## Chapter 11: TurboGrid

ANSYS TurboGrid is a meshing tool that is specialized for CFD analyses of turbomachinery bladerows. The ANSYS TurboGrid documentation is available from the Help menu in ANSYS TurboGrid.

The main documentation is available from the Help menu in ANSYS TurboGrid, and consists of the following parts:

- TurboGrid Introduction

- TurboGrid User's Guide

- TurboGrid Reference Guide

- Additionally, ANSYS TurboGrid tutorials are available on the ANSYS Customer Portal

To launch ANSYS TurboGrid from ANSYS Workbench, add the TurboGrid component system to your project schematic, then edit the Turbo Mesh cell of that system.

The geometry can be loaded from the File menu in TurboGrid, or it can be specified by linking a Geometry or Blade Design cell upstream of the Turbo Mesh cell.

In the case when data is transferred to a Turbo Mesh cell from a Geometry cell, the Turbo Mesh cell has properties that control this transfer. These, and other properties that control TurboGrid, are described in Table 11.1: TurboGrid Turbo Mesh Cell Properties. Before attempting to modify these properties, be sure to refresh the Turbo Mesh cell if it is in a Refresh Required state. Refreshing this cell causes the properties to be updated.

Table 11.1: TurboGrid Turbo Mesh Cell Properties

Group | Name | Description
--- | --- | ---
Geometry Selection | Flowpath Options | This property is applicable only when profile point data (not CAD data) is passed to the TurboGrid system. This property displays a list of the available flow paths and bladerows. Use this information as a guide when specifying the Flowpath and Bladerow properties (described below). Use the Refresh command in the context menu to update the list after linking.
Flowpath | This property specifies which Flowpath feature in BladeEditor contains the bladerow that is to be loaded in ANSYS TurboGrid.
Bladerow Number | This property specifies which bladerow (within the specified Flowpath feature) is to be loaded in ANSYS TurboGrid.

Inlet Position Method

This property specifies how the inlet points are positioned in TurboGrid. The Manual option means you will specify these in TurboGrid. The Adjacent Blade option means the inlet points will be calculated using the upstream bladerow, specified below.

This property is available only when multiple bladerows have been specified in BladeEditor.

Upstream Bladerow Number | This property specifies the bladerow number for the bladerow that is immediately upstream of the current bladerow. This property is available only when Inlet Position Method is set to Adjacent Blade.

Outlet Position Method

This property specifies how the outlet points are positioned in TurboGrid. The Manual option means you will specify these in TurboGrid. The Adjacent Blade option means the outlet points will be calculated using the downstream bladerow, specified below.

This property is available only when multiple bladerows have been specified in BladeEditor.

Downstream Bladerow Number | This property specifies the bladerow number for the bladerow that is immediately downstream of the current bladerow. This property is available only when the Outlet Position Method is set to Adjacent Blade.
Meshing | Inlet Domain | If this property is selected, TurboGrid will generate an inlet domain as part of the mesh.
Outlet Domain | If this property is selected, TurboGrid will generate an outlet domain as part of the mesh.
Minimum Face Angle | The minimum face angle of the mesh is displayed here.
Maximum Face Angle | The maximum face angle of the mesh is displayed here.
Mesh Output Options | Region Name Prefix | This property specifies a string of characters that is prefixed to all mesh region names when the mesh is written to file. This property is blank by default. Note that when importing meshes into ANSYS CFX-Pre, any duplicate mesh region names will be appended with numbers to make them unique.

Each ExportPoints feature in BladeEditor defines a single blade, is associated with a FlowPath, and has a Bladerow Number. To model a series of consecutive bladerows in a turbomachine, you should define a series of ExportPoints features associated with the same FlowPath feature, with Bladerow Numbers in numerical order (lowest number at the inlet end of the machine). By using the same FlowPath number:

- You have access to the Turbo Mesh cell properties that collectively control the position of the inlet and outlet ends of each bladerow: Inlet Position Method, Upstream Bladerow Number, Outlet Position Method, Downstream Bladerow Number.

- The machine is eligible to be analyzed by Vista TF. For help on Vista TF, see Vista TF User's Guide.

If you want a given bladerow to contain more than one blade geometry (for example, main blades with splitter blades), create one ExportPoints feature for each unique blade in the bladerow, with each ExportPoints feature based on the same FlowPath and given the same Bladerow Number. When more than one ExportPoints feature matches the FlowPath and Bladerow Number criteria set in the Turbo Mesh cell properties, ANSYS TurboGrid will create a bladerow with splitter blades.

You can access a context menu for the Turbo Mesh cell in the TurboGrid component system by right-clicking the cell. Most of the commands that are available are standard, and are described in Cells in Workbench. The context menu commands that are specific to the Turbo Mesh cell are described in Table 11.2: Context Menu Commands Specific to the Turbo Mesh Cell.

Table 11.2: Context Menu Commands Specific to the Turbo Mesh Cell

Command | Description
--- | ---
Edit | This command opens TurboGrid and loads the geometry and state, regenerating the mesh if appropriate.
Edit with Topology Suspended | This command opens TurboGrid and loads the geometry and state, but suspends the `Topology Set` object. This command enables you to change mesh settings without having to wait for any automatic mesh regeneration processes.

Release 18.2 - © ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.