Convert

Some geometries have domains that are well suited for swept meshes. If there are surrounding domains that cannot be swept, you can (

) faces with quadrilateral mesh between these domains to faces with triangular mesh. This makes it possible to generate an adjacent-free tetrahedral mesh. Pyramid elements are generated in the interface between the triangular mesh of the converted face and the hexahedral or prism mesh in the domain.


	The Convert feature is in general not needed when free-meshing domains that are adjacent to a swept mesh and, more generally, to faces with quad elements. The free mesh feature then automatically inserts a layer of pyramids between the quad face and the tetrahedral elements.

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It is possible to convert the entire mesh to a tetrahedral mesh.

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You can convert a mixed mesh, consisting of tetrahedral, pyramid, prism, and hexahedral elements, to a pure tetrahedral mesh. The mesh conversion splits elements into several tetrahedral elements.

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In 2D, and on faces in 3D, you can convert a mesh with quadrilateral elements to a mesh with only triangular elements.

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In 3D, adjacent domain elements are also split to conform to the split face elements.

To convert a mesh:

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In the window, select the domains or boundaries where you want to convert the elements. Then click the button (

) on The Mesh Toolbar. This adds a node with the same name and converts the mesh on the selected entities:

On the ribbon toolbar (Windows) from the (

) menu, choose .

From the contextual toolbar (Mac and Linux), from the (

) menu choose .

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Right-click a 2D or 3D node and choose .

Then use the following sections to specify the parts of the mesh to convert and the method that the conversion uses to split the elements:

Geometric Scope (3D) / Domains (2D)

First define the geometric entities where you want to convert the mesh elements. You choose the level of the geometry from the list:

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Choose to convert the mesh elements on all domains (and all boundaries in 3D).

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Choose to specify the domains for which you want to convert mesh elements. Choose in the list to select the domains in the window or choose to select all domains.

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Choose to specify the boundaries for which you want to convert mesh elements. Choose in the list to select the boundaries in the window or choose to select all boundaries. This option is only available in 3D.

Element Split Method

From the list, select (the default setting) to split each quadrilateral element into two triangular elements and each hexahedral element into five tetrahedral elements, or select to split each quadrilateral element into four triangular elements and each hexahedral element into 28 tetrahedral elements. The conversion also affects quadrilateral elements on the boundaries of the specified domains in 3D.

Both element split methods split each prismatic element into three tetrahedral elements. When pyramid elements are involved in a split, also other splits can be performed.