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Surfaces

The surfaces function object samples field values on surfaces and writes the result to file using the chosen output file format.

Usage​

Basic operation of the surfaces function object comprises:

surfaces1
{
    type            surfaces;
    libs            (sampling);

    surfaceFormat   <format-type>;
    formatOptions
    {
        <format-type>
        {
            <options>
        }
    }

    fields          (<fields>);

    interpolationScheme <scheme-type>;

    surfaces
    {
        mySurface1
        {
            // set definition for 'mySurface1'
            type            <surface-type>;
            ...
        }
        mySurface2
        {
            // set definition for 'mySurface2'
            type            <surface-type>;
            ...
        }
        ...
        mySurfaceN
        {
            // set definition for 'mySurfaceN'
            type            <surface-type>;
            ...
        }
    }
}

Surfaces to be returned are listed in the surfaces sub-dictionary, each in dictionary format with a user-supplied name, e.g. mySurface1, mySurface2, and mySurfaceN above.

Options​

The <surface-type> value can be set to:

Surface format​

The surface output format is controlled using the surfaceFormat entry, with additional format controls in the optional formatOptions sub-dictionary. For example, to generate EnSight surfaces in ASCII format with collated times:

surfaceFormat       ensight;

// Optional controls
formatOptions
{
    ensight
    {
        format          ascii;
        collateTimes    true;
    }
}

Available surface format options that include both geometry and data are:

  • abaqus : Abaqus
  • ensight : EnSight
  • nastran : nastran
  • vtk : VTK

Further options are available, but are limited to geometry only, e.g.

  • obj : Lightwave OBJ
  • stl : STL

Sample output​

This information is also written in the user-specified output format to file in the directory:

$FOAM_CASE/postProcessing/<function object>/<time>

Further information​

Source code:

API:

Example usage: