Analysis Workflow

The key steps in successfully analyzing simulation results are to: (1) be clear on what quantities you want to extract; (2) locate or define surfaces on which to obtain the data; and, (3) present the data in visual scenes or numeric output.

  1. Specify the quantities that you require, and identify the field functions that support them:
    1. Decompose the engineering design goal into specific quantities that you must extract from the simulation.
    2. Within a simulation that already has the physics models selected, under Automation > Field Functions, review the list of field functions available for those models. Some solvers expose additional field functions when you activate the property, Temporary Storage Retained.
    3. Review the built-in reports in case one already matches a quantity that you intend to compute. To do this, right-click Reports and hover on New Report.
    4. If you cannot directly access a field function that matches the required data, create a user-defined field function whose definition computes the quantity. Simcenter STAR-CCM+ provides an expression editor that helps you create these functions.
  2. If existing simulation surfaces are not sufficient for you to use in plotting, visualizing, or reporting data, create additional derived parts.

    For details about these parts, see Accessing Solution Data through Derived Parts.

    • To cut through surfaces or volumes with a geometric shape, use implicit sections. See Defining Implicit Sections.
    • To represent subsets of scalar or vector values, use parts that change with those values, such as a threshold. Specific examples are:
    • To depict particle paths, use streamlines. See Defining a Streamline.
    • To take samples of data at specified coordinates or intervals, use a probe. See Defining Probes.
    • To examine results from an individual part that intersects with a derived part, or to analyze the subsets of values of a derived part, split that derived part. By reducing the set of parts that you need to analyze in, for example, a turbomachinery case, you can get the answer to your design question through a reduced workflow. See Splitting Derived Parts by Input and by Value.
  3. In unsteady simulations, prepare for analysis before you run the solver, as the simulation file does not store complete field data at every time step.
    1. To store selected field data at regular intervals, create a solution history file. See Recording Transient Solution Data.
    2. To export hardcopies of visualization scenes, configure the Update properties of each scene you wish to export.
  4. Create the analysis objects:
    1. To create reports and associated monitors, see Sampling Data Values Using Reports and Monitors. This step includes adding monitors that you use to assess convergence while the solution develops. To compute report values for a full model using only the results for a partial model (for example, when modeling a sector of a rotational periodic geometry), apply idealizations to the report (see Obtaining Whole Domain Reports through Idealizations).
    2. To create scalar or vector scenes, see Visualizing the Solution.
    3. To create XY plots (or graphs) of data, see Plotting Results.
    4. To specify certain colors and shades for displaying data, use colormaps. See 应用和管理色图.
    Analysis objects require input parts at which the field function of interest is fully available. For example, you can not analyse a field function on a region-based part if the field function is only available at boundaries.
  5. Decide how you want Simcenter STAR-CCM+ to update results while the simulation is running. You can control the frequency of updates for scenes, plots, reports, and monitors. Also, you can export the displays during the simulation. To customize these updates, use triggers.
    See Triggers and Update Events.
  6. Run the simulation.
  7. After the simulation completes, you can export hardcopies of scenes or plots that you created before. You can also perform additional post-processing, as follows:
    1. To render detailed scalar data in a volume, particularly for complex 3D flows, use volume data resampling. See Defining a Resampled Volume Part.
    2. To render detailed vector fields on a surface, activate Line Integral Convolution on a vector displayer.
    3. To apply signal processing on time-history data from points, lines, or surfaces, see Using Data Set Functions.
    4. To view the flow in motion, you can animate data, including simulation history (.simh) data, in scenes. You can also record the motion onto separate video files. See 在场景中动画演示对象 and Animating Solution Views.