Automatic extremum detection on a surface mesh of a component

摘要

A datum line, such as the leading or trailing edge of an aerofoil component, is identified on a surface mesh of the component for use in a simulation. The method includes the steps of: defining a reference coordinate system including a direction X, which may be a general flow direction over the component; defining a span variable that varies along the component in a forwards marching direction, for example corresponding to the root to tip direction of the aerofoil; selecting a first frontal node on the datum line; using a Pareto front algorithm to define the datum line at an extremity of the surface mesh with respect to the X direction, the Pareto front algorithm evaluating a criterion for dominated nodes and operating on a Pareto variable to select successive connected frontal nodes that form the datum line.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method of defining a datum line on a surface mesh of an aerofoil for use in a simulation, the surface mesh of the aerofoil including nodes interconnected by edges, the method comprising the steps of:
a) defining a reference coordinate system including a direction X with respect to the aerofoil; b) defining a span variable that varies monotonically along the aerofoil in a forwards marching direction that is not coincident with the direction X; c) selecting a first frontal node n1 on the datum line of the aerofoil; d) using a Pareto front algorithm to define a datum line at an extremity of the surface mesh with respect to the X direction of the aerofoil, the Pareto front algorithm evaluating a criterion for dominated nodes and operating on a Pareto variable to select successive connected frontal nodes that form the datum line of the aerofoil, wherein the Pareto variable is the X coordinate and the criterion for dominated nodes is a span value less than that of the selected frontal node n1; and e) outputting the defined datum line such that a geometrical feature of the aerofoil is identified for determining a fluid flow domain of a fluid flow across a surface of the aerofoil.