Importing Meshes

Introduction

Surface meshes such as *.tri files may be imported to your OpenVSP model under the Import… menu. In the case of meshes, both those created within OpenVSP and imported from elsewhere, if the OpenVSP model is saved with a MeshGeom present, the entire mesh file is appended to the VSP3 file which can quickly lead to excessively large file sizes. OpenVSP is also capable of importing and operating on open or non-watertight meshes.

When creating meshes outside of OpenVSP with the intent of importing into a model, you may sometimes find that surface normals are flipped or there are gaps in the mesh. In some cases, the mesh will fail to import altogether. In these cases, you should try to export the mesh in ASCII format which has been demonstrated to be a more reliable import format.

Inserting VSP3 Models

Introduction

Existing OpenVSP models may be inserted into your model as a child of any component or at the Vehicle level by choosing “Insert…” from the File menu. The inserted VSP3 model will not only import the geometry but will also bring along any links, materials, airfoils, attachment, etc. that was defined in that model even in the case of duplicate model imports.

Introduction to Importing Files

Introduction

OpenVSP will import a variety of file formats including existing OpenVSP 3 models, triangulations/meshes, rectilinear wireframes, OpenVSP v2 models, blade element models, and point clouds. Each of these file types will have their own processes and assumptions when bringing geometry into OpenVSP which will be discussed in subsequent tutorials. Imported geometries will be placed as a child of any selected component in the model tree. To place an imported geometry at the highest or “vehicle” level, deselect all components prior to starting the import operation.

OpenVSP file import option menu

DegenGeom

Introduction

An OpenVSP model may be subsequently reduced into geometrically simpler representations from thick surfaces to plates to sticks, and finally, to points all while maintaining metadata about the model. This process is called DegenGeom. Different model representations may be used for different purposes. For example, the plate representation is used to supply the VLM surfaces in VSPAERO, a stick representation may be used for a structural analysis, and the points representation may supply mass and inertia to a dynamics simulation. OpenVSP’s DegenGeom tool produces a file with each level of degeneracy and all relevant metadata for the model.

Topics

Introduction to DegenGeom
DegenGeom Breakdown and Visualization

Chapter 4 Subjects

Importing Files
Exporting Models
DegenGeom

Exporting Models

Introduction

An OpenVSP model may be exported in a wide variety of formats including triangulated meshes, rectilinear wireframes, standardized CAD, vector drawings, blade element, and airfoils, among others. Each of these file types will require their own options and model setup to achieve a quality export which will be discussed in subsequent topics along with reasonable best-practices.

Topics

Model Export Introduction
Triangulation Exports
Untrimmed CAD Export
Airfoil Export

Chapter 5 Subjects

Curve Editor