Geometry — Lesson 3

Note: You have the option of skipping the Geometry and Mesh steps in Ansys by downloading this file here containing the mesh and loading it into Ansys.

Download Blade Geometry:

Blade Geometry

Import Wind Blade, Orient Blade & Set Pitch Angle

The following video shows how to import a STEP file of blade geometry in Ansys SpaceClaim and orient it at the correct position using the Move tool.

Ansys version change: In newer versions of SpaceClaim, there are separate Sketch and Design tabs. You need to go to the Design tab on the upper left to access the Move option to rotate the blade with respect to the coordinate axes. You should be able to figure it out by poking around.

Sketching the chord at blade tip: You can skip the part of the video that involves sketching the chord at the blade tip (1:10-2:30) since users have had trouble snapping to the leading edge of the blade when sketching. This is done to determine the angle between the rotation plane and the chord at the blade tip. The video tells you what the angle is; it is -1.06 degrees. So just rotate the blade by -1.06 degrees to get a pitch of zero at the tip as shown in the video.

Create Flow Domain & Named Selections

The following video shows how to create a fluid domain around a wind blade geometry.

The following instructions are exclusively for Cornell students taking this course.

Launch Ansys Software and Save

The following video shows you how you can access Ansys software using either the free student version and/or Apps on Demand, a service provided to Cornell students. It also provides some important pointers on saving your Ansys project. Some students have lost hours of work in Ansys due to not saving properly. So please review the video carefully.

The link below takes you to the Cornell IT web page, which explains how to link your google drive account while using Apps on Demand.

Link: https://it.cornell.edu/appsondemand/set-google-drive-file-stream-apps-demand

The link below takes you to the main Apps on Demand web page for Cornell IT. Here, you can find articles on general topics, troubleshooting, and usage information.

Link: https://it.cornell.edu/articles/topics/6789/all/all?utm_source=sidebar