STAR-CCM+: Fluid Flow & Thermal Simulation

Overview

Learn to perform CFD simulations using STAR-CCM+ through a clear, application-focused introduction to the full simulation workflow. This course teaches you how to prepare a fluid airfoil geometry, define the surrounding fluid domains, and generate high-quality meshes that will solve the governing fluid dynamic equations. You will set up physics models for fluid flow and heat transfer, apply appropriate boundary conditions, and control solver settings for steady and transient simulations. Along the way, you’ll explore mesh refinement strategies, turbulence modeling, convergence monitoring, and common troubleshooting methods. Hands-on exercises guide you in visualizing results with velocity and pressure contours, plots, and force reports to extract meaningful engineering insights. This course is designed for engineering students, CFD practitioners, and mechanical, marine, or aerospace engineers who want hands-on experience setting up, running, and analyzing fluid flow and thermal simulations using STAR-CCM+. Learners should have a basic understanding of fluid dynamics, integral and differential calculus, and numerical methods used to solve the Navier–Stokes equations. By the end of the course, you will be able to confidently build, run, and analyze complete CFD simulations in STAR-CCM+ and apply these skills to real engineering applications.

Syllabus

STAR-CCM+: Geometry and Meshing

Introduction to the STAR-CCM+ CFD workflow with a focus on preparing external-flow geometries and generating high-quality meshes for marine and industrial fluid simulations. Learners build the foundational skills required to discretize fluid domains accurately, resolve boundary layers, and establish numerically stable CFD models that support reliable simulation results.

STAR-CCM+: Setting up Boundary Conditions and Running Simulation

This module guides learners how to setup the boundary conditions and run the CFD simulation with the geometry and mesh created in the previous module.

Analyzing Flow and Thermal Results

This module analyzes the results of the CFD simulations that is only possible after successful completion and implementation of proper meshing, boundary condition definition, and STAR-CCM+ simulation setup. Learners will learn basic post-processing to extract velocity data, lift data, and drag data.