Creating 2D Hole Meshes

You can create a 2D mesh of triangular elements to cover holes that are not required for a simulation or to enclose the fluid domain in an open container (fluid cavity).

Before you begin: A 2D mesh must exist.
See Also
Updating Meshes
  1. From the Mesh section of the action bar, click Hole Mesh .
    The Hole Mesh dialog box appears.
  2. Optional: Enter a Name for the 2D hole mesh.
  3. Select the 2D mesh that contains the hole to be covered.
  4. Click on the Curves field, and select one or more edges that define the circumference of the hole.

    The Select toolbox allows you to choose a selection method for adding curves.

    • Click to select curves manually. This is the default method.
    • Click to select edges and to propagate edge selection by angle, by tangency, by picking a path direction (arrow), or along a contour (following a free edge of the mesh).

    Notes: You must associate the curve with the nodes and elements of the mesh selected in Step 3. You can select multiple curves if they are connected to create a single hole.

  5. Optional: Click on the Point field, and select a point or vertex at the center of the hole.

    If you do not select a point, the center is calculated based on the curve selection in the previous step.

    The selected point is used as the center of the triangle mesh elements.

  6. 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.

The hole mesh uses the same element connectivity—linear or quadratic—as the mesh selected in Step 3.