Replacing a Part in a Parts-Based Volume Mesh

Simcenter STAR-CCM+ provides a Replace Part operation that allows you to repeat the meshing pipeline with one or more different parts. When the replacement part is defined by a file input from a global parameter, you can use Design Manager to supply the list of filenames during a design study.

If you intend to couple the Replace Part operation with a design study in Design Manager, first create the global file parameter that points to the first part that you intend to use:
  1. In Simcenter STAR-CCM+, right-click Automation > Parameters and select New > File.
  2. Select the [file parameter] node and set File to the geometry file that contains the first replacement part.

You can replace a target part with an existing part from the Geometry > Parts node or with a part stored in an external file. For an external file, you can either pick a file directly, or you can reference a file-based global parameter that contains the file path.

When replacing a part in parts-based meshing, you require a placeholder part that holds the geometry of the replacement part. This placeholder part becomes the target part in the replace part operation. The placeholder part can be an individual part or a composite part/assembly (a collection of parts grouped together). When replacing a composite part, both the target and source parts must be similar (for example, the source part must be an assembly if the target is an assembly).

You can replace the following types of part:
  • Leaf-level CAD part
  • Leaf-level mesh part
  • Detached mesh operation part
  • Composite part
You cannot replace the following types of part:
  • 3D-CAD part
  • Simple shape part
  • Solid Model part
  • Mesh operation part

When importing from an external file, you can only import a discrete mesh file to replace a discrete leaf-level mesh part. You can only replace a CAD part with another CAD part. You can replace a discrete part with another discrete part, or a CAD part. When choosing a CAD file as a source part for a discrete mesh target part, an additional Tessellation Options node appears under the replace part operation node. Here, you can define the tessellation parameters. See Tessellation Density and Show Detailed Tessellation Parameters.

To replace a part within the meshing pipeline:

  1. Right-click on a supported part that you want to replace and select Duplicate.
    This step creates a leaf-level placeholder part that contains the replacement part in subsequent steps.
  2. Right-click the Geometry > Operations node and select New > Surface Preparation > Replace Part.
  3. In the Replace Part dialog:
    1. Set Obtain Mesh From to either File or Existing Part.
      • For File, either click (Open) and choose a file from disk, or click (File) and choose a file global parameter.
      • For Existing Part, set Source Part to a part within the Geometry > Parts tree. When importing external JT files, additional options are available that allow you to import the CAD data. See Replace Part Operation Properties: Match Part Entities Properties.
    2. For the Target Part, select the placeholder part that you created in the step above.
    3. Click OK.
    See Replace Part Operation Properties.
    When replacing a composite part, the operation works through the source assembly and finds the equivalent part in the target assembly. The mesh is then replaced on the target parts if they match a source part. The operation also matches parts at the same hierarchy using part names. The name at the top level of the assembly (the name of the source part and target part) are not matched.
    When replacing a part using an existing part, there may be situations where the source assembly does not have an equivalent part in the target assembly. In such cases — for example, if one of the parts has some part surfaces which are named — after executing the replace part operation, a new part is created and all named part surfaces are assigned to the Default part surface. If you want to maintain the named part surfaces, activate the Create Equivalent Part Entities option in the Match Part Entities node. See Replace Part Operation Properties: Match Part Entities Properties.
  4. In all subsequent mesh operations that reference the replaced part, use the placeholder part from step 1 instead of the original part.
Whenever you wish to rerun the simulation with a new part, change the source part in the Replace Part operation to the desired part.