Meshes

Imported meshes appear as external data within the model. You can use the imported meshes for a simulation, but the finite element information is not available as it would be for a natively created mesh. All element types that you can create in the Mesh Creation app can be imported. An imported mesh is always up-to-date. You cannot remove or delete an imported mesh. If it is a 2D mesh, use the mesh editing tools to edit it.


Nastran Data Card	Field	Abaqus Keyword	Notes	3DEXPERIENCE Feature
GRID	—	*NODE	—	Mesh Nodes
	ID	Node number
	CP	Node coordinates are transformed to the global coordinate system.
	X1, X2, X3	Node coordinates
	CD	*TRANSFORM		Nodal Transforms
CROD	—	*ELEMENT, TYPE=T3D2	—	Mesh Truss Elements
	EID	Element number
	PID	Section assignment
	G1, G2	Node numbers
CONROD	—	*ELEMENT, TYPE=T3D2	—	Mesh Truss Elements and Truss Section
	EID	Element number
	G1, G2	Node numbers
	MID	Material assignment
	A	Cross-sectional area of the *SOLID SECTION
	J	If $J < {A^{2} \times 10}^{- 6}$ , J is ignored. *SOLID SECTION
	J	Otherwise, I11=I22= $J {\times 10}^{- 6}$ and I12=0. *BEAM GENERAL SECTION, SECTION=GENERAL		Beam General Section
	NSM	*NONSTRUCTURAL MASS, UNITS=MASS PER LENGTH		Nonstructural Mass
CBAR	—	*ELEMENT, TYPE=B31	—	Mesh Linear Bar (BAR) Elements
	EID	Element number
	PID	Section assignment
	GA–GB	Node numbers
	X1, X2, X3	Data lines on BEAM SECTION or BEAM GENERAL SECTION
	Wi	For W1A, W2A, and W3A, if CBAR references PBAR, data lines on SHEAR CENTER Otherwise, BEAM SECTION OFFSET (CBAR references PBARL)
CBEAM	—	*ELEMENT, TYPE=B31	—	Mesh Linear Bar (BAR) Elements
	EID	Element number
	PID	Section assignment
	GA–GB	Node numbers
	X1, X2, X3	Data lines on BEAM SECTION or BEAM GENERAL SECTION
	Wi	For W1A, W2A, and W3A, if CBEAM references PBEAM, data lines on SHEAR CENTER Otherwise, BEAM SECTION OFFSET (CBEAM references PBEAML)
CSHEAR	—	*ELEMENT, TYPE=Shear4	—	Mesh Linear Quadrangle (QD4) Elements
	EID	Element number
	PID	Section assignment
	Gi	Node numbers
CTRIA3	—	*ELEMENT, TYPE=S3R or M3D3	—	Mesh Linear Triangle (TR3) Elements
	EID	Element number
	PID	Section assignment
	Gi	Node numbers
	Ti	NODAL THICKNESS and SHELL SECTION *MEMBRANE SECTION, NODAL THICKNESS
	TFLAG	Interpreted and combined with Ti to determine *NODAL THICKNESS
	ZOFF	Distributed offset with *SHELL SECTION
	MCID / THETA	ORIENTATION, NAME= in conjunction with one of the following: SHELL SECTION, ORIENTATION= or MEMBRANE SECTION, ORIENTATION= or SHELL SECTION, COMPOSITE, ORIENTATION=	If all elements have the same orientation	Shell Section
	MCID / THETA	DISTRIBUTION TABLE, NAME= DISTRIBUTION, LOCATION=ELEMENT, NAME= ORIENTATION, NAME= in conjunction with one of the following: SHELL SECTION, ORIENTATION= or MEMBRANE SECTION, ORIENTATION= or SHELL SECTION, COMPOSITE, ORIENTATION=	If some or all elements have different orientations	Shell Section
CTRIAR	—	*ELEMENT, TYPE=S3R	—	Mesh Linear Triangle (TR3) Elements
	EID	Element number
	PID	Section assignment
	G1–G3	Node numbers
	Ti	NODAL THICKNESS and SHELL SECTION *MEMBRANE SECTION, NODAL THICKNESS
	TFLAG	Interpreted and combined with Ti to determine *NODAL THICKNESS
	ZOFF	Distributed offset with *SHELL SECTION
	MCID / THETA	ORIENTATION, NAME= in conjunction with one of the following: SHELL SECTION, ORIENTATION= or MEMBRANE SECTION, ORIENTATION= or SHELL SECTION, COMPOSITE, ORIENTATION=	If all elements have the same orientation	Shell Section
	MCID / THETA	DISTRIBUTION TABLE, NAME= DISTRIBUTION, LOCATION=ELEMENT, NAME= ORIENTATION, NAME= in conjunction with one of the following: SHELL SECTION, ORIENTATION= or MEMBRANE SECTION, ORIENTATION= or SHELL SECTION, COMPOSITE, ORIENTATION=	If some or all elements have different orientations	Shell Section
CTRIA6	—	*ELEMENT TYPE=STRI65 or M3D6	—	Mesh Quadratic Triangle (TR6) Elements
	EID	Element number
	PID	Section assignment
	G1–G6	Node numbers
	Ti	NODAL THICKNESS and SHELL SECTION *MEMBRANE SECTION, NODAL THICKNESS
	TFLAG	Interpreted and combined with Ti to determine *NODAL THICKNESS
	ZOFF	Distributed offset with *SHELL SECTION
	MCID / THETA	ORIENTATION, NAME= in conjunction with one of the following: SHELL SECTION, ORIENTATION= or MEMBRANE SECTION, ORIENTATION= or SHELL SECTION, COMPOSITE, ORIENTATION=	If all elements have the same orientation	Shell Section
	MCID / THETA	DISTRIBUTION TABLE, NAME= DISTRIBUTION, LOCATION=ELEMENT, NAME= ORIENTATION, NAME= in conjunction with one of the following: SHELL SECTION, ORIENTATION= or MEMBRANE SECTION, ORIENTATION= or SHELL SECTION, COMPOSITE, ORIENTATION=	If some or all elements have different orientations	Shell Section
CQUAD4	—	*ELEMENT, TYPE=S4R or M3D4	—	Mesh Linear Quadrangle (QD4) Elements
	EID	Element number
	PID	Section assignment
	Gi	Node numbers
	Ti	NODAL THICKNESS and SHELL SECTION *MEMBRANE SECTION, NODAL THICKNESS
	TFLAG	Interpreted and combined with Ti to determine *NODAL THICKNESS
	ZOFF	Distributed offset with *SHELL SECTION
	MCID / THETA	ORIENTATION, NAME= in conjunction with one of the following: SHELL SECTION, ORIENTATION= or MEMBRANE SECTION, ORIENTATION= or SHELL SECTION, COMPOSITE, ORIENTATION=	If all elements have the same orientation	Shell Section
	MCID / THETA	DISTRIBUTION TABLE, NAME= DISTRIBUTION, LOCATION=ELEMENT, NAME= ORIENTATION, NAME= in conjunction with one of the following: SHELL SECTION, ORIENTATION= or MEMBRANE SECTION, ORIENTATION= or SHELL SECTION, COMPOSITE, ORIENTATION=	If some or all elements have different orientations	Shell Section
CQUADR	—	*ELEMENT, TYPE=S4R or M3D4	—	Mesh Linear Quadrangle (QD4) Elements
	EID	Element number
	PID	Elements with same PID assigned to a section
	Gi	Node numbers
	Ti	NODAL THICKNESS and SHELL SECTION *MEMBRANE SECTION, NODAL THICKNESS
	TFLAG	Interpreted and combined with Ti to determine *NODAL THICKNESS
	ZOFF	Distributed offset with *SHELL SECTION
	MCID / THETA	ORIENTATION, NAME= in conjunction with one of the following: SHELL SECTION, ORIENTATION= or MEMBRANE SECTION, ORIENTATION= or SHELL SECTION, COMPOSITE, ORIENTATION=	If all elements have the same orientation	Shell Section
	MCID / THETA	DISTRIBUTION TABLE, NAME= DISTRIBUTION, LOCATION=ELEMENT, NAME= ORIENTATION, NAME= in conjunction with one of the following: SHELL SECTION, ORIENTATION= or MEMBRANE SECTION, ORIENTATION= or SHELL SECTION, COMPOSITE, ORIENTATION=	If some or all elements have different orientations	Shell Section
CQUAD8	—	*ELEMENT, TYPE=S8R or M3D8	—	Mesh Quadratic Quadrangle (QD8) Elements
	EID	Element number
	PID	Elements with same PID assigned to a section
	G1–G8	Node numbers
	Ti	NODAL THICKNESS and SHELL SECTION *MEMBRANE SECTION, NODAL THICKNESS
	TFLAG	Interpreted and combined with Ti to determine *NODAL THICKNESS
	ZOFF	Distributed offset with *SHELL SECTION
	MCID / THETA	ORIENTATION, NAME= in conjunction with one of the following: SHELL SECTION, ORIENTATION= or MEMBRANE SECTION, ORIENTATION= or SHELL SECTION, COMPOSITE, ORIENTATION=	If all elements have the same orientation	Shell Section
	MCID / THETA	DISTRIBUTION TABLE, NAME= DISTRIBUTION, LOCATION=ELEMENT, NAME= ORIENTATION, NAME= in conjunction with one of the following: SHELL SECTION, ORIENTATION= or MEMBRANE SECTION, ORIENTATION= or SHELL SECTION, COMPOSITE, ORIENTATION=	If some or all elements have different orientations	Shell Section
CTETRA	—	*ELEMENT, TYPE=C3D4 or C3D10M	—	Mesh Linear Tetrahedron (TE4) or Quadratic Tetrahedron (TE10) Elements
	EID	Element number
	PID	Section assignment
	G1–G10	Node numbers
CHEXA	—	*ELEMENT, TYPE=C3D8I or C3D20R	—	Mesh Linear Hexahedron (HE8) or Parabolic Hexahedron (HE20) Elements
	EID	Element number
	PID	Section assignment
	G1–G20	Node numbers
CPENTA	—	*ELEMENT, TYPE=C3D6 or C3D15	—	Mesh Linear Wedge (WE6) or Quadratic Wedge (WE15) Elements
	EID	Element number
	PID	Section assignment
	G1–G15	Node numbers
RBAR	Gi	Node numbers	—	Connector or Coupling
	CNA, CNB	If either CNA or CNB specifies six DOF (that is, 123456): COUPLING and KINEMATIC
		If six DOF are divided between CNA and CNB: ELEMENT, TYPE=CONN3D2 and CONNECTOR SECTION type BEAM
		If six DOF total are not given in the fields CNA and CNB (for example, both CNA and CNB are blank, or CNA is only 123 and CNB is blank): The import process skips the RBAR as invalid and issues a warning.
	ALPHA	If RBAR maps to kinematic coupling: *KINEMATIC, ALPHA
	—	*ORIENTATION	If CNA specifies six DOF (that is, 123456) and G(A) has a CD field, there is an orientation associated with the kinematic coupling consistent with the referenced coordinate system. This also occurs when CNB specifies six DOF and G(B) has a CD field.