Manually Editing the Mesh

You can preview and then dynamically update the quality of a surface mesh. You can also move nodes on geometry, edit finite elements (splitting, swapping, etc.), or smooth the mesh. The manual editing tool available from the Mesh Editor has capabilities that are nearly identical to the one available through the Surface Mesher (see Manually Editing the Mesh in the Surface and Tetrahedron Mesher). Global optimization is not available since the mesh editing tools are intended to make local modifications.

Before you begin: Create a surface mesh in the finite element model representation.
Note: Any mesh editing operation that modifies the mesh topology (deletes or adds nodes or elements) will result in a loss of the association between the mesh and the geometry.
See Also
Editing Meshes
  1. From the Mesh section of the action bar, click Meshing Editor , and select a surface mesh from the finite element model representation.
    The Mesh Editing app opens.
  2. From the Edit section of the action bar, click Manual Edit .
    The Manual Edit dialog box appears. You enter the mesh editing mode, and you can access several tools to manually modify mesh edges and mesh faces to improve the mesh quality (remove mesh edges, move mesh nodes, split mesh elements, etc.).
  3. To optimize the shape of neighboring elements when you modify an edge or a face, select Smooth around modifications.
  4. To combine two adjacent triangle elements into a quadrangle with a good mesh quality (if possible) when you modify an edge or face, select Combine around modifications.
  5. To swap edges of adjacent elements when you modify an edge or a face, select Swap around modifications.
  6. To remove an edge, right-click it and select Remove Edge.

    Tip: You can also pass the pointer over an edge and select it when the eraser symbol appears.


    The edge is removed:

  7. To condense nodes, right-click an edge, and select Condense Nodes.
  8. To split an element, right-click it, and select Insert Node.

    Tip: You can also pass the pointer over an element and select it when the scissors symbol appears.


  9. To swap edges, right-click an edge, and select Swap Edge.
  10. To move a node, pass the pointer over the node, click it, and drag it to the desired location.


  11. To move a node outside of the existing mesh plane, highlight the node and select Move node outside mesh from the context menu.
    The robot origin is positioned on the selected node so you can use it to reposition the node.
  12. Click Cancel to cancel the modifications or Close to validate the modifications.
    The dialog box closes, and you exit the mesh editing mode.