Inflating a 2D Mesh

You can create a 3D part mesh by expanding, or inflating, a 2D surface mesh. The inflation mesher takes 2D meshes, including non-manifold surface meshes, and adds thickness to create a hex-dominant 3D mesh. An inflation mesh is ideal for use in modeling continuum shells on thin parts.

Before you begin: A finite element model representation must exist.
See Also
Inserting Finite Element Model Representations
Meshing Geometries
  1. From the Mesh section of the action bar, click Inflation Mesh .
    The Inflation Mesh dialog box appears.
  2. Optional: Enter a Name for the mesh.
  3. Select a 2D mesh.
    The support is highlighted.
  4. Select the element order, Linear or Quadratic .
  5. Select the Thickness mode:
    • Automatic to use the thickness of an existing midsurface feature or thin part attribute. For more information about how midsurfaces are defined, see the Generative Shape Design Guide. For more information about thin part attributes, see the Simulation Model Preparation Guide.
    • Manual to specify the thickness of the solid mesh.
    • From geometry to select existing solid geometry that defines the mesh thickness.
  6. Enter the number of mesh layers to create through the thickness.
  7. Choose 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.

Occasionally, mesh inflation is incomplete due to complex junctions between edges. The problem area is highlighted; and you can export the mesh, complete it, and re-import it.