# Introduction

An introduction to the basic features of the Flow360 WebUI including navigation and key concepts.

# Contents

Section Contents
Dashboard Navigation manual through the Flow360 Dashboard
Starting a project Guidelines on how to start a project
Workbench layout The layout of the project workbench
General workflow The example of a general workflow in the application
Project tree Description of the project tree and the concept of a project

# Detailed Descriptions

# Dashboard

The Dashboard serves as the central hub for managing and monitoring your CFD projects in Flow360. It provides an intuitive overview of your simulations, resources, and project status.

  • Recent Projects: Grid view of recent CFD projects with status indicators, project details, and quick actions.
  • FlexCredits: Displays your available computation credits.
  • Pending Resources: Overview of computational resources in use, including running, queued, diverged, or failed jobs.
  • Start with the Example: Quick-start option for new users with pre-prepared simulation scenarios.

# Starting a Project

This section guides you through creating a new project in Flow360, whether starting from geometry, surface mesh, or volume mesh.

  • New Project Form: Entry point for creating CFD simulations, allowing selection of workflow type, solver version, units, and description.
  • Creation Methods:
    • From geometry: Upload CAD files for automated meshing.
    • From surface mesh: Use a pre-generated surface mesh.
    • From volume mesh: Use a pre-generated volume mesh.
  • Supported Formats: ESP, EGADS, STEP, IGES, ACIS, STL, CGNS, and more.
  • Key Fields: Project name, solver version, unit, description, and creation method.

# Workbench Layout

The Flow360 workbench provides an interface for CFD simulations, with defined regions for setup, visualization, and analysis.

  • Viewer Region: Central 3D workspace for geometry, mesh, and results visualization.
  • Simulation Setup/Analysis Panel: Control panel for all simulation parameters and settings.
  • Entities Browser: Tools for visual representation and inspection of model and results.
  • Coordinate System: Persistent indicator of axes orientation and view direction.
  • Top Navigation Bar: Main navigation and tool selection area.
  • Bottom Status Bar: Displays operation status, progress, and inspector tools.
  • Viewer Bar: Switches between geometry, mesh, and visualization modes, also contains entity selection tools.

# General Workflow

This section outlines the systematic approach to setting up and running CFD simulations using the Flow360 GUI.

  • Setup: Configure simulation parameters in a top-to-bottom sequence.
  • Verify: Use the inspector tool to check setup completeness and resolve errors.
  • Run: Initiate the simulation, including automated meshing if starting from geometry.
  • Monitor: Track simulation progress and analyze results in real time.
  • Visualize: Inspect mesh and results using the interactive 3D viewer.

# Project Tree

The project tree is a hierarchical visualization of your CFD workflow, from geometry to results. It helps track progress and navigate between stages.

  • Icons: Represent geometry, surface mesh, volume mesh, case, fork, and draft states.
  • Structure: Flexible hierarchy supporting geometry-first, surface-mesh-first, and volume-mesh-first workflows.
  • Branching: Supports multiple branches at each level for mesh sensitivity, parameter studies, and continuation runs (forks).
  • Component Actions: Open in workbench, create new run, interpolate, rename, view details, expand/collapse, delete.

← Dashboard →