02 Basic 3D 1steps GeometryMeshTutorial

CAD package for electromagnetic and thermal analysis using finite elements
Flux
by CEDRAT
Geometry and mesh tutorial

First steps in using Flux
3D basic example
FLUX is a registered trademark.
FLUX software : COPYRIGHT CEDRAT/INPG/CNRS/EDF

FLUX tutorial : COPYRIGHT CEDRAT
This tutorial was edited on 6 dcembre 2012
Ref.: KF 3 05 - B - 111 - EN -12/12
CEDRAT
15 Chemin de Malacher - Inovalle
38246 Meylan Cedex
FRANCE
Phone: +33 (0)4 76 90 50 45
Fax: +33 (0)4 56 38 08 30
Email: cedrat@cedrat.com
Web: http://www.cedrat.com
Foreword
*(Please read before starting this document)
Description of The goal of this basic example is to familiarize the user with the Flux
the example geometry and mesh description process using a simple device.
The user who wants to learn the physics, solving and post-processing
description process will consult one of the three basics examples.
Organization The organization of the chapters is the following.

information all topics beginning with a verb (create, add, assign, ) contain
information about actions you must complete
all topics beginning with the word about contain definitions or
general information about specific features.
Required If you are a beginner with Flux, it is recommended that you read and work
knowledge through the complete text of the chapters.
If you are an experienced user of Flux, you may be able to enter the
problem information quickly without having to read the about
paragraphs.
Support files You can refer to the supplied files in case of difficulties completing this
included... tutorial, or directly adapt this tutorial to your needs, without going through
all the steps to construct the model. If you install Flux with the
documentation and the examples, files are placed in the folder:
C:\CEDRAT (or your installation folder)
\FluxDocExamples_11.1\Examples3D \ GeometryMesh.
Supplied files are command files written in PyFlux language. The user can
launch them in order to automatically recover the Flux projects for each
case.
**(.py files are launched by accessing Project/Command file from the
Flux drop down menu.)
Supplied files Contents Flux file obtained after

launching the .py file
Geometry of the two probes PROBE_3D.FLU
-
Geometry of the wheel base object WHEEL_BASE_3D.FLU
GeoMesh_3D.py Geometry and mesh of the sensor SENSOR_3D.FLU
(complete device)
The main.py enables the launch of these command files

Flux TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part A: General information 1
1. Overview..................................................................................................................................3
1.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................4
1.2. Studied device...............................................................................................................................5
1.3. Device description in Flux: which strategy? ..................................................................................6
1.4. Main stages for geometry description ...........................................................................................7
2. Get started with Flux................................................................................................................9
2.1. Start a Flux supervisor ................................................................................................................11
2.1.1. About the Flux supervisor .............................................................................................12
2.1.2. Start a Flux 3D window.................................................................................................13
Part B: geometry and mesh description of the studied device 15

1. Geometry description of the probe object..............................................................................17
1.1. Create a Flux project for the probe .............................................................................................19
1.1.1. Create a new project for the probe ...............................................................................20
1.1.2. About the Flux window..................................................................................................21
1.1.3. About the Help menu / User guide ...............................................................................22
1.1.4. About the geometry context..........................................................................................23
1.1.5. Name the project ..........................................................................................................24
1.2. Strategy and tools for geometry description of the probe ...........................................................25
1.2.1. Available geometric tools and analysis before geometry description...........................26
1.2.2. Main phases for geometry description of the probe .....................................................28
1.3. Creation of geometric tools .........................................................................................................29
1.3.1. Deactivate Aided mesh.................................................................................................30
1.3.2. About creation of an entity ............................................................................................31
1.3.3. About geometric parameters ........................................................................................33
1.3.4. Create geometric parameters.......................................................................................34
1.3.5. About the Tools menu / toolbar ....................................................................................36
1.3.6. About selection of graphic entities................................................................................37
1.3.7. About modification and deletion of an entity.................................................................39
1.3.8. About graphic view .......................................................................................................42
1.3.9. Change the background color ......................................................................................44
1.3.10. About coordinate systems ............................................................................................45
1.3.11. Create coordinate systems ...........................................................................................47
1.4. Creation of points and lines for the probe base ..........................................................................51
1.4.1. Change to the plane view .............................................................................................52
1.4.2. About points..................................................................................................................53
1.4.3. Create points for the probe base ..................................................................................54
1.4.4. About display of entities in the graphic zone ................................................................56
1.4.5. Display point numbers ..................................................................................................57
1.4.6. About lines ....................................................................................................................58
1.4.7. Create lines for the probe base ....................................................................................59
1.5. Building faces and volumes for the probe...................................................................................61
1.5.1. About automatic construction .......................................................................................62
1.5.2. Build faces of the probe base .......................................................................................63
1.5.3. Change to the standard view........................................................................................64
1.5.4. About transformations...................................................................................................65
1.5.5. Create a geometric transformation ...............................................................................67
1.5.6. About propagation and extrusion..................................................................................69
1.5.7. About selection by criterion ..........................................................................................71
1.5.8. Extrude faces................................................................................................................72
1.5.9. Complete the construction by automatic building.........................................................74
1.6. Check and correct the geometry.................................................................................................75
1.6.1. About intersections of entities.......................................................................................76
1.6.2. Check the geometry......................................................................................................77
Geometry and mesh tutorial PAGE A

TABLE OF CONTENTS Flux
1.6.3. Modify the visibility of faces to visualize the geometric defects....................................78

1.6.4. Change the nature of faces ..........................................................................................79
1.6.5. Save and close the project ...........................................................................................81
2. Geometric description of the wheel base object.................................................................... 83
2.1. Create a Flux project for the wheel base ....................................................................................85
2.1.1. Create and name a new project for the wheel base .....................................................86
2.2. Strategy and tools for geometry description of the wheel base object .......................................87
2.2.1. Available geometric tools and analysis before geometry description...........................88
2.2.2. Main phases for geometric description of the wheel base............................................90
2.3. Creation of geometric tools .........................................................................................................91
2.3.1. Deactivate aided mesh .................................................................................................92
2.3.2. Create geometric parameters .......................................................................................93
2.3.3. Create a coordinate system..........................................................................................95
2.4. Creation of points and lines for the wheel base ..........................................................................97
2.4.1. Create points for the wheel base ..................................................................................98
2.4.2. Create lines for the wheel base ................................................................................. 100
2.5. Building a face of the wheel base ............................................................................................ 103
2.5.1. Build a face ................................................................................................................ 104
2.6. Creation of transformations...................................................................................................... 105
2.6.1. Create transformations .............................................................................................. 106
2.6.2. Save and close the project ........................................................................................ 108
3. Geometry description of the sensor ....................................................................................109
3.1. Create a Flux project for the sensor......................................................................................... 111
3.1.1. Create and name a new project for the sensor ......................................................... 112
3.2. Strategy and tools for geometric description of the sensor...................................................... 113
3.2.1. Available geometric tools and analysis before geometry description........................ 114
3.2.2. Main phases for geometric description ...................................................................... 115
3.3. Importation of the wheel base object and building the whole wheel........................................ 117
3.3.1. Import the wheel base object..................................................................................... 118
3.3.2. Geometry building process of the wheel.................................................................... 119
3.3.3. Propagate a face (tooth) ............................................................................................ 120
3.3.4. Extrude a line ............................................................................................................. 122
3.3.5. Create a line............................................................................................................... 124
3.3.6. Propagate a line......................................................................................................... 126
3.3.7. Build faces ................................................................................................................. 128
3.3.8. Extrude faces of the wheel base................................................................................ 129
3.4. Importation of the probe objects and positioning of the wheel and probes.............................. 131
3.4.1. Modify the coordinate system .................................................................................... 132
3.4.2. Import the first probe object ....................................................................................... 134
3.4.3. Modify the geometric parameters .............................................................................. 136
3.4.4. Import the second probe object ................................................................................. 137
3.5. Completing the domain ............................................................................................................ 139
3.5.1. About an infinite box .................................................................................................. 140
3.5.2. Add an infinite box ..................................................................................................... 142
3.5.3. Build faces ................................................................................................................. 143
3.5.4. Check the geometry................................................................................................... 144
3.5.5. Build volumes............................................................................................................. 145
3.5.6. Modify the visibility of faces ....................................................................................... 146
4. Mesh generation of the sensor............................................................................................147
4.1. Strategy and tools for mesh generation of the sensor ............................................................. 149
4.1.1. Available meshing tools and analysis before mesh generation................................. 150
4.1.2. Main phases for mesh description ............................................................................. 152
4.2. Meshing the sensor with aided mesh....................................................................................... 155
4.2.1. Change to the mesh context...................................................................................... 156
4.2.2. About the mesh context ............................................................................................. 157
4.2.3. About Aided mesh...................................................................................................... 158
4.2.4. Synchronize Aided mesh value and mesh lines, faces and volumes........................ 159
PAGE B Geometry and mesh tutorial

Flux TABLE OF CONTENTS
4.3. Optimize the mesh ....................................................................................................................163

4.3.1. About mesh tools ........................................................................................................164
4.3.2. Modify the Aided shadow on faces.............................................................................167
4.3.3. Modify the mesh points...............................................................................................168
4.3.4. Change the display and the view................................................................................169
4.3.5. Assign mesh points to points ......................................................................................170
4.3.6. Create a line relaxation...............................................................................................172
4.3.7. Assign relaxation line to lines .....................................................................................174
4.3.8. Create a mesh line......................................................................................................176
4.3.9. Assign meshline to lines .............................................................................................178
4.4. Meshing the sensor...................................................................................................................181
4.4.1. Mesh lines, mesh faces, mesh volumes and generate second order elements.........182
4.4.2. Save the project and close the Flux window ..............................................................185
5. Annex...................................................................................................................................187
5.1. Use of command files................................................................................................................189
5.1.1. About command files ..................................................................................................190
5.1.2. Execute a command file .............................................................................................191
Geometry and mesh tutorial PAGE C

TABLE OF CONTENTS Flux
PAGE D Geometry and mesh tutorial

Flux Part A: General information
Part A: General information
Introduction This part A contains the presentation of the studied device and and some
information about the Flux software.
Contents This part contains the following topics:
Topic See Page

Overview 3
Get started with Flux 9
Geometry and mesh tutorial PAGE 1

Part A: General information Flux
PAGE 2 Geometry and mesh tutorial

1. Overview
Introduction This chapter presents the studied device (a variable reluctance speed sensor)
and the strategy of the device description in Flux.
Contents This chapter contains the following topics:
Topic See Page

Introduction 4
Studied device 5
Device description in Flux: which strategy? 6

1.1. Introduction
Introduction Flux is finite element software for electromagnetic simulation. Flux handles
the design and analysis of any electromagnetic device.
To perform a study with Flux, you build a finite element project. This
process is broken into 5 phases:
geometry description
mesh generation
description of the physical properties
solving process
results post-processing
Only the first two phases are presented in this document.
Objective The objective of this document is discovery and mastering various

functionalities in the software through the example of a simple device.
The device, which will be used as example, is a variable reluctance speed
sensor described in the following paragraph.
The studied functionalities* of the software are those related to the phases of
construction of the geometry and generation of the mesh.
The user will also find in this document useful information concerning the
software: description of the environment, data management, graphic
representation, etc.
* The functionalities of the software related to the following phases - description of
physical properties, solving process and results post-processing - are not detailed in
this document.

1.2. Studied device
Introduction The device to be analyzed is a variable reluctance speed sensor.
Structure The variable reluctance speed sensor consists of a cogged wheel, a magnet
and a coil connected to a measuring resistance.
Functionality The rotation of the target wheel near the tip of the sensor changes the
magnetic flux, creating an analog voltage signal that can be recovered in
probes.
Typical Typical applications are:

applications ignition system engine speed and position
speed sensing for electronically controlled transmissions
vehicle speed sensing
wheel speed sensing for ABS and traction control systems

1.3. Device description in Flux: which strategy?
Problem How to describe the device in Flux?

Reminder:
We only are interested in geometrical construction and generation of the mesh.
Geometric The device consists of:

structure one cogged wheel with three teeth
two probes with a magnet and a coil around
WHEEL
COIL 1
PROBE 1
MAGNET 1
COIL 2
PROBE 2
MAGNET 2
Strategy Two strategies of description exist:

one-phase description:
- description of the whole device in only one Flux project
two-phase description:
- independent description of separated parts of the device in several Flux
projects
- import of the independent projects (PROBE_3D.FLU and
WHEEL_BASE_3D.FLU) into one main project SENSOR_3D.FLU
The second strategy is selected in this tutorial.
Of course, the geometry can be built in ways other than the presented one. The
sensor geometry is defined in this particular way in order to introduce you to
the most used Flux features.
Continued on next page

1.4. Main stages for geometry description
Process An outline of the general construction process is given in the two following
(general blocks:
aspects) the first process (1) is presented to facilitate comprehension
the second process (2) is the real building process used in this document.
Process (1) An outline of the logical process of the geometry description is given in the
table below.
Phase Description
1 Probe description
2 Cogged wheel description
3 Sensor description
4 Addition of air around the device and closing of the domain

by the technique of the infinite box

Process (2) An outline of the real process of the geometry description, used in this tutorial,
is given in the table below.
1 Probe object description Project: PROBE_3D.FLU
2 Wheel base object description (elementary pattern) Project: WHEEL_BASE_3D.FLU
3 Sensor description Project: SENSOR_3D.FLU
Importation of the wheel base object (elementary pattern) (WHEEL_BASE_3D)
Building of the whole wheel
Importation of a probe object (PROBE_3D)
Rotation of the probe and rotation of the cogged wheel
Importation of a probe object (PROBE_3D)
Addition of an infinite box

2. Get started with Flux
Introduction This chapter shows how to start working with Flux and includes a
presentation of the Flux supervisor.
It also shows how to start a Flux 3D program and includes a brief introduction
to the Flux window.
More detailed information about Flux menus and commands is presented in
1.1.2 About the Flux window.
Topic See Page

Start a Flux supervisor 11
About the Flux supervisor 12
Start a Flux 3D window 13


2.1. Start a Flux supervisor
Goal First, the Flux supervisor will be open.
Action To start Flux from the Windows taskbar:
Start Program Cedrat Flux
Result The Flux supervisor window opens.

2.1.1. About the Flux supervisor
The Flux The Flux supervisor manages all modules and tools for Flux 2D and Flux 3D
Supervisor applications.
window
The Flux supervisor window is divided into several areas. These areas are
identified in the following figure and described in the table below.
Menu bar
Tool bar
Modules
Directory
manager
Project
files
Program
manager
Geometry Most recent used files
view
Area Function
Program manager to list and launch the Flux module or tools
(Flux 3D, Circuit, etc.)
Directory manager to show the computer directories
Project files to display all Flux projects in the selected directory
My programs contains shortcuts to the Dos Shell and the Explorer
Flux view to display a preview of the geometry, if a project is
selected
Some checks From the Flux supervisor you should:

before you Select the Flux 3D tab in order to access the specific Flux 3D programs.
begin Access your working directory by selecting it in the directory manager.
Verify that the title of the Program manager area is the standard version
(Flux 3D: Standard). If not, in the menu bar, select Versions and check
Standard.

2.1.2. Start a Flux 3D window
Goal The Flux 3D window will be opened to manage the geometry building and
mesh generation of the device.
Action To start Flux 3D from the Flux supervisor:
2. Select the directory of

the project
3. Double-click on
Flux 3D
1. Click on the
Flux 3D tab
Result The Flux window for Flux 3D applications is opened.

There are two menus in the Flux window: Project and Help*.
* A new project must be created to see the complete set of Flux commands.


Flux Part B: geometry and mesh description of the studied device
Part B: geometry and mesh description of the studied

device
Introduction This part B contains the description of the studied device and provide when
needed some information about the Flux software.
Contents This part contains the following topics:
Topic See Page

Geometry description of the probe object 17
Geometric description of the wheel base object 83
Geometry description of the sensor 109
Mesh generation of the sensor 147
Annex 187

Part B: geometry and mesh description of the studied device Flux

1. Geometry description of the probe object
Introduction This chapter presents the general steps of the geometry construction and the
data required to describe the probe geometry.
The probe object is presented in the figure below.
Coil
Magnet
Topic See Page

Create a Flux project for the probe 19
Strategy and tools for geometry description of the probe 25
Creation of geometric tools 29
Creation of points and lines for the probe base 51
Building faces and volumes for the probe 61
Check and correct the geometry 75


1.1. Create a Flux project for the probe
Introduction Each time that a Flux program is started, it is possible to open an existing
project or create a new project.
Contents This section contains the following topics:
Topic See Page

Create a new project for the probe 20
About the Flux window 21
About the Help menu / User guide 22
About the geometry context 23
Name the project 24

1.1.1. Create a new project for the probe
Goal At the beginning of the geometry description a new project must be created.
Action To create a new project from the

Project menu: Project toolbar:
1. Click on New 1. Click on the icon
OR
Result Flux retrieves a great deal of information from the database model in order to
build the proper database of the new project. The new project opens by
default in the Geometry context and is temporarily named ANONYMOUS.
The icon of the Geometry context appears in the Context toolbar as shown
below.

1.1.2. About the Flux window
Flux window The Flux project window has the complete set of the tools to build the
geometry of the device, to mesh the computation domain and to visualize the
device during different steps of the construction.
Areas The Flux project window is divided into three main areas. The different areas
can be resized or hid by using the arrows.
Area Function
Data tree displays all the problem data in a tree structure that is
expanded using the key
Graphic zone displays the graphic entities
History zone prints Python command instructions
Menus and All Flux commands are in the menus. Toolbars include icons that are
toolbars shortcuts to the most useful commands.
Project
Geometry
toolbar Menus toolbar
Graphic zone Context

toolbar toolbar

1.1.3. About the Help menu / User guide
Introduction There are several ways to access the user guide information:
the complete user guide
the online help within a dialog
Method (1) To open the complete user guide in the Flux supervisor from the
Help menu: Help toolbar:
1. Click on the icon
1. Click on
Manual OR
Method (2) To open the complete user guide in the Flux window from the Help menu:
1. Click on Contents
Method (3) To open the online help about an entity from its dialog box:
1. Click on the button
Users guide The online version of the Flux user guide is presented in the figure below.
The corresponding sections of the Flux user guide can be opened by clicking
on the hyperlinks.

1.1.4. About the geometry context
Presentation There are five contexts in Flux:

Context Icon Function
Geometry to build the geometry of the device
Mesh to mesh the computation domain
Physics to define the application and physical properties
Solving process to define the solving scenario and solve the

problem
Post-processing to analyze results
The context can be changed by using the arrows .
Tools of the After having activated the geometry context, toolbars dedicated to the
geometry geometry description appear in the Flux window.
context
The different toolbars and their principal roles are briefly described below.
1 2 3 4 5
Geometry context toolbar Function

1 to create geometric entities
2 to propagate / extrude points, lines, etc.
3 to build faces, volumes
4 to compute geometric values
5 to check the geometry
6 to display point and line reference numbers

1.1.5. Name the project
Goal The new project, temporarily named ANONYMOUS, will be renamed and
saved.
Action To rename and save the project from the

1. Click on Save 1. Click on the icon
or Save as
OR
2. Type PROBE_3D
as project name
3. Click on Save
Notes:
The user can choose another name for the project and change the current project
directory (working directory), displayed in the Save In field at the top.
A periodic data backup is recommended.

1.2. Strategy and tools for geometry description of the

probe
Introduction This section shows:

the available tools for geometry building
the analysis carried out for construction of the probe geometry and the
selected strategy
Topic See Page

Available geometric tools and analysis before geometry 26
description
Main phases for geometry description of the probe 28
Reading advice This section presents an outline of the geometry building process of the
probe. Details on the different contents definition of new concepts,
explanation on the use of different tools, etc. are given in the following
sections.

1.2.1. Available geometric tools and analysis before geometry

description
Available tools The tools available for the geometric construction are: geometric parameters,
coordinate systems and transformations.
Geometric tool Function
geometric parameter to allow the dimensional parameter setting of parts
coordinate system to facilitate the relative positioning of parts
transformation to allow the construction by propagation or extrusion
Device analysis An analysis of the device is necessary to determine the strategy of

and choice of construction, and the choice of construction tools.
construction
The analysis of the device and the construction tools chosen within the
tools
framework of this tutorial are summarized in the table below.
In order to it is planned as show in the figure below
PROBE_CS
to create a
to enter the
PROBE_CS Cartesian
coordinates of
coordinate system
the points
specific to the probe
COIL_H
to change to create 5 parameters
dimensions of for setting the magnet
the magnet and and the coil
the coil dimensions MAG_H
MAG_R
COIL_IR
COIL_OR

Device analysis and choice of construction tools (continued)
The operations
it is planned

MAIN_CS
to create a MAIN_CS ANGLE

Cartesian coordinate
system
(the PROBE_CS coordinate
to locate the system will be attached to
probe in the final this coordinate system)
project
(anticipation) to create an ANGLE PROBE_CS
parameter to define the

angular position of the
MAIN_CS coordinate
system
to create a PROBE_ROTX PROBE_ROTX

to simplify the
transformation of the
geometry
rotation type to build faces
building
and volumes by extrusion

1.2.2. Main phases for geometry description of the probe
Outline An outline of the geometry building process is presented in the table below.
Stage Description
As the PROBE.FLU will be later imported in
De-activation of
1 Sensor_3D.FLU it is necessary to de-activate the
Aided mesh Aided mesh*
Coil inner radius: COIL_IR = 2.8 mm
Coil outer radius: COIL_OR = 3.5 mm
Creation of 6 Coil height: COIL_H = 16 mm
2 geometric Magnet radius: MAG_R = 2.5 mm
parameters Magnet height: MAG_H = 20 mm
Angle of the probe angular position
in the final device: ANGLE = 0
Cartesian coordinate system: MAIN_CS
(global coordinate system for the probe
Creation of 2
positioning in the final device)
3 coordinate
systems Cartesian coordinate system: PROBE_CS
(local coordinate system for the probe
description)
Creation of points and lines for

4
the probe base
Building faces for the probe

5
base
Creation of 1 Rotation transformation for the probe:

6
transformation PROBE_ROTX
PROBE_ROTX
Building faces and volumes by

7 extrusion
* Explanation concerning this subject is presented in About Aided mesh.

1.3. Creation of geometric tools
Introduction The geometry building begins by the creation of geometric tools to build the
probe geometry: geometric parameters and coordinate systems.
The parameters and coordinate systems required to describe the geometry of
the probe are presented in the figure below.
MAIN_CS
ANGLE
PROBE_CS
COIL_H
MAG_R
MAG_H COIL_IR
COIL_OR
Topic See Page

Deactivate Aided mesh 30
About creation of an entity 31
About geometric parameters 33
Create geometric parameters 34
About the Tools menu / toolbar 36
About selection of graphic entities 37
About modification and deletion of an entity 39
About graphic view 42
Change the background color 44
About coordinate systems 45
Create coordinate systems 47

1.3.1. Deactivate Aided mesh
Definition Aided mesh is a tool box that permits the user to quickly realize a good
quality mesh. The aided mesh (global adjustment) is activated by default on
all flux projects (See About Aided mesh).
Aided mesh Aided mesh assigns specific global tool on all entities of a new project. In
and imported order not to interfere during project import to the main project, it is needed to
Flux project de-activate aided mesh on project that will be imported later.
Action To deactivate the Aided mesh, from the Menu:
1. Edit the aided mesh box
2. Select Inactivated in the

State of aided mesh field

1.3.2. About creation of an entity
Definition of An entity is an object in the database of a Flux project.

entity It can be:
a point, a line, a coordinate system, etc. in the Geometry context
a mesh point, a mesh line, etc. in the Mesh context
a line region, a volume region, etc. in the Physics context
Creating An outline of the creating process is presented in the table below. The
process different steps are detailed in the blocks describing the creation of project
entities.
Step Description
1 Activating the New command
2 Definition of entity attributes
Access the The access to the New command can be carried out:
New from the Geometry menu bar (1)
command using icons from the Geometry toolbar (2)
from the data tree (3)
These three methods to access the New command are presented in the
following figure (with the example of creation of a geometric parameter) and
described in the table below.
2
3
Method Description
1 point on the entity-type and click on New
2 click on the corresponding icon
3 double-click on the entity-type or right click and click on New

Dialog box The interaction with the database is done using dialog boxes. In this box the
user can enter information relating to the data.
Entity-type:
Geometric parameter
Title bar
Name
Comment
Characteristics
Online help
concerning the entity
The required fields (necessary and sufficient for the definition of the entity) are
marked by an asterisk *.

1.3.3. About geometric parameters
Principle of use Geometric parameters are entities that can be used for the geometry building
of the device, i.e. for the definition of points, coordinate systems, geometric
transformations, infinite box dimensions and other geometric entities.
Defining parameters simplifies the construction of the geometry and enables
modifications to be made more easily later. Many changes can be made by
modifying only the definition of the parameters instead of modifying all the
individual points, lines or nodes that might be built using the parameters.
Parameters also can modify the scale of the geometry through their
relationship with coordinate systems.
Definition of The geometric parameters are defined by the name and the algebraic
parameters expressions.
The algebraic expressions may contain:
constants
arithmetic operators (+, , *, /, **)
arithmetic functions allowed in FORTRAN (SQRT, LOG, SIN, etc.)
other parameters
combinations of any of these
Parameters and Please note that parameters are independent of any unit of measurement. In
measurement other words, the numerical value entered for a parameter is not changed when
units the unit of measurement is changed. Any measurement unit associated with a
parameter derives from the coordinate system in which the parameter is used.
For example, a parameter's value may be 10 in a coordinate system with
millimeters as units. This parameter's value is still 10 whether the coordinate
system's units are changed to inches or meters or kilometers or any other
available unit. Thus, when you use parameters, you can also modify the scale
of a geometric feature without reentering each point or item.

1.3.4. Create geometric parameters
Goal Six parameters, required to describe the geometry of the probe, are presented
in the figure below.
ANGLE
Magnet base
Coil base
COIL_H
MAG_H
MAG_R
COIL_IR
COIL_OR
Data The table below contains the values of the geometric parameters.
Geometric parameters
Name Comment Expression
COIL_IR Coil inner radius 2.8
COIL_OR Coil outer radius 3.5
COIL_H Coil height 16
ANGLE Angle of the probe position 0
MAG_R Magnet radius 2.5
MAG_H Magnet height 20

Action To create the geometric parameters from the

Data tree: Geometry toolbar:
1. Double-click 1. Click on the icon
on Geometric parameter
OR
2. Type COIL_IR as name
3. Type Inner radius of the coil as

comment
4. Type 2.8 as algebraic expression for
the parameter
5. Click on OK
6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 in the new dialog,

entering data for the remaining entities.
(see the table on the previous page)
7. Click on Cancel to quit the sequence
Result The geometric parameters are listed in the data tree:
Notice too, that as you move your cursor over the parameter names, the comments
are displayed to help you to identify the parameters.

1.3.5. About the Tools menu / toolbar
Undo command There is a Flux command to undo operations. The user can use this command
if an error was made.
There are two possibilities described in the table below.
Method Function
1 to undo the previous operation to undo the last action
2 to undo several operations to undo all actions up to the indicated
action
Method (1) To undo the previous operation from the Tools toolbar:
Method (2) To undo several operations from the

Tools menu: Tools toolbar:
1. Click on Undo 1. Click on the icon
OR
2. Click on the last operation to undo

1.3.6. About selection of graphic entities
Overview of Selection of entities can be done with the following selection modes:
selection modes graphic selection (with the mouse)
- in the data tree for all entities
- in the graphic zone for graphic entities
identifier selection (by name / by number)
advanced selection (by criterion / by choice)
Graphic An outline of the selection process for graphic entities is presented in the
selection table below.
process
Step Description
1 Activating of the selection filter
2 Selection of the entity in the graphic zone
Selection filter A selection filter makes possible to identify the selectable entity-type.
For the graphic entities, the selection filter can be activated by the
commands from the Selection menu or from the Selection toolbar.
Selection menu/ The choices in the Selection menu or in the Selection toolbar relate to the
toolbar graphic entities; they are presented in the figure and described in the table
below.
No Select
selection points / lines / faces / volumes
Free Select
selection face regions / volume regions
Choice Description
No selection nothing selectable
all is selectable
Free selection The first entity, selected by the user, determines the
entity-type selectable
Select points the points are selectable


Step 1: The activating of the selection filter can be carried out:

activating of from the Select menu (1)
the selection using icons from the Select toolbar (2)
filter
These two methods to activate the selection filter are presented in the
following figure and described in the table below.
Step 2: Click on the specific graphic entity to select the entity in the graphic zone.
selection in the The selected entity is highlighted.
graphic zone

1.3.7. About modification and deletion of an entity
Modification / An outline of the modification / deletion process is presented in the table

deletion process below.
Step Description
1 Activating the command (Edit, Edit array, Delete, Force delete)
and selection of entities
2 Modification of the entity characteristics /
Validation of the entity deletion
Access the For the commands Edit / Edit array / Delete / Force delete, which require
commands data selection, the access to the command, can be carried out:
from the menu
- activation of the command and then selection via a selection box (1)
from the data tree:
- activation of the command and then selection via a selection box (2)
- direct selection of an entity and then activation of the command (2)
from the graphic zone (only for graphic entities)
These methods to access the command are presented in the following figure
(with the example of editing the ANGLE geometric parameter) and described
in the table below.
Selection
via
1 a selection box
Selection
2 via
a selection box
Method Description
1 point on the entity-type and click on the command
select entities via a Selection box
2 right click on the entity-type and click on the command
select entities via a Selection box
2 double-click on the entity
or right click on the entity and click on the command
3 right click on the graphic entity* and click on the command
*
The corresponding selection filter must be first activated.

Edition mode To check the data, the user needs to edit (and modify if necessary) the entities
created.
There are two modes of edition:
the edition in a dialog box is used to check and to modify the
characteristics of one entity
Entity-type
Entity
Name
Comment
Type (1)
Type (2)
Characteristics
On-line help
concerning the entity
the edition in a data array is used to check and to modify the

characteristics of a group of entities
Structure Entity-type Entities:

(Database) [CORE], [MAIN]
Name
Comment
Type (2)
Characteristics
Type (1)
Information Information Information

relating to the relating to the relating to the
group of entities entity [CORE] entity [MAIN]

Deletion mode The user sometimes needs to delete entities. He can easily delete an entity if it
is an independent entity. However, very often, the entity is connected to other
entities and the deletion of the entity can cause the deletion of all the
connected entities.
There are thus two modes of deletion:
the simple deletion:
is carried out on independent entities (non connected with other entities)
the in force deletion :
is carried out on any entity.
These two modes are described in the table below:
Mode Destroyable entity What is destroyed

simple independent selected entity
in force any selected entity + entities connected to it

1.3.8. About graphic view
Introduction When referring to the graphic representation of a device, we are interested in:
the different entities and their appearance: points and their visibility, lines
and their color, faces, surface elements, etc.
the type of displayed view: side view, top view, bottom view, global view,
etc. and its position and dimensions in the graphic display zone.
How to modify There are three methods to modify the view in the graphic zone. The settings
a view can be made:
from the View menu (1)
using icons from the View toolbar (2)
using the mouse (3)
Using the View Flux offers modes to modify the view using commands from the View menu
menu / icons or icons from the View toolbar. They are described in the table below.
Command Icon Mode Mode activation

View To rotate, translate click on the command / icon
direction and resize the view and fill out the dialog box
Zoom in - To enlarge the view click on the command
Zoom out - To reduce the view click on the command
Zoom all To set total view click on the command / icon
click on the command / icon
Zoom To enlarge a part of
and select the rectangular zone
region view
to enlarge using the mouse

Using the Flux offers modes to modify the view using the mouse, described in the table
mouse below. User can determine the active mode by the different cursors.
Mode Mode activation Cursor
2D planar rotation around mouse is far from the center of the
the center of the view view, click on the graphic zone
with the left button of the mouse
and move the mouse, keeping the
left button pressed
3D rotation around the mouse is close to the center of the
center of the object object, click on the view with the
left button of the mouse and move
the mouse, keeping the left button
pressed
3D rotation around the while holding the Shift key, click
point defined by mouse on the view with left button of the
cursor mouse and move the mouse,
keeping the left button pressed
Displacement click on the view with the right
(to translate the view) button of the mouse and drag the
view to the new location, keeping
the right button pressed
Dimension click on the graphic zone with the
(to resize the view) left button of the mouse and resize
the view with the scrolling wheel
of your mouse
Predefined It is possible to choose one view from predefined views available in Flux.
views
The different commands to set predefined views and their corresponding
icons are presented in the table below.
Command Icon Description
Standard view 1 First Flux 3D predefined view (default one)
Standard view 2 Second Flux 3D predefined view
Opposite view View perspective from the opposite direction
View direction View defined by the user
Four-view mode Graphic display of four different views
X-plane view View of the device so that the X-axis is
perpendicular to the graphic zone
Y-plane view View of the device so that the Y-axis is
Z-plane view View of the device so that the Z-axis is
Background It is possible to swap the background color from black to white and vise versa
color by using the Reverse video command.

1.3.9. Change the background color
Goal To better visualize the geometry, the background color will be changed.
Action To change the background color from the View menu:
1. Click on
Reverse video

1.3.10. About coordinate systems
Introduction All geometric features are defined within a specific coordinate system.
Defining our own coordinate systems enables us to describe and modify the
geometry much more easily.
Types of coord. The different types of coordinate systems for 3D domain and associated
systems coordinates are presented below.
Cartesian coordinate Cylindrical coordinate Spherical coordinate

system system system
Coordinates (x, y, z) Coordinates (r, , z) Coordinates (r, , )
z z
p p p
y

x
r r
Reference It is possible to distinguish the following coordinate systems:

coordinate The global coordinate system is the coordinate system where all
systems computations are performed. It is inaccessible to the user. The global
coordinate system is a universal Cartesian coordinate system using meters
as the length unit and degrees as the angle unit.
The working coordinate systems are coordinate systems created by the
user to cover the study needs.
The working coordinate systems are defined:
- with respect to the Global coordinate system, when they refer to the
global coordinate system
- with respect to a Local coordinate system, when they refer to other
coordinate systems.
All entities are defined in the working coordinate systems (users coordinate
systems) and are evaluated in the global coordinate system for calculations.
Coordinate The user can define the length and angle units for a coordinate system defined
system units with respect to the global coordinate system (millimeter and degree by
default).
A coordinate system defined with respect to the local coordinate system
inherits the units of the reference coordinate system (parent coordinate
system).

Predefined To assist the user, Flux provides some default coordinate systems. They are
coordinate created for every new project. It is possible to rename them, to modify them
systems or to delete them.
The predefined working coordinate systems provided to the user are:
of Cartesian type
defined with respect to the global coordinate system
The coordinate systems are distinguished one from each other by their
positioning as presented in the table below.
Coordinate system Characteristics
XYZ1 Origin of coordinate system:
Z first component: 0
second component: 0
third component: 0
Rotation angle:
z
Y about X axis: 0
about Y axis: 0
about Z axis: 0
y
X
x
Z_ON_OX Origin of coordinate system:

Y first component: 0
second component: 0
third component: 0
Rotation angle:
X about X axis: 90
z
about Y axis: 90
y about Z axis: 0
Z
x
Z_ON_OY Origin of coordinate system:

Y first component: 0
second component: 0
third component: 0
Rotation angle:
Z
z about X axis: 90
about Y axis: 0
y
x X about Z axis: 0

1.3.11. Create coordinate systems
Goal Two coordinate systems, required to describe the geometry of the probe, are
presented in the figure below.
MAIN_CS
32 mm
PROBE_CS
Data The tables below describe the coordinate systems.

Cartesian coordinate system defined with respect to the Global system
Origin coordinates Rotation angle
Name Comment Units first second third about about about
(X) (Y) (Z) X-axis Y-axis Z-axis
Main coordinate millimeter/
MAIN_CS 0 0 0 0 0 ANGLE
system degree
Cartesian coordinate system defined with respect to the Local system

Parent Origin coordinates Rotation angle
Name Comment coord. first second third about about about
system (X) (Y) (Z) X-axis Y-axis Z-axis
Probe coordinate
PROBE_CS MAIN_CS 32 0 0 0 0 0
system

Action To create the coordinate systems from the

on Coordinate system
OR
2. Type MAIN_CS as name of

coordinate system
3. Type Main coordinate system
as associated comment
4. Select Cartesian as type of
coordinate system
5. Select Global as definition of
coordinate system
6. Select MILLIMETER as length
unit
7. Select DEGREE as angle unit
8. Type 0 as first coordinate
9. Type 0 as second coordinate
10. Type 0 as third coordinate
11. Type 0 as rotation angle about

X-axis
Y-axis
13. Type ANGLE as rotation angle
about Z-axis
14. Click on OK

Action (continued)
15. Type PROBE_CS as name of

coordinate system
16. Type Probe coordinate system
as comment
17. Select Cartesian as type
18. Select Local as definition of

coordinate system
19. Select MAIN_CS as parent
coordinate system

23. Type 0 as rotation angle about X

axis
24. Type 0 as rotation angle about Y
axis
25. Type 0 as rotation angle about Z
axis
26. Click on OK
Result The two new coordinate systems are

listed in the data tree: displayed in the graphic zone*:
MAIN_CS
PROBE_CS
* use the Zoom all command or (see About graphic view).


1.4. Creation of points and lines for the probe base
Introduction The next step of the geometry description is the creation of points and lines to
build the probe base.
The next figure describes the planar geometry of the probe base.
COIL_H
MAG_H
MAG_R
COIL_IR
COIL_OR
Topic See Page

Change to the plane view 52
About points 53
Create points for the probe base 54
About display of entities in the graphic zone 56
Display point numbers 57
About lines 58
Create lines for the probe base 59

1.4.1. Change to the plane view
About view See 1.3.8 About graphic view.
Goal To better visualize the planar geometry of the probe base in the XOY plane,
the view will be changed.
Action To change the view from the

View menu: View toolbar:
1. Click on Z plane view 1. Click on the icon
OR

1.4.2. About points
Points A point can be created

as a set of coordinates in a specified coordinate system
as an image of an existing point through a geometric transformation
within the propagation or extrusion from other entities
Point A point could be defined by its coordinates in a coordinate system (see

coordinates 1.3.10 About coordinate systems).
Point defined A point could be defined by propagation from another point using a
by propagation transformation.
created point
translation
origin point
Point number The number to identify the point is automatically allocated by Flux during the
point creation.

1.4.3. Create points for the probe base
Goal Ten points are required to build the probe base, as presented in the figure
below.
COIL_H
MAG_R
Point 8 Point 9 COIL_IR
Point 7 Point 10 COIL_OR
Point 2 Point 3 Point 4 Point 5
PROBE_CS
Point 1 Point 6
MAG_H
Data The table below describes the points for the probe base.
Points defined by its parametric coordinates
Coordinate Local coordinates
Number
system first (X) second (Y) third (Z)
1 -MAG_H/2 0 0
2 -MAG_H/2 MAG_R 0
3 -COIL_H/2 MAG_R 0
4 COIL_H/2 MAG_R 0
5 MAG_H/2 MAG_R 0
PROBE_CS
6 MAG_H/2 0 0
7 -COIL_H/2 COIL_IR 0
8 -COIL_H/2 COIL_OR 0
9 COIL_H/2 COIL_OR 0
10 COIL_H/2 COIL_IR 0

Action To create the points from the

1. Double-click on Point 1. Click on the icon
OR
2. In the Geometric Definition tab

select Point defined by its
parametric coordinates as type
of point
3. Select PROBE_CS as
coordinate system
4. Type -MAG_H/2 as first
coordinate
7. Click on OK

entering data for the remaining
entities
Result The points are

listed in the data tree: displayed in the graphic zone:

1.4.4. About display of entities in the graphic zone
Introduction The graphic representation of objects is not the same during the different
steps of building the device model.
From one step to the next, we are interested in:
representation of points and lines during geometry building
representation of nodes and surface elements during mesh generation
Possibilities to To control the graphic representation, Flux provides default settings, but the
modify the user can also modify this representation.
visualization
To do so, the following commands are available:
the Display commands, which manages the list of entities to display,
the Edit command, which allows the modification of the entity appearance
(characteristics of visibility and color)
How to display There are two methods to display entities in the graphic zone. The settings
entities can be made:
from the Display menu (1)
using icons from the Display toolbar (2)

1.4.5. Display point numbers
Goal The display of point numbers will be activated to see the reference point
numbers allocated by Flux.
Action To display the point (reference) numbers from the

Display menu: Display toolbar:
1. Click on Display 1. Click on the icon
point numbers
OR
Result The points, labeled with reference numbers, are displayed in the graphic zone.

1.4.6. About lines
Lines Lines can be created:

manually (choice of line type segment or arc - and entering extremity
points)
by propagation from existing lines using a transformation
by extrusion from existing points using a transformation
within the propagation or extrusion from other entities
Segments Segments are defined by starting and ending points. It does not matter if you
swap the starting and ending points.
Circle arcs Circle arcs can be defined in different ways:

either in a coordinate system:
The arc is included in a plane parallel to the XOY plane. It is counter-
clockwise oriented around an axis parallel to the OZ axis.
radius
ending point
angle
center
starting point
or by three points:
The arc is included in a plane defined by three points. It is oriented in the
direction imposed by three points.
middle point
starting point
ending point
There are some predefined coordinate systems (XYZ1, Z_ON_OX, Z_ON_OY) to

simplify the circle arcs description in the different main planes.
Number The number to identify the line is automatically allocated by Flux during the
line creation.

1.4.7. Create lines for the probe base
Goal Twelve straight segments are required to connect each point and create closed
outlines of the magnet, coil and air-gap bases.
The order to create the lines is presented in the figure below.
Coil base Air gap base

Line 9
Line 8 Line 10
Line 12
Line 7 Line 11
Line 2 Line 3 Line 4
Line 1 Line 5
Line 6
Magnet base
Data The table below describes the lines for the probe base.
Segment defined by starting and ending points
Number Starting point Ending point
1 1 2
2 2 3
3 3 4
4 4 5
5 5 6
6 6 1
7 3 7
8 7 8
9 8 9
10 9 10
11 10 4
12 10 7

Action To create the lines from the

1. Double-click on Line 1. Click on the icon
OR

select Segment defined by starting
and ending points as type of the line
3. Click on Point 1 in the graphic scene

=> its reference number enters as
starting point
ending point
5. Repeat steps 3 to 4 in the new reduced

dialog, entering data for the remaining
entities
Result The lines are


1.5. Building faces and volumes for the probe
Introduction The next step of the geometry description is building faces and volumes for
the probe.
The probe geometry is presented in the figure below.
Topic See Page

About automatic construction 62
Build faces of the probe base 63
Change to the standard view 64
About transformations 65
Create a geometric transformation 67
About propagation and extrusion 69
About selection by criterion 71
Extrude faces 72
Complete the construction by automatic building 74

1.5.1. About automatic construction
Introduction The faces and volumes are automatically created and identified using the
algorithms of automatic construction.
Principle: The principle of automatic face construction:

overview First, Flux computes all the existing surfaces and determines which surfaces
the points and the lines belong to. (A surface contains faces but it is not
limited. A surface is defined by three points linked by two lines.)
Next, the automatic face construction is carried out by a method of
identification of closed contours.
About faces The faces created by Flux using the automatic construction algorithms are
faces contained by planar, cylindrical or conical surfaces. These faces are
named automatic faces.

1.5.2. Build faces of the probe base
Goal The faces will be automatically built by Flux.
Action To build faces from the

Geometry menu: Geometry toolbar:
1. Point on Build and click on Build faces 1. Click on the icon
OR
Result The faces are


1.5.3. Change to the standard view
About view See 1.3.8 About graphic view.
Goal To better visualize the future 3D geometry of the probe, the view will be
changed.
Action To change the view from the

View menu: View toolbar:
Click on Standard view 1 Click on the icon
OR
Result The next view is displayed in the graphic zone.

1.5.4. About transformations
Principle of use Transformations are geometric functions that create new objects from existing
objects.
Various The various available functions are:

functions translation
rotation
affinity
helix
composed
Note: Only the transformation functions used in this tutorial are described here; refer
to the Users guide for more information about transformations.
Translation A translation is defined by a direction and a distance.

The figures below describe the creation of a new face using two different
translation transformations:
Translation vector
created direction and distance are

rectangle defined by:
- a working coordinate system
DZ vector - a vector (the DX, DY and DZ
components define the
direction and the amplitude of
the vector)
DY
DX basic
rectangle
Translation defined by 2 points and a ratio
vector created direction is defined by two

head rectangle points (a vector head point and a
vector tail point)
distance is proportional to the
distance between the two points
calculated with the scaling factor
(ratio)
vector
tail
basic
rectangle

Rotation A rotation is defined by a rotation axis and a rotation angle.

The figures below describe the creation of a new point using two different
rotation transformations:
Rotation defined by angles and a pivot point (its coordinates or reference
number)
created rotation axis is defined by:
point - a working coordinate system
- and a pivot point
rotation
angle rotation angle is defined about X, Y or
pivot
Z-axis
point
original
z point
y
x
Rotation defined by 3 points and 1 angle

head rotation rotation axis is defined by direction and
point axis position:
- a head point and a tail point give the
direction
pivot - a pivot point defines the position.
point
rotation angle is defined in the plane
original created
point point
perpendicular to the axis
tail
point
z
y
x
Note: The positive value of an angle corresponds to a counter-clockwise rotation.

1.5.5. Create a geometric transformation
Goal A transformation of rotation type is required to build the probe geometry.

The pivot point and the angle, needed to create the transformation, are shown
in the following figure:
90
Point 1
Data The characteristics of the transformation are shown in the following table:
Rotation defined by angles and existing pivot point
Rotation angle
Coord. Pivot
Name Comment about about about
system point
X-axis Y-axis Z-axis
Rotation to
PROBE_ROTX PROBE_CS 1 90 0 0
build the probe

Action To create the transformation from the

on Transformation
OR
2. Type PROBE_ROTX as name

3. Type Rotation transformation
for the probe as comment
4. Select Rotation defined by
angles and existing pivot point
as type
5. Select PROBE_CS as
coordinate system
6. Select point 1 in the list or in
the graphic zone as pivot point
X-axis
Y-axis
Z-axis
10. Click on OK
11. Click on Cancel to quit the

sequence
Result The transformation is listed in the data tree:

1.5.6. About propagation and extrusion
Definition The construction by propagation / extrusion is a building method that

constructs s new geometric entities, based on existing entities, by using a
geometric transformation like translation, rotation, etc.
We deal with:
propagation, when the image object, generated by transformation, is not
connected by lines to the source object
extrusion, when the image object, generated by transformation, is
connected by lines to the source object
Examples In the figures below, the parallelepiped is built by propagation / by extrusion

of the existing parallelogram (source) using a translation vector.
Construction by propagation: Construction by extrusion:
image face
image face
connection
translation
translation elements
source face source face

Building Some building options are provided in order to simplify the users work and
options to carry out a certain number of repetitive tasks semi-automatically.
The building options for construction by propagation, classified in three
categories, are presented in the table below.
The options allow
for geometric to define the geometric entities (points, lines, faces,
building volumes) created during the propagation
to create the linked mesh generator associated to the
for mesh transformation
preparation to assign the linked mesh generator to the entities
created by transformation
to create surface / volume regions
for preparation
to assign the created regions to the geometric entities
of regions
The building options for construction by extrusion, classified in two
categories, are presented in the table below.
The options allow
to define the form of connection elements
for geometric
to define the geometric entities (points, lines, faces,
building
volumes) created during the extrusion
to create the extrusion mesh generator associated to the
for mesh transformation
preparation to assign the extrusion mesh generator to the entities

1.5.7. About selection by criterion
Definition / use One speaks about selection by criterion when the selection is carried out by
the intermediary of the existing relations between the various entities (points
belonging to a line, ...) or characteristics, common to several entities (faces
with the same color, faces on the same surface, ...).
Operation The selection by criterion is available on the level of selection boxes and is
mode carried out in two stages as presented in the table below.
Stage Description
1 From a selection box:
opening the criteria list (with the button )
and selection of a criterion
2 From a specific (with logical operators) selection box:
selection of entities (graphic selection, by identifier or criterion)
with applying selection operators to the group of entities
Selection The selection criteria are presented in the tables below.

criteria
General criteria
The option allows
Select all selection of all entities
Clean selection deselection of all the entities previously selected
Select last instance selection of the last selected entity
Selection by
selection of the nearest entity to the entered coordinates
coordinates
Specific criteria (implying the use of the operators)
The selection by allows the selection of all the entities
line / face / volume belonging to a line / face / volume
surface belonging to a surface (defined by a face)
linear / face / volume region belonging to a linear / face / volume region
mechanical set belonging to a mechanical set
color defined by a color
visibility defined by a visibility (visible or invisible)
nature defined by a nature (standard, in air, no exist)
discretization defined by a discretization (point or line)
Selection To manage the logical operations on the groups of the selected entities, the
operators user disposes the selection operators introduced in the table below.
Operator Function
Exclude to remove entities from the list
Union to add entities in the list
Intersect to carry out the intersection of two groups of selection

1.5.8. Extrude faces
Goal The PROBE_ROTX transformation will be applied four times to extrude

three faces, as shown in the following figure.
Face 1
Face 2
Face 3
Action To extrude faces from the

1. Point on Extrude and click on Extrude faces 1. Click on the icon
OR
2. Click on
3. Click on Select all

Action (continued)
=> face reference numbers enter
4. Select PROBE_ROTX as transformation

5. Type 4 as number of times to apply the
transformation
6. Select Standard as type
7. Select Add volumes, faces and lines as
building options for extrusion
8. Click on OK
Result The volumes are


1.5.9. Complete the construction by automatic building
Goal Some faces are not built using construction by extrusion. It is necessary to
complete the construction by automatic building the missing faces.

OR
Result Two faces are added. The output is displayed in the History zone.
No line-line intersections
Number of surfaces found : 9
Checking the unicity of auxiliary points
Looking for identical points, minimum distance between 2
points is 0.223E-06
Checking the unicity of lines
Creation of 2 FACES :
57 58
buildFaces executed

1.6. Check and correct the geometry
Introduction The geometry should be verified, because entity intersections and

superimposed entities can block further geometry building.
Topic See Page

About intersections of entities 76
Check the geometry 77
Modify the visibility of faces to visualize the geometric 78
defects
Change the nature of faces 79
Save and close the project 81

1.6.1. About intersections of entities
Intersections The bordering property of the geometry-building module prohibits the

intersections of lines, of faces and of lines with faces. The intersections of
entities can block the geometry building process.
In the figure below, the lines of the parallelepiped intersect the circular face
of the inner cylinder of the torus. Thus, the faces and the volumes of this
parallelepiped cannot be built.
Geometric The intersections of entities are entities themselves in Flux, called geometric
defects defects. There are geometry checking tools to identify geometric defects and
healing geometry tools to correct them in Flux.
To avoid To avoid the problem of face intersections, it is possible to ignore some faces
intersections of during volume building.
faces
Nature of To allow the user to modify the consideration of entities when building faces
entities and volumes, a specific feature, called nature, is associated to points, lines
and faces.
Attribute The nature attribute allows us to set the following functions:

nature
The entity is taken into account for:

Nature
the geometry the mesh
standard (STANDARD) Yes Yes
in air (IN_AIR) No Yes
ignored (NO_EXIST) No No

1.6.2. Check the geometry
Goal The geometry will be verified to identify the presence of intersections of

entities.
Action To check the geometry from

1. Click on Check geometry 1. Click on the icon
OR
Result The geometric defects are

listed in the data tree: displayed in the History zone:

Warning : Some line-face
intersections found

Geometry is not correct
and needs to be corrected.

1.6.3. Modify the visibility of faces to visualize the geometric defects
Goal To see the intersections of the line 6 and faces 57 and 58, the visibility of all
faces, except faces 57 and 58, will be modified.
Action To modify the visibility of faces from the Data tree:
1. Click on Face 1 and,

keeping the Shift key pressed,
click on Face 56
2. Right click to open the contextual menu
and click on Set invisible

Result The next figure is displayed in the graphic zone.

1.6.4. Change the nature of faces
Goal There are two intersections of faces with a line. These intersections can block
the building of volumes. It is possible to ignore the two faces to avoid this
problem. Thus, the nature of these two faces will be modified.
The two intersections are shown in the figure below.
Intersections
Face 57
Line 6
Face 58
Action To change the nature of faces from the Data tree:
1. Click on Face 57 and Face 58,

keeping the Ctrl key pressed

and click on Edit array
3. Select NO_EXIST as
nature of faces in the
column to modify all
entities
4. Click on OK

Result The geometric defects are corrected.

After executing the geometry check again (see the previous paragraph), the
output is displayed in the History zone:

Geometry is correct.

1.6.5. Save and close the project
Goal The current project will be saved and closed.
Action To save and close the PROBE_3D.FLU project from the

1. Click on Close 1. Click on the icon
OR
2. Click on Yes

Part B: geometry and mesh description of the studied device Flux111

2. Geometric description of the wheel base object
Introduction This chapter presents the general steps of the geometry construction and the
data required to describe the wheel base geometry.
The wheel base object is presented in the figure below.
Tooth
Topic See Page

Create a Flux project for the wheel base 85
Strategy and tools for geometry description of the wheel base 87
object
Creation of geometric tools 91
Creation of points and lines for the wheel base 97
Building a face of the wheel base 103
Creation of transformations 105


2.1. Create a Flux project for the wheel base
Topic See Page

Create and name a new project for the wheel base 86

2.1.1. Create and name a new project for the wheel base
Goal At the beginning of the model description a new project will be created. The
new project will be renamed and saved.
Action (1) To create a new project from the

OR
Result The new project ANONYMOUS opens by default in the Geometry context.
The icon of the Geometry context appears in the Context toolbar.
Action (2) To rename and save the project from the

or Save as
OR
2. Type WHEEL_BASE_3D
as project name
3. Click on Save

2.2. Strategy and tools for geometry description of the

wheel base object

the available tools for geometry building
the analysis carried out for construction of the wheel geometry and the
selected strategy
Topic See Page

description
Main phases for geometric description of the wheel base 90


description
Available tools The tools available for geometric construction are: geometric parameters,
coordinate systems and transformations.
Device analysis An analysis of the device is necessary to determine the strategy of

and choice of construction, and the choice of construction tools.
construction
The analysis of the device and the construction tools chosen within the
tools
The operations it is planned
WHEEL_CS
to create a WHEEL_CS
to easily enter the cylindrical coordinate
coordinates of the system specific to the
points wheel base
(elementary pattern) (to anchor the wheel
center)
TOOTH_IR
BETA
to easily change WHEEL_R TOOTH_OR
to create 5 parameters to
dimensions of the
set dimensions of the
wheel
wheel elementary pattern
(elementary pattern)
WHEEL_TH
ALPHA
to create an ALPHA
to position the wheel in parameter to define the
the final project angular position of the
(anticipation) WHEEL_CS coordinate
system

Device analysis and choice of construction tools (continued)

to create a TOOTH_N
parameter to define the
number of teeth WHEEL_ROTZ
to create a WHEEL_ROTZ
to simplify the rotation type to build the
geometry building wheel base by propagation
to create a WHEEL_TRZ
WHEEL_TRZ
translation type to build the
whole wheel by extrusion

2.2.2. Main phases for geometric description of the wheel base
Outline An outline of the geometry description process to build the wheel base
geometry is presented in the table below.
Caution:
The geometric tools will be prepared to build the whole wheel but only the
elementary pattern will be built in this part. The construction of the whole wheel will
be carried out with the sensor construction.
Stage Description
As the WHEEL_BASE.FLU will be later imported in
De-activation of
1 Sensor_3D.FLU it is necessary to de-activate the
Aided mesh Aided mesh*
Tooth inner radius: TOOTH_IR = 12.5 mm
Tooth outer radius: TOOTH_OR = 21.5 mm
Number of teeth: TOOTH_N = 3
Creation of 7
Tooth angle: BETA =15
2 geometric
parameters Wheel radius: WHEEL_R = 10 mm
Wheel thickness: WHEEL_TH= 6 mm
Angle of the wheel angular position
in the final device: ALPHA = 0
Creation of 1 Cylindrical coordinate system: WHEEL_CS
3 coordinate (global coordinate system for the wheel
system description and positioning in the final device)
Creation of points and lines for

4
the wheel base
Building the face for the wheel

5
base
Rotation transformation for the

wheel base: WHEEL_ROTZ
6 Creation of 2 transformations
Translation transformation for
the wheel: WHEEL_TRZ
The next stages of building the whole wheel by propagation /
7
extrusion will be carried out in the final project (SENSOR_3D.FLU)
* Explanation concerning this subject is presented in About Aided mesh.

2.3. Creation of geometric tools
Introduction The geometry building begins by the creation of geometric tools: geometric
parameters and a coordinate system.
WHEEL_CS
ALPHA
TOOTH_IR
BETA
WHEEL_R TOOTH_OR
WHEEL_TH
Topic See Page

Deactivate aided mesh 92
Create geometric parameters 93
Create a coordinate system 95

2.3.1. Deactivate aided mesh
Definition Aided mesh is a tool box that permits the user to quickly realize a good
quality mesh. The aided mesh (global adjustment) is activated by default on
all flux projects.
Aided mesh Aided mesh assigns specific global tool on all entities of a new project. In
and imported order not to interfere during project import to the main project, it is needed to
Flux project de-activate aided mesh on project that will be imported later.
Action To deactivate the Aided mesh, from the Menu:
1. Edit the aided mesh box
2. Select Inactivated in the

State of aided mesh field

2.3.2. Create geometric parameters
About See 1.3.3 About geometric parameters.

geometric
parameters
Goal Seven parameters are required for the geometry description of the wheel.
Six parameters, required to build the wheel base object, are presented in the
next figure.
ALPHA
TOOTH_IR
BETA
WHEEL_R TOOTH_OR
The seventh parameter, required to build the whole wheel, is presented in the
next figure.
WHEEL_TH
Data The table below contains the values of the geometric parameters.
Geometric parameters
Name Comment Expression
TOOTH_IR Tooth inner radius 12.5
TOOTH_OR Tooth outer radius 21.5
TOOTH_N Number of teeth 3
WHEEL_R Wheel radius 10
ALPHA Wheel angle 0
BETA Tooth angle 15
WHEEL_TH Wheel thickness 6

Action To create the geometric parameters from the

on Geometric parameter
OR
2. Type TOOTH_IR as name
3. Type Inner radius of the tooth as

comment
4. Type 12.5 as algebraic expression
for the parameter
5. Click on OK

entering data for the remaining entities.
Result The geometric parameters are listed in the data tree:

2.3.3. Create a coordinate system
About See 1.3.10 About coordinate systems.

coordinate
systems
Goal A cylindrical coordinate system is required to describe the geometry of the

wheel, as presented in the figure below.
WHEEL_CS
Data The table below describes the coordinate system:

Cylindrical coordinate system defined with respect to the Global system
Origin coordinates Rotation angle
Name Comment Units First Second Third about about about
(R) () (Z) X-axis Y-axis Z-axis
Wheel coordinate millimeter/
WHEEL_CS 0 0 0 0 0 ALPHA
system degree

Action To create the coordinate system from the

on Coordinate system
OR
2. Type WHEEL_CS as name of

coordinate system
3. Type Wheel coordinate system
as associated comment
4. Select Cylindrical as type of
coordinate system
5. Select Global as definition of
coordinate system
6. Select MILLIMETER as length
unit
7. Select DEGREE as angle unit

X-axis
Y-axis
13. Type ALPHA as rotation angle
about Z-axis
14. Click on OK
Result The coordinate system is listed in the data tree:

2.4. Creation of points and lines for the wheel base
Introduction The next step is the creation of points and lines for the wheel base object.
The next figure describes the planar geometry of the wheel base object.
TOOTH_IR
BETA
TOOTH_OR
WHEEL_R
Topic See Page

Create points for the wheel base 98
Create lines for the wheel base 100

2.4.1. Create points for the wheel base
About points See 1.4.2 About points.
Goal Six points are required to build the wheel base outline in the XOY plane, as
Point 1
TOOTH_IR
BETA
TOOTH_OR
WHEEL_R
Point 2
Point 3
Point 4
Point 5
Point 6
Data The table below describes the points for the wheel base.
Points defined by its parametric coordinates
Coordinate Local coordinates*
Number
system First (R) Second () Third (Z)
1 0 0 0
2 WHEEL_R 0 0
3 TOOTH_IR BETA 0
WHEEL_CS
4 TOOTH_IR -BETA 0
5 TOOTH_OR BETA 0
6 TOOTH_OR -BETA 0
* Coordinates in cylindrical coordinate system: R, (see 1.3.10 About

coordinate systems).

Action To create the points from the

1. Double-click on Point 1. Click on the icon
OR

select Point defined by its
parametric coordinates as type
of point
3. Select WHEEL_CS as
coordinate system

7. Click on OK

entering data for the remaining
entities
Result The points are

listed in the data tree: displayed in the graphic zone*:
* use:
the Zoom all command or to visualize all points
the Display point numbers command or to display point reference
numbers

2.4.2. Create lines for the wheel base
About lines See 1.4.6 About lines.
Goal Three straight segments and two arcs are required to construct the wheel base
outline.
The order to create the lines is presented in the figure below.
Note:
It does not matter which are the starting and ending points of the straight segments.
The arc is counter-clockwise oriented around an axis parallel to the OZ axis, so it is
not possible to swap the starting and ending points during the creation of the arcs.
Data The tables below describe the lines for the wheel base:
Segment defined by starting and ending points
Number Starting point Ending point
1 1 2
2 3 5
3 4 6
Arc defined by its radius, starting and ending points

Number Coordinate system Radius Starting point Ending point
4 TOOTH_IR 4 3
WHEEL_CS
5 TOOTH_OR 6 5

Action (1) To create the straight lines from the

OR

select Segment defined by starting
and ending points as type of the line
3. Click on Point 1 in the graphic zone

starting point
4. Click on Point 2 in the graphic zone
ending point
5. Repeat steps 3 to 4 in the new reduced

dialog to create the remaining segments
Result (1) The lines are displayed in the graphic zone:

Action (2) To create the arcs from the

OR

select Arc defined by its radius,
starting and ending points as type
of the line
3. Select WHEEL_CS as coordinate
system
4. Type TOOTH_IR as arc radius
5. Click on the Point 4 in the graphic
zone
starting point
6. Click on the Point 3 in the graphic
zone
ending point
7. Repeat steps 4 to 6 in the new dialog

to create the second arc (see the table
on page before the previous page)
Result (2) The lines are


2.5. Building a face of the wheel base
Introduction The next step is building a face of the wheel base object.
Topic See Page

Build a face 104

2.5.1. Build a face
Goal The face will be automatically built by Flux.
Action To build the face from the

OR
Result The face is


2.6. Creation of transformations
Introduction The whole wheel will be built by means of transformations. The last step is
the creation of 2 transformations.
Topic See Page

Create transformations 106
Save and close the project 108

2.6.1. Create transformations
About See 1.5.4 About transformations.

transforma-
tions
Goal Two transformations are required to build the wheel geometry, as shown in
the following figures:
a rotation transformation defined by its a transformation of translation vector type
pivot point and angle
360/TOOTH_N
Point 1
WHEEL_TH
Data The characteristics of the transformations are shown in the following tables:
Rotation defined by angles and existing pivot point
Rotation angle
Coordinate Pivot
Name Comment about about about
system point
X-axis Y-axis Z-axis
Rotation to build
WHEEL_ROTZ WHEEL_CS 1 0 0 360/TOOTH_N
the whole wheel
Translation vector
Translation vector
Name Comment Coordinate system
DX DY DZ
Translation to build the
WHEEL_TRZ XYZ1 0 0 WHEEL_TH
wheel thickness
Action To create the transformations from the

on Transformation
OR

Action (continued)
1. Type WHEEL_ROTZ as name

2. Type Rotation to build the
whole wheel as comment
3. Select Rotation defined by
angles and existing pivot point
as type
4. Select WHEEL_CS as
coordinate system
5. Select point 1 in the list or in the
graphic zone as pivot point
X-axis
Y-axis
8. Type 360/TOOTH_N as
rotation angle about Z-axis
9. Click on OK
1.
10. Type WHEEL_TRZ as name
11. Type Translation to build the
wheel thickness as comment
12. Select Translation vector as
type
13. Select XYZ1 as coordinate

system
14. Type 0 as DX vector component
15. Type 0 as DY vector component
16. Type WHEEL_TH as DZ
vector component
17. Click on OK
18. Click on Cancel to quit the

sequence
Result The transformations are listed in the data tree:

2.6.2. Save and close the project
Goal The current project will be saved and closed.
Action To save and close the project WHEEL_BASE_3D.FLU from the

1. Click on Close 1. Click on the icon
OR
2. Click on Yes

Flux Geometry description of the sensor
3. Geometry description of the sensor
Introduction This chapter presents the general steps of geometry construction and the data
required to describe the sensor geometry.
The sensor is presented in the figure below.
Infinite box
Wheel
Probe 1
Probe 2
Topic See Page

Create a Flux project for the sensor 111
Strategy and tools for geometric description of the sensor 113
Importation of the wheel base object and building the whole 117
wheel
Importation of the probe objects and positioning of the wheel 131
and probes
Completing the domain 139

Geometry description of the sensor Flux

3.1. Create a Flux project for the sensor
Topic See Page

Create and name a new project for the sensor 112

3.1.1. Create and name a new project for the sensor
Goal At the beginning of the model description a new project will be created,
renamed and saved.
Action (1) To create a new project from the

OR
Result The new project ANONYMOUS opens by default in the Geometry context.
The icon of the Geometry context appears in the Context toolbar.
Action (2) To rename and save the project from the

or Save as
OR
2. Type SENSOR_3D
as project name
3. Click on Save

3.2. Strategy and tools for geometric description of the

sensor

the tools of objects management available in Flux (Flux object importation)
the selected strategy for the geometry building of the sensor
Topic See Page

description
Main phases for geometric description 115
Reading advice This section presents an outline of the geometry building process of the
sensor. Details on the different contents definition of new concepts,
explanation on the use of different tools, etc. are given in the following
sections.


description
Strategy: The main principle of geometric construction adopted in this tutorial is the
reminder following:
description of elementary parts of the structure (Flux objects) in
independent Flux projects: probe, base wheel
construction of the whole sensor in a new Flux project by using existing
Flux objects
Device analysis The analysis of the device and the construction tools chosen within the

to use the WHEEL_ROTZ
to easily build the transformation of rotation type
wheel base to build the wheel base by
geometry means of propagation/extrusion
construction
to use the WHEEL_TRZ

to easily build the
transformation of translation
whole wheel
type to build the whole wheel
geometry
by extrusion
-WHEEL_TH/2
to use the WHEEL_TH
to displace the
parameter to move down the
wheel
coordinate system of the wheel
to position the to use the ALPHA and ANGLE ALPHA
wheel and the parameters to rotate the wheel

probe and the probe
ANGLE

3.2.2. Main phases for geometric description
Outline An outline of the geometry description process to build the sensor geometry
is presented in the table below.
Stage Description
1 Importation of the elementary pattern (WHEEL_BASE_3D)
2 Building the whole wheel (see details in 3.3.2 Geometry building process of the wheel)
3 Importation of the probe object (PROBE_3D)
4 Rotation of the probe and rotation of the cogged wheel
5 Second importation of the probe object (PROBE_3D)
6 Addition of an infinite box


3.3. Importation of the wheel base object and building the

whole wheel
Introduction The geometry description of the sensor begins by the importation of the wheel
base object and building the whole wheel.
The wheel base object and the whole wheel are presented in the table below.
Wheel base Wheel
Topic See Page

Import the wheel base object 118
Geometry building process of the wheel 119
Propagate a face (tooth) 120
Extrude a line 122
Create a line 124
Propagate a line 126
Build faces 128
Extrude faces of the wheel base 129

3.3.1. Import the wheel base object
Goal The wheel base object will be imported into the current project.
Action To import the wheel base object from the Project menu:
1. Point on Import
and click on Import FLUX object
3. Select
WHEEL_BASE_3D.FLU
4. Click on Open
5. Click on OK
Result The wheel base object is displayed in the graphic zone.

3.3.2. Geometry building process of the wheel
Process The main steps of the geometry description process to build the whole wheel
are presented in the table below.
Step Action
1 Propagate the
face (tooth)
2 Extrude the line
3 Create an arc
4 Propagate the arc
5 Build faces
6 Extrude the faces

3.3.3. Propagate a face (tooth)
About See 1.5.6 About propagation and extrusion.

propagation /
extrusion
Goal The WHEEL_ROTZ transformation will be applied twice to propagate the

face (tooth), as presented in the figure below.
Face 1
Action To propagate the face from the

1. Point on Propagate 1. Click on the icon
and click on Propagate faces
OR

Action (continued)
2. Select the face in the graphic zone:

click on Face 1
=> its reference number enters
3. Select WHEEL_ROTZ as transformation

transformation
5. Select Add faces, lines and points as building
options for propagation
6. Click on OK
Result The next figure is displayed in the graphic zone*:
* use the Zoom all command or .

3.3.4. Extrude a line

propagation /
extrusion
Goal The WHEEL_ROTZ transformation will be applied three times to extrude

the line, as presented in the figure below.
Line 1
Action To extrude the line from the

1. Point on Extrude and click on Extrude lines 1. Click on the icon
OR

Action (continued)
2. Select the line in the graphic zone:

click on Line 1
=> line reference number enters

transformation
6. Select Add faces, lines and points as building
options for extrusion
7. Click on OK

3.3.5. Create a line
About lines See 1.4.6 About lines
Goal One arc is required to connect points 3 and 10 to complete the wheel
geometry, as presented in the figure below.
Point 10
Point 3
Data The table below describes the characteristics of the line to create for the
wheel.
Arc defined by its radius, starting and ending points
Number Coordinate system Radius Starting point Ending point
19 WHEEL_CS TOOTH_IR 3 10

Action To create the line from the

OR

select Arc defined by its radius,
starting and ending points as type
of the line
3. Select WHEEL_CS as coordinate
system
4. Type TOOTH_IR as arc radius

starting point
6. Click on Point 10 in the graphic
zone
ending point

3.3.6. Propagate a line

propagation /
extrusion
Goal The WHEEL_ROTZ transformation will be applied twice to propagate the

line, as presented in the figure below.
Line 19
Action To propagate the line from the

1. Point on Propagate 1. Click on the icon
and click on Propagate lines
OR

Action (continued)
2. Select the line in the graphic zone:

click on Line 19

transformation
5. Click on OK

3.3.7. Build faces

1. Point on Build and click on Build faces Click on the icon
OR
Result The next figure is displayed in the graphic zone:

3.3.8. Extrude faces of the wheel base

propagation /
extrusion
Goal The WHEEL_TRZ transformation will be applied to extrude all faces, as

WHEEL_TRZ

Action To extrude faces from the

1. Point on Extrude and click on Extrude faces 1. Click on the icon
OR
1. Click on
2. Click on Select all
=> face reference numbers enter
3. Select WHEEL_TRZ as transformation

transformation
6. Select Add volumes, faces, lines and points
as building options for extrusion
7. Click on OK

3.4. Importation of the probe objects and positioning of the

wheel and probes
Introduction The next phases of geometry building are:

the importation of the first probe object,
the positioning of the wheel and the first probe by modifying the geometric
parameters
the importation of the second probe object
Topic See Page

Modify the coordinate system 132
Import the first probe object 134
Modify the geometric parameters 136
Import the second probe object 137

3.4.1. Modify the coordinate system
About See 1.3.7 About modification and deletion of an entity.

modification
Goal Before the importation of the probe object, the WHEEL_CS coordinate
system will be displaced.
WHEEL_CS
-WHEEL_TH/2

Action To modify the coordinate system from the Data tree:
1. Double-click on WHEEL_CS
2. Type WHEEL_TH/2 as third

component
3. Click on OK

3.4.2. Import the first probe object
Goal The probe object will be imported into the current project.

Action To import the probe object from the Project menu:
1. Point on Import
3. Select
PROBE_3D.FLU
4. Click on Open
5. Click on OK

3.4.3. Modify the geometric parameters
About See 1.3.7 About modification and deletion of an entity.

modification
Goal Two geometric parameters will be modified:

ALPHA, corresponding to the angle of the wheel position
ANGLE, corresponding to the angle of the probe position
ALPHA
ANGLE
Action To modify the ALPHA and ANGLE parameters from the Data tree:
1. Click on ALPHA and ANGLE


3. Type 75 as ALPHA
expression
4. Type 30 as ANGLE
expression
5. Click on OK

3.4.4. Import the second probe object
Goal The second probe object will be imported into the current project.

Action To import the probe object from the Project menu:
1. Point on Import
3. Select
PROBE_3D.FLU
4. Click on Open
5. Click on OK

3.5. Completing the domain
Introduction The last phase of geometry building is adding an infinite box to close the
study domain.
Topic See Page

About an infinite box 140
Add an infinite box 142
Build faces 143
Check the geometry 144
Build volumes 145
Modify the visibility of faces 146

3.5.1. About an infinite box
Infinite box In the Flux software, using a transformation to model an infinite domain is
technique called the infinite box technique.
The exterior domain (infinite) is linked to an image domain (called the
infinite box) through a space transformation.
Principle of use The use of the infinite box implicitly assumes a null field at infinity.
The boundary conditions on the corresponding boundaries of the infinite box
are set automatically in the physical module.
Types of The infinite boxes available for 3D study domain and their characteristics are
infinite box presented in the table below.
Infinite box Characteristics

parallelepiped:
centered in (0,0,0) in the global
coordinate system
comprises 16 points, 32 lines
dimensions set by the user
cylinder:
along the axis X, Y or Z
centered in (0,0,0) in the global
coordinate system
comprises 32 points, 32 lines
dimensions set by the user
Length and Length and angle units are those associated with the domain.
angle units

How to choose The dimensions of the infinite box are defined by the user. This requires a
the dimensions? certain experience because there is no general rule.
We can, however, give some advice:
the distance between the device and the interior surface of the infinite box is
at least equal to the dimension of the device in this direction
the dimensions of the infinite box are related to the mesh. In Flux 3D, the
number of elements on the thickness of the box must be roughly equal (at
least) to two (second-order elements) or to three (first-order elements).
The mesh and the size of the infinite box must take into account the studied
phenomena. The computations should be performed as follows:
for computing of a global or a local quantity inside the device, it is
unnecessary to refine the mesh of the infinite box;
for computing of the field created outside the device, it is necessary to
define the box of more significant size and to refine the mesh inside.
It is recommended to parameterize the dimensions of the infinite box to
adjust its size during the meshing.

3.5.2. Add an infinite box
Goal An infinite box will be added to close the study domain.
Data The main characteristics of the infinite box are shown in the following table.
Parallelepiped infinite box

X inner size, X outer size, Y inner size, Y outer size, Z inner size, Z outer size,
length length length length length length
50 60 50 60 30 40
Action To create the infinite box from the

on Infinite Box
OR
2. Select Cube as type of the infinite box
3. Type 50 as X inner size

4. Type 60 as X outer size
5. Type 50 as Y inner size
6. Type 60 as Y outer size
7. Type 30 as Z inner size
8. Type 40 as Z outer size
9. Click on OK
Result The infinite box is displayed in the graphic zone:

3.5.3. Build faces

OR

3.5.4. Check the geometry
Goal The geometry will be verified to identify the presence of geometric defects,
which can block the building of volumes.
Action To check the geometry from the

1. Click on Check geometry 1. Click on the icon
OR
Result The output is displayed in the History zone:

Geometry is correct.

3.5.5. Build volumes
Goal The volumes will be automatically built by Flux.
Action To build volumes from the

1. Point on Build and click on Build volumes 1. Click on the icon
OR

3.5.6. Modify the visibility of faces
Goal The visibility of some faces will be modified to see the sensor inside of the
infinite box.
Action (1) To activate the selection filter from the

Select menu: Select toolbar:
1. Click on Select faces 1. Click on the icon
OR
Action (2) To modify the visibility of faces from the graphic zone:
1. Click on the faces


and click on Set invisible
3. Repeat steps 1 to 2 to set invisible the necessary

quantity of faces

Flux Mesh generation of the sensor
4. Mesh generation of the sensor
Introduction This chapter presents the general steps of mesh generation of the computation
domain and the data required to describe the sensor meshing.
The meshed sensor is presented in the figure below.
Topic See Page

Strategy and tools for mesh generation of the sensor 149
Meshing the sensor with aided mesh 155
Optimize the mesh 163
Meshing the sensor 181

Mesh generation of the sensor Flux

4.1. Strategy and tools for mesh generation of the sensor
Introduction This section shows the available meshing tools and the main phases for mesh
generation of the sensor.
Topic See Page

Available meshing tools and analysis before mesh generation 150
Main phases for mesh description 152

4.1.1. Available meshing tools and analysis before mesh generation
Local / global Two solutions are offered to users for the mesh adjustment: the global
mesh adjustment (automatic) and / or the local adjustment (manual).
adjustments
The global adjustment permits to adjust the automatic mesh (tetrahedrons
elements) of the whole domain taking into account certain geometry
constraints (faces or lines that are distorted, thin, or close to each other but
that are not part of the same geometry). It is done automatically thanks to the
Aided Mesh tool box.
The local adjustment permits to locally adjust the mesh near an entity (point,
line) or a group of entities defined by the user (creation and assignment of
mesh tools).
Use Usually, it is advised to first mesh the device with the Aided mesh preset
default values. Then if the user is not completely satisfied of the mesh quality,
it is possible to adjust the default values of the aided mesh and /or to add
some local mesh information where needed.
Device analysis An analysis of the device is necessary to determine the strategy of meshing,
and choice of and the choice of mesh tools.
mesh tools
The analysis of the device and the mesh tools chosen within the framework of
this tutorial are summarized in the table below.
To control the node Modify the aided shadow value
density of the air gap
between the teeth and the
magnet (high magnetic
field)
MEDIUM
to modify 2
to control the node predefined mesh
density of the infinite box points LARGE and
MEDIUM
LARGE

To create a local
null relaxation on the
infinite box lines
Relaxline_BI
To control the node To create a local high

density on the 3 tooth of deviation mesh line
the wheel for the tooth lines
Meshline_deviation

4.1.2. Main phases for mesh description
Outline An outline of the mesh generating process is presented in the table below.
Stage Description
1 Synchronizing with aided mesh preset values
2 Meshing the device
3 Modification of aided mesh values and meshing the device
Outer size infinite box mesh point:
Modification of 2 LARGE = 9 mm
3
predefined mesh points Inner size infinite box mesh point:
MEDIUM = 6 mm
MEDIUM
Assignment of
the MEDIUM mesh point
to points
4 LARGE
and assignment of
the LARGE mesh point to
points
Creation of deviation MESHLINE_TEETH :

5
mesh line Relative deviation = 0.75

Assignment of
6 the MESHLINE_TEETH
mesh line to lines
Meshline_deviation
Creation of a line RELAXLINE_BI = 0

7
relaxation
Assignment of
8 the RELAXLINE_BI
relaxation to lines
Relaxline_BI
Meshing:
meshing lines
meshing faces
9
meshing volumes
generation of second
order elements


4.2. Meshing the sensor with aided mesh
Introduction The first step of mesh generation of the sensor is meshing lines and faces with
aided mesh preset values.
Topic See Page

Change to the mesh context 156
About the mesh context 157
About Aided mesh 158
Synchronize Aided mesh value and mesh lines, faces and 182
volumes

4.2.1. Change to the mesh context
Goal The Geometry context of Flux3D should be changed to the Mesh context.
Action To activate the Mesh context (display the Mesh toolbar) from the Context
toolbar:
1. Select the Mesh Context

using the arrows

4.2.2. About the mesh context
Tools of the After having activated the Mesh context, toolbars dedicated to the mesh
mesh context description appear in the Flux3D window.
The different toolbars and their principal roles are briefly described below.
1 3 2 4
5
Mesh context toolbars Function

1 to create mesh entities
2 to assign mesh entities to geometric entities
3 to mesh lines, faces, volumes;
to generate second order elements;
to delete the mesh
4 to check the mesh
5 to display mesh points, mesh lines, nodes,
surface elements

4.2.3. About Aided mesh
Introduction The global adjustment permits to adjust the automatic mesh (tetrahedrons
elements) of the whole domain taking into account certain geometry
constraints (faces or lines that are distorted, thin, or close to each other but
that are not part of the same geometry). It is done automatically thanks to the
Aided Mesh tool box.
Aided mesh The Aided Mesh box groups a list of tools preset with default values that are
available to adjust the mesh globally:
Aided mesh point (on free points)
Deviation (on free lines/faces)
Relaxation (on free line/ faces/ volumes)
Shadow (on free faces)
The aided mesh is activated by default.
Use Usually, it is advised to first mesh the device with the preset default values.
Then if the user is not completely satisfied of the mesh quality, it is possible
to adjust the default values of the aided mesh and /or to add some local mesh
information where needed.
Note! If there is global and local adjustment on the same project, the local
adjustment has the priority on global adjustment. In this case, the global adjustment
information will be assign on entities that are free of local mesh information (free
points, free lines and free faces.

4.2.4. Synchronize Aided mesh value and mesh lines, faces and
volumes
Goal The computation domain will be meshed in the following way: meshing lines,
meshing faces and meshing volumes.
Action 1 As we have imported Flux objects, it necessary to synchronize with aided

mesh preset values.
Mesh menu:
1. Point on Aided Mesh and

click on Edit
Aided mesh box:
2. OK

Action 2 To mesh lines from the

Mesh menu: Mesh toolbar:
1. Point on Mesh and click on Mesh lines 1. Click on the icon
OR
Result The next figure is displayed in the graphic scene.

Action 3 To mesh faces from the

1. Point on Mesh and click on Mesh faces 1. Click on the icon
OR
Result The results appear as below.

Action 4 To mesh volumes from the

1. Point on Mesh and click on Mesh volumes 1. Click on the icon
OR
The output is displayed in the History zone:

Volume elements :
Number of elements not evaluated : 0 %
Number of excellent quality elements : 42.47 %
Number of good quality elements : 41.23 %
Number of average quality elements : 14.71 %
Number of poor quality elements : 1.6 %
meshDomain executed
Comments To optimize the mesh, it is advised to have at least a two elements large
Infinite box and to dense and regularize the mesh in the probes and between
the probe and cogged wheel (in order to take into account the physics).

4.3. Optimize the mesh
Introduction After a first mesh, it is necessary to optimize the mesh result by setting aided
values and adding some local mesh information
Topic See Page

164
About mesh tools

Modify the Aided shadow on faces 167
Modify the mesh points 170
Change the display and the view 169
Assign mesh points to points 170
Create a line relaxation 172
Assign relaxation line to lines 174
Create a mesh line 176
Assign meshline to lines 178

4.3.1. About mesh tools
Mesh To mesh the device is to subdivide the computation domain into finite
elements:
nodes
line elements
face elements
volume elements
Meshing tools The meshing tools accessible in the Mesh context are the following:
Tool Function
Mesh point to control the size of mesh elements through
the geometric points
Mesh line to control the size of mesh elements through
the geometric lines
Mesh generator to perform the subdivision into finite elements
(or algorithms for meshing) on faces or volumes
Relaxation to control the repartition of the mesh density
through lines, faces and volumes
Shadow To control the mesh in the area where two
object are close (only in 3D)
Mesh point The Mesh point distributes nodes on the lines based on weights assigned to
points.
The node spacing on a line between two end points with different mesh points
is determined by interpolation, taking into consideration the different values
at the two ends of the line.
Default mesh There are three predefined mesh points:

points SMALL
MEDIUM
LARGE
Their values are computed by Flux according to dimensions of the geometry
of the device.
The default mesh point values proposed to the user are expressed in
millimeters.

Mesh line The Mesh line distributes nodes on the lines based on a subdivision of the
line length.
We can distinguish two modes of distribution of nodes on lines:
uniformly distributed nodes: line elements of the same length (uniform
distribution of nodes)
nodes distributed in a geometrical progression (non-uniform distribution of
nodes)
It is also possible to take into account the node distribution on curved lines
with the Mesh line of the deviation type (repartition of nodes in function of a
deviation criteria)
Mesh The different mesh generators are the following:

generators generic mesh generators:
- automatic
- mapped
- none (no mesh)
users mesh generators (associated with a transformation):
- linked
- extrusion
The automatic mesh generator is used by default in Flux2D.
Mesh generator Function
automatic to create triangular elements on the surfaces and
tetrahedral elements on the volumes
(option to apply deviation on faces in 3D)
mapped to create quadrangular elements on surfaces and the
hexahedral elements on the volumes
none (no mesh) to impose non meshed zones
linked to impose the same mesh on faces linked by a geometric
transformation
extrusion to reproduce the same mesh in layers on domains
obtained by extrusion (the volume elements are prisms
or hexahedrons, depending on the mesh of the base
faces)

Relaxation Relaxation enables the creation of triangular or tetrahedral good quality

elements as big as possible depending of the size of geometrical entity. The
mesh is denser on small entities and more relaxed on bigger entities,
depending on the relaxation coefficient.
The example below show relaxation on lines:
Low relaxation on lines
Medium relaxation on lines
High relaxation on lines
Shadow (3D) Shadow can be applied on faces closed to each other in 3D only. Shadow
enables to take into account the proximity of disconnected objects.

4.3.2. Modify the Aided shadow on faces
Action Edit the Aided mesh box and modify the shadow on faces as below.
1. Edit the Aided mesh box
2. Select Shadow as parameters of aided mesh
3. Select Medium (s=0.5) as setting of shadow
4. Click on OK

4.3.3. Modify the mesh points
Goal The LARGE mesh point, applied to the points on the outer faces of the
infinite box, and the MEDIUM mesh point, applied to the points on the inner
faces of the infinite box, will be modified.
Data The table below describes the new values for the LARGE and MEDIUM
mesh points.
Mesh points
Name Comment Value Color
LARGE Large mesh size 9 Red
MEDIUM Medium mesh size 6 Yellow
Action To modify the mesh points from the Data tree:
1. Click on LARGE and MEDIUM,


3. Type 9 as
value for the
LARGE mesh
point
4. Type 6 as
value for the
MEDIUM
mesh point
5. Click on OK

4.3.4. Change the display and the view
Goal To better visualize the points of the infinite box, to which the mesh points
will be assigned, the display of entities and the view will be changed.
Action (1) To display the points and lines from the

Display menu: Display toolbar:
1. Click on Display points 1. Click on the icons
and Display lines
OR
Action (2) To rotate the view using the mouse:

move the mouse close to the center of the object, click on the view with the
left button of the mouse and move the mouse, keeping the left button
pressed

4.3.5. Assign mesh points to points
Goal The mesh points will be assigned to the points on the infinite box as follows:
the MEDIUM mesh point will be assigned to the points on the inner faces
MEDIUM
the LARGE mesh point will be assigned to the points on the outer faces
LARGE

Action To assign mesh point to points from the

1. Point on Assign mesh information 1. Click on the icon
and click on Assign mesh point to points
OR
2. Select the points in the graphic zone:

click on the points
3. Select MEDIUM as mesh point

4. Click on OK
5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 in the new dialog to

assign the LARGE mesh point to points
(see the figure on the previous page)

4.3.6. Create a line relaxation
Data The table below describes the characteristics of the line relaxation for the
infinite box.
Relaxation Line
Name Value Color
RELAXLINE_BI Null (r=0.00) Magenta
Action To create the mesh line from the

Data tree: Mesh toolbar:
1. Double-click on Relaxation line
OR
2. Type RELAXLINE_BI as name
3. In the Definition tab select a Null

relaxation
4. Click on the Appearance tab
5. Select Magenta as color
6. Click on OK
8. Click on Cancel to quit

8. the sequence

Result The new relaxation line is listed in the data tree:

4.3.7. Assign relaxation line to lines
About selection See 1.5.7 About selection by criterion.

by criterion
Goal The relaxation line will be assigned to the infinite box lines in order to
increase the mesh density.
Relaxline_BI
Action To assign a relaxation line to lines from the

Mesh menu: OR Mesh toolbar:
1 Point on Assign mesh information

and click on Assign relaxation to lines

2. Select the lines in

graphic view
maintaining Ctrl key
pressed
3. Select Relaxline_BI
4. Click OK

4.3.8. Create a mesh line
Data The table below describes the characteristics of the mesh line for teeth
extremities.
Mesh Line
Name Type Value Color
MESHLINE_TEETH Relative deviation 0.75 White
Action To create the mesh line from the

Data tree: Mesh toolbar:
1. Double-click on Mesh point
OR
2. Type Meshline_teeth as name
3. In the Definition tab select

Relative deviation
4. Type 0.75 as value of the mesh
line
5. Click on the Appearance tab
6. Select White as color
7. Click on OK
8. Click on Cancel to quit

8. the sequence

Result The new mesh line is listed in the data tree:

4.3.9. Assign meshline to lines
About selection See 1.5.7 About selection by criterion.

by criterion
Goal The meshline will be assigned to the lines belonging to the extremity faces of
the cogged wheel. The goal is to increase the mesh density in the air gap
between the teeth and the magnets when they are in front of each other.
Meshline_Teeth
Action To assign a mesh line to lines from the

Mesh menu: OR Mesh toolbar:
2 Point on Assign mesh information

and click on Assign meshline to lines

2. Select the lines in

graphic view
maintaining Ctrl key
pressed
3. Select meshline_teeth
4. Click OK


4.4. Meshing the sensor
Introduction The last step of mesh generation of the sensor is meshing lines, faces and
volumes and generation of second order elements. The meshed sensor is
Topic See Page

Mesh lines, mesh faces, mesh volumes and generate second 182
order elements
Save the project and close the Flux window 185

4.4.1. Mesh lines, mesh faces, mesh volumes and generate second
order elements
Goal The computation domain will be meshed in the following way: meshing lines,
meshing faces, meshing volumes and generation of second order elements.
Action (1) To mesh lines from the

1. Point on Mesh and click on Mesh lines 1. Click on the icon
OR
Result (1) The next figure is displayed in the graphic zone.

Action (2) To mesh faces from the

1. Point on Mesh and click on Mesh faces 1. Click on the icon
OR
Result (2) The next figure is displayed in the graphic zone.

Action (3) To mesh volumes from the

1. Point on Mesh and click on Mesh volumes 1. Click on the icon
OR
Result (3) The output is displayed in the History zone:

Volume elements :
Number of elements not evaluated : 0 %
Number of excellent quality elements : 43.86 %
Number of good quality elements : 40.09 %
Number of average quality elements : 14.47 %
Number of poor quality elements : 1.59 %
Action (4) To generate second order elements from the

1. Point on Mesh 1. Click on the icon
and click on Generate second order elements
OR
Result (4) The output is displayed in the History zone:

Generating 2nd order elements is running
Total number of nodes --> 120013

4.4.2. Save the project and close the Flux window
Goal The current project will be saved and the Flux window will be closed to
return to the Flux supervisor.
Action (1) To save the SENSOR_3D.FLU project from the

OR
Action (2) To close the Flux window from the

1. Click on Exit 1. Click on the icon
OR

Annex Flux

Flux Annex
5. Annex
Introduction This chapter describes the creation and use of command files.
Topic See Page

Use of command files 189

Annex Flux

Flux Annex
5.1. Use of command files
Introduction This section describes the use of command files.
Topic See Page

About command files 190
Execute a command file 191

Annex Flux
5.1.1. About command files
Introduction The command files, also called command programs or scripts, make possible
the automation of a certain number of specific actions.
Instead of manually executing a series of actions within Flux, you can save
the sequences of commands, which you can later replay.
The saved sequences can be improved due to the Python language which
authorizes the utilization of variables, the implementation of loops,
conditional or unconditional connections,
A command file is therefore of interest as it can:
accelerate the most frequent operations
automate a series of complex tasks
Command file A Flux command file is a text file, which contains one or more Flux
commands in the Python language. It uses the filename extension *.py.
General The more general operating mode is presented in the table below.
operation
Stage Description Context

1 Saving in a command file a sequence of Flux
Flux
commands
2 Modification of the previous command file by
Text editor
writing the code in the programming language
3 Execution of a command file Flux
Default A command file is automatically created / closed by Flux upon the initiation /
command files closing of the Flux session. During the 3D session Flux creates a command
file Preflu3D_log.py.
User The user can manage command files by means of the Flux commands from
management the Project \ Command file menu.
Flux command Function
New creation / opening of a file
Interrupt break of the sequence saving
Resume resumption of the sequence saving
Close end of the sequence saving / closing the file
Modes of There are two modes to execute a command file. These two modes are
execution presented in the table below.
Mode Description
direct mode with graphic refreshment
batch mode without graphic refreshment (faster execution)

Flux Annex
5.1.2. Execute a command file
Goal First, the command file GeoMesh.py provided on the CDROM with the
software is saved in the working directory Tutorial.
Then, after starting the Flux 3D program the command file will be executed.
Action To execute the command file from the Project menu:
1. Point on Command file

and click on Execute in direct mode
2. Select GeoMesh_3D.py
3. Click on Open
Result The new files with .FLU extension are recreated in the new directory:
PROBE_3D.FLU
WHEEL_BASE_3D.FLU
SENSOR_3D.FLU

Annex Flux

02 Basic 3D 1steps GeometryMeshTutorial

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CAD package for electromagnetic and thermal analysis using finite elements

Geometry and mesh tutorial

FLUX software : COPYRIGHT CEDRAT/INPG/CNRS/EDF

This tutorial was edited on 6 dcembre 2012

Ref.: KF 3 05 - B - 111 - EN -12/12

Organization The organization of the chapters is the following.

Supplied files Contents Flux file obtained after

The main.py enables the launch of these command files

Part B: geometry and mesh description of the studied device 15

Geometry and mesh tutorial PAGE A

1.6.3. Modify the visibility of faces to visualize the geometric defects....................................78

PAGE B Geometry and mesh tutorial

4.3. Optimize the mesh ....................................................................................................................163

Geometry and mesh tutorial PAGE C

PAGE D Geometry and mesh tutorial

Part A: General information

Contents This part contains the following topics:

Topic See Page

Geometry and mesh tutorial PAGE 1

PAGE 2 Geometry and mesh tutorial

Contents This chapter contains the following topics:

Topic See Page

Geometry and mesh tutorial PAGE 3

Objective The objective of this document is discovery and mastering various

PAGE 4 Geometry and mesh tutorial

1.2. Studied device

Introduction The device to be analyzed is a variable reluctance speed sensor.

Typical Typical applications are:

Geometry and mesh tutorial PAGE 5

1.3. Device description in Flux: which strategy?

Problem How to describe the device in Flux?

Geometric The device consists of:

Strategy Two strategies of description exist:

Continued on next page

PAGE 6 Geometry and mesh tutorial

1.4. Main stages for geometry description

2 Cogged wheel description

4 Addition of air around the device and closing of the domain

Continued on next page

Geometry and mesh tutorial PAGE 7

1 Probe object description Project: PROBE_3D.FLU

2 Wheel base object description (elementary pattern) Project: WHEEL_BASE_3D.FLU

3 Sensor description Project: SENSOR_3D.FLU

Importation of the wheel base object (elementary pattern) (WHEEL_BASE_3D)

Building of the whole wheel

Importation of a probe object (PROBE_3D)

Rotation of the probe and rotation of the cogged wheel

Importation of a probe object (PROBE_3D)

Addition of an infinite box

PAGE 8 Geometry and mesh tutorial

2. Get started with Flux

Contents This chapter contains the following topics:

Topic See Page

Geometry and mesh tutorial PAGE 9

PAGE 10 Geometry and mesh tutorial

2.1. Start a Flux supervisor

Goal First, the Flux supervisor will be open.

Action To start Flux from the Windows taskbar:

Start Program Cedrat Flux

Result The Flux supervisor window opens.

Geometry and mesh tutorial PAGE 11

2.1.1. About the Flux supervisor

Some checks From the Flux supervisor you should: