The generation of high-quality volume meshes out of µCT data can be a challenging task that is mandatory to perform CFD simulations of fluid flows within or around scanned objects. Despite the growing relevance of CT-based CFD simulations, there is still a lack of a standardized, free-to-use workflow. In this work, an open-source based workflow is presented, which covers all steps from the CT image stack to a volume mesh in the end. The software packages ImageJ, ParaView, and Blender are used for surface reconstruction and processing of µCT data; resulting meshes are evaluated regarding geometric parameters, surface fidelity, and used memory. For volume meshing, the mesh generator snappyHexMesh implemented in OpenFOAM is used. A detailed description of this workflow is provided in the Supplementary Materials. We demonstrate how potential pitfalls and shortcomings can be avoided and how surface smoothing is especially important to preserve the surface area of scanned objects. We use CT data of a 10 ppi open cell foam to illustrate that data decimation can reduce the required time for the volume meshing by up to 45% and RAM up to 75%. The resulting meshes are used to simulate flow fields and heat transport with a surface heat source. The resulting temperature fields show that differences in the surface area and recesses in an unsmoothed mesh can affect the outcome of heat transport simulations, highly relevant for reactive CFD simulations. The results highlight the quality of our workflow’s outcome, which can help engineers that rely on CT reconstruction processes, also for other applications.

从 µCT 数据中生成高质量的体积网格可能是一项具有挑战性的任务，必须对扫描对象内部或周围的流体流动进行 CFD 模拟。尽管基于 CT 的 CFD 模拟的相关性越来越高，但仍然缺乏标准化、免费使用的工作流程。在这项工作中，提出了一个基于开源的工作流程，它涵盖了从 CT 图像堆栈到最终体积网格的所有步骤。软件包 ImageJ、ParaView 和 Blender 用于 µCT 数据的表面重建和处理；生成的网格会根据几何参数、表面保真度和使用的内存进行评估。对于体网格划分，使用 OpenFOAM 中实现的网格生成器 snappyHexMesh。补充材料中提供了此工作流程的详细说明。我们展示了如何避免潜在的缺陷和缺点，以及表面平滑对于保留扫描对象的表面积特别重要。我们使用 10 ppi 开孔泡沫的 CT 数据来说明数据抽取可以将体积网格划分所需的时间减少高达 45% 并将 RAM 减少高达 75%。生成的网格用于模拟流场和表面热源的热传输。由此产生的温度场表明，未平滑网格中表面积和凹槽的差异会影响热传输模拟的结果，这与反应 CFD 模拟高度相关。结果突出了我们工作流程结果的质量，这可以帮助依赖 CT 重建过程的工程师，也可以用于其他应用。