RBF: Mesh Morphing (Adjoint Solver) in ANSYS Fluent

RBF Morph (Mesh Morphing) Concepts in ANSYS Fluent — CFD Training

Description

This module is a comprehensive guide to RBF Morph and mesh morphing in ANSYS Fluent — the technique that lets you deform an existing mesh to change a geometry directly, without rebuilding and remeshing the model from scratch. Rather than focusing on a single simulation case, it unlocks the Design tab and the optimization tools built around it, so you can reshape a mesh, define design objectives, and let the solver guide you toward better designs. Within the Mechanical Engineering: Beginner CFD Training Package, this project introduces mesh morphing as a core enabling technique — the bridge between running a single simulation and using CFD to actively optimize a design.

Methodology

The module works systematically through the Design tab environment in ANSYS Fluent, explaining the rationale behind each step of the optimization workflow. You'll learn to navigate the Design tab interface and understand its key features, then apply gradient-based optimization techniques — working with the observables and operations that make optimization effective. It explores the various design tools and morphing methods available and how each is applied, followed by objective setting and constraint management: defining and modifying optimization objectives and setting the constraints that keep a design realistic. The module then goes deeper into the gradient-based optimizer itself, and finally into adjoint-solution post-processing, where sensitivity analysis reveals how changes to the geometry affect performance.

Analysis

By working through these tools, you'll gain hands-on experience with some of the most powerful optimization capabilities in ANSYS Fluent and the practical insight to apply them to real design challenges. You'll come away able to navigate and use the Design tab, apply gradient-based optimization, implement and analyze mesh-morphing strategies, and conduct sensitivity analyses that guide design refinement. By the end of this module, you'll understand how mesh morphing and adjoint-based optimization fit into a modern CFD workflow — whether you're optimizing aerodynamics, enhancing heat-transfer systems, or refining complex flow designs — giving you the foundation to move from simply running simulations to using them to drive better engineering decisions.