Categorize channels using face selection

You can extract cooling channels, modeled as holes drilled into the mold bodies, by selecting the faces representing them to enable the SimForm solver to identify them.

A job with an uploaded mold design with cooling channels modeled as holes drilled in the mold bodies.

  1. In the Channels panel, under Selection mode, select Faces.
  2. In the display window, select one face or use Ctrl-click to select multiple faces.
    Each selected face will be categorized as a separate channel. For channels consisting of multiple faces, select one face within the channel initially; you will add the remaining ones later.
  3. In the Channels card, click add to categorize the selections as channels.
    In the display window, the added channel color changes to gray and baffles to turquoise. The channel components and baffles are listed under the channels list. To remove an incorrectly added body, click Remove body .
    Because Detect Baffles Automatically is enabled by default, the software automatically categorizes the baffles included in the channel region. In cases where the baffle geometry is unconventional or the baffle is not included in the channel selection, automatic detection may not categorize baffles correctly. You can edit, repair, or add the baffles manually.
  4. For channels that consist of multiple faces, do the following:
    1. From the channels list, select a multi-face channel.
    2. In the display window, use Ctrl-click to select the remaining faces of the channel.
    3. In the Channels panel, click Pick channel face to add the remaining faces to the channel definition.
  5. From the channels list, select a channel and click Display channel to show the categorized channel in the display window for verification.
    SimForm uses color-coding to help you verify the channel definition. For example, a channel with a defined inlet but no outlet is displayed in red and a channel with a defined outlet but no inlet is displayed in yellow.
  6. (Optional) To add the faces to the baffle, in front of the baffle name you want to edit, click Edit baffle , use Ctrl-click to select the faces defining the baffle, and right-click the display window.
  7. (Optional) To repair a baffle, in front of the baffle name you want to repair, click Repair baffle , select an edge, and press:
    • Enter to create a new face to close the opening defined by the selected edge.
    • Delete to delete the face delimited by the selected edge.
    • Esc to exit the repair mode.
  8. (Optional) To add a baffle, click Add baffle , use Ctrl-click to select the faces defining the baffle, and right-click the display window.
  9. Repeat these steps as necessary to categorize all the cooling channels in your model.
  10. Enable the Inlet/outlet Selection Mode to define the inlets and outlets for the channels.
    SimForm allows channels with one inlet and multiple outlets.
  11. In the display window, for each cooling channel, click the inlet surface to designate it as an inlet.
    The selected inlet surface is displayed in purple.
  12. In the display window, for each cooling channel, use Shift-click to select all the outlet surfaces and designate them as outlets.
    The selected outlet surfaces are displayed in green.
    The channel inlet and outlets are listed under the channels list. To remove an incorrect surface definition, click Remove body . When the channel has both the inlet and outlets defined, it is displayed in blue indicating that it is correctly categorized and defined for the solution.
  13. In the Inlet Temperature, type the liquid inlet temperature or keep the default value.

You can start the solving process after categorizing the cooling channels, model components and defining materials.