Capturing Mesh Faces

You can capture mesh faces that are close to a selected geometric face.

The source geometry and captured mesh faces generally represent a contact region within a simulation where the target mesh is moving with respect to the source.

Before you begin: Open the Surface Mesher, Tetrahedron Mesher, or Partition Hex Mesher.
See Also
Imposing Nodes
Creating and Editing Surface Meshes
Creating and Editing Tetrahedron Meshes
Creating and Editing a Partition Hex Mesh
  1. From the Mesh Specifications section of the action bar, click Face Capture .
    The Face Capture dialog box appears.
  2. Select the Sources.

    Source faces are the geometric faces that identify the contact region for which you want to capture mesh faces. The source faces might cover all or part of the target mesh.

    The source faces must be meshed; the source mesh is used to define the nodes captured on the target.

  3. Specify the Tolerance distance.

    Target mesh faces must lie within the specified distance from the source faces.

  4. Select the method of node capture for the captured faces.
    OptionDescription
    Projection Project the nodes of the source edge onto the target.
    Coincidence Superimpose the nodes of the source faces and the target. The nodes are duplicated, not shared, with the source and target nodes in the same locations.
    Condensation Merge the nodes of the source faces and the target. The nodes are shared and not duplicated.
  5. Optional: Select Visualize captured mesh to preview the captured mesh faces.
    The captured mesh elements are highlighted on the model.
  6. Do one of the following:
    • Click OK to save your settings, to create the mesh specification, and to close the dialog box.
    • Click Cancel to discard your changes and to close the dialog box.