

id of current surface will be changed and so is current

surface color will be shifted from one surface to next.

Backward scroll – Make

previous surface as

currentForward scroll – Make

next surface as current

Show/Hide the current

surface

Toggle surface section

Surface id: 0

Surface id: 1


Contd…

Shows all the surfaces loaded in the UI.

Any surfaces which are hidden before

this operation either using button or

using the ‘Hide’ option in the right click

menu of surfaces will be made visible.

Shows only the current surface in

the UI. Any number of surfaces can

be made visible after this operation

using the button.

Pick a surface to be current.

Click on this button and click on

the desired surface to make it as

current

Display mode for the

surfaces

Toggle surface section


Surface Display Types

Surfaces, geometries and grid can be viewed in various modes for better visualization.

Displays the selected mode for ALL surface. Default:

Shaded for 3D, Lines for 2D

Displays the selected mode for only CURRENT

surface. Default: Shaded for 3D, Lines for 2D

Displays the selected mode for ALL surfaces while

MOVING/PANNING the screen. Default: 1/10th of

original points for both 2D and 3D

Resets all the display modes to

DEFAULT

Display button in Global dockPolygon faces of the object are drawn using the object’s

own color but the polygon boundaries (edges) are drawn

in white.

Only polygon faces of the object are drawn, using object’s

own color

Polygon faces of the object are drawn using the

background color and the polygon boundaries (edges) are

drawn using object’s own color.

Only polygon boundaries (edges) are drawn, using

object’s own color.

Only the polygon vertices are displayed

Displays only 1/10th of all the polygon vertices.


Right Click Menu for Surface

Hides the selected surface

Displays Surface

Information

Picks the location as center

of rotation

Makes the selected surface as

“CURRENT” surface

Deletes the selected surface

Changes the orientation of

surface

Transforms the selected surface

Changes the display type for

selected surface

Sets property to the

surface

Opens surface definition

dialog box


Gridding Process

Surface Wireframe Assignment Grid

Creating Wireframe

Loading the geometryAssigning respective

wireframe sheets to

respective surfaces

Generating grid

Visualizing Grid


Topology Terminologies

Topology

Wireframe

Block

Faces

Edges Corners

Surfaces

Corner is defined as a

point in space which is

represented as ordered pair

of numbers ( x, y, z ) where

x, y, z is the coordinates of

the point in x, y, z axis

respectively

An edge is a line segment joining two

adjacent vertices in a face.

A face is a closed

sequence of edges.

Exactly two faces

meet at every edge

of a block.



Topology

Wireframe

Block

Faces

Edges Corners

Surfaces

Collection of blocks linked together to

form a wireframe. In a wireframe,

there are more faces meet at an edge.

A block is a closed

sequence of faces.



Topology

Wireframe

Block

Faces

Edges Corners

Surfaces

Topology is defined as the connectivity

information of block corners and the

surfaces assignments of the corners and

the initial position of the corners.

It is used by the grid generator to define

the block region of the grid in space.

Surfaces Wireframe Topology


Surface Assignments

GridPro grid generator projects the block edges automatically on the surfaces

To establish a relation between surfaces and wireframe, corners are assigned or associated to surfaces.

This association helps in projection of corners on surfaces.

Surfaces Corners

Surf 1 C1, C2

Surf 2 C2, C3

Surf 3 C3, C4

Surf 4 C4, C1

After Projection

Triple Assigned

Corner

Double Assigned Corner


Surface Assignment Rules

1. If three or more blocks are emerging from an edge in 3D (or corner in 2D), it cannot be assigned to a boundary surface.

Incorrect Assignment

Correct Assignment



2. Two edges/faces of a same block cannot be assigned/associated to a single surface.

Incorrect Assignment Correct Assignment



3. The corners/edges which are only assigned to an internal surface should share two blocks on either side.

Incorrect Assignment Correct Assignment



4. The slope discontinuity in a single surface should be represented with two distinct surfaces.



5. When the surface slope discontinuity is convex in nature, the blocks emerging out of an edge (or corner in 2D) should be 2 and if it is concave in nature, the blocks emerging out of an edge (or corner in 2D) should be 1.

Incorrect TopologyCorrect Topology


Surface Groups

• Grouping is one of the most widely used

functions in GridPro.

• Allows the user to carry out tasks on specific

surfaces or corners.

• Any number of surfaces can be added or

subtracted to a group at any time.

• Surfaces in Active/Current group is always

displayed with their respective colors, Surfaces

which are not grouped are shown in grey color

• 9 number of surface groups are available which

can be used any number of times.Surfaces grouped in

group s2

Surfaces which

are not grouped

in group s2


Contd…

Add/subtract surfaces one by one by clicking on

them.

Add multiple surfaces by dragging a box with right

mouse button. Surface which are partially dragged

are also added.

Subtract surfaces from the active group by dragging

a box with right mouse button. Surfaces which are

partially dragged are also subtracted.

Retain surfaces which are selected from the active

group by dragging a box with right mouse button.

Surfaces which are not in the group will not be

added even if it is dragged.

Add the selected surfaces or selected group

Remove all the surfaces grouped in the active

group.

Group which is having all the surfaces already

grouped in it.

Display mode for the surface group.


Add a Group from another Group

The groups section acts as a calculator such that one group can be added, subtract or intersected with

another group

Example: Add Group s2 surfaces to Group s1

Step 1: Click on Group s1 to make it active.

Step 2: Click on the button

Step 3: Click on Group s2

=

Group s1 Group s2 Resulted Group s1


Subtract a Group from another Group

Step 1: Click on Group s1 to make it active



=


Example: Subtract Group s2 surfaces from Group s1


Intersect a Group from another Group




=


Example: Intersect Group s2 surfaces with Group s1


Add/subtract two groups to a new group






Example: Adding group s2 and group s3 to group s1(Initially empty)

Group s3Group s2Resulted Group s1

=

Add or subtract two groups and

result the output in the new group


Corner Groups

Similar to surface groups, corner groups allows the user to carry out tasks on specific parts of the topology

Any number of points and edges of the topology can be added or subtracted to a group at any time

Active group is always in bright yellow, inactive topology is always shaded dark.


Adding or Subtracting Topology to a Group

•Click on a group button

•Click on ( ) button and draw a box with right mousebutton around the topology.

•To subtract topology from a group click on ( ) buttonand draw a box around topology

•All topology can be emptied from a group by clickingon ( )

•Can add topology points and edges individually byclicking on the ( ) button and choosing each pointwith the left mouse button

1 2

3


Add a Group from another Group

• Grouping functions act as a calculator such that one group can be added,

subtract or intersected with another group

Example: Add Group 2 topology to Group 1

Step 1: Click on Group 1 to make it active

Step 2: Click on the ( ) button

Step 3: Click on Group 2

+ =

Group 1 Group 2


Intersection of a Group from another Group

Step 1: Click on Group 1 to make it active

Step 2: Click on the (*) button in the TOPO Menu

Step 3: Click on Group 2

Group 1 Group 2

* =


S group

• Group always contains the corners assigned to the current surface.

• If the current surface is changed, the corners in this group will get changed instantly.

• Hence it’s called surface assignment group or S group.

• It can be used to add the surface assignments corners of the current surface to any

group.

• Any other selection operations can not be done on this group.


Group Mode

• Different display modes helps in better visualization of the wireframe as well as

effective way of using certain functions.

Displays both active and inactive corners

in the UI. Displays only active corners in the UI. I.e.

the corners in the current corner group

• Reference group. Each group from R-1 to R-9 represents the corner groups c1 to c9 respectively.

• Similar to ‘A’ where the active corner group is highlighted with respect to all other inactive corners. In

reference mode, An active corner group can be seen with respect to a particular corner group which is called

as reference group(inactive).

• Display the corner group which is switched on as active and the corner group which is selected here as

inactive.


Contd…

‘A’ mode when no group is active

‘A’ mode when group c3 is active

‘G’ mode when group c3 is active‘R3’ mode when group c6 is active


Workplane

• Workplane is primarily used to create topology.

• It is an infinite plane in space but shows as

finite plane for visualizing purpose.

• It is represented in purple color with four nodes

on the corners which helps in resizing the

workplane.

• It contains its own axis and can be rotated and

translated anywhere in the screen in any

direction.

• The left side of the UI is dedicated to the

workplane related tools.

• Each axis is represented with an color similar

to the global axes. i.e. Pink for X axis, Green

for Y axis and Blue for Z axis.Axis/Handles

Node

Workplane

X

Y

Z


Contd…

Snaps the workplane to world/screen X, Y and

Z axis

Fits the workplane to the center of mass

of the given wireframe

Snaps the workplane to the screen z

axis always Pick the center of workplane on any object

(surface, corner, edge, grid blocks and grid

sheets)

Shade the workplane with translucent

white for better visual aid when the

surface is clipped.

Clips any one normal side of the surface/grid

for viewing inside objects of the surface.

Show/Hide the axis of the workplane.


Click on the

Y axis to

make it as

rotation axis

Workplane Handles

To move the workplane,

Click and drag any axis with left mouse button to move the workplane along that

axis.

The pointer will change to curved arrows once you hover it on the workplane axis

which indicates that the axis can be rotated/translated.

To rotate the workplane,

Click on the axis about which the workplane has to be rotated with the left mouse

button.

The selected axis will become thinner than other two indicating the rotating axis.

Next click on any of the other two axis with middle mouse button to rotate the

workplane about the selected axis. Rotate

about Y axis


Position the Workplane

The workplane can be positioned based on three different ways apart from

the manual translation.

1. By picking an object

2. Based on screen axis

3. Based on wireframe


Picking an Object

• Position the workplane to a desired location with a click of a button.

Select the button and click on any object such as surface, corner, edge or

grid to position the work-plane center to the picked location.

Workplane positioned on a

surfaceWorkplane positioned on a

corner

Workplane positioned on an

edge


Position – Screen axis

• Workplane can also be positioned using the screen/world axis using the button ‘Set’

Aligns the workplane z axis

with the global x, y and z axis

respectively.

Aligns the workplane z axis

with the screen x, y and z

axis irrespective of the global

axis

Enable this to define the corner id as

the center of the workplane.

This box will be enabled once the

above check box is checked


Position – Wireframe

• Workplane can also be positioned with respect to a corner group.

• Positions the workplane center with the center of mass of the active corner group

• Three different axis positions are available.

Aligns the workplane normal axis to the

shortest major group axis and the other two

workplane axes to the other two group axes.

Aligns the workplane normal axis to the second

shortest major group axis and the other two

workplane axes to the other two group axes.

Aligns the work-plane normal axis to the

longest major group axis and the other

two work-plane axes to the other two

group axes.


Corner

Corner creation is basic topology creation tool.

It can be created by two ways by positioning the cursor or by specifying the co-ordinates

A corner can be placed on surface or on workplane on the basis of mode selected


Link

To form a block, you need to link the created corners.

Linking can be done by

Either by picking up corners one-by-one

Either by dragging box around group of corners to be linked

Either dragging box on two groups of corners one by one which needs to be linked

Or by specifying the corner group numbers which need s to be linked


LinkLinking corners by picking one by one


Link

Linking corners by dragging box around the group of corners need to be linked

Linking corners by dragging box one by one on group of corners need to be linked


Link

Linking by specifying the groups which needs to be linked

Group 1 Group 2

Input

Output

Operation


InsertBy using insert you can add faces in the existing blocks and splitting a block into two.

Insert is done in three ways

Based on propagation method – ALL, Group, Single edge

Density based

No. of faces required


Insert Based on Propagation

Propagation through All Propagate only to group Propagate to Only edge


Insert Based on Density

Current edge density is 8

If base density is specified as 2, it will create 2 more inserts so that each edge in that corner group will have edge density as 2

InputOutput


Insert Based on no. of FacesRight click menu of an edge gives you an option to do multi-insert

Based n the no. of sheets provided, it will insert


Wrap

• In GridPro, wrap is used to create an O-grid.

• A wrap is an extrusion of the topology outward or inward, the ratio being specified by the user.

*Will be explained

later

Intelliwrap: Surface assignments of the corners used

for wrap if any, will be moved to the wrapped

corners.

Carry assignment: Surface assignments of the

corners used for wrap if any, will be copied

to the wrapped corners.

No assignment: Surface assignments of the corners

used for wrap if any, will NOT be copied/moved

to the wrapped corners

Wrap the given corners

inside with the given

percentage

Wrap the given corners

outside with the given

percentage

The edge distance/distance between

the corners used for wrap and the

wrapped corners in terms of

percentage


Exercise

Open the Circle exercise directory

Load circle.fra file into the UI

Group all the corners to a group

Wrap it inside with 20% ratio with No

assignment.


A key

• Easiest way to group a sheet of corners.

• Group a cross sectional sheet which propagates through the whole topology.

• An identical blocking pattern should exist adjacent to the normal side of the selected edge.

• It can be used along with and button to add or subtract sheets to/from the active corner group.

Group a few corners along with

corners of the desired layer

Hold the A key and click on the edge close to the corner

as shown

A sheet of corners will be grouped if it has corners linked one to one adjacent to it


Contd…


Span out/Peel off

• Add or remove sheets of corners from active group by using span out or

peel off button

• It will not work if the reference mode is in ‘G’.

Span out 1 layer Span out 2 layer Span out 3 layer

Peel off 2 layer


Backup Groups

• A function which keeps saving the corners which are used in

the previous operation.

• It can be retrieved under any corner group.

• Only the corners which are used in the current session can be

retrieved.

• Each time it is clicked, the corners which are last operated to

the existing one will be retrieved.

• Main application is to assign the corners easily after wrap.

• Works similar to Undo/Redo

Retrieves the

last operated

corners

Retrieves the

previously

retrieved corner

group


Contd…

Group 3 after wrap Group 3 after using

backup group button onceGroup 3 after using

backup group button

twice

Group 3 before wrap

Group 3 after using

forward group button

once

Group 3 after using

forward group button

twice

No more

forward

group to

retrieve

No more backup group

to be retrieve


Exercise

Open the Circle exercise directory

Load circle_bg.fra file into the UI

Add all the corners in a group

Wrap the corners outside with 10%

ratio

Use backup group to get the wrapped

layer

Assign it and run the gridding process

to get the grid


Merge

To merge using screen select first

define the position of the merged

corners then drag two boxes either

on individual or group of corners

needs to be merged

Place the corners need to be

merged in different corner

groups and define the corner

groups based upon the

position

Merge using Screen Select Merge using Groups


Merge by screen selecting individual corner

Merge to Center

Merge to Selection 1


Select First corner Select Second corner


Merging by screen selecting group of corners

Merge to Center



Select first set of corners Select second set of corners


Merge by Specifying Groups

Group 1

Group 2

Input

Merge to

Center

Merge to group

2 position

Merge to group

1 position


Merging Disjoint Topology

Merge to

Center

Merge to

selection1

Merge to

selection 2


Move Topology

Move using workplane or using pointer Move using coordinates

• Move a corner / active corner group,

Parallel to workplane

Normal to workplane

Parallel to surface

Normal to surface

• Corners can be moved either on workplane or on surface.

• It can be either moved parallel or normal to the either one of the object.

• One option in each would be selected.

• By default, the corners are moved parallel to workplane.

• To move a single corner, drag the corner wherever necessary using left

mouse button. Move button need not be used unless the move options need

to be changed.

• Move a corner/ active corner group by entering the

desire location.

• In case of active corner group, the center of mass

of the group will be moved to the desired location.


Copy

It allows you to copy group of corners to workplane position based upon the mode selected

Copy with links places the

centre of mass of group of

corners on centre of

workplane position and link

the group of corners to

given group of corners

Though workplane is in slanted position,

corners position is same


Copy with Links & Projection

Copy with Links and

Projection first project the

group of corners onto

workplane then copy it with

links to given group

Here orientation of workplane

is considered. There is change

in corners position compared

to only “Copy with Links”

operation


Copy with no Links only

Copy with no Links only copy

corners position to workplane

position without linking to

original corners

For this also orientation

o workplane does not

matter. It’s behaviour is

similar to Copy with

Links operation


Remove Remove tool allows you to remove corners or edges or faces based upon the mode selected

Drag a box around top

corners after selecting

mode as Corners

Top corners of box

are removed

c

Drag a box around

the box after

selecting mode as

Edges

All the edges are

removed

c


Remove Sheets/Block Faces

Faces removes a sheet of corners and connects the links between adjacent sheets if its pattern

replicates the adjacent sheets

Make that group as Active corner group

Here pattern is replicated

in adjacent sheets

Group the sheet of corners need to be

removed

Select Faces option, the selected

active corners would be deleted

Here the connectivity between adjacent sheets is

maintained. Its opposite to insert operation


Density

Number of node points for the grid can be modified before starting the gridding process.

By default density is 8

Density can be

changed globally

Density can be

changed locally

Global density changes

density for all the block

edges

Edge density changes

density of all parallel

edges of the selected

edge


Rotate TopologyFour ways to rotate a topology:

Rotate manually with workplane

Rotate using pre-defined/User defined axis

Rotate using pre-define/User defined axis with multiple copies

Convert a periodic topology to a valid complete topology

Rotates the center of mass of the given corner and/or

surface group using the Pre-defined/User defined axis.Rotates the center of mass of the given corner and/or surface

group using the Pre-defined/User defined axis with given

number of copies in between the rotation.


Rotate Topology with Workplane

5. Click on the desired axis of rotation in the workplane.

6. Rotate the other workplane axis with the middle mouse

about the selected axis of rotation.

1. Group the corners to be rotated. 2. Fit the workplane to the grouped corners

using Fit 1.

3. Click on the Move button.

4. Switch on the handles of the workplane.


Rotate Topology with Defined Axis

1. Group the corners to be rotated.2. Enter the necessary inputs

After rotation about X axis

After rotation about Y axis

After rotation about Z axis


Rotate with Multiple Copies

1. Create the necessary

wireframe

2. Group the corners

3. Enter the Inputs.

For this case, the

center of the

geometry is origin

and the rotational

axis Z axis.

NOTE: Providing

pitch distance

greater than zero

will rotate the

wireframe helically

4. After rotationNo. of instances created = 30


Periodic Topology to Complete Topology

Periodic topology with periodicity 60 degree Check the Periodic to Regular check box

Click ‘Ok’ to proceed

Complete topology created along with

the surface from the periodic topology


Align Topology

Aligns a corner group or whole wireframe to a workplane/grid/surface

Only Corners which are active will be used for execution. If no corner group is selected, all the

corners will be considered.

Project the active

corner group to the

work plane such that

the center of mass of

the active corner

group and the work

plane are relative.

Synchronizes the position of the topology

corners and the edges with the grid blocks.

A multi-block GridPro grid should exist in

the grid tab that should match the blocking

pattern and the block count of the topology

that has to be projected.

Project all corners and edges

of active corner group onto

the current surface.

A corner group should be

active and it should contain

the corners to be projected.

Project all corners and edges of

active corner group on to the

workplane position.

A corner group with the corners

to be projected has to be active

Translates the center

of mass of active

corner group to the

center of the

workplane.


Enrich Topology

Enriching a specific region of the topology without affecting the farfield.

Adds more topology corners in a complete topology without propagating to the

farfield.

Special case of internal wrap

Corner group c3 used for refinement

After refinement


Surface Assignments

Assigned corners will be highlighted with white dots.

Corners can only be assigned to current surface.

Assign corners to

periodic surface only.

Assign corners

individually to current

surface by picking the

corners one by one

Assign multiple corners to

current surface by dragging a

box with right mouse button.

Remove the surface

assignments from the

corners.

Displays only the surface

assignment corners of the current

surface in the UI

Remove the surface

assignments from the corners

by dragging a box with right

mouse button.

Remove all the

surface assignments

of the current surface

with a click of a

button.


Assign corners

Make the desired surface, current. Group the corners to be assigned to the current surface.

Switch on toggle/Add buttonPick the corners/drag the corners with right mouse button


Remove surface assignments

Make the desired surface, current , whose surface assignments has to be

removed.

Group the assigned corners

Switch on Remove button

Choose the option ‘screen select’ if you want to remove few of the surface

assignments or ‘Clear’ if you want to remove all of the surface assignments.

If you select, ‘screen select’, select the corners whose surface assignments has to

be removed by dragging a box with right mouse button.


Periodic surface assignments

Periodic surface assignments are handled using:

– Specific surface that define the characteristics of the symmetric conditions, called

‘periodic surface’.

– Topology on the periodic boundaries has to be assigned to this surface.

Group the corners on the periodic

boundary either in same group or

different groups. Here it is grouped

in same group.

Switch on the Period button and select

the periodic boundary one by one by

dragging a box with right mouse button

as shown

Once the second periodic boundary

corners are selected, the corners will be

highlighted with white dots as shown.


Block Structured Grid

All blocks have 6 faces, 12 edges and 8 vertex

points and can exist in any shape and size

Edges contain the distribution of points in the i, j,

k directions

The blocks of the grid contains edges outlines,

center of mass and skeletons (links from center of

mass to the center of each face)


A slice is a grid that cuts through a block.

A face sheet composed of the faces of the outer

boundaries of all outer, activated blocks is called a mesh

Grid Terminologies

Grid with blocks

Faces Sheet

MeshSlice sheet

A grid face is the grid about a boundary of a block.

A sheet is simply a collection of linked faces or a collection of linked slices. A sheet composed of linked faces is called a face sheet, and a sheet composed of linked slices is called a slice sheet.


Grid Viewing Tools

Only grid blocks are visible when grid is loaded into UI

Blocks can be turned off by unchecking the box in Blocks tab under Show/Hide section


Mesh

A single sheet representing the mesh of the blocks is shown


Faces

It shows grid points on all surfaces (boundary and including internal)

If Boundary is selected only

boundary surface grid sheets

will be shown

If Internal is selected all internal

surfaces grid in addition to

boundary surfaces, internal

surface grid sheets will also be

shown


Slice

Grid sheets through blocks can be displayed in any i, j, k direction

To display sheet click on the Slice icon

Click on a block edge and sheet is automatically displayed

Grid sheets shown at various cross-section


Scrolling between the Sheets

Clicking on particular sheet name will make that sheet as current sheet

Current sheet is highlighted and seen in sea blue colour

Sheet 4 is selected as CURRENT sheet




Scrolling SheetThe grid sheet can be stepped through the block in any i, j, k direction by clicking on the stepbuttons

Only the current sheet (in sea blue) can be scrolled

Stepping current sheet in the grid

block

Current sheet is moved some steps

Current sheet is moved some steps ahead

Sheet 4 as highlighted is Current Sheet


Toggling Sheets

By checking or unchecking a box next to grid sheet name show or hide the respective sheet

Here, sheet 5 and sheet 6 are hidden


Toggling Sheets

Shows all sheets

Shows only current sheet

Flips the visibility of all sheets

Options are used for grid sheets toggling


Deleting Sheets

Clicking on delete icon next to the sheets deletes the respective sheet

Sheet 16 is deleted in below image

Sheet 9 and 15 are deleted in above image


Colour

Coloured by Block

Coloured by Sheets

Coloured by IJK value

Blocks –Colour varies as grid blocks varies

Sheets- Colour varies as grid sheet varies

IJK- Colour is constant along the co-ordinate

A grid can be coloured on the basis of


Reload

If Ggrid is running, there would be some changes in grid file after every time it is written

Click on Reload icon to reload the grid

Grid can be reloaded Manually or Automatically

reloads the grid every time it is

written

allows user to decide when

a grid should be reloaded


Viewing GridsTwo grids can be loaded into UI and the user can choose which grid to work upon

Grid which is highlighted is Current grid

All the operations are only performed in Current grid

Checking/unchecking will show or hide the grid

Only one gird is loaded Two grids are loaded

blk_cylinder is CURRENT grid


SpacingDistance between two node points can be measured precisely using Spacing option

Allows you to check precisely off-the-wall spacing near a boundary

Click on spacing icon

Click on a node point in current sheet

Click on another node point

It is useful for checking clustering in grid

Distance between these two node

points is measured


Trimming Grid BlocksBlocks can be trimmed away

Click on Trim icon

Blocks tab with all the options will open up

Click on icon

Draw a box around the blocks while holding down right mouse button and blocks will be trimmed away

Clicking on icon displays

active grid block skeleton with

centersDrag a around the block centers

which needs to subtracted


Adding Blocks

Trimmed blocks can be added using icon and drag a box around grid block centres

Drag a box around

block centers to add


Adding/Subtracting Individual/blocks

Click on icon and block cell centres will be displayed

If a hollow square center is picked, block will be added

If opaque square center is picked, respective block will be subtracted

Pick opaque block center to add

Pick solid block center to subtract


Trimming Grid Blocks using Intersection option

Only selected portion of the grid blocks will remain

Click on icon

Hold down the right mouse button and drag a box around grid blocks you want to be displayed

Drag a box around the

block centers which

needs to be retained


Reverse Trim Display

The compliment of the trimmed grid blocks can be displayed by clicking on the icon

A confirmation box will open up

Trimmed block grid can be exported using Save Trimmed blocks as grid option


Redisplaying All Blocks

All of the trimmed grid blocks can be returned to their original display mode by clicking on the icon

A confirmation dialog box will open


Trim Grid Sheets

Trim grid sheet work only on Current Sheet

Click on Trim icon

Click on Sheets tab

All the operations work similar to block trim operations

Subtracts the grid sheet

for selected grid block

centres


Quality

Click on Quality icon

Click on “Evaluate” in the pop-up to view the grid quality

Clicking on “Laod bad cells” will

load the bad cells in addition to

current grid

In Advance tab, user can define the range for

skewness, warpage and aspect ratio as desired

by checking the box next to it

Displays Number of Blocks

Displays Number of Cells

Displays Number of Volume

Folds

Displays Worst Skewness

Value

Displays Maximum Aspect

Ratio Value

Displays Maximum Warpage

Value


Extract

Extract option lets you extract topology from grid

Surfaces and wireframe can be extracted from grid

If Extract icon is

selected, a confirmation

dialog box pops-up

Topology extracted

from the given grid


Mirror

Mirror creates a reflective copy of grid

Reflective copy merged with original gird will be loaded into UI previous grid

A reflective grid can be created along X, Y, Z direction or along periodic direction as selected from drop down menu


Density

Number of grid points can be changed even after grid is generated

Density can be changed in four ways

If density is modified, new grid is loaded replacing the previous grid

Grid density for this edge has been changed to 50 from 21

Parallel edges of a Grid can be changed by defining new value

under Edge tab


Density

Using Matching option, entire grid density can be changed

All edges having the same value as mentioned in existing density will be changed to new density

All edges grid density can be increased or decreased by given ratio

Multiple grids based upon ratio, number of grids and increment method given can be created under this option

Provide the ratio, number of grids to be created and select one of the increment method i.e. arithmetic or geometric to create number of grid files from the given grid file with varying number of grid points


Surface

The functions of Surface tab are

• Creating inbuilt surfaces

• Inspecting surfaces

• Surface repair

• Segmenting surfaces

Surface modification tools

Surface repair and inspection tools

Built-in surface creation tools

These tools

have been

discussed

previously


Thin

Reduces the number of triangulation in the surface based on the ratio and/or angle.

Surface has

been thinned

based upon

ratio and angle

Define ratio

Define maximum

deviation angle

Define output file

name


Refine

• Increases the number of triangulation in the surface based on the given refinement level.

• Feature corner group – Group of corners whose location, if lies on the surface will not be smoothed

Define feature corner group (Not

necessary)

Define refinement level

Define output file name

Surface has been

refined based upon

refinement level

Check the box if smoothing on

surface required


Inspection Tools

• Border – Check for surface border and holes

• Angle – Check for any unusual links or bad elements in the surfaces

Border button works as toggle button – Depressing it will show the current surface border,

un-depressing it will hide the surface borders.

Surface shown

with border Only surface

border is shown


Angle

Shows the bad elements of the surface based on the given angle.

Highlights the elements in pink color

Enter an angle to view the bad

elements above the given value

and click apply.

Clicking on clear will remove the

highlighted lines.

Clicking on Next will show the bad

elements which has the maximum

angle.

Keep clicking on next will keep

highlighting the bad elements of with

the next (lower) level of significance


Splitting Surface

Split the current surface based on wherever the

given threshold angle exceeds.

By default, it takes 45 degree, if you ant change

the angle, then enter the value in the input field,

by enabling the Threshold angle check button.

Split can also be done manually by

creating a closed path about which

the surface will be split.

Split can also be done by trimming

away a part of the surface

It is used for splitting current surface

Three ways splitting can be done

• By defining angle

• By creating path

• By selecting surface elements


Split Surface using Path

Step 1: Make the desired surface, current

Step 2: Change the surface display to HLR

Step 3: Click on ‘Split’ button and switch to ‘curve’ tab and select button.

Step 4: Click on the triangle vertices and a path will be drawn as shown.

Path1 2

3

Allow you to pick individual triangular edges


Contd…

Step 5: Complete the path selection and make it closed.

Step 6: Click on the ‘Segment’ button and the surface will be segmented


Contd…

Step 7: Once the surface is split, it has

to be saved. Click on Save button and

enter a name in the file dialog box to

save the current surface file

Step 8: To save the other surface(yellow color), click

on the Next button to make the other surface,

current and save the file.

Step 9: Clicking on ‘save path’, will allow you to save the path selected as a linear file.


Contd…

1

2

Undo the last selected path

To remove any selected path.

Either pick the nodes as shown or drag

a box around the path to be removed nDelete all the paths


Fill Surface Holes

Fill a hole with triangles using the existing nodes.

New nodes will not be created on the hole boundary but it will be created inside the hole.

Step 1: Locate the surface hole

Step 2: Change the surface display to shade with HLR

Step 3: Create path around the hole using the path selection tools.

Step 4: Click on Fill button to fill the region inside the selected path.

Step 5: Click on ‘Save modifications’ to save the modified surface.


Move Surface Nodes

Surface nodes can be moved parallel or perpendicular to workplane to remove

kinks or repair bad elements

Move the surface nodes parallel to

workplane

Move the surface nodes normal to

workplane

Clears all surface node movementSaves the surface with the same name

and moves the original surface to

<original_filename.0.tria>

Undo/Redo previous surface node

movements


Surface Parameters

• Settings icon is used to change surface parameters such as orientation, property and

clustering parameters.

Change the property of current surface based

upon solver selected

Checking this will enable you to

set the clustering parameters

Checking this will not allow you to

duplicate the surface with same

parameters in the same location.

Defines the surface as internal or boundary

surface


Surface Modification Tools

• Shows the current surface’s dialog box with its dimensions.

• Helps to modify the current surface dimensions.

• Works only for the built-in surfaces.

Scale the current surface or active

surface group based on the center and

ratio

• Shows the current surface’s dialog box with its dimensions.

• Helps to duplicate the current surface either with same/different

dimensions.

• Works only for the built-in surfaces.

Scale

Copy

Reload


Contd…

Surface transformation tool similar to

general button in the topology tab.

Works only for the current surface.

The transformation will applied in the order

as in the dialog box.

Translation

Scaling

Rotation

2nd Translation

Mirroring

Transform


Surface Creation

GridPro can create surfaces from the wireframe in three formats.

Linear

Quad

Tube

Creates a quad surface

Creates a linear surfaceCreates a tube surface


Surface Creation Tools

Following are the surface creation tools:

Tube

Controlnet Surface

Controlnet Curve

Internal surface

Convert - converts a surface file to a

topology file and vice versa

Following are the tools which helps in

surface creation:

Feature edges

Intersection of surfaces

Ribbon

Ribbon nest

Convert the surface file to a topology

file by creating corners and edges on

the surface nodes.

Convert a topology file to surface file

by creating surface nodes in place of

corners and lines in place of edges.

Convert a topology file to a tria

surface.


Feature Edges

Creates corners on the surface based on the feature angle.

It calculates the feature angle of each node on the surface and

creates corners at the nodes wherever it exceeds the given

feature angle.

Checking ‘Include boundary edges’ will create corners on the

surface boundaries also.


Intersection of Surfaces

Creates corners on the intersection of the given surfaces.

A surface group is given as input which contains the intersecting surfaces.

Corners generated at the

intersection of two

surfaces


Ribbon

Creates a layer of corners either normally inwards or normally outwards to the given set of

corners with the given width.

A corner group with corners assigned to a surface must exist.

The normal will be calculated based on the surface normal to which the corners are assigned to.

Corner group for which the ribbon has to be generated.

Corner group for which the normal will be retained.

Corner group for which the normal will be inverted.

Number of times the smoothing algorithm has to be

run.

Width of the ribbon. Distance between the path group

corners and the ribbon generated corners.


Contd…

Feature corners generated

for the surface given as

input for ribbon

Ribbon generated for the

given feature corners as

input


Ribbon Nest

Creates given number of layer of corners in orthogonal direction.

The number of corners reduces with each layer in a pattern as shown below.

A layer of corners which was created by feature edges must exist.

A ribbon layer must exist.

Corner group with both the layer of

corners created by feature edge and

ribbon

Corner group from which the nesting has

to be started

Corner group in which

nesting will not be applied

Number of times the

nesting has to be applied.

Distance between each nesting layer.

Ratio is calculated based on the ribbon

width(used in the ribbon)

Corner group in which the

last layer of nesting will be

grouped.

Corner group for which the distance

between each layer will be fixed.

Number of times the smoothing algorithm

has to be applied.Checking this, will apply

wrap on the last layer of

nesting


Contd…

This is how nesting works

Special group

corners


Internal Surface

Creates a closed surface which is orthogonal to the surface intersection using the corners

created at the intersection.

Corners created with ‘Intersection of surfaces’ must exist.Corner group whose corners created at

the intersection of surfaces.

Surface group whose surface normal has

to be inverted

Type of algorithm has to be used.

Method of creating internal surface

Number of times the smoothing

algorithm has to be applied

Number of corners has to be created on

the other side of the surface to ensure

that the surface is passed through the

intersection.

Controls the height till which the

orthogonality has to be maintained.

Decides the height of the surface


Tube Surface

• Creates a tube surface using the axis and radius information.

• It’s also a input format in GridPro

• Four different input ways to create a tube:

Axis can be defined either

using a corner group which

defines an axis or using x y

x values

• Radius can be defined

either using a corner

group or using x y x

values.

• The distance between

the corner group and

the axis is calculated as

radius implicitly.Applies smoothing

algorithm

Number of times the

refinement has to be

done

Closes the tube on both

sides

Axis Radius

Corner group Corner group

Corner group Value

Orientation Corner group

Orientation Value


Controlnet Surface

Creates a quad surface from the given wireframe.

The wireframe should contain valid blocks (i.e. each block should have only 4 edges in2D,

6 edges in 3D).

Corner group from which the surface has to be created.

Corner group where the surface will exactly pass through.

Smoothing will not be applied here.

Corner group where smoothing has to be applied

Number of times the refinement has to be applied

Decides the flatness of the surface

Number of times the smoothing algorithm has to be applied

Kind of smoothing to be applied

Method to be used to create the surface


Controlnet Curves

Creates a linear surface from the given wireframe.

Works only for 2D.

Corner group from which the curve has

to be created

Number of times the refinement has to

be applied.

Method to be sued to create the curve


Properties

Properties can be assigned before gridding or after grid is generated

Before assigning properties select the Solver from the top panel for which grid would be exported

Here Fluent solver is selected

Before gridding, properties are assigned to surfaces and after gridding properties are assigned to grid sheets and grid blocks


Properties Assigned to Surfaces

In Surface tab, click on settings icon

In the pop-up select the appropriate property for current surface from the drop down menu

Properties assigned to surfaces would be reflected in the grid sheets


Property Setter Toolbar

3d property for blocks

2d property for faces

By default each grid will have two 2d properties i.e. Interior and Wall assigned

Each grid would have fluid as 3d property

Faces assigned as wall property is shown

Faces assigned as interior property is shown


Property Setter Toolbar

List of 2d properties List of 3d properties

Shows all Property sheets Flips the visibility of property sheets

Shows only current Property

sheet


Selecting 2D Property FacesSelect the property from the list and enter the label

Click ‘Apply’ to create the selected property

Click on icon and drag a box around the faces

Drag a box around the hollow squares

representing surface sheet which will assigned

the selected property

A new property sheet created is

shown in sea blue colour

A new property i.e. pressure-outlet

is added to 2d properties lies

Pressure outlet is

selected as new

property


ExportingSelect the solver format from Export Grid option under File menu

Specify the name with appropriate extension


CAD

Geometries can be repaired and triangulated using the CAD panel for the geometry

formats such as IGES and STEP.

Two tools – Heal and Mesh are available in CAD panel.

Heal – Automatic surface fixing tool

Mesh – Triangulation tool


Geometry faces

Show/Hide the faces of the geometry.

Show All faces

Show Current face

Toggle All faces

Hide face by picking

from the UI


Heal

Repairs the geometry to fix small edges, fix spot strip faces and sew faces using a tolerance value.

Before Healing the geometry

After Healing the geometry


Mesh

Creates surface mesh for the imported geometry.

After creating the surface mesh for

the geometry


Local Mesh

Create surface mesh locally for certain faces.

Right click on the face whose surface mesh has to be changed.

Select ‘Set face mesh size’

Enter the new mesh size and click ‘ok’.

With default mesh size

With new face mesh

size

GridPro v6

Documents

Transcript of GridPro v6