Generic Model CreatorΒΆ

The generic model creator node provides a tool for creating simulation directories and input files from a template case by copying user selected file extensions and replacing tagged variable names in the files. This node is useful for automatically creating text input files for arbitrary models based on samples generated from a Design of Experiments. This node is demonstrated in the Ex. 6: Generic model submission example.

../_images/gmc.png

The directories are either manually created by pressing the Create directories button or by running the sheet. The input variables are internally hashed and associated with directories, which allows the node to ignore variables that have already been written to a directory. The Delete directories button can be used to remove all the created directories.

The Source directory is the directory used as the template model. Once a Source directory has been selected, the File extensions to copy and File extensions to replace lists will be populated with all the file extensions in the Source directory. The user can now select which file extensions to simply copy in the File extensions to copy list and which file extensions to search and replace in the File extensions to replace list.

Four different replace patterns are provided. The selected pattern will be used during the search and replace of the files selected in the File extensions to replace list. The following patterns are available:

  • ${variable}

  • |variable|

  • <variable>

  • /variable

where variable should be replaced with the sample variable name used in the Design of Experiments. The user needs to manually edit the files in the Source directory, inserting the selected Replace pattern where the sample variables need to be written in the file during the directory creation.

For example, in the following MFiX-Exa input file excerpt, the z component of the gas velocity at the bottom boundary condition has been replaced with ${ug} pattern:

#_______________________________________________________________________
# Boundary Conditions
#

bc.regions = top bottom

bc.bottom = mi
bc.bottom.fluid.volfrac  =  1.0
bc.bottom.fluid.velocity =  0.0  0.0  ${ug}

bc.top = po
bc.top.fluid.pressure = 101325.0

The ${ug} will then be replaced with the appropriate sample value during the creation of the simulation directories. For example, if the sample value for ug was 1.23:

#_______________________________________________________________________
# Boundary Conditions
#

bc.regions = top bottom

bc.bottom = mi
bc.bottom.fluid.volfrac  =  1.0
bc.bottom.fluid.velocity =  0.0  0.0  1.23

bc.top = po
bc.top.fluid.pressure = 101325.0

The Export directory is the location where the simulation directories will be created with the Directory prefix. The resulting directory paths are available be connecting to the directories terminal.