Define Nodal Initial Conditions by Zones

Use the Zones tool to define initial condition on all nodes enclosed within defined zones. You can define boxes, spheres, and cylinders as zones.

You can define zones before meshing as well. At the time of export, all the nodes found enclosed within the defined zones will be assigned an initial condition.

Define Nodal Initial Conditions by Sphere

  1. From the Solution ribbon, Zones tool group, click the Sphere tool.


    Figure 1.
  2. Draw the sphere.
    A preview of the sphere displays at your cursor's position in the modeling window.
    1. Move your mouse and left-click to position the sphere's center.
    2. Move your mouse to uniformly resize and draw the sphere.
    3. Left-click to create the sphere preview.
  3. Modify the size and location of the sphere in the following ways:
    Note: You may need to reposition the initial condition microdialog to view the microdialog for editing the sphere.
    • Reposition the sphere with the Move tool. To enable the Move tool, click in the sphere's microdialog.
    • Resize the sphere by editing the radius in the sphere's microdialog and pressing Enter, or by clicking the face of the sphere and dragging the arrow.
    • Fit the sphere around a selected object by clicking in the sphere's microdialog.
    Tip:
    • After editing the sphere with an arrow manipulator, left-click to re-invoke the sphere's microdialog.
    • Show/hide the sphere's dimensions by clicking in the sphere's microdialog.
    • While placing or editing the sphere, use snap points to snap to predefined points on your model, such as surface boundary fixed points or mid points of surfaces.
  4. In the initial condition microdialog, click , select variables for the initial condition, then left-click in empty space in the dialog.
    Tip: Select a variable and click to remove it from consideration.
  5. Define initial condition parameters for each selected variable.
    For non-constant definition types, use the table and plot area to input data. Click in the Edit column to if you need to go back and edit the table/plot.
  6. Optional: Right-click on a column heading to change the visible data in the microdialog.
  7. Middle mouse click to create the sphere.

Define Nodal Initial Conditions by Box

  1. From the Solution ribbon, Zones tool group, click the Box tool.


    Figure 2.
  2. Draw the box.
    A preview of the box displays at your cursor's position in the modeling window.
    1. Move your mouse and left-click to position the box's center point.
    2. Move your mouse to uniformly resize and draw the box.
    3. Left-click to create the box preview.
  3. Modify the size and location of the box in the following ways:
    Note: You may need to reposition the initial condition microdialog to view the microdialog for editing the box.
    • Reposition the box with the Move tool. To enable the Move tool, click in the box's microdialog.
    • Resize the box by editing the length, width, and height in the box's microdialog and pressing Enter, or by clicking one of the box's faces and dragging the arrow.
    • Fit the box around a selected object by clicking in the box's microdialog.
    Tip:
    • After editing the box with an arrow manipulator, left-click to re-invoke the box's microdialog.
    • Show/hide the box's dimensions by clicking in the box's microdialog.
    • While placing or editing the box, use snap points to snap to predefined points on your model, such as surface end points, mid-points, or surf center points.
  4. In the initial condition microdialog, click , select variables for the initial condition, then left-click in empty space in the dialog.
    Tip: Select a variable and click to remove it from consideration.
  5. Define initial condition parameters for each selected variable.
    For non-constant definition types, use the table and plot area to input data. Click in the Edit column to if you need to go back and edit the table/plot.
  6. Optional: Right-click on a column heading to change the visible data in the microdialog.
  7. Middle mouse click to create the box.

Define Nodal Initial Conditions by Cylinder

  1. From the Solution ribbon, Zones tool group, click the Cylinder tool.


    Figure 3.
  2. Draw the cylinder.
    A preview of the cylinder displays at your cursor's position in the modeling window.
    1. Move your mouse and left-click to position the cylinder's center point.
    2. Move your mouse to uniformly resize and draw the cylinder.
    3. Left-click to create the cylinder preview.
  3. Modify the size and location of the cylinder in the following ways:
    Note: You may need to reposition the initial condition microdialog to view the microdialog for editing the cylinder.
    • Reposition the cylinder with the Move tool. To enable the Move tool, click in the cylinder's microdialog.
    • Resize the cylinder by editing the radius and height in the cylinder's microdialog and pressing Enter, or by clicking one of the cylinder's faces and dragging the arrow.
    • Fit the cylinder around a selected object by clicking in the cylinder's microdialog.
    Tip:
    • After editing the cylinder with an arrow manipulator, left-click to re-invoke the cylinder's microdialog.
    • Show/hide the cylinder's dimensions by clicking in the cylinder's microdialog.
    • While placing or editing the cylinder, use snap points to snap to predefined points on your model, such as surface end points, mid-points, or surf center points.
  4. In the initial condition microdialog, click , select variables for the initial condition, then left-click in empty space in the dialog.
    Tip: Select a variable and click to remove it from consideration.
  5. Define initial condition parameters for each selected variable.
    For non-constant definition types, use the table and plot area to input data. Click in the Edit column to if you need to go back and edit the table/plot.
  6. Optional: Right-click on a column heading to change the visible data in the microdialog.
  7. Middle mouse click to create the cylinder.