Defining Streams

You can define a stream (set of streamlines) that enables you to visualize the velocity in a fluid flow analysis. You can customize the display of the streamlines that describe the flow.

You can create streams by manual or automatic seeding. With manual seeding, you specify the direction of fluid flow. With automatic seeding, the direction of flow is determined by the inflow and outflow boundaries.

This task shows you how to:

Before you begin: You must display the results of a simulation with velocity data.
See Also
About Streamlines and Streams
Feature Manager

Define Streams with Manual Seeding

You can define a stream with manual seeding by creating a rake with start and end points.

  1. From the Plots section of the action bar, click Create Streams :
  2. From Seed support, select Rake.
  3. Define the rake point locations as follows:
    1. Click from the Rake start options, and on the model specify the start point for the rake.
      The start point is displayed in the viewport, and its location in space is listed in the dialog box. You can edit this location directly by clicking in the Rake start point field.
    2. Repeat the process to specify the Rake end point.
    3. Specify the number of Tines you want to include in the stream definition, including the start and end points.
    Physics Results Explorer displays your selected start point, end point, and all the rake tines in between.
  4. Specify the Direction of the fluid flow that you want to visualize. You can display streamlines for flow Upstream, Downstream, or both Downstream and upstream.
  5. Optional: Customize the streamline display. See Customizing Streamline Display.
  6. Click OK.
    The streamlines are displayed on a translucent rendition of your model.

Define Streams with Automatic Seeding

You can define a stream with automatic seeding from inflow or outflow boundaries.

  1. From the Plots section of the action bar, click Create Streams :
  2. From Seed support, select Automatic detection.
  3. Specify the number of Tines you want to include in the stream definition. This number determines the density of streamlines across the inlet.
  4. Optional: Customize the streamline display. See Customizing Streamline Display.
  5. Click OK.
    The streamlines are displayed on a translucent rendition of your model.