Introduction To Workbench and CFX Workflow

Chapter 2
Introduction to Workbench
and CFX Workflow
Introduction to CFX
ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

© 2009 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved. 2-1 Inventory #002598
Workbench and CFX Workflow
The Workbench Environment Training Manual
• For most situations the Workbench GUI is divided into 2 primary

sections (there are other optional sections we’ll see in a moment):
The Toolbox The Project Schematic

The Toolbox Training Manual
• The toolbox contains 4 subgroups:

• Analysis systems:
– Predefined templates that can be
placed in the schematic.
• Component systems:
– Various applications that can be
accessed to build, or expand,
analysis systems.
• Custom Systems:
– Predefined analysis systems for
coupled applications (FSI, thermal-
stress, etc.). Users can also create
their own predefined systems.
• Design Exploration:
– Parametric management and
optimization tools.
The Toolbox Training Manual
• The systems and components

displayed in the toolbox will
depend on the installed
products.
• Using the check boxes in the

“View All / Customize”
window, the items displayed
in the toolbox can be toggled
on or off.
• The toolbox customization

window is normally left closed
when not in use.

The Project Schematic Training Manual
• The Workbench project schematic is a graphical representation of

the workflow defining a system or group of systems.
• The workflow in the project schematic is always left to right.
• There are currently several applications which are native to

Workbench, meaning they run entirely in the Workbench window:
– Project Schematic, Engineering Data and Design Exploration
• Non-native applications (called data-integrated) run in their own

window:
– Mechanical (formerly Simulation), Mechanical APDL (formerly ANSYS),
ANSYS Fluent, ANSYS CFX, Etc . . .
• Blocks of cells can be deleted by RMB menu selection.

• In this example a Static Structural analysis type is selected for the

project schematic.
• From the toolbox the selection can be dragged and dropped onto
the schematic or simply double clicked.

• By dropping applications and/or analyses into various locations in

the schematic, an overall analysis project is defined.
• “Connectors” indicate the level of collaboration between systems.
• In the example shown a

structural system is dragged and
dropped onto a thermal system
at the Model cell (A4).
• Before completing the operation

notice there are a number of
optional “drop” locations that
will provide various types of
linkage between systems
(continued next page).

• By completing the operation from the previous page, notice the

linkage here is only at the Model level and above.
• In this case there would be no thermal/structural coupling.
• Notice too each system block is given an alphabetic designation (A,

B, C, etc.).

• By dropping the structural system at the “Solution” level we obtain a

structural system that is coupled to the thermal solution.
Notice, the candidate

“drop” location
indicates data will be
shared from fields A2
to A4, and
transferred from A6.

• A schematic can also be constructed by RMB and choosing to

“Transfer Data To New” or “Transfer Data From New”.
• In using the RMB transfer feature all transfer possibilities (upstream
and downstream) are displayed.
• These selections will vary depending on which cell in a particular
system you highlight.

• Identifying cell states:
• Unfulfilled: missing upstream data.
• Attention required: may need to correct this or upstream cells.
• Refresh required: upstream data has changed. Need to refresh cell. An update
will also refresh the cell and regenerate any output data (e.g. mesh, results).
• Update required: the data has changed and the output of the cell must be
regenerated.
• Up to date.
• Input changes pending: cell is locally up to date but may change when the next
update is performed due to upstream changes.
• Interrupted: solver was manually stopped before it finished. Can use Resume
or Update to continue to solving.
• Pending: a batch process is in progress

Optional Workbench Windows Training Manual
• The “View” menu (and RMB) allows additional information to be

displayed in the Workbench environment.
– Below, the geometry is highlighted and the properties are displayed.

Workbench File Management Training Manual
• Workbench creates a project file and a series of subdirectories to

manage all associated files.
• Users should allow Workbench to manage the directories.
– Please do NOT manually modify the content or structure of the project
directories.
• When a project is saved a project file is created (.wbpj), using the
user specified file name (e.g. MyFile.wbpj).
• A project directory will be created using the project name. In the
above example the directory would be MyFile_files.
• A number of subdirectories will be created in the project directory.

• From the Workbench “View” menu activate the

“Files” option to display a window containing file
details and locations.

• Archive: quickly generates a single

compressed file containing all pertinent files.
– File is zip format and can be opened using the

“Restore Archive . . . ” utility in WB2 or any
unzip program.
– Several options are available when archiving

systems as shown here.

Starting CFX Training Manual
• CFX can be launched from:

– The CFX 12.0 Launcher
• Start > All Programs > ANSYS
12.0 > CFX > ANSYS CFX 12.0
– Within ANSYS Workbench
• Drag ‘Analysis Systems > Fluid
Flow (CFX)’ or ‘Component
Systems > CFX’ onto the
Project Schematic
– The command line
• More common under Linux/Unix

Try It Yourself! Training Manual
• Now launch Workbench on your training machine…

– Start > All Programs > ANSYS 12.0 > ANSYS Workbench
• Expand the Component Systems toolbox and add a CFX system to

the Project Schematic
• Drag a second CFX system onto the Project Schematic, dropping it

onto the Solution cell of the first
– The first Solution is used as the starting point for the second Solution,
e.g. a steady-state run followed by a transient run
• Right-click on the Setup cell in the first system and select Edit
– This will open CFX-Pre
– You can leave CFX-Pre open for now

Running Standalone vs Workbench Training Manual
• Running CFX inside the Workbench environment:
– Simplifies the workflow

• Geometry, Mesh, Setup, Solution and Results steps shown on the Project
Schematic
• Easier to update a project when a change is made
– E.g. after a geometry change a single click updates the Mesh, Setup, Solution
and Results
– Allows you to easily link to other Analysis Systems and

Components
– Is necessary when performing DesignExploration (parametric

studies)

Running Standalone vs Workbench Training Manual
• Running CFX standalone:
– Less computational overhead
– Produces a simpler directory / file structure on disk
– But no direct association between geometry, mesh, setup and

results files
• Each component must be updated
• No built-in automation for parametric studies
– Less automation
• E.g mesh needs to be manually imported into CFX-Pre

Setting the Working Directory Training Manual
• Before starting a project you should set the working directory

– Avoids files getting saved to ‘Documents and Settings’
• From the CFX Launcher specify the Working Directory before starting
Pre / Solver / Post
• In Workbench Save the project before adding anything to the Project
Schematic

Setup / CFX-Pre Training Manual
CFX-Pre CFX-Solver CFD-Post

• In WB Edit the Setup entry to start
CFX-Pre
– Four types of simulation are available
• General mode is the general purpose mode for defining all

types of CFD simulations
– When running in Workbench CFX-Pre will automatically start
in this mode
• Turbomachinery mode simplifies the setup for rotating

machines
• Quick Setup mode greatly simplifies the physics setup for

a simulation by assuming many default parameters and
basic physics
• Library Template mode provides a predefined setup for

complex physics
– Boiling, cavitation, coal & oil combustion, …
CFX-Pre – Workspace Training Manual

Main Menu
Main Toolbar
Viewer Toolbar
Outline Tree
Viewer Window
Message Window

CFX-Pre – Workflow Training Manual
Mesh and region control CFX-Pre CFX-Solver CFD-Post

• Import, delete,
transform meshes
• View & edit mesh
regions
Analysis Type • To define your simulation,
• Steady State / Transient
generally follow the Outline
Domain
• Right-click to insert
tree from top to bottom
boundary conditions
• Double-click entries in the
Boundary Conditions Outline tree to edit
Initialisation
• Starting point for the solver • Right-click on entries in the
in the absence of a previous Outline tree to insert new
solution
items or perform operations
Solver settings
• Convergence controls • Some items are optional,
• Results files controls
• Numerical schemes depending on your
• Monitor points simulation
Library objects
• Optional. Referenced elsewhere in the setup
• Import Materials & Reactions from libraries
provided
• Insert Expressions, AV’s, Fortran routines

Useful Shortcuts Training Manual
Rotate
Pan + CTRL Viewer Toolbar
Zoom + SHIFT
(Hold while
Box Zoom tracing a box)
Rotate + CTRL
(on screen plane)

CFX-Pre – Workflow Example Training Manual

1. Load Mesh
– Right-click on Mesh
A Default Domain is automatically

created when the mesh is imported. It
contains all 3D regions in the mesh.
Every domain contains a default
boundary condition.

2. Define Domain Properties CFX-Pre CFX-Solver CFD-Post

– Right-click on the domain and pick Edit
– Or right-click on Flow Analysis 1 to insert a new domain
When editing an item a new tab panel

opens containing the properties. You
can switch between open tabs.
Sub-tabs contain
various different
properties
Complete the required

fields on each sub-tab
to define the domain
Optional fields are

activated by enabling
a check box

3. Create Boundary Conditions for a CFX-Pre CFX-Solver CFD-Post

Domain
• Right-click on the domain to insert BC’s
After completing
the boundary
condition, it
appears in the
Outline tree
below its domain

4. Define Solver Settings CFX-Pre CFX-Solver CFD-Post

– Right-click on Solver Control and pick Edit
All solver
controls have
default values

5. Start Solver CFX-Pre CFX-Solver CFD-Post
• When running in Workbench: • When running standalone:

– Just close CFX-Pre – You should manually save the CFX-Pre
• Files are automatically saved database
• Check mark shown next to Setup – Right-click on Simulation and select Start
– Right-click on Solution and Solver >
select Edit or Refresh • Define Run opens the Solver Manager
• Refresh runs the solver in the • Run Solver runs in the background with default
background with default settings settings
• Edit opens the Solver Manager • Run Solver and Monitor run with default settings
and monitors in the Solver Manager
Right-click
to solve

CFX-Solver Manager Training Manual
• Defining a Run CFX-Pre CFX-Solver CFD-Post
– CFX-Pre will have written a .def file

and this is automatically selected
as the Solver Input File
– Can enable Initial Values check

box if you have a previous solution
to use as the starting point
– Parallel settings are defined here

• Allows you to divide a large CFD
problem so that it can run on more
than one processor/machine
– Start Run!

• Workspace CFX-Pre CFX-Solver CFD-Post

Create new monitors
Solution Monitors Text output from the Solver

• Monitor the convergence of • Lots of info in here
the solver • Can also view the .out file in
• Plot residuals, imbalances, a text editor
monitor points, forces,
fluxes…

• When the Solver finishes, start CFX-Pre CFX-Solver CFD-Post

CFD-Post:
• When running in Workbench: • When running standalone:
– Just close the Solver Manager – Enable Post-Process Results on the
• Check mark shown next to Solution solver finished notification window
– Right-click on Results and select
Edit to start CFD-Post
– Or select the Post-Process Results

icon from the toolbar
Right-click
to start
CFD-Post

CFD-Post Training Manual
• Workspace CFX-Pre CFX-Solver CFD-Post
Editor Tabs
• Outline
• Variables
• Expressions
• Calculators
• Turbo
Outline Tree
Outline tree
displays all post-
processing objects.
Right-click or
double-click to edit
in the Details Pane
Details Pane
Viewer Window

• General Workflow CFX-Pre CFX-Solver CFD-Post
1. Prepare locations where data

will be extracted from or 3. i) Generate qualitative data at
plots generated locations
• E.g. Planes, Isosurface
ii) Generate quantitative data at

locations
2. Create variables/expressions
which will be used to extract
data (if necessary)
• E.g. drag, pressure ratio
4. Generate Reports

1. Create Locations CFX-Pre CFX-Solver CFD-Post
Use the Location

2D & 3D domain,
drop-down menu in
boundary and
the toolbar to create
mesh regions are
locations inside the
automatically
domain
available
2. Variables / Expressions Discussed in the Post-processing

3. Qualitative and Quantitative data lecture along with more details on
creating locations
4. Reports

Summary of Common File Types Training Manual
.wbpj (Workbench Project File)
Import Mesh
.cmdb, .cfx5, .def, .res, …
Open
CFX-Pre .cfx (CFX-Pre Database)
.cfx, .def, .res
.def (Solver Input or Definition File)
CFX-Solver .out (Solver Output File)

.res (Results File)
.def, .cmdb .cst (CFD-Post State File)

CFD-Post .cse (CFD-Post Session File)
(Mesh Files)

Summary of Common File Types Training Manual
Import Mesh
• .cfx files contain mesh and .cmdb, .cfx5, .def, .res, …
physics data and can be opened
by CFX-Pre
Open .cfx
.cfx, .def, .res
CFX-Pre (CFX-Pre Database)
• .def files contain mesh and .def (Solver Input or Definition File)
physics data and can be run in
.out
the Solver CFX-Solver (Solver Output File)
.res (Results File)
• .res files contain mesh, physics .def, .cmdb .cst
and results data and can be (Mesh Files)
CFD-Post .cse
opened in CFD-Post
• CFX-Pre can also open .def and .res files to recover the mesh and physics.
Some unused data (e.g. unused Materials) is not written to the .def / .res files
and is therefore not recovered.
• The CFX-Solver can use .res files to continue a run or as an initial guess
• CFD-Post can also open .def and .cmdb files to view the mesh

Solver Files and Folders Training Manual
C:\Filename.def
CFX-Solver C:\Filename_001.out
C:\Filename_001
First Time Solving C:\Filename_001\100_full.bak

Filename.def C:\Filename_001\1.trn
C:\Filename_001\2.trn
C:\Filename_001.res
C:\Filename.def
CFX-Solver C:\Filename_002.out
C:\Filename_002
Second Time C:\Filename_002\100_full.bak

Solving C:\Filename_002\1.trn
Filename.def C:\Filename_002\2.trn
C:\Filename_002.res

File Structure in Workbench Training Manual
• When running CFX standalone, files are saved to your current

working directory
– As noted on the previous side, some solver files are saved to a solver run
directory
• When running in Workbench only the project file (.wbpj) is saved to

the current working directory
– All other files are saved to a name_files subdirectory
C:\StaticMixer.wbpj
C:\StaticMixer_files
Project files and folders. Do not edit directly

License Preferences Training Manual
• Workbench license control is handled through the user interface

shown below, activated from the Workbench project page (“Tools >
License Preferences . . . “).

• With the available licenses displayed, the activation and “use order”
can be specified using the up/down arrows.
– 0 = off, 1 = on
– License order represents the preference order for license use.
• The license control allows Workbench

users to specify whether a single
license is used when multiple
applications are open, or if all open
applications access their own license.

• In the example shown, a user could have 3 Mechanical models open

simultaneously. Using the license control they may choose to open 3
licenses or use only 1 that is shared. In the shared scenario, only the active
Mechanical session uses the license (the remaining will be read only).

ANSYS CFX 12.0
Workflow Demo

Workflow Demo Training Manual
• Your instructor will now perform a quick demonstration of the workflow in a

simple CFX project
• This simulation sets up the Static Mixer simulation – the first of the tutorials
supplied with the ANSYS CFX documentation
• The mesh for this simulation can be found in the examples directory of your
CFX installation and can be imported as a CFX-Solver Input mesh file
– By default: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v120\CFX\examples\StaticMixer.def


Introduction To Workbench and CFX Workflow

Încărcat de

Informații document

Titlu original

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Introduction To Workbench and CFX Workflow

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Chapter 2

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• For most situations the Workbench GUI is divided into 2 primary

The Toolbox The Project Schematic

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• The toolbox contains 4 subgroups:

• The systems and components

• Using the check boxes in the

• The toolbox customization

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• The Workbench project schematic is a graphical representation of

• The workflow in the project schematic is always left to right.

• There are currently several applications which are native to

• Non-native applications (called data-integrated) run in their own

• Blocks of cells can be deleted by RMB menu selection.

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• In this example a Static Structural analysis type is selected for the

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• By dropping applications and/or analyses into various locations in

• “Connectors” indicate the level of collaboration between systems.

• In the example shown a

• Before completing the operation

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• By completing the operation from the previous page, notice the

• In this case there would be no thermal/structural coupling.

• Notice too each system block is given an alphabetic designation (A,

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• By dropping the structural system at the “Solution” level we obtain a

Notice, the candidate

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• A schematic can also be constructed by RMB and choosing to

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• Identifying cell states:

• Unfulfilled: missing upstream data.

• Attention required: may need to correct this or upstream cells.

• Pending: a batch process is in progress

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• The “View” menu (and RMB) allows additional information to be

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• Workbench creates a project file and a series of subdirectories to

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• From the Workbench “View” menu activate the

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• Archive: quickly generates a single

– File is zip format and can be opened using the

– Several options are available when archiving

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• CFX can be launched from:

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• Now launch Workbench on your training machine…

• Expand the Component Systems toolbox and add a CFX system to

• Drag a second CFX system onto the Project Schematic, dropping it

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• Running CFX inside the Workbench environment:

– Simplifies the workflow

– Allows you to easily link to other Analysis Systems and

– Is necessary when performing DesignExploration (parametric

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009

• Running CFX standalone:

– Less computational overhead

– Produces a simpler directory / file structure on disk

– But no direct association between geometry, mesh, setup and

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary April 28, 2009