[Paraview] Suggested format for open unstructured CFD including surface geometry?

Wed Aug 26 19:12:29 EDT 2009

Adriano,

I use the EnSight Gold binary formats with PV for unstructured mesh, 3-D 
  solid models where the mesh deforms with time.  I actually put out two 
file sets: (1) a time=0.0 file set that contains the mesh, and node-sets 
and surface-facet-sets that are to be used with BC's, along with initial 
condition information, and (2) a transient results datum-set from the 
actual dynamic impact calculations.  In each case, I use the Ensight 
'part'-construct to place all of these in a single datum-set.  Each 
material domain (or in your case it could be mesh sub-domains of your 
choosing) is a separate EnSight "part."

The Extract Block filter can then be used to isolate just those parts 
you want to display/postprocess.

The time=0.0 file is used to check the mesh, BC's, and initial velocity 
fields when present -- a huge help in debugging a complex finite element 
model.

I have attached a Fortran-90 file that implements all of this.

Enjoy,

Sam Key

Adriano Gagliardi wrote:
> This is something I assumed they were doing, but with the limited experience
> I have using FieldView I was never sure. As you said, Tecplot and Ensight
> appear to do well enough with their open formats, and if I'm correct are
> cheaper per licence too. (On a side note, having used them both extensively
> and realise their individual merits, I believe ParaView is at least as
> capable as them both, but with more potential.)
> 
> I didn't realise that there already existed a converter in OpenFOAM to
> FieldView format. I'll take a look and keep you posted, but it may be a week
> or so before I get round to working on it.
> 
> Adriano
> 
> p.s. Ensight Gold is a solid format from my own experience and most packages
> can handle it.
> 
> ===================================
> 
> Adriano Gagliardi MEng PhD
> Project Scientist
> Computational Aerodynamics
> Aircraft Research Association Ltd.
> Manton Lane
> Bedford
> 
> Tel: 01234 32 4644
> E-mail: agagliardi at ara.co.uk
> Url: www.ara.co.uk 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: A. Austen [mailto:metallurgist at airpost.net] 
> Sent: 21 August 2009 23:10
> To: Adriano Gagliardi; Bastil2001 at yahoo.de; 'ParaView'
> Subject: RE: [Paraview] Suggested format for open unstructured CFD including
> surface geometry?
> 
> On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:39 +0100, "Adriano Gagliardi"
> <agagliardi at ara.co.uk> wrote:
>> I was intending on writing a FieldView reader, but I couldn't find any 
>> documentation describing its formats.
> 
> This is by deliberate action of the company that makes FieldView,
> "Intelligent Light."  The documentation for the FieldView file formats is
> part of the overall documentation set which is expressly distributed under
> an "End User License Agreement" that forbids the dissemination of covered
> materials to non-licensees.  They believe that making their file formats
> open gives their competition an advantage.  I can't say that I even remotely
> agree with this (EnSight andTecplot, are just a couple of counterexamples),
> but they are probably not going to change their minds until their licensed
> users get upset and organized about lobbying them on this issue.  This is
> why I'm interested in writing a translator for my own use, so I'm not
> forever stuck with only one visualization/post-processing tool for my
> datasets.
> 
> So the consensus is that I should target the EnSight file format?  I'm
> looking at their documentation now...
> 
>  
>> ===================================
>>
>> Adriano Gagliardi MEng PhD
>> Project Scientist
>> Computational Aerodynamics
>> Aircraft Research Association Ltd.
>> Manton Lane
>> Bedford
>>
>> Tel: 01234 32 4644
>> E-mail: agagliardi at ara.co.uk
>> Url: www.ara.co.uk
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: paraview-bounces at paraview.org
>> [mailto:paraview-bounces at paraview.org]
>> On Behalf Of Bastil2001 at yahoo.de
>> Sent: 20 August 2009 21:11
>> To: A. Austen; 'ParaView'
>> Subject: Re: [Paraview] Suggested format for open unstructured CFD 
>> including surface geometry?
>>
>> Ensight is quite a common format. However I would be very interested 
>> in having a Fieldview-Reader for Paraview...
>>
>> Regards BastiL
>>
>> A. Austen schrieb:
>>> Hello all.
>>>
>>> I'm interested in using ParaView  to view unstructured CFD solutions. 
>>> I'm currently using a proprietary flow solver which outputs results 
>>> in FieldView-Unstructured format.  The nice thing about that format 
>>> is that it allows the inclusion of not just the solution grid, but 
>>> also all the boundary surface geometry.
>>>
>>> However, I'm not crazy about being stuck with FieldView as my only 
>>> option, so I'd like to write a translator to output an equivalent 
>>> dataset in a more open format.  I've looked at CGNS, but it expects 
>>> the user to link to external CAD files to provide the surface 
>>> geometry.  Is there a recommended file format supported by VTK that 
>>> is well-documented which includes the capability to include the 
>>> surface geometry as a triangular surface mesh?  The geometric body 
>>> definitions in my existing FieldView-Unstructured files consist of 
>>> triangular surface meshes, a la FACET or STL, and in fact starts out 
>>> as a FACET input into the flow solver.
>>>
>>>   
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