Using SketchUp with openFoam

openFoam Hangout on Air #1Wednesday 13th November 2013

Presentation

1.Presenter background

2.SketchUp History, Basics and Limitations

3.SketchUp/openFoam workflow

4.Good aspects of SketchUp

5.Not so good aspects of SketchUp

Presenter Background

Dr Julien de Charentenay:

Practical engineer with excellent CFD knowledge and an interest in software

development

SketchUp

• History2000 Released by @Last Software

2006 Acquired by Google

2013 Acquired by Trimble

• Programs of interestK-12

African University

Visiting Professionals

Project Spectrum

SketchUp

SketchUp Basics

• SketchUp Make (Free) vs SketchUp Pro

• Modelling principles

• Plugins

SketchUp Limitations

• Minimum length

"tolerance factor for length is 0.001 of an inch"Source:

http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=25175&p=218997#p218989

0.001 inches = 0.0254 millimetres

SketchUp Limitations

• Minimum length

openFoam Modelling Workflow

SketchUp, what's great?

• Ease of use and flexibility

SketchUp, what's great?

• 'Follow-me' tool

SketchUp, what's great?

• 'Follow-me' tool

SketchUp, what's great?

• 'Follow-me' tool

SketchUp, what's great?

• 3D Warehouse

SketchUp, what's great?

• 3D Warehouse

SketchUp, what's great?

• Geolocalisation

SketchUp, what's great?

• Geolocalisation

SketchUp, what's great?

• Geolocalisation

SketchUp, what's great?

• Geolocalisation/Google Earth integration

SketchUp, what's great?

• Photomatching

Example from http://help.sketchup.com/en/article/94921

SketchUp, what's great?

• Photomatching

SketchUp, what's great?

• Photomatching

SketchUp, what's great?

• Plugins and ruby scripting

http://extensions.sketchup.com/

SketchUp, what's not so great?

• Curves

SketchUp, what's not so great?

• Curves

Cylinder with 24 sides

SketchUp, what's not so great?

• Curves

Cylinder with 48 sides

SketchUp, what's not so great?

• Watertightness

• Plugin to assess watertightness - http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=30504

• More attention with the advend of 3D printing

SketchUp, what's not so great?

• IGES/STEP support

• No in-built support• Available through - paid - extension(s)

SketchUp, what's not so great?

• Importers and plugins speed of execution

• Due to speed execution, some functionalities may be impractical for large cases.

Overall

SketchUp is a great 3D design tool:

Easy to pick-up and ease;

With a good base of users;

Very practical for quick modelling for use in conjunction with openfoam;

But has practical limitations.

References

http://www.sketchup.com/

http://sketchucation.com/

http://sketchupdate.blogspot.com.au/

http://www.mastersketchup.com/10-sketchup-tips/

http://rhin.crai.archi.fr/rld/