Create the Mesh Entities

Group mesh entities together to facilitate their selection for use in features (such as constraints and loads) and for defining other aspects of the simulation (such as contact and model change).

This task shows you how to:

Create Manual Groups

You can use a manual group to select nodes, element edges, element faces, or elements from a mesh to create a group.

In this example, you will use manual node groups to constrain the build tray. The groups will also help you plot the trends in nodal displacement (distortion) through the process of the simulation.

  1. From the Standard section of the action bar, click Model .
    The assembly opens in Structural Model Creation.
  2. From the View section of the action bar, click Bottom .
    The assembly is oriented to display the requested view.
  3. From the Group section of the action bar, click Manual Group .
  4. Name the manual group Z.
  5. From the 3D area, pick the node that is approximately at the center of the build tray, as shown below.


  6. Click OK.
  7. Similarly, create manual groups named X and Y. For each group, select the node approximately at the center of the edge aligned with the X-axis and the Y-axis, respectively, as the support.
  8. From the View section of the action bar, click Front .
    The assembly is oriented to display the requested view.
  9. Similarly, create a manual group Deflection that contains the two top corner nodes of the bridge structure as the supports, as shown below.


    The manual groups appear in the Model > FEM_AM > Groups category of the tree.

Create Geometric Groups

You can select geometry from your model and create a set that contains all the underlying mesh entities. For example, you can select a volume containing all of the element faces that lie in the selected volume.

In this example, geometric groups will make it easy to remove the supports and build tray after printing is completed.

  1. From the tree, right-click FEM_AM > Nodes and Elements > Hex_Mesh_Bridge_Structure, and click Create Group > Geometric Group.
  2. Name the geometric group Supports, and select Element as the Entity type.
  3. From the context toolbar in the 3D area, select Partitioned Volume .
  4. Select all 14 supports for the bridge, as shown below.

    The supports are colored blue in the image, and they are located between the T-shaped bridge part and the build tray.



  5. Click Update, and click OK.
    The group appears in the FEM_AM > Nodes and Elements > Hex_Mesh_Bridge_Structure category of the tree.
  6. Similarly, create a geometric group Build_Tray on the mesh Sweep_3D_buildtray, with the build tray as the support.
    The group appears in the FEM_AM > Nodes and Elements > Build_tray category of the tree.