Industrial Drill Bit-Step Geometry: 10.1 Prerequisites

INDUSTRIAL DRILL BIT—STEP GEOMETRY
10. INDUSTRIAL DRILL BIT—STEP GEOMETRY

This tutorial employs a model of an industrial drill bit to illustrate GAMBIT operations
that allow you to import and clean up STEP geometry, modify the model to suppress fea-
tures that can adversely affect meshing, and control mesh quality. The STEP data file that
describes the drill-bit geometry used in this tutorial was created by means of an external
CAD package.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to:
• Import STEP geometry
• Employ GAMBIT split and merge operations to clean up imported geometry and
suppress model features that inhibit meshing
• Create and apply size functions to control mesh quality
10.1 Prerequisites
Prior to reading and performing the steps outlined in this tutorial, you should familiarize
yourself with the steps, principles, and procedures described in Tutorials 1, 2, 3, and 4.
© Fluent Inc., Dec-01 10-1

Problem Description INDUSTRIAL DRILL BIT—STEP GEOMETRY
10.2 Problem Description

Figure 10-1 and Figure 10-2 show the drill-bit configuration to be modeled and meshed in
this tutorial. Figure 10-1 shows the full model, including the outer face that circumscribes
the internal components. Figure 10-2 shows the internal components, themselves.
Figure 10-1: Industrial drill bit configuration—full model
10-2 © Fluent Inc., Dec-01

INDUSTRIAL DRILL BIT—STEP GEOMETRY Problem Description
Figure 10-2: Industrial drill bit configuration—internal components

The goals of this tutorial are:
• To import the model by means of a STEP data file
• To identify very short edges and sliver-shaped faces that can adversely affect
meshing and to employ GAMBIT split and merge operations to eliminate such
edges and faces
• To mesh the model using unstructured, tetrahedral mesh elements the quality of
which is controlled by means of size functions
This tutorial, in conjunction with Tutorial 11, also illustrates the differences between geo-
metry import by means of STEP data files and direct CAD geometry import. Specifically,
Tutorial 11 employs a model identical to that shown above but imports the data directly,
as a “part” file, from the CAD program that was used to create the drill-bit geometry.
(NOTE: The geometry for this example was created by means of the Pro/ENGINEER
CAD program.)

Strategy INDUSTRIAL DRILL BIT—STEP GEOMETRY
10.3 Strategy
The general strategy employed in this tutorial is as follows:
1) Import a STEP file that describes the drill-bit geometry.
2) Identify very short edges and sliver-shaped faces that can adversely affect
meshing.
3) Use GAMBIT split and merge operations to clean up the model geometry—that is,
to eliminate the very short edges and sliver-shaped faces.
4) Mesh the model to reveal regions that exhibit poor mesh quality.
5) Apply size functions to improve the mesh in the regions of poorest quality.

INDUSTRIAL DRILL BIT—STEP GEOMETRY Procedure
10.4 Procedure
1. Copy the file

path/Fluent.Inc/gambit2.0/help/tutfiles/drill_bit.stp
from the GAMBIT installation area in the directory path to your working directory
(for example, “/home/user/tutorial/”).
2. Start GAMBIT using the session identifier “Drill_Bit_STEP”.
Step 1: Select a Solver
1. Choose the solver from the main menu bar:
Solver → FLUENT 5/6
The choice of solver affects the types of options available in the Specify
Boundary Types form. The currently selected solver is shown at the top of the
GAMBIT GUI.

Procedure INDUSTRIAL DRILL BIT—STEP GEOMETRY
Step 2: Import a STEP File
STEP data files contain geometry data formatted according to a set of industry
standards. For this tutorial, the STEP data file was created using the Pro/ENGINEER
CAD program.
1. Select the Import STEP File option from the main menu bar.
File → Import → STEP...
This command sequence opens the Import STEP File form.
2. Click the Browse... button.
This action opens the Select File form.

a) In the Files list, select drill_bit.stp.
b) On the Select File form, click Accept.
3. On the Import STEP File form, click Accept.
GAMBIT reads the information contained in the data file and constructs the
geometry shown in Figure 10-3.

Figure 10-3: Industrial drill bit—imported STEP geometry

Step 3: Identify and Eliminate the Sliver Face

Geometry imported by means of STEP data files sometimes includes geometric
features that inhibit meshing operations. For example, the geometry shown in Figure
10-3 includes a thin (“sliver”) face and a separate, very short edge—both of which
adversely affect meshing of the drill-bit volume. In this step, you will use GAMBIT
merge operations to eliminate the sliver face. In the subsequent step, you will elimi-
nate very short edges (see “Step 4: Identify and Eliminate the Next Shortest Edge,”
below).
1. Highlight the shortest edge in the model.
The sliver face can be best identified by means of one of its bounding edges, which
constitutes the shortest edge in the imported geometry.
GEOMETRY → EDGE → CONNECT/DISCONNECT EDGES

This command sequence opens the Connect Edges form.
a) Select the Real and Virtual (Tolerance) option.
b) Click the Highlight shortest edge pushbutton.
In the graphics window, GAMBIT highlights the shortest edge and displays
its label. Figure 10-4 shows the general location (boxed area) of the
highlighted edge on the drill-bit geometry.

Figure 10-4: Industrial drill bit—region containing the shortest edge
To see the edge and its associated sliver face, it is necessary to zoom in on the
edge. You can zoom in on the edge either by right-dragging the mouse downward
(from the top of the window toward the bottom of the window) in the graphics
window or by pressing the Ctrl key while left-dragging the mouse to create a zoom
box around the highlighted edge.
Figure 10-5 shows the geometry in the region surrounding the shortest edge,
including the sliver face (A)—which is shaded in the figure for illustrative
purposes only.

Face D
Shortest edge
Face C
Face B
Face A
Figure 10-5: Industrial drill bit—shortest edge and associated sliver face
2. Merge the sliver face with an adjacent face.
GEOMETRY → FACE → SPLIT/MERGE/COLLAPSE/SIMPLIFY FACES

R
This command sequence opens the Merge Faces (Virtual) form.
a) In the Faces pick-list box, select faces A and B in Figure 10-5, above.

You can access the Faces pick list even though the Faces option button is inac-
tivated by default. (NOTE: When you select or retain the Type:Virtual (Forced)
option on the Merge Faces (Virtual) form, GAMBIT inactivates the Faces pick-
list option button to prevent access to the All option.)
b) On the Type option subset, retain the Virtual (Forced) option.
c) Click Apply to merge the faces and eliminate the sliver face.
Figure 10-6 shows the virtual face (A’) that results from the merge operation.
Face D
Face C
V-face A’
Figure 10-6: Industrial drill bit—merged faces
3. Merge the upper edges of the new face.
To realize the benefit of eliminating the sliver face, it is necessary to eliminate the
very short edge that served as the upper part of its boundary. The edge can be
eliminated by means of the following edge-merge operation.
GEOMETRY → EDGE → SPLIT/MERGE EDGES R
This command sequence opens the Merge Edges (Virtual) form.

a) On the Type option subset, select the Virtual (Tolerance) option.
b) On the Edges pick-list option button, select the All option.
! The Edges:All option is available only for operations that employ the Type:
Virtual (Tolerance) option.
c) Click Apply to merge the edges.

Figure 10-7 shows the virtual edge (A’) that results from the edge-merge operation.
Face D
V-edge A’
Face C
V-face A’
Figure 10-7: Industrial drill bit—merged upper edges on former sliver face

Step 4: Identify and Eliminate the Next Shortest Edge

In addition to the short edge removed in the previous step, it is necessary to eliminate
the next shortest edge in the model—which constitutes part of a sharp, triangular
corner on a moderately sized face.
1. Display the next shortest edge.
GEOMETRY → EDGE → CONNECT/DISCONNECT EDGES

This command sequence opens the Connect Edges form.
a) Click the Highlight shortest edge pushbutton.
In the graphics window, GAMBIT highlights the new shortest edge and
displays its label. Figure 10-8 shows the general location (boxed area) of the
highlighted edge on the drill-bit geometry.

Figure 10-8: Industrial drill bit—new shortest (highlighted) edge
2. Display the faces directly associated with the new shortest edge.
To identify the highlighted edge and its associated faces, it is best to display only
those faces that are connected to the edge.
a) On the Global Control toolpad, click the SPECIFY DISPLAY ATTRIBUTES command
button, .
This action opens the Specify Display Attributes form.

i. On the Visible option subset, select the Off option.
GAMBIT automatically selects the Visible check box.
ii. Click Apply to render the model invisible.
GAMBIT removes all geometry from display in the graphics window.
iii. On the Faces pick-list option button, select the Pick option.
iv. In the Faces pick list, select the four faces (three real, one virtual) that share in
common the shortest edge.
v. On the Visible option subset, select the On option.
vi. Click Apply to confirm the form specifications.
vii. Click Close to close the form.
GAMBIT displays the four faces as shown in Figure 10-9. (NOTE: The
figure includes a rectangular box that represents the zoom region for the
next substep.)

Zoom region
Figure 10-9: Four faces associated with new shortest edge
b) Zoom in on the highlighted edge.
You can zoom in on the edge either by right-dragging the mouse downward
(from the top of the window toward the bottom of the window) in the graphics
window or by pressing the Ctrl key while left-dragging the mouse to create a
zoom box around the highlighted edge.
When you zoom in on the region highlighted in Figure 10-9, GAMBIT

displays the new shortest edge and sections of its associated faces as shown in
Figure 10-10.

Face C
Edge A
Vertex a
V-face D
Face B
Shortest edge
Face A
Figure 10-10: New shortest edge and sections of connected faces
3. Split an edge on a face bounded by the shortest edge.
This command sequence opens the Split Edge form.

a) In the Edge pick-list box, select edge A.
b) In the Type option subset, select Virtual connected.
c) Retain the (default) Split With:Point option.
d) In the U Value text box, enter the value 0.9977.
e) Click Apply to split the edge.
GAMBIT splits the edge as shown in Figure 10-11.

V-edge A’
V-face B’
V-vertex a’
Vertex a
V-edge B’
V-face A’
Figure 10-11: Split edge
The edge-split operation creates a virtual vertex (a’) and two virtual edges (A’
and B’) that replace edge A. As a result, GAMBIT replaces the real face (C)
that was bounded by edge A by a virtual face (B’), which is bounded, in part,
by the two new virtual edges.
4. Split one of the faces associated with the new shortest edge.
This command sequence opens the Split Face form.

a) In the Face pick-list box, select face B’.
b) On the Split with option button, select Vertices (Virtual).
c) In the Vertices pick-list box, select vertices a and a’ shown in Figure 10-11.
d) Click Apply to split the face.
GAMBIT splits the face as shown in Figure 10-12 and creates two new
virtual faces (C’ and D’).
V-face C’
V-face D’
V-face A’
Figure 10-12: Split face

5. Merge the new face with an existing face.
a) In the Faces pick-list box, select faces A’ and D’.
b) On the Type option subset, retain the Virtual (Forced) option.
c) Click Apply to merge the faces.
GAMBIT merges the faces as shown in Figure 10-13.

V-face C’
V-face A’
Figure 10-13: Merged faces in proximity to the shortest edge
6. Merge the edges to eliminate the shortest edge.

GAMBIT merges the edges to create the final configuration shown in Figure
10-14.
V-face C’
V-face A’
Figure 10-14: Final configuration of merged edges

Step 5: Merge Faces and Edges to Suppress Model Features

It is often useful to use the face and edge merging operations available in GAMBIT
to suppress model features that would otherwise inhibit the meshing. In this step, you
will employ both automatic and forced face-merge operations, as well as automatic
edge-merge operations, to suppress such features.
1. Activate display of the entire model.
a) On the Global Control toolpad, click the SPECIFY DISPLAY ATTRIBUTES command
button, .
This action opens the Specify Display Attributes form.
i. On the Visible option subset, select the On option.
GAMBIT automatically selects the Visible check box.
ii. Click Apply to confirm the form specifications.
iii. Click Close to close the form.

GAMBIT displays all geometry in the graphics window.
2. On the Global Control toolpad, click the FIT TO WINDOW command button, , to
show the full model in the graphics window.
3. Perform a global face-merge operation.
b) On the Faces pick-list option button, select All.
c) In the Min. Angle text box, input 160.
d) Click Apply to merge the faces.
GAMBIT merges the faces as shown in Figure 10-15. (NOTE: Figure 10-15
includes a box that outlines the zoom region for the next face-merge substep
(see Figure 10-16).)

Figure 10-15: Model with merged faces
4. Force the merging of some faces.
The region at the base of the main shaft for the drill bit includes three small,
ovoid faces that cannot be eliminated by the automatic face-merge operation
described above (see Figure 10-16). Consequently, it is necessary to force the
merge operation for these faces.

Face A
Face B
Face C
Figure 10-16: Small ovoid faces at the base of the main shaft
a) On the Faces pick-list option button, select Pick.
b) In the Faces pick-list box, select faces A, B, and C in Figure 10-16, as well as the
cylindrical (main shaft) face to which they are connected.
c) On the Type option subset, select the Virtual (Forced) option.
d) Click Apply to merge the faces.
GAMBIT merges the faces as shown in Figure 10-17.

Figure 10-17: Base of main drill-bit shaft after forced face merge operation
5. Merge the edges.
As a final step in the geometry clean-up operation, it is necessary to employ

GAMBIT automatic edge-merge operations.

GAMBIT merges the edges to create the final, cleaned-up model geometry
shown in Figure 10-18. (NOTE: GAMBIT does not display the silhouette of
the outer face in the graphics window.)
Figure 10-18: Final, cleaned-up model geometry

Step 6: Mesh the Volume

After the imported geometry is cleaned up, you can mesh it using an unstructured, tet-
rahedral mesh.
1. Mesh the drill-bit volume.
MESH → VOLUME → MESH VOLUMES

This command sequence opens the Mesh Volumes form.
a) Activate the Volumes list box.
b) Select the volume.
GAMBIT automatically selects the Scheme:Elements:Tet/Hybrid and Scheme:

Type:TGrid options.
c) Retain the automatically selected Scheme options.
d) On the Spacing option button, select Interval size.
e) In the Spacing text box, enter a value of 0.3.
f) Click Apply.

Figure 10-19 shows the final meshed volume.
Figure 10-19: Meshed drill-bit volume

Step 7: Examine the Volume Mesh
1. Select the EXAMINE MESH command button at the bottom right of the Global
Control toolpad.
This action opens the Examine Mesh form.

a) Select Range under Display Type at the top of the form.
The 3D Element type selected by default at the top of the form is a brick .
You will not see any mesh elements in the graphics window when you first
open the Examine Mesh form, because there are no hexahedral elements in the
mesh.
b) Left-click the tetrahedron icon next to 3D Element near the top of the form.
The tetrahedral mesh elements will now be visible in the graphics window.
c) Retain EquiAngle Skew from the Quality Type option menu.
d) Left-click the histogram bars that appear at the bottom of the Examine Mesh form
to highlight elements in any given quality range.
The histogram is a bar chart representing the statistical distribution of mesh

elements with respect to the specified Quality Type. Each vertical bar on the
histogram corresponds to a unique set of upper and lower quality limits.
Figure 10-20 shows the graphics window that results for elements with
EquiAngle Skew values between 0.9 and 1.0). Such elements are considered
highly skewed. Figure 10-21 shows an enlarged view of one portion of the
drill bit, illustrating the severely skewed elements.
For this example, the maximum EquiAngle skewness is 0.98.

Figure 10-20: Elements with EquiAngle Skew values between 0.9 and 1.0
Figure 10-21: Enlarged view of elements with EquiAngle Skew values between 0.9 and 1.0
e) On the Examine Mesh form, click Close to close the form.

Step 8: Apply Size Functions to Control Mesh Quality

Highly skewed elements, such as those resulting from the mesh operation in the
previous step, adversely affect numerical computations for which the mesh is created.
GAMBIT includes several features that allow you to control the mesh—one of which
is the application of size functions. For example, size functions can be used to specify
the rate at which volume mesh elements change in size in proximity to a specified
boundary. In this step, you will apply size functions to four faces of the drill-bit
geometry and thereby control the size of the nearby mesh elements to eliminate the
skewed elements.
1. Delete the existing mesh.
MESH → VOLUME → DELETE VOLUME MESHES

This command sequence opens the Delete Volume Meshes form.
a) Select the drill-bit volume.
b) Click Apply.
GAMBIT deletes the existing volume, face, and edge meshes.
2. Change the size-function background-grid tree depth default.
This default controls the resolution of the background grid that GAMBIT uses to
compute size functions. For models that include size functions, high values for this
default variable can produce highly refined meshes but can also dramatically
slow creation of the mesh. This example does not require a highly refined mesh;
therefore, it is possible to increase meshing speed by reducing this from the
standard default value (10).
a) On the main menu bar, select Edit.
b) On the Edit menu, select Defaults… to open the Edit Defaults form.
c) On the Edit Defaults form, select the TOOLS tab.

d) On the TOOLS tab, select the SFUNCTION radio button.
e) In the SFUNCTION variable list, select BGRID_MAX_TREE_DEPTH.
f) Enter a value of 6 in the Value text box.
g) Click Modify to modify the BGRID_MAX_TREE_DEPTH default variable.
h) Click Close to close the Edit Defaults form.
3. Specify a size function and apply it to four faces of the model.
TOOLS → SIZE FUNCTIONS → CREATE SIZE FUNCTION

This command sequence opens the Create Size Function form.
a) Retain the Type:Fixed option.
(NOTE: In addition to the “fixed” size function illustrated in this tutorial,

GAMBIT provides “curvature” and “proximity” size functions. Curvature
and proximity size functions are useful for controlling the mesh in regions of
high curvature and small gaps, respectively. See Section 5.2.2 of the GAMBIT
Modeling Guide.)
b) On the Entities:Source option button, select the Faces option.

c) In the Faces list box, select the four faces shown (shaded) in Figure 10-22.
Figure 10-22: Faces on which to apply size functions
d) On the Entities:Attachment option button, select the Volumes option.
e) In the Volumes list box, select the volume.
f) In the Start size text box, enter the value 0.05.
g) In the Growth rate text box, enter the value, 1.2.
h) In the Distance text box, enter the value, 10.
i) In the Size limit text box, enter the value, 0.5.
j) Click Apply to create the size function.
GAMBIT allows you to view the size function by means of the View Size
Function command on the Size Function toolpad.

Step 9: Remesh the Volume

In this step, you will remesh the volume. In the regions affected by the size function
created in the previous step, GAMBIT will control mesh-element sizes to comply with
the restriction of the size function.
1. Remesh the volume.
MESH → VOLUME → MESH VOLUMES

This command sequence opens the Mesh Volumes form.
a) Activate the Volumes list box.
b) Select the volume.
c) Retain the automatically selected Scheme options.
d) On the Spacing option button, select Interval size.
e) In the Spacing text box, enter a value of 0.3.
f) Click Apply.
GAMBIT remeshes the volume. You can use the Examine Mesh form to
confirm that the size function reduces maximum EquiAngle skewness to 0.92.

Step 10: Export the Mesh and Exit GAMBIT
1. Export a mesh file.
a) Open the Export Mesh File form
File → Export → Mesh…
This command sequence opens the Export Mesh File form.
i. Enter the File Name for the file to be exported—for example, the file name
“drill_bit_step.msh”.
ii. Click Accept.
GAMBIT writes the mesh file to your working directory.
2. Save the GAMBIT session and exit GAMBIT
a) Select Exit from the File menu.
File → Exit
This command sequence opens the Exit form.
b) Click Yes to save the current session and exit GAMBIT.

INDUSTRIAL DRILL BIT—STEP GEOMETRY Summary
10.5 Summary
This tutorial demonstrates the importation of CAD geometry by means of a STEP data file
and the operations that are sometimes required to clean up such geometry and render it
suitable to GAMBIT meshing operations. In this case, the initial mesh of the drill-bit
volume included highly skewed elements. The creation and application of a size function
eliminated the skewed elements upon remeshing.

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INDUSTRIAL DRILL BIT—STEP GEOMETRY

10. INDUSTRIAL DRILL BIT—STEP GEOMETRY

© Fluent Inc., Dec-01 10-1

10.2 Problem Description

Figure 10-1: Industrial drill bit configuration—full model

10-2 © Fluent Inc., Dec-01

Figure 10-2: Industrial drill bit configuration—internal components

© Fluent Inc., Dec-01 10-3

10-4 © Fluent Inc., Dec-01

1. Copy the file

2. Start GAMBIT using the session identifier “Drill_Bit_STEP”.

Step 1: Select a Solver

1. Choose the solver from the main menu bar:

Solver → FLUENT 5/6

© Fluent Inc., Dec-01 10-5

Step 2: Import a STEP File

File → Import → STEP...

This command sequence opens the Import STEP File form.

2. Click the Browse... button.

This action opens the Select File form.

10-6 © Fluent Inc., Dec-01

a) In the Files list, select drill_bit.stp.

b) On the Select File form, click Accept.

3. On the Import STEP File form, click Accept.

© Fluent Inc., Dec-01 10-7

Figure 10-3: Industrial drill bit—imported STEP geometry

10-8 © Fluent Inc., Dec-01

Step 3: Identify and Eliminate the Sliver Face

1. Highlight the shortest edge in the model.

GEOMETRY → EDGE → CONNECT/DISCONNECT EDGES

a) Select the Real and Virtual (Tolerance) option.

b) Click the Highlight shortest edge pushbutton.

© Fluent Inc., Dec-01 10-9

Figure 10-4: Industrial drill bit—region containing the shortest edge

10-10 © Fluent Inc., Dec-01

2. Merge the sliver face with an adjacent face.

GEOMETRY → FACE → SPLIT/MERGE/COLLAPSE/SIMPLIFY FACES

This command sequence opens the Merge Faces (Virtual) form.

© Fluent Inc., Dec-01 10-11

b) On the Type option subset, retain the Virtual (Forced) option.

Figure 10-6: Industrial drill bit—merged faces

3. Merge the upper edges of the new face.

GEOMETRY → EDGE → SPLIT/MERGE EDGES R

This command sequence opens the Merge Edges (Virtual) form.

10-12 © Fluent Inc., Dec-01

a) On the Type option subset, select the Virtual (Tolerance) option.

b) On the Edges pick-list option button, select the All option.

c) Click Apply to merge the edges.

© Fluent Inc., Dec-01 10-13

Step 4: Identify and Eliminate the Next Shortest Edge

1. Display the next shortest edge.

GEOMETRY → EDGE → CONNECT/DISCONNECT EDGES

a) Click the Highlight shortest edge pushbutton.

10-14 © Fluent Inc., Dec-01

Figure 10-8: Industrial drill bit—new shortest (highlighted) edge

This action opens the Specify Display Attributes form.

© Fluent Inc., Dec-01 10-15