Flow 3D Wizard

The Flow3D Wizard is used to create solid (3D) mesh model data decks for injection molding analysis starting from solids, surfaces or surface mesh. Every solid mesh is placed in a component collector with the name flow3d_mesh#n, where n can be any integer depending on the number of solids in the model or number of set of closed surfaces or surface mesh. For solids, if the feed system is also solid, then the Flow3D Wizard meshes the feed system first to capture the material flow properly and then meshes the part.

The Flow3D Wizard can be used in three ways:

•	Start from clean set of solids to complete a Solid(3D) input data deck

•	Start from clean set of surfaces to complete a Solid(3D) input data deck

•	Start from surface mesh of closed surfaces to complete a Solid(3D) input data deck

When you click on the Flow3D Wizard macro, it opens a separate tab showing all the steps. You must complete each one of these simple steps, one at a time, for the Flow3D Wizard to run successfully. No knowledge of HyperMesh is necessary to complete the steps.

If the model has surface mesh, then the Surface Mesh step is disabled. The steps completed and the status is indicated in the status panel below the project panel. Click the Summary button to display information regarding element Statistics. Click the Close button to close the Flow3D Wizard tab and return to the Utility menu.

Information created will be retained even when you close and re-open the tab, or when you close HyperMesh and start it again using the same model file.

Specify the appropriate project directory and a suitable project name for the job to begin. Browse the folder by clicking on the folder icon in the window and select the directory.

set_proj_directory

Click OK to save the settings and Cancel to abort the operation without saving.

Select the suitable units using the Set Model Unit dialog. After selecting the units, click OK to save the selection. This information will be used at the time of export to convert the nodal coordinates to SI units.

set_length_unit

This step is applicable only for models with solids. It is an optional step.

•	Click Merge to merge n solids into a single solid.

•	Click Share to detect shared surfaces between solids.

•	Click Close to close the dialog.

You can access a more comprehensive set of solid editing features from the Solid Edit menu panel.

solid_edit

Depending on how the 3D volume is represented in your model, the steps involved in creating a 3D mesh will vary. The volume to be meshed may be represented in one of the following ways:

•

3D solids

•	Surfaces enclosing the volume

•	Surface mesh enclosing the volume

set_model_info

In this step, five questions define the model under consideration.

•	Select Yes for the first question if the model has a surface mesh defining the 3D volume.

•	Select Yes for the second question if the 3D volume to be meshed is defined by enclosing surfaces. Selecting Yes will disable the third question.

•	The third question is valid only for a model with solids, i.e., if the first two question’s answers are No. Answer Yes to this question if you have solids representing the feed system that should be meshed with 3D elements.

•	The fifth question will decide the type of CFD mesh at the interface. If the answer is Yes, all the shared surfaces are meshed with BL; otherwise all shared surfaces will made as inlet/oulet.

When you click Next, the component collectors for Feed and Part and Feed Inlet surfaces need to be specified in the Select Components dialog, as shown below.

select_components

For a model that does not have solids for the feed, the Select Components window will appear in the following fashion.

select_components_02

For a model with surfaces or surface mesh, the Add button can be used to add components to new or existing volumes.

select_components_03

Starting with Solids for Feed and Part

In the Surface Mesh dialog, you will have to specify minimum and maximum element sizes for both feed and part. Click Mesh to generate a 2D mesh.

surface_mesh

Surface Mesh (Starting with Solids for Part only or Starting with Surfaces)

When you start with solids only for part or with surfaces, then the following dialog comes up.

surface_mesh_fl3d

Specify the minimum and maximum element size for the entire model. If you set the last option No, then surfaces having mesh will not be considered for meshing. Click Mesh to generate 2D mesh.

In the Flow3D Mesh dialog, you will have to specify the following data:

•	Number of layers - This is the total number of boundary layers you want on each wall

•	First layer thickness - This is the thickness of the first layer (the one near the wall). This is only a reference value. This thickness will be adjusted based on the local thickness in the region.

•	Core Thickness - You can control the ratio of core thickness to the boundary layer thickness using this parameter.

•	BL Thickness at Corners - The CFD Tetmesher can control how it thins the BL near the corners. Use this parameter to control this.

•	Occurrence Number - Used to indicate the symmetry in a multi-cavity mold.

Click Mesh to generate Flow3D mesh. If the geometry is not clean or closed, then the Flow3D mesh may fail. Each Flow3D mesh is placed in a component collector named flow3d_mesh#n. If the feed system is also solid, then the mesh will be matched accordingly where the feed and the part intersect. Also, every feed solid will be modeled with an inlet and outlet.

flow_3d_mesh

You can design the feed system with beam elements even when your part is meshed with 3D elements. In this step, you will be guided to create a feed system using beam elements. Solids representing the shape of the beam elements are created solely for visual representation. These solids are not exported with the data deck.

You can either choose to create a generic feed system or a structured feed system. More details about this step can be found in the topic Feed System Wizard as the steps are identical.

This dialog helps you to export the model and create the .udm file, which can be imported into Moldflow and solved.

export_data_mf