Create Flow Trajectories

• On the ribbon, click Flow Simulation > Results > Insert > Flow Trajectories.

• On the toolbars, click Flow Trajectories on the Flow Simulation Results Features toolbar.

• In the menu, select Tools > Flow Simulation > Results > Insert > Flow Trajectories.

• In the Flow Simulation analysis tree, right-click the Flow Trajectories item and select Insert.

• Pattern . The points are evenly distributed over the selected Planes, Faces, Sketches, Curves and Edges .You can select one or more items.

  Note:

  You can select one or more items. For the In plane flow trajectories select a single plane or planar face.

  • Select the Mesh based point generation option, if you want to distribute the starting points over the computational mesh cells on the selected planes, model faces, surfaces, sketches, curves, or edges.

    Note:

    This option is unavailable when the In plane option is selected or if the Results Processing Speed-up Data option is enabled in the Calculation Control Options.

  • Select the In plane option, if you want to obtain flow trajectories on the selected plane or planar surface by integrating of in-plane components of velocity.

    To select this option, first select a single plane or planar face.

    Note:

    This option is unavailable when the Mesh based point generation option is selected.

  • If a plane is selected, you can specify the Offset  of the points plane from the selected reference plane by using the slider or typing the offset value in the box. You can specify an individual offset for each of the selected planes.

  • Specify Number of Points  or Spacing  defining the distance between the points.

• Pick from Screen . Allows you to select points on a plane or planar face in the graphics area.

  1. In the graphics area or in the flyout FeatureManager design tree select a Plane or Planar Face .

     The only requirement for assemblies is that you must select planes that belong to the top-level assembly.

     You can specify the Offset  reference plane by using the slider or typing the offset value in the box.

  2. Click Pick Points  to allow the point selection.

     Tip

     We recommend to use the Normal To view while you select points.

  3. Click at the selected plane or face in the graphics area to select a point on the plane. The point is automatically added to the table. The table contains all the selected points.

     To remove a point, select the point in the table and click Delete Point . You can also remove all points from the table by clicking Delete All .

• Coordinates . Allows you to specify a set of points by creating a table with points coordinates.

  To add a point to the table , type X, Y and Z Coordinate of the point and click Add Point . You can edit point coordinates directly in the table .

  To edit point coordinates, double-click the cell and type the desired value.

  To remove a point, select the point in the table and click Delete Point . You can also remove all points from the table by clicking Delete All .

  While specifying points coordinates you can also import data from *.csv and *.txt files. The values in the file must be separated by commas or semicolons. To import data from the file, click Import File and then select the appropriate file.

  You can also copy coordinate values from Microsoft Excel. Create a table of points in Microsoft Excel. The x, y and z coordinates must be specified one after another in a row (the same as in the table). Copy the Microsoft Excel table into the Clipboard, then click on the table in the dialog and press Ctrl+V. All points that are inside the Computational Domain will be inserted into the table.

• Pattern on Shapes .The points are evenly distributed over a line, a rectangle, or a sphere, which is interactively specified in the graphics area.

  Select one of the following options to distribute the starting points:

  • Select the Line option, if you want that the points are distributed over a line. The default line size and position are specified automatically. Then you can shift, rotate or resize the rectangle manually:

    • To shift the line origin, in the graphics area click and drag the white arrow handles in the center of the line to the desired position.

    • To rotate the line, in the graphics area click and drag the yellow sphere handles at the corresponding arc in the center of the line to the desired position.

    • To resize the line, in the graphics area click and drag the bold yellow arrow handles at the ends of the line to the desired position. To adjust both ends along the same axis symmetrically and simultaneously, hold Shift while you drag the arrow handle.

  • Select the Rectangle option, if you want that the points are distributed over a rectangle. The default rectangle size and position are specified automatically. Then you can shift, rotate or resize the rectangle manually:

    • To shift the rectangle origin, in the graphics area click and drag the white arrow handles in the center of the rectangle to the desired position.

    • To manually rotate the rectangle, in the graphics area click and drag the yellow sphere handles at the corresponding arc in the center of the rectangle to the desired position.

    • To resize the rectangle, in the graphics area click and drag the yellow sphere handles at the sides of the rectangle to the desired position. To adjust both boundaries along the same axis symmetrically and simultaneously, hold Shift while you drag the arrow handle.

  • Select the Sphere option, if you want that the points are distributed over a sphere. The default sphere size and position are specified automatically. Then you can shift and resize the sphere manually:

    • To shift the sphere origin, in the graphics area click and drag the white arrow handles in the center of the sphere to the desired position.

    • To resize the sphere, in the graphics area click and drag the yellow sphere handle at the side of the sphere to the desired position.

  Then specify Number of Points  defining the number of starting points. The start points are displayed as orange dots.

• Specify the mode for displaying trajectories:

  • Static Trajectories . Displays trajectories as a static image,i.e. the trajectories sizes and their density are specified in absolute dimensions.

  • Dynamic Trajectories . Trajectories update in real time as you manipulate the model, even as you zoom-in on local areas.

    Note:

    You graphics card driver must support OpenGL® 3.3. Update your driver, if necessary.

• Draw Trajectories As . Specify the way trajectories are displayed:

  • If Static Trajectories mode is selected, trajectories can be displayed as Pipes, Lines, Lines with Arrows, Bands, or discrete Spheres, Arrows and Arrows (flat).

  • If Dynamic Trajectories mode is selected, trajectories can be displayed as Spheres or Arrows only.

• If Static Trajectories mode is selected, specify the Width  of the displayed pipes, bands, arrows and spheres.

• If Dynamic Trajectories mode is selected, specify the Size  of the displayed arrows and spheres (in pixels).

• If Dynamic Trajectories mode is selected, specify the Distance  between the trajectories along the dynamic trajectory (in pixels).

• In the Color by  list, select the way to color flow trajectories:

  • If you want to display the flow trajectories using a fixed color, select Fixed Color and click Color  button to specify this color.

  • If you want the flow trajectories to be colored in accordance with the distribution of the parameter, select By Parameter.

    • To see how a parameter changes within the specified range, click Adjust Minimum/Maximum and Number of Levels .

      Then specify the parameter Minimum  and Maximum values, which are the lowest and highest values to be displayed.

      To automatically set Minimum or Maximum to the parameter lowest value in the whole computational domain, click Auto Scale to Global Minimum  or Auto Scale to Global Maximum .

      To automatically set Minimum or Maximum to the parameter lowest value in the plot, click Auto Scale to Plot Minimum  or Auto Scale to Plot Maximum .

      Note:

      If the Auto Scale to Plot Minimum/Maximum mode is selected, the plot has its own color bar and the maximum and minimum values are updated accordingly to the displayed plot area when the plot is shown or exported.

      Then specify the Number of Levels .

    • For vector parameters with the separately listed X, Y and Z components you can select a Coordinate System  calculated. By default, the Global coordinate System is selected.

      Tip

      You can replace the default coordinate system by selecting your coordinate system in the flyout FeatureManager design tree.

      To create a coordinate system, click Insert > Reference Geometry > Coordinate System.

• Plot Transparency . Sets the transparency for the plot in the range from 0 (full opacity) to 1 (full transparency).

• Select the direction to plot flow trajectories relative to the trajectories start points:

  • Forward . If you specify Forward direction then the streamline is displayed as starting from this point.

  • Backward . If Backward direction is selected, the streamline is displayed as ending at this point.

  • Both . Specifying Both directions allows you to display a whole flow streamline passing through the selected point, from start to end.

• Maximum Length . Limits the length of the trajectory to the specified value.

• Maximum Time . Stops the trajectory when the flow traveling time has reached the specified maximum value.

• Use CAD geometry. By default, Flow Simulation shows the original model while displaying results. Depending on how exactly the model is resolved by the computational mesh, the geometry actually used in the calculation can differ slightly from the original model geometry.

  Clear this option to use the Flow Simulation-interpreted geometry for the plot.

• Relative to rotating frame. If your project involves Rotation either as a global rotating reference frame or local region(s) of rotation (if you have selected the Rotation option on the Analysis Type tab of the General Settings or Wizard dialog), you can select this option to plot flow trajectories as relative to the rotating reference frame (see “Relative to rotating frame” for details).

To preview the plot, click the Detailed Preview  button at the top of the dialog.

-or-

Click Keep Visible  before clicking OK  to keep the dialog open and proceed with the plot definition.