The effectiveness of a filter medium is directly influenced by its microstructure. However, once the appropriate medium is selected, the overall performance of the filter is significantly influenced by the collective arrangement of various components, such as the housing, inlets and outlets, support meshes, pleat shape, etc. By using the Complete Filter feature of the FilterDict module, it is possible to simulate the entire complete filter including filter housing with different inlets and outlets.

The complete filter structure is constructed by importing the 3D CAD design of its components with ImportGeo-CAD. The Filter Flow Experiment option in Complete Filter simulation allows the computation of the clean flow through the complete filter to obtain the pressure drop at a given velocity, or vice versa. The Filter Lifetime option in Complete Filter enables a lifetime simulation for particulate flow filtration, providing valuable insights into pressure drop evolution, filter efficiency, dust clogging, and other relevant parameters throughout the filtration process.

This tutorial includes an exemplary complete filter, provided with CAD data for different components. The details show how the STL files of base plate, filter capsule, inner support mesh, outer support mesh, and pleat are imported with distinct material IDs assigned accordingly. Furthermore, the tutorial thoroughly explains the settings for flow and filtration simulations, alongside the visualization of obtained results.

After studying the tutorial, you will know the workflow to model a complete filter and simulate flow and particle filtration. Armed with this knowledge, you can optimize the filter design by adjusting the sizing of all the components, especially the pleating shape such as pleat count, pleating pack diameters, pleating radius, and so on. By repeating the same workflow, you can find the best design for the complete filter.