Defining the mesh size for fluid modeling

Choosing an appropriate mesh size is important since it affects numerical accuracy. The mesh must be fine enough to model the details of the fluid flow. However, it is difficult to create a mesh fine enough to model all details of fluid flow with reasonable solve times.

There is no limit to the number of fluid nodes and elements that you may use. The practical limits on model size depend entirely on the capacities of your workstation. Typically, from 10,000 to 100,000 elements are needed to accurately model fluid flow through large complex systems. Model size must be reduced for transient runs.

Generally, meshes should be finer:

• Where variations in the flow conditions are largest.

• In areas of specific interest.

For example, a fluid mesh across a PC board in a large system model may be modeled with 200 (10x10x2) elements. However, a detailed model of a heat sink may contain thousands of elements.

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Defining the mesh size for fluid modeling, Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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