Preprocessing

Translating an engineering problem into a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) case is the most important step in the usage of CFD to ensure that the CFD model is representative of the engineering problem under investigation. This chapter presents main components required for a CFD case, and they should be determined from the analysis of the engineering problem. Once these five components are identified from the engineering problem, the CFD model process can be started. The next step is to create the geometry as a boundary of the problem domain using a computer-aided design (CAD) software package. After the geometry is created, the meshing process can begin. Meshing, also called mesh generation and grid generation, is an essential step of preprocessing and is critical to the success of a CFD analysis. CAD files in various formats, including but not limited to. stl or. vtk files, are read into the appropriate meshing software.