Interface Type

The interface type determines the behavior of the interface on exchanging simulation data. Interfaces can connect individual boundaries (faces) or entire regions (volumes).

Simcenter STAR-CCM+ allows you to create the following interface types:


Type	Connects	Connectivity	Intersector
Baffle	Boundaries	Imprinted	Direct Intersector Geometry-Based Topology-Based
Porous Baffle	Boundaries	Imprinted	Direct Intersector Geometry-Based Topology-Based
Contact	Boundaries	Imprinted Conformal	Direct Intersector Geometry-Based Topology-Based
Fan	Boundaries	Imprinted	Direct Intersector Geometry-Based Topology-Based
Fluid Film	Boundaries	Imprinted	Direct Intersector Geometry-Based Topology-Based
Fully Developed	Boundaries	Imprinted	Direct Intersector Geometry-Based Topology-Based
Internal	Boundaries	Imprinted Conformal Metrics-Based	Direct Intersector Geometry-Based Topology-Based Metrics-Based
Mapped Contact	Boundaries	Mapped	Indirect Intersector
Mixing Plane	Boundaries	Connect Average	Indirect Intersector
Blower	Boundaries	Connect Average	Indirect Intersector
Heat Exchanger	Regions	Modeled	Indirect Intersector
Overset Mesh	Regions	Mapped	Indirect Intersector

The connectivity type of an interface indicates how the face-to-face connection is established.

For boundary interfaces between regions that are discretized using the finite element method, a conformal match is required. To fulfill this requirement, the connectivity type is set automatically to Conformal. With this connectivity type, only conformal faces become part of the interface boundary. Any non-conformal faces will be discarded as remainder faces, and no new vertices are added to regions.
For boundary interfaces that use the Imprint connectivity type, an imprint operation happens between the two sides during interface intersection. Prior to intersection, the faces of the parent boundaries are allowed to be either geometrically conformal or non-conformal. After interface intersection, new faces are created (via geometry-based or topology-based intersectors) to establish connections between cells that touch on opposing sides of the interface. The construction of imprinted interface faces includes adding new vertices to regions.
For boundary interfaces that use the Metrics-Based connectivity type, the Metrics-Based intersector is used. It overrides the Direct Intersector option you specify in the Interfaces node. Prior to intersection, the faces of the parent boundaries are allowed to be either geometrically conformal or non-conformal. After interface intersection, new faces are created described by an area vector and centroid vector only. The construction of metric interface faces does not add new vertices added to regions.
For cases with motion that require sliding interfaces, the metrics-based connectivity gives improved performance compared to Imprint connectivity type.