Using Symmetry in your SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Studies

The size of your SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation studies can be drastically reduced by using symmetry to simplify the study. Symmetric studies saves you time and resources by reducing mesh generation. SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation creates mirrored results for symmetric studies.

In order to use the symmetry in flow simulation, both the geometry and the boundary conditions should be symmetric. As an example, the following picture shows a piston valve in which the water enters through the inlet in the center of the valve. The water moves radially out through the exit holes.

Piston Valve Inlet and Outlets

Since both the geometry and the boundary conditions are symmetric, the model can be split to quarter (along XY and XZ planes) to use symmetry boundary conditions.

The Geometry and Boundary Conditions Are Symmetric Relative to XZ and XY Planes

To apply symmetry boundary condition in SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation, the model does not need to cut or split. However, when defining the computational domain, only a quarter of the model is selected.

The Symmetric Computational Domain

Once the computational domain is defined, symmetry boundary conditions are applied to the walls of computational domain.

Symmetry Boundary Conditions Along Planes of Symmetry