Moving Body

The Moving Body statistics provide time-resolved kinematic and force-related quantities associated with each moving body in the simulation. These outputs describe the motion of the body (position, velocity, rotation), as well as the forces, torques, and stresses exerted on the body by the surrounding fluid. This output produces a tab-separated ASCII .txt file named MovingBody_{DynamicName}.txt, where the dynamic name corresponds to the name of the Moving Body in the Model Tree.

The data is written as a time series, where each row corresponds to a simulation time and each column corresponds to a statistic listed in the table below. Each row in the output file corresponds to a new statistics output time and is appended at the Statistics Output Write Interval.

The reported quantities fall into several categories:

  • Kinematics: Position, velocity, angular position, angular velocity, and rotation axis describe how the body moves and rotates over time.

  • Forces and Torques: Force and torque components (X, Y, Z, axial, radial, and orbit-based) quantify the fluid-induced loads acting on the body. Unless otherwise noted, these values exclude contributions from static pressure.

  • Surface Quantities: Pressure, stress, and shear stress values represent spatial averages (or extrema) over the moving body surface, providing insight into fluid loading and boundary interactions.

  • Interior Quantities: Interior forces and torques represent contributions from fluid contained within the moving body, when applicable.

  • Geometric Properties: Area and wetted area describe the effective surface of the body interacting with the fluid.

  • Derived Quantities: Metrics such as power number provide normalized measures of energy transfer and are useful for comparing operating conditions.

Statistics

Units

Details

When Appears

Time

s

simulation time

Angular Position

rad

angular position of rotation about moving body position

Angular Velocity

rad/s

angular velocity of rotation about moving body position

Angular Velocity X

rad/s

angular velocity

Angular Velocity Y

rad/s

angular velocity

Angular Velocity Z

rad/s

angular velocity

Area

m^2

total area of moving body surface

Direction X

Dimensionless

orientation direction of ball joint

Direction Y

Dimensionless

orientation direction of ball joint

Direction Z

Dimensionless

orientation direction of ball joint

Dynamic Pressure

Pa

spatial mean over moving body surface of dynamic pressure, does not include static pressure, positive indicates pressure in direction of triangle normal

Dynamic Stress

Pa

spatial mean over moving body surface of dynamic stress which is sum of dynamic pressure and shear stress, does not include static pressure

Force Axial

N

axial component of total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Radial Magnitude

N

radial component of total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force X

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force X

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force X

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force X

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force X

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force X

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force X

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force X

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Y

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Y

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Y

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Y

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Y

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Y

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Y

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Y

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Z

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Z

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Z

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Z

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Z

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Z

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Z

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Force Z

N

total force from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Interior Force X

N

total force from interior fluid on moving body

Interior Force Y

N

total force from interior fluid on moving body

Interior Force Z

N

total force from interior fluid on moving body

Interior Torque X

N-m

total torque from interior fluid on moving body

Interior Torque Y

N-m

total torque from interior fluid on moving body

Interior Torque Z

N-m

total torque from interior fluid on moving body

Max Dynamic Stress

Pa

spatial max over moving body surface of dynamic stress which is sum of dynamic pressure and shear stress, does not include static pressure

Max Stress

Pa

spatial max over moving body surface of total stress, includes static pressure

Orbit Position

rad

angular position of rotation about orbit point

Orbit Torque X

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body taken about the orbit axis, does not include forces due to static pressure

Orbit Torque Y

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body taken about the orbit axis, does not include forces due to static pressure

Orbit Torque Z

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body taken about the orbit axis, does not include forces due to static pressure

Position

m

translation magnitude from initial location

Position X

m

translation from initial location

Position X

m

moving body position

Position X

m

translation of moving body from initial position

Position Y

m

translation from initial location

Position Y

m

moving body position

Position Y

m

translation of moving body from initial position

Position Z

m

translation from initial location

Position Z

m

moving body position

Position Z

m

translation of moving body from initial position

Power Number

Dimensionless

power number, power normalization is done using local density

Power Number Normalized by [dynamic] Density

Dimensionless

power number, power normalization is done using fluid 1 density

Rotation Angle

rad

angular position of rotation axis

Rotation Angle After

rad

angular position of rotation applied after translation

Rotation Angle Before

rad

angular position of rotation applied before translation

Rotation Axis X

Dimensionless

axis of rotation

Rotation Axis X After

Dimensionless

axis of rotation applied after translation

Rotation Axis X Before

Dimensionless

axis of rotation applied before translation

Rotation Axis Y

Dimensionless

axis of rotation

Rotation Axis Y After

Dimensionless

axis of rotation applied after translation

Rotation Axis Y Before

Dimensionless

axis of rotation applied before translation

Rotation Axis Z

Dimensionless

axis of rotation

Rotation Axis Z After

Dimensionless

axis of rotation applied after translation

Rotation Axis Z Before

Dimensionless

axis of rotation applied before translation

Rotational Velocity X After

rad/s

rotational velocity of rotation applied after translation

Rotational Velocity X Before

rad/s

rotational velocity of rotation applied before translation

Rotational Velocity Y After

rad/s

rotational velocity of rotation applied after translation

Rotational Velocity Y Before

rad/s

rotational velocity of rotation applied before translation

Rotational Velocity Z After

rad/s

rotational velocity of rotation applied after translation

Rotational Velocity Z Before

rad/s

rotational velocity of rotation applied before translation

Shear Stress

Pa

spatial mean over moving body surface of shear stress

Time-Avg Dynamic Pressure

Pa

spatial mean over time-averaged moving body surface of dynamic pressure, does not include static pressure, positive indicates pressure in direction of triangle normal

Time-Avg Total Pressure

Pa

spatial mean over time-averaged moving body surface of fluid pressure

Time-Avg Total Pressure

Pa

spatial mean over time-averaged moving body surface of pressure, includes static pressure

Torque X

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body taken about the axis of rotation, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque X

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque X

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque X

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque X

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque Y

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body taken about the axis of rotation, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque Y

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque Y

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque Y

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque Y

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque Z

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body taken about the axis of rotation, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque Z

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque Z

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque Z

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Torque Z

N-m

total torque from fluid on moving body, does not include forces due to static pressure

Total Pressure

Pa

spatial mean over moving body surface of fluid pressure

Total Pressure

Pa

spatial mean over moving body surface of pressure, includes static pressure

Total Stress

Pa

spatial mean over moving body surface of total stress, includes static pressure

Velocity

m/s

velocity magnitude in direction of translation

Velocity X

m/s

velocity

Velocity X

m/s

velocity

Velocity X

m/s

velocity

Velocity Y

m/s

velocity

Velocity Y

m/s

velocity

Velocity Y

m/s

velocity

Velocity Z

m/s

velocity

Velocity Z

m/s

velocity

Velocity Z

m/s

velocity

Wetted Area

m^2

total wetted area of moving body surface

Usage and Interpretation

Kinematics

The kinematic quantities (e.g., Position, Velocity, Angular Position, Angular Velocity, Rotation Axis) define how the body translates and rotates over time. These are typically used to verify that the motion matches the intended operating conditions (e.g., impeller speed or orbital motion), and to interpret all force and torque quantities in the correct frame of reference.

Forces and Torques

The force and torque quantities (e.g., Force X/Y/Z, Force Axial, Force Radial Magnitude, Torque X/Y/Z) represent the total fluid-induced loading on the body. These are computed by summing the stress contributions over all mesh triangles belonging to the moving body family. At each triangle, the local pressure and viscous shear stresses act over the surface area, and these contributions are integrated to obtain the total force: