Quick Start

Quick Start#

This guide walks you through creating your first meshing and CFD project in Gradient Dynamics Studio. By the end, you’ll have generated a mesh around a geometry and run a simple aerodynamic simulation.

Step 1: Sign In#

Open Gradient Dynamics Studio in your browser and sign in with your account. You’ll land on the Dashboard, which shows all your projects.

Step 2: Create a Meshing Project#

  1. Click New Project on the dashboard

  2. Select Meshing as the project type

  3. Give your project a name (e.g., “My First Mesh”)

  4. Click Create

You’ll be taken to the project workspace.

Step 3: Upload Geometry#

  1. In the Setup tab, click Upload Geometry

  2. Select your CAD file — supported formats are:

    • STEP (.step, .stp) — recommended for best feature preservation

    • IGES (.iges, .igs)

    • STL (.stl)

    • OBJ (.obj)

  3. Your geometry will appear in the 3D viewer

Tip

STEP files preserve the most geometric detail (faces, edges, topology). Use STEP whenever possible for the best meshing results.

Step 4: Check Geometry Health#

Navigate to the Geometry tab. Studio automatically analyzes your geometry for:

  • Watertightness — Is the surface fully closed?

  • Manifold status — Are there non-manifold edges or vertices?

  • Topology issues — Degenerate faces, self-intersections

If issues are found, use the Repair options (vertex welding, hole filling) or ask the AI Assistant for help.

Step 5: Configure the Domain#

Back in the Setup tab:

  1. Select a domain type:

    • External — Flow around an object (vehicles, aircraft, buildings)

    • Internal — Flow inside a geometry (pipes, ducts, enclosures)

    • Rotating — Turbomachinery (fans, pumps, turbines)

  2. For External domains, a bounding box automatically appears around your geometry in the 3D viewer. Adjust the padding distances (upstream, downstream, sides, top) or use the defaults.

  3. Optionally enable ground plane for vehicle aerodynamics.

Step 6: Set Mesh Parameters#

Navigate to the Mesh Settings tab:

Parameter

Description

Typical Range

Base cell size

Coarsest cell size in the block grid

0.01 – 1.0 m

Max AMR levels

Maximum refinement depth

3 – 6

Surface refinement

AMR levels near geometry surfaces

Medium – Fine

Near-Wall Resolution#

For wall-bounded flows, set the Near-Wall AMR level in the Surface Refinement section. Use the y+ calculator to verify the resulting wall cell size for your flow speed.

Tip

For standard RANS with k-ω SST, Medium near-wall refinement targeting y+ ≈ 30 is a good starting point.

Step 7: Add Refinement Zones (Optional)#

In the Setup tab, add refinement zones to capture flow features:

  • Box — Rectangular region (good for wakes, ground effects)

  • Cylinder — Cylindrical region (good for rotating zones, jet flows)

  • Sphere — Spherical region (good for point sources, probes)

Drag and resize zones directly in the 3D viewer or enter exact coordinates.

Step 8: Name Surfaces#

In the Surfaces tab, assign names to boundary patches:

  1. Click on a surface in the 3D viewer to select it

  2. Give it a descriptive name: inlet, outlet, wall, car_body, ground, etc.

  3. These names carry through to simulation boundary condition setup

Step 9: Generate the Mesh#

  1. Click Generate Mesh

  2. The job is submitted to cloud GPUs

  3. Monitor progress in the Logs panel

  4. Once complete, the mesh appears in the 3D viewer

Review mesh quality in the Mesh Quality tab — check cut-cell volume fractions and non-orthogonality.

Step 10: Simulate#

With the mesh ready, create a CFD project to run a simulation directly in Studio.

Running a CFD Simulation#

Create a CFD Project#

  1. Return to the Dashboard and click New Project

  2. Select CFD as the project type

  3. Select the mesh you generated (or start fresh and generate one in the CFD project)

Configure the Simulation#

In the Simulation tab:

  1. Solver type — Select Density-based (default, recommended)

  2. Turbulence model — Select k-ω SST (recommended for most external flows)

  3. Boundary conditions — Studio auto-detects boundaries from your named surfaces:

    • Set inlet velocity (e.g., 30 m/s)

    • Set outlet pressure (typically 0 Pa gauge)

    • Walls are automatically set as no-slip

  4. Max iterations — 500–2000 for steady-state RANS

Run the Simulation#

  1. Click Run Simulation — the credit cost estimate is shown before you confirm

  2. Monitor live residuals in the convergence plot

  3. Watch for residuals dropping to the convergence criterion

View Results#

Once complete, switch to the Results tab:

  • Surface coloring — Color boundaries by pressure, velocity, or turbulence fields

  • Slice planes — Cut through the domain to see internal flow structure

  • Streamlines — Trace flow paths through the domain

  • Forces — Calculate drag, lift, and moment coefficients

Using the AI Assistant#

At any point, open the AI Assistant panel and ask questions in natural language:

“Set up an external aerodynamics mesh for this car geometry”

“What near-wall AMR settings should I use for highway speed?”

“Run a simulation at 60 mph with k-omega SST”

The assistant analyzes your geometry, suggests configurations, and can directly apply settings with your confirmation. See AI Assistant Overview for a full guide.

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