Hello community! My project is something on Solar UAVs to find the lift and temperature distribution of the wing when you embed solar panels on the upper wing. I created 3 models of the wing, each with a different % covered by solar panels. One is 25% covered, one 50% and the other 100%. I am trying to run the simulation but I am stumped at creating the mesh. My creation has no gaps or interferences, yet it fails to create one mix between the wing and solar panels in boolean union or imprint. I can not create an external flow volume around my wing due to these problems. It gives me things like “Interferences between bodies could not be detected due to the following problematic entities: B1_TE2. Please check your model manually for interferences, or contact support for assistance.” and so much more. I am stuck, struggling and desperately seeking answers as I have taken so long trying to find them to where I am about to hit the deadline for this project. Down below is a link to my project, any help or advice is welcome. I will try anything in hopes that it will work. Thank all of you.
Hello! I’m sorry to hear you’re running into trouble with your mesh, especially with a project deadline approaching. That can be very frustrating, but it’s a common issue that can usually be resolved with some CAD cleanup.
The error message you’re seeing, “Interferences between bodies could not be detected due to the following problematic entities: B1_TE2”, points to a geometric issue between your wing and solar panel models. Boolean operations like “union” and “imprint” can be very sensitive to things like:
- Tiny overlaps or gaps between the parts.
- Small, sliver-like faces or sharp angles where the wing and solar panels meet.
- The surfaces of the wing and solar panels not being perfectly coincident (i.e., perfectly aligned).
Since I can’t look at your project directly, here is my advice on how you can troubleshoot this issue in your CAD software before re-uploading your models to SimScale:
- Run an Interference Check: Most CAD programs have a tool that can detect interference between solid bodies. Run this tool to find and fix any overlapping geometry between your wing and solar panels.
- Clean Up the Geometry: Take a close look at the area where the wing and solar panels meet, especially around the “B1_TE2” entity mentioned in the error. Look for and remove any small, unnecessary features, sliver faces, or sharp edges.
- Use an “Imprint” or “Offset”: Instead of trying to perfectly align the surfaces of the wing and solar panels, you can try “imprinting” the solar panel geometry onto the wing’s surface. This will create a clean and well-defined intersection that is more robust for boolean operations. Alternatively, you could slightly “offset” the solar panel geometry into the wing’s surface to ensure a good connection.
For more detailed information on preparing your CAD models for simulation in SimScale, I highly recommend reading these resources:
- Why Do Geometry Operations Fail?: This article from our knowledge base goes into detail about the common causes of boolean operation failures.
- CAD Edit | CAD Preparation & Upload: This documentation provides a great overview of our CAD editing tools and best practices for preparing your models.
I hope this helps you get your simulation up and running. Please let us know if you have any more questions!