Creating and Editing Surface Meshes

You can create a surface rules mesh of triangle elements or quadrilateral elements. You can use parameters from a saved meshing rule document or enter parameters for use with only the current mesh. You can create surface meshes for any surface, including non-manifold surfaces (surfaces that include T-junctions).

If you update the geometry of an existing part, mesh specifications are applied to the modified part. If a local feature like an edge has a mesh specification and no longer exists, the part is still considered valid if it generates a good mesh. However, when you enter a mesh editor, the feature icon in the tree displays a warning symbol to indicate that the local specification is not valid.

Before you begin: A finite element model representation must exist. To use or modify rules, a saved surface mesh rule must exist in the database.
  1. In the tree or in the work area, select the geometry to be meshed.
  2. To mesh a subset of the geometry that you selected:
    1. Click Refine Support .
      The Refine Support dialog box appears.
    2. Select one or more faces.
      The selected faces are excluded from the surface meshing operation.
    3. To mesh only the faces that you just selected and leave the other faces from the original selection unmeshed, select Complementary Mode.
    4. Click OK.
    The Simplify Support dialog box closes.
  3. Choose the Element order.
  4. Select Midside nodes on geometry to constrain midside nodes of quadratic elements to the support.
  5. Specify the Mesh size and, for triangle meshes, Absolute sag.
  6. To offset the mesh from the selected geometry, enter a value in the Offset box.

    If the selected geometry includes thickness properties, they are used to create the offset. You cannot edit the offset value in this case.

    An arrow indicates the offset direction on the selected geometry. The offset is based on a simplified representation of the surface positioned at the offset location. The geometry is not changed by the offset process, and changes to the offset surface mesh are associative with changes to the underlying geometry.
  7. To capture nodes and edges of elements from the neighboring meshes to obtain a compatible mesh:
    1. Select Automatic mesh capture.
      The Apply on box is activated to let you select meshes to be captured.
    2. Select the meshes to be captured either in the 3D area or in the tree.

      Tip: To select all meshes at once, right-click the Apply on field, and choose Select all.

    3. Select the method of node capture for the captured faces.
    4. In the Tolerance box, enter a maximum distance to capture nodes and edges of elements of the selected mesh parts.
    5. To automatically project curves from nearby features, select Automatic curve capture.

      The curve projection tolerance is the same as the mesh capture tolerance specified for the automatic mesh capture.

    The edge nodes of the captured mesh and the surface rule mesh are shared; they are not duplicated. The mesh capture is performed dynamically on all constraints (free edges, internal edges,...) and after all constraint modifications.

    Note: To also capture face nodes and ensure no duplication at shared mesh faces, use Face Capture.

  8. Specify your Editing Options:
  9. To exit the Surface Mesher and return to the app, click Exit in the standard area of the action bar.
    Exiting the Surface Mesher also closes the surface quad mesh dialog box.
  10. If you are still in the surface triangle or surface quad mesh dialog box, click one of the following:
    • OK to save the parameters that you defined, to create the mesh, and to close the dialog box. To generate and visualize the mesh, you must update it.
    • Mesh to save the parameters you defined and to create, update, and generate the mesh.

      The PLM Update progress bar appears. The mesh dialog box remains open to allow further edits.

    • Cancel to cancel the modifications and to close the dialog box.
    If you click OK or Mesh, the mesh specification is created and appears in the tree.

 

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