Meshing Operations and Attributes

Meshing Operations and Attributes

A meshing sequence consists of Operations and Attributes. Among the operations, there are Generators which generate mesh elements, Modifying Operations which modify existing meshes, and Copying Operations to copy the meshes between components or entities in the same component. The last category of operations can change the number of entities in a mesh either by creating entities, or partition existing entities (Booleans and Partitions, Cleanup and Repair, and Delete and Join Entities).

The Attributes store properties that are used by the operation nodes when creating the mesh. You can also choose the Predefined Mesh Element Sizes to adjust the element size.

The tables below list available mesh operations, attributes, and actions relating to meshes. The tables are roughly organized based on where they appear on The Mesh Toolbar:

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Physics Controlled

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Table 8-2: Import/Export
Icon	Name	Description
	Import	To import a mesh from file, mesh sequence, mesh part, Filter dataset, Partition dataset, or to import a geometry to mesh. See Importing Meshes for more information
	Export	To export a mesh to file. See Exporting Meshes for more information.
	Create Geometry	To import a mesh from file, mesh sequence, mesh part, Filter dataset, or Partition dataset. See Creating Geometry from Mesh for more information.

Table 8-3: Physics Controlled
Icon	Name	Description
	Edit	To edit a physics-controlled sequence. See Editing and Resetting a Physics-Controlled Sequence for more information
	Reset	To reset the sequence to the physics-controlled settings. See Editing and Resetting a Physics-Controlled Sequence for more information.

Table 8-4: Attributes
Icon	Name	Description
	Boundary Layer Properties	To specify the location of the boundary layers and the properties, such as the number and thickness of the boundary layers.
	Corner Refinement	To decrease the element size at sharp corners. The node considers a vertex in 2D or an edge in 3D to be a sharp corner if the angle between the adjacent selected boundaries, with respect to the selected domain, is greater than a specified angle.
	Distribution	To specify the distribution of mesh elements along an edge, for example. It is possible to add Distribution nodes both as global nodes and as local nodes for meshes conforming with a geometry. Supported as local attributes to Free Triangular, Free Tetrahedral, and Free Quad when the mesh defines its own geometric model.
	Edge Groups	To specify the four groups of edges around a boundary (3D) or domain (2D) that is used to determine the Mapped mesh of the boundary/domain.
	Edge Map	Using this node, the source mesh of the Copy Face or Copy Domain operation is transformed so that the source edge of the Edge Map node is mapped onto the destination edge of the Edge Map node with the specified orientation.
	One-Point Map	To define the orientation of the source mesh on the destination for a Copy Face or Copy Domain feature by specifying how to map one point adjacent to the source to a point adjacent to the destination.
	Scale	To scale the properties of the Size, Distribution, and Boundary Layer Properties nodes.
	Size	To specify the size of mesh elements. It is possible to add Size nodes both as global nodes and as local nodes for meshes conforming with a geometry. Supported as local attributes to Free Triangular, Free Tetrahedral, and Free Quad when the mesh defines its own geometric model.
	Size Expression	To specify the size of mesh elements using an expression evaluated on the grid or on a solution.
	Transform	To specify a position, rotation, or to scale an imported mesh. Supported for the Import operation.
	Two-Point Map	To define the orientation of the source mesh on the destination for a Copy Face or Copy Domain node by specifying how to map a pair of points adjacent to the source to a pair of points adjacent to the destination.

Table 8-5: Generators
Icon	Name	Description
	Boundary Layers	Create a boundary layer mesh — a mesh with dense element distribution in the normal direction along specific boundaries. This mesh is typically used for fluid flow problems to resolve the thin boundary layers along the no-slip boundaries.
	Edge	Create an edge mesh.
	Free Tetrahedral	Create an unstructured tetrahedral mesh. If no selection is specified, this feature creates a mesh on the remaining domains, boundaries, edges and points.
	Free Triangular	Create an unstructured triangular mesh on faces in 3D or domains in 2D. For Finalizing the Mesh, only faces in 3D are supported.
	Free Quad	Create an unstructured quadrilateral mesh on faces in 3D or domains in 2D. For Finalizing the Mesh, only faces in 3D are supported.
	Mapped	Create a structured quadrilateral mesh on boundaries in 3D and domains in 2D.
	Swept	Create a swept mesh. In domain selection mode this button works in the same way as the Free Tetrahedral button. In boundary selection mode the software creates a swept mesh on the remaining domains using the selected boundaries as source faces.
	Vertex	Create a vertex mesh.

Table 8-6: Modifying Operations
Icon	Name	Description
	Adapt	Use adaptive mesh generation based on an error estimate from a computed solution.
	Convert	Convert quadrilateral meshes on faces to triangles or hexahedral meshes on domains into tets.
	Reference	Refer to another meshing sequence. Building a Reference node runs the operation nodes of the referenced sequence.
	Refine	Refine a mesh by splitting elements.

Table 8-7: Copying Operations
Icon	Name	Description
	Copy	Copy a mesh from another meshing sequence, typically of imported mesh type, or mesh part into a meshing sequence corresponding to a geometry. Can also be used to copy a mesh within the same meshing sequence.
2D 3D	Copy Domain	Copy a mesh between domains.
2D 3D	Copy Edge	Copy a mesh between edges. A 3D Copy Edge feature can also be used for destination edges of different shapes.
	Copy Face	Make a copy of a mesh that you can use to create an identical mesh on, for example, two boundaries in a model with periodic boundary conditions.

Table 8-8: Booleans and Partitions
Icon	Name	Description
	Intersect with Line	To split mesh elements and geometric entities of a 2D mesh with a straight line.
	Intersect with Plane	To split mesh elements and geometric entities of a 3D mesh with one or several planes.
	Partition with Ball	To split geometric entities in a mesh by an element set defined by a ball.
	Partition with Cylinder	To split geometric entities in a mesh by an element set defined by a cylinder.
	Partition with Box	To split geometric entities in a mesh by an element set defined by a box.
	Partition by Expression	To split geometric entities in a mesh by specifying a logical expression.
	Union	Merge adjacent mesh faces or unite partly overlapping face meshes to form overlap domains.

Table 8-9: Cleanup and Repair
Icon	Name	Description
	Fill Holes	To repair an imported 3D surface mesh with minor holes.
	Collapse Entities	To collapse geometrical entities in meshes.
	Merge Entities	To merge geometrical entities in meshes.

Table 8-10: Create Entities
Icon	Name	Description
	Create Domains	To create additional domains within watertight faces meshes.
	Create Edges	To create meshed edges in a mesh that defines its own geometric model.
	Create Faces	To create additional meshed faces within edge loops in a mesh that defines its own geometric model.
	Create Vertices	To create vertices in a mesh that defines its own geometric model.

Table 8-11: Delete and Join Entities
Icon	Name	Description
	Delete Entities	To delete geometric entities in a mesh that defines its own geometric model.
	Join Entities	To join adjacent geometric entities in a mesh.

Table 8-12: Evaluate
Icon	Name	Description
	Measure	To measure a set of geometric objects or entities selected in the Graphics window. See Geometric Measurements for more information.
	Statistics	To show brief mesh statistics in the Messages window. For a more extensive statistics representation, open up Mesh Statistics.
	Plot	To add a mesh plot. For information, see Mesh Plots.

Table 8-13: Clear
Icon	Name	Description
	Clear Built Mesh	To remove the built mesh while keeping the sequence in order to later rebuild the mesh using the same settings. See also Clear or Delete a Mesh.
	Clear All Built Meshes	To clear all built meshes in the model while keeping the sequences in order to later rebuild the meshes.
	Clear Built Meshes	To clear all built meshes in the component while keeping the sequences in order to later rebuild the meshes. This action is only available from by right-clicking the Meshes node.
	Clear Sequence	To clear the sequence of all operations and attributes and also clear the built mesh.