Modeling Your First Process

Testing the Implementation

In this section, we will build, run, and post-process a simple model of an agitated tank. This model will be created and running in a matter of minutes. We will use all three components of the M-Star CFD Package: Pre, Solve, and Post.

Set up

Before we get started, make sure the software is installed properly and the licenses are set up.

Now, open M-Star Pre from your start menu. (See the M-Star Pre Overview for a full description of the graphical interface.)

Check Units

Users should always check the active unit setting when building a model. The default unit is meters. Take note of the current unit setting on the Program Information at the bottom of the interface. You can change this under the Edit > Unit Settings menu.

Create a Tank

1. Create the geometry by clicking Create > Static Body.

2. You are now presented with the Add Geometry form.

3. Select Tank > Cylindrical Tank from the list and click OK.

4. Two objects were created in the model tree, a “Static Body” and its child geometry “Cylindrical Tank.”

5. Click on Cylindrical Tank to bring up its input properties on the property grid. Try changing a few parameters such as Diameter and End1 to see the parametric geometry update.

6. To rotate the view of your model geometry, hold the right-click button and move your mouse to see your model from any angle. See Viewing Panel Functions for additional options.

Create an Impeller

1. Create an impeller by clicking Create > Moving Body.

2. You are now presented with the Add Geometry form.

3. Select Impeller > Parametric > Rushton and click OK.

4. Two objects were created in the model tree, a “Moving Body” and its child geometry “Rushton.”

5. Click on Moving Body to bring up its parameters on the property grid.

6. Change the impeller speed by adjusting the Rotation Speed UDF.

7. Next to the rotation speed input field there is an edit icon. Pressing the Edit button launches the UDF editor. Certain inputs have this ability. In the context of Rotation Speed, you may want to implement a customized ramp time or an on/off pulse.

Move the Impeller

1. Click on the Moving Body component in the model tree.

2. Try a selection in the context-specific toolbar to modify your model: click Move to start a translate action.

3. In Translation Mode: Free, you may interactively move the geometry within the main lattice by dragging the trihedron axis.

4. Click on the X-axis that appears in the viewing panel near the Moving Body and move it along the X-axis.

5. Try moving the impeller somewhere in the tank to get familiar with how this works.

6. Click OK to apply the translation to the model component.

Save the Model

Click File > Save As to save this model.

Run the Simulation

1. Click Solve in the main toolbar. This is a helper button which will automatically launch the M-Star Solve GUI pointing to the data that you define after you select a case directory.

2. Select a case directory. You should create a new case directory for each simulation that you run.

3. The M-Star Solve GUI will launch. Select the number of GPUs you want to use. By default, this number should be equal to the number of physical GPUs in the system.

4. Click Run to execute the simulation. In a moment, you should see output appearing in the working directory. Monitor the progress on the M-Star Solve window.

Post Process

While the simulation is running or after the simulation is complete, open M-Star Post in one of the following ways:

1. Click the helper button Post on the toolbar in M-Star Solve and your current simulation will open automatically.

2. Go to the Windows Start Menu and select M-Star Post. Open the output directory out that was created in your case directory. M-Star Post loads in all available data and begins plotting statistics files.

Next Up

Check out our training tutorials for more examples.