Boundary Condition Visualization

The boundary condition visualization tool provides a visual representation of the simulation setup to the user. As such, it is useful for creating reports and visually evaluating the setup of a simulation.

The user can toggle the boundary condition visualization on or off by clicking on the following icon within the Workbench:

boundary condition visualization toggle — Figure 1: The icon allows the user to enable or disable the visualization of boundary conditions in the viewer.

Each boundary condition is represented by a different icon. For example, in the image above, a force condition presses the small cylinder on the top, while the bottom boundary condition is a fixed support. Find below a couple of examples.

Example: Electronics Box Tutorial

In the electronics box tutorial, a housing containing electronic equipment undergoes a conjugate heat transfer simulation. Figure 2 shows the outlet (to the left) consists of a fan boundary condition while the inlet (to the right) receives a natural convection inlet/outlet configuration. Finally, the external walls of the housing receive a wall condition to account for convective heat fluxes:

boundary condition visualization CFD — Figure 2: The boundary condition icons are linked to faces assigned to them.

By clicking on each of the icons, you can open the configuration window of the boundary condition associated with it. For example, by clicking on the wall icon, the following window opens up:

boundary condition visualization accessing settings — Figure 3: By clicking on the icons, you can quickly access and change the settings of a boundary condition. Circled numbers show the number of faces assigned to each boundary condition.

With this workflow, users can access and adjust their boundary condition settings more naturally.

Boundary Condition Icons

Each boundary condition has its icon. Find an overview of CFD boundary conditions in the table below:

Boundary Condition (CFD)	Icon
Velocity Inlet
Velocity Outlet
Pressure Inlet
Pressure Outlet
Wall
Fan
Periodic
Symmetry
Wedge
Custom
Empty 2D
Natural Convection Inlet/Outlet
Atmospheric Boundary Layer Inlet (LBM)

Table 1: Boundary condition visualization icons for CFD simulations

Likewise, solid mechanics boundary conditions are also supported:

Boundary Condition (FEA)	Icon
Pressure
Follower Pressure
Force
Fixed Value
Surface Load
Volume Load
Centrifugal Force
Remote Force
Symmetry Plane
Remote Displacement
Fixed Support
Rotating Motion
Elastic Support
Bolt Preload
Point Mass
Hinge Constraint
Nodal Load
Cyclic Symmetry
Base Excitation

Table 2: Boundary condition visualization icons for solid mechanics analyses

Lastly, thermal boundary conditions are also contemplated:

Boundary Condition (Thermal)	Icon
Fixed Temperature Value
Convective Heat Flux
Surface Heat Flux
Volume Heat Flux

Table 3: Boundary condition visualization icons for thermal (FEA) simulations

Boundary Condition (Electromagnetics)	Icon
Fixed Potential
Floating Potential
Charge Density
Total Charge
Magnetic Field Normal
Magnetic Flux Tangential
Radiation Heat Flux