4.2 Reading Mesh Files

Mesh files are created using the mesh generators ( GAMBIT, TGrid, GeoMesh, and PreBFC), or by several third-party CAD packages. From ANSYS FLUENT's point of view, a mesh file is a subset of a case file (described in Section  4.3.1). The mesh file contains the coordinates of all the nodes, connectivity information that tells how the nodes are connected to one another to form faces and cells, and the zone types and numbers of all the faces (e.g., wall-1, pressure-inlet-5, symmetry-2).

The mesh file does not contain any information on boundary conditions, flow parameters, or solution parameters. For information about meshes, see Chapter  6.

To read a native-format mesh file (i.e., a mesh file that is saved in ANSYS FLUENT format) into the solver, use the File/Read/Mesh... menu item. Note that you can also use the File/Read/Case... menu item (described in Section  4.3.1), because a mesh file is a subset of a case file. GAMBIT, TGrid, GeoMesh, and PreBFC can all write a native-format mesh file. For information about reading these files, see Sections  6.3.1, 6.3.2, 6.3.3, and 6.3.4.

If after reading in a mesh file (or a case and data file), you would like to read in another mesh file, the Read Mesh Options dialog box will open, where you can choose to

• Discard the case and read in a new mesh.

• Replace the existing mesh.

You also have the option to have the Scale Mesh dialog box appear automatically for you to check or scale your mesh, which in general is the recommended practice. For this to happen, enable Show Scale Mesh Panel After Replacing Mesh.

For information on importing an unpartitioned mesh file into the parallel solver using the partition filter, see Section  32.5.6.