The mergePatchPairs functionality in blockMesh also now uses patchIntersection.
The new mergePatchPairs and patchIntersection replaces the old, fragile and
practically unusable polyTopoChanger::slidingInterface functionality the removal
of which has allowed the deletion of a lot of other ancient and otherwise unused
clutter including polyTopoChanger, polyMeshModifier, polyTopoChange::setAction
and associated addObject/*, modifyObject/* and removeObject/*. This
rationalisation paves the way for the completion of the update of zone handling
allowing mesh points, faces and cells to exist in multiple zones which is
currently not supported with mesh topology change.
Application
stitchMesh
Description
Utility to stitch or conform pairs of patches,
converting the patch faces either into internal faces
or conformal faces or another patch.
Usage
\b stitchMesh (\<list of patch pairs\>)
E.g. to stitch patches \c top1 to \c top2 and \c bottom1 to \c bottom2
stitchMesh "((top1 top2) (bottom1 bottom2))"
Options:
- \par -overwrite \n
Replace the old mesh with the new one, rather than writing the new one
into a separate time directory
- \par -region \<name\>
Specify an alternative mesh region.
- \par -fields
Update vol and point fields
- \par -tol
Merge tolerance relative to local edge length (default 1e-4)
See also
Foam::mergePatchPairs
This completes commit 381e0921 and permits patches on the "top" of
extruded regions to determine the point locations opposite as well as
the face centres and areas. This means that patches with dissimilar
meshes can now be coupled via the patchToPatch interpolation engine.
A few fixes have also been applied to extrudeToRegionMesh to make the
intrude option compatibile with extrusion into internal faces and
between opposing zones/sets/patches. The 'shadow' entries used for
extrusion inbetween opposing zones/sets/patches have also been renamed
to 'opposite' for consistency with the patch names and patch types
entries; e.g.,
faceZones (fz1 fz3);
oppositeFaceZones (fz2 fz4); // <-- was 'faceZonesShadow'
faceSets (fs1 fs3);
oppositeFaceSets (fs2 fs4); // <-- was 'faceSetsShadow'
patches (p1 p3);
oppositePatches (p2 p4); // <-- was 'patchesShadow'
With the new film implementation the single cell layer film region is extruded
into (overlapping with) the primary/fluid region which can now be generated with
extrudeToRegionMesh using the new 'intrude' option, e.g. for the
tutorials/modules/multiRegion/film/splashPanel case the extrudeToRegionMeshDict
contains:
region film;
patches (film);
extrudeModel linearNormal;
intrude yes;
adaptMesh no;
patchTypes (mappedExtrudedWall);
patchNames (film);
regionPatchTypes (filmWall);
regionPatchNames (wall);
regionOppositePatchTypes (mappedFilmSurface);
regionOppositePatchNames (surface);
nLayers 1;
expansionRatio 1;
linearNormalCoeffs
{
thickness 0.002;
}
genericPatches is linked into mesh generation and manipulation utilities but not
solvers so that the solvers now check for the availability of the specified
patch types. Bugs in the tutorials exposed by this check have been corrected.
e.g. in extrudeToRegionMeshDict:
// Generate the region named film
region film;
// from the patch extrudeWall
patches (extrudeWall);
// generating mapped patches for the extruded region
adaptMesh yes;
// New options:
// Set the type of the mapped patch on the existing mesh to mappedWall ...
patchTypes (mappedWall);
// ... and name to wall
patchNames (wall);
// Set the type of the mapped patch on the region mesh to mappedFilmWall ...
regionPatchTypes (mappedFilmWall);
// ... and name to wall
regionPatchNames (wall);
// Set the type of the opposite patch on the region mesh to empty ...
regionOppositePatchTypes (empty);
// ... and name to empty
regionOppositePatchNames (empty);
All the above entries are optional and if not present the previous behaviour is
reproduced.
The timeName() function simply returns the dimensionedScalar::name() which holds
the user-time name of the current time and now that timeName() is no longer
virtual the dimensionedScalar::name() can be called directly. The timeName()
function implementation is maintained for backward-compatibility.
A set of routines for cutting polyhedra have been added. These can cut
polyhedral cells based on the adjacent point values and an iso-value
which defines the surface. The method operates directly on the
polyhedral cells; it does not decompose them into tetrahedra at any
point. The routines can compute the cut topology as well as integrals of
properties above and below the cut surface.
An iso-surface algorithm has been added based on these polyhedral
cutting routines. It is significantly more robust than the previous
algorithm, and produces compact surfaces equivalent to the previous
algorithm's maximum filtering level. It is also approximately 3 times
faster than the previous algorithm, and 10 times faster when run
repeatedly on the same set of cells (this is because some addressing is
cached and reused).
This algorithm is used by the 'isoSurface', 'distanceSurface' and
'cutPlane' sampled surfaces.
The 'cutPlane' sampled surface is a renaming of 'cuttingPlane' to make
it consistent with the corresponding packaged function. The name
'cuttingPlane' has been retained for backwards compatibility and can
still be used to select a 'cutPlane' surface. The legacy 'plane' surface
has been removed.
The 'average' keyword has been removed from specification of these
sampled surfaces as cell-centred values are no longer used in the
generation of or interpolation to an iso-surface. The 'filtering'
keyword has also been removed as it relates to options within the
previous algorithm. Zone support has been reinstated into the
'isoSurface' sampled surface. Interpolation to all these sampled
surfaces has been corrected to exactly match the user-selected
interpolation scheme, and the interpolation procedure no longer
unnecessarily re-generates data that is already available.
The mappedPatchBase has been separated into a type which maps from
another patch (still called mappedPatchBase) and one that maps from
internal cell values (mappedInternalPatchBase). This prevents the user
needing to specify settings for mapping procedures that are not being
used, and potentially don't even make sense given the context in which
they are being applied. It also removes a lot of fragile logic and error
states in the mapping engine and its derivatives regarding the mode of
operation. Mapping from any face in the boundary is no longer supported.
Most region-coupling mapping patches are generated automatically by
utilities like splitMeshRegions and extrudeToRegionMesh. Cases which
create region-coupling mapped patches in this way will likely require no
modification.
Explicitly user-specified mapping will need modifying, however. For
example, where an inlet boundary is mapped to a downstream position in
order to evolve a developed profile. Or if a multi-region simulation is
constructed manually, without using one of the region-generating
utilities.
The available mapped patch types are now as follows:
- mapped: Maps values from one patch to another. Typically used for
inlets and outlets; to map values from an outlet patch to an inlet
patch in order to evolve a developed inlet profile, or to permit
flow between regions. Example specification in blockMesh:
inlet
{
type mapped;
neighbourRegion region0; // Optional. Defaults to the same
// region as the patch.
neighbourPatch outlet;
faces ( ... );
}
Note that any transformation between the patches is now determined
automatically. Alternatively, it can be explicitly specified using
the same syntax as for cyclic patches. The "offset" and "distance"
keywords are no longer used.
- mappedWall: As mapped, but treated as a wall for the purposes of
modelling (wall distance). No transformation. Typically used for
thermally coupling different regions. Usually created automatically
by meshing utilities. Example:
fluid_to_solid
{
type mappedWall;
neighbourRegion solid;
neighbourPatch solid_to_fluid;
method intersection; // The patchToPatch method. See
// below.
faces ( ... );
}
- mappedExtrudedWall: As mapped wall, but with corrections to account
for the thickness of an extruded mesh. Used for region coupling
involving film and thermal baffle models. Almost always generated
automatically by extrudeToRegionMesh (so no example given).
- mappedInternal: Map values from internal cells to a patch. Typically
used for inlets; to map values from internal cells to the inlet in
order to evolve a developed inlet profile. Example:
inlet
{
type mappedInternal;
distance 0.05; // Normal distance from the patch
// from which to map cell values
//offset (0.05 0 0); // Offset from the patch from
// which to map cell values
faces ( ... );
}
Note that an "offsetMode" entry is no longer necessary. The mode
will be inferred from the presence of the distance or offset
entries. If both are provided, then offsetMode will also be required
to choose which setting applies.
The mapped, mappedWall and mappedExtrudedWall patches now permit
specification of a "method". This selects a patchToPatch object and
therefore determines how values are transferred or interpolated between
the patches. Valid options are:
- nearest: Copy the value from the nearest face in the neighbouring
patch.
- matching: As nearest, but with checking to make sure that the
mapping is one-to-one. This is appropriate for patches that are
identically meshed.
- inverseDistance: Inverse distance weighting from a small stencil of
nearby faces in the neighbouring patch.
- intersection: Weighting based on the overlapping areas with faces in
the neighbouring patch. Equivalent to the previous AMI-based mapping
mode.
If a method is not specfied, then the pre-existing approach will apply.
This should be equivalent to the "nearest" method (though in most such
cases, "matching" is probably more appropriate). This fallback may be
removed in the future once the patchToPatch methods have been proven
robust.
The important mapped boundary conditions are now as follows:
- mappedValue: Maps values from one patch to another, and optionally
modify the mapped values to recover a specified average. Example:
inlet
{
type mappedValue;
field U; // Optional. Defaults to the same
// as this field.
average (10 0 0); // The presence of this entry now
// enables setting of the average,
// so "setAverage" is not needed
value uniform 0.1;
}
- mappedInternalValue: Map values from cells to a patch, and
optionally specify the average as in mappedValue. Example:
inlet
{
type mappedValue;
field k; // Optional. Defaults to the same
// as this field.
interpolationScheme cell;
value uniform 0.1;
}
- mappedFlowRateVelocity: Maps the flow rate from one patch to
another, and use this to set a patch-normal velocity. Example:
inlet
{
type mappedFlowRate;
value uniform (0 0 0);
}
Of these, mappedValue and mappedInternalValue can override the
underlying mapped patch's settings by additionally specifying mapping
information (i.e., the neighbourPatch, offset, etc... settings usually
supplied for the patch). This also means these boundary condtions can be
applied to non-mapped patches. This functionality used to be provided
with a separate "mappedField" boundary condition, which has been removed
as it is no longer necessary.
Other mapped boundary conditions are either extremely niche (e.g.,
mappedVelocityFlux), are always automatically generated (e.g.,
mappedValueAndPatchInternalValue), or their usage has not changed (e.g.,
compressible::turbulentTemperatureCoupledBaffleMixed and
compressible::turbulentTemperatureRadCoupledMixed). Use foamInfo to
obtain further details about these conditions.
This greatly simplifies most setups in which it is a patch (or patches)
of the original mesh which are extruded. It prevents the need for a
topoSet configuration to convert the patch into a zone or set.
An extruded region is now contiguous even when specified with multiple
face zones. Edges that border faces in different zones now extrude into
internal faces, rather than a pair of boundary faces. Different zones
now result only in different mapped patches in the extruded and primary
meshes. This means a mesh can be created for a single contiguous
extruded region spanning multiple patches. This might be necessary if,
for example, a film region is needed across multiple walls with
differing thermal boundary conditions.
Disconnected extruded regions can still be constructed by running the
extrudeToRegionMesh utility muiliple times.
The mapped patches created to couple the extruded regions now have
symmetric names similar to those created by splitMeshRegions. For
example, if the mapped patch in the primary region is called
"region0_to_extrudedRegion_f0", then the corresponding patch in the
extruded region is called "extrudedRegion_to_region0_f0" (f0, in this
example is the face zone from which the region was extruded).
Offsetting of the top patch is now handled automatically by a new
mappedExtrudedWallPolyPatch. This refers to the bottom patch and
automatically calculates the sampling offsets by doing a wave across the
extruded mesh layers. This prevents the need to store the offsets in the
patch itself, and makes it possible for the patch to undergo mesh
changes without adding additional functions to the polyPatch (mapping
constructors, autoMap and rmap methods, etc ...).
This new mapping structure is designed to support run-time mesh-to-mesh mapping
to allow arbitrary changes to the mesh structure, for example during extreme
motion requiring significant topology change including region disconnection etc.
The polyTopoChangeMap is the map specifically relating to polyMesh topological
changes generated by polyTopoChange and used to update and map mesh related
types and fields following the topo-change.
This is a map data structure rather than a class or function which performs the
mapping operation so polyMeshDistributionMap is more logical and comprehensible
than mapDistributePolyMesh.
The template parameters were only ever polyBoundaryMesh and
processorPolyPatch. Un-templating makes mainteance and bug-fixing
quicker as it means minor modifications no longer cause a full rebuild
of OpenFOAM.
When snappyHexMesh is run in parallel it re-balances the mesh during refinement
and layer addition by redistribution which requires a decomposition method
that operates in parallel, e.g. hierachical or ptscotch. decomposePar uses a
decomposition method which operates in serial e.g. hierachical but NOT
ptscotch. In order to run decomposePar followed by snappyHexMesh in parallel it
has been necessary to change the method specified in decomposeParDict but now
this is avoided by separately specifying the decomposition and distribution
methods, e.g. in the incompressible/simpleFoam/motorBike case:
numberOfSubdomains 6;
decomposer hierarchical;
distributor ptscotch;
hierarchicalCoeffs
{
n (3 2 1);
order xyz;
}
The distributor entry is also used for run-time mesh redistribution, e.g. in the
multiphase/interFoam/RAS/floatingObject case re-distribution for load-balancing
is enabled in constant/dynamicMeshDict:
distributor
{
type distributor;
libs ("libfvMeshDistributors.so");
redistributionInterval 10;
}
which uses the distributor specified in system/decomposeParDict:
distributor hierarchical;
This rationalisation provides the structure for development of mesh
redistribution and load-balancing.
The code relating to extending refinement to the span of the facet/triangles
intersected by the refinement distance referred to in report
https://bugs.openfoam.org/view.php?id=3361
and temporarily removed may now be selected by the optional
castellatedMeshControls:extendedRefinementSpan entry in snappyHexMeshDict. It
in not clear if this control is generally beneficial and very few users have
reported a preference and too few example cases have been provided to make a
balanced judgement so it has been decided to reinstate the previous default
behaviour and default extendedRefinementSpan to true.
