Calculating the Volume of an Iso-Surface

Question: How do I calculate the volume of a completely enclosed iso-surface? Solution: The volume of an iso-surface (no holes in it) may be calculated using 360’s data calculation, alteration and integration features by following these steps: A)   First, create a zone from your iso-surface: Display the iso-surface of choice by going to the side panel and clicking the Iso-Surfaces Details… button. Activate only one iso-surface group and ensure that […]

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Calculating Grid K Normal Nodal Values

Question: The symmetry of nodal Grid K Unit Normal values differ from the comparable cell-centered values (see Figure 1). How are nodal Grid K Unit Normal values calculated?1 Explaining the Question: In Figure 1, at nodes 1, 6, 11, 16, and 21 the X Grid K Unit Normal vectors are equal. However, on the data row below it (nodes 2, 7, 12, 17, and 22), the components of the X […]

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Verifying Surface Normals in Integral Calculations

Problem: How do I verify the direction of my unit surface normal vectors to make the correct integrations? If my surface normals point in an inconsistent direction from one timestep to another, how do I correct the value of my integral? From the User’s Manual: “Integrations involving surface unit normals, such as Mass Flow Rate, and Forces and Moments integration, rely on surface unit normals pointing in a consistent direction. […]

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Calculating Average Normal Velocity to Iso-Surface

Problem: How do I calculate the average normal fluid velocity (or any vector variable) going through an iso-surface? Details: Or stated another way, “I am trying to use a vector dot product with unit normal integration to get the average normal velocity through an extracted iso-surface.”  This question originally relates to this scenario, but it can be used for calculating the average flux though a surface for various cases. Solution: […]

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Skip vectors or scatter points

Problem: My data is very dense. I want to show vectors or scatter but not at every point. Solution: On the Zone Style dialog, go to the Points tab. One of the options is Index skip and this setting will apply to both scatter points and vectors.


Calculate and display normal vectors

Problem: How can I calculate and display vectors normal to a surface? Solution: Load your dataset and then perform the following steps to calculate normal vectors in Tecplot 360 (not available in Tecplot Focus): Click on the Analyze menu and select Calculate Variables Select Grid K Unit Normal (vector) Set the New Var Location to Cell Center or Node, depending on the desired vector location with respect to the grid. […]

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