Tutorial: Using a File-Based Grid (Bent Channel)

Table of Contents

• 2. File-Grid Configuration

This tutorial demonstrates grid.mode: file using the bent_channel template.

2. Initialize the Study Directory

./scripts/pic.flow init bent_channel --dest my_bent_channel_run

Expected files:

my_bent_channel_run/
|- bent_channel.yml
|- Imp-MG-Standard.yml
|- Standard_Output.yml
|- standard_analysis.yml
|- bent_channel_coarse.picgrid
|- bent_channel_coarse.vts
`- bent_channel_coarse.info

2. File-Grid Configuration

In bent_channel.yml:

grid:
  mode: file
  source_file: bent_channel_coarse.picgrid

Behavior:

• pic.flow validates the source grid file exists.
• Coordinates are non-dimensionalized before C execution using properties.scaling.length_ref.
• Generated normalized grid is staged into run config artifacts.

5. Run Solver and Postprocessor

./scripts/pic.flow run \
    --case my_bent_channel_run/bent_channel.yml \
    --solver my_bent_channel_run/Imp-MG-Standard.yml \
    --monitor my_bent_channel_run/Standard_Output.yml \
    --post my_bent_channel_run/standard_analysis.yml \
    -n 4 --solve --post-process

8. Visualize in ParaView

1. Open runs/<run_id>/viz/Field_*.vts.
2. Use Stream Tracer seeded near inlet.
3. Color by Ucat_nodal magnitude.

This provides a fast sanity check of bend-flow behavior.

9. Next Steps

Proceed to Tutorial: A Guide to Visualizing Your Results.