{"id":20104,"date":"2019-04-04T14:18:41","date_gmt":"2019-04-04T14:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/?page_id=20104"},"modified":"2026-02-11T13:48:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T13:48:19","slug":"mesh-upload","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/meshing\/mesh-upload\/","title":{"rendered":"Mesh Upload"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In some instances, the user might be interested in generating mesh in a local environment and use SimScale to apply the simulation setup parameters and perform a simulation. It is possible to upload multiple mesh files to the SimScale Workbench from an external environment. The procedure is similar to uploading a geometry<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once uploaded, an entity Uploaded Meshes<\/em> is added to the simulation tree:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"uploaded<\/a>
Figure 1: Uploaded meshes entity in SimScale’s Workbench<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Under Uploaded Meshes<\/em> you should see all the meshes that were uploaded to the Workbench. Select one of them and proceed with the simulation using the ‘Create Simulation’<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to use uploaded meshes successfully within SimScale, the boundaries of your meshes need to be specified in advance before uploading. All elements (i.e. nodes, edges, faces, or volumes) on which you want to apply boundary conditions or assign a material or other setup parameters must be grouped before the upload. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/i>Note<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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Mesh upload is mandatory if Empty 2D<\/a>, or Wedge<\/a> boundary condition needs to be applied.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Supported Format<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Currently, SimScale supports the OpenFOAM (.foam) native mesh format (ASCII only) for mesh uploads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OPENFOAM\u00ae Mesh Upload<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To upload a mesh in the .foam format, simply pack the constant<\/em> folder within the OpenFOAM case folder and upload it. The constant<\/em> folder has to contain the polyMesh<\/em> folder where the actual mesh files are located. Pack the constant<\/em> folder either as *.tar.gz file or a *.zip archive before uploading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All mesh patches of your polyMesh\/boundaries file will be pickable so that boundary conditions can be assigned. Here is an example of the contents inside of the constant and polyMesh folders:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"uploading<\/a>
Figure 2: Contents of a constant folder before uploading a .foam mesh to SimScale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After importing the compressed constant folder to SimScale, the .foam mesh will be available for the following solvers: incompressible, compressible, convective heat transfer, and multiphase.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"mesh<\/a>
Figure 3: .foam mesh imported to SimScale for an external aerodynamics simulation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Please note that SimScale uses original OpenFOAM headers as reference when processing imported meshes, therefore if the headers do not follow the correct OpenFOAM format this will cause the mesh import to fail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This issue often happens when you generate the mesh with an OpenFOAM GUI, and in these cases it is important that you adjust the headers back to the original OpenFOAM format. For example, the image below shows an original OpenFOAM header for the constant\/polyMesh\/boundary<\/em> file:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"openfoam<\/a>
Figure 4: To make sure that your mesh uses the correct header format, compare your boundary file against the original OpenFOAM header from this image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If the header format is wrong, you will have to update it for the boundary file and all other files in the constant folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/i>Important<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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OpenFOAM\u00ae\u2019s binary format is not yet supported. Please make sure the mesh is in ASCII format. Hence, please open the file system\/controlDict and change the writeFormat<\/em> entry from binary<\/em> to ascii.<\/em> \r\n\r\n\r\n

\"openfoam<\/a>

Figure 5: Adjusting the writeFormat definition to ascii before running the foamFormatConvert utility<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n

Afterward, using OpenFOAM, run the foamFormatConvert<\/a> utility to convert the binary mesh into an ASCII mesh.<\/p><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Note that unlike the CAD models, uploaded meshes are not available for downloading from the SimScale platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supported Analysis Types<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Considering the physics involved and the requirement of geometries the following analysis types may be supported to run simulations on uploaded meshes:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"supported<\/a>
Figure 6: Supported analysis types for the uploaded mesh.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n