Features added under Deformed Geometry control the material frame. They can be used to study both stationary states and time-dependent deformations where the geometry changes its shape due to addition or removal of material, whether this happens due to a physical process, or for example as part of shape optimization. The same feature types are also available as Moving Mesh Features under Moving Mesh but there control the spatial frame. For a comparison of moving meshes and deformed geometries, see Deformed Geometry vs. Moving Mesh.

Features added under Deformed Geometry define a deformation of the material frame relative to the geometry frame, and therefore potentially apply to all physics in the model. They can be used to study how physics changes when the geometry, represented by the mesh, changes due to an externally imposed geometry change. In a dynamic simulation, deformed geometry features model a deformation that represents removal or addition of material. The same feature types are also available as Moving Mesh Features under Moving Mesh but there control the spatial frame. For a comparison of moving meshes and deformed geometries, see Deformed Geometry vs. Moving Mesh.

Technically, the Deformed Geometry branch represents the material frame in the Model Builder tree. Its Equation View subnode displays all contributions to the material frame deformation, for example the mesh smoothing equations used by a Deforming Domain feature, or the boundary motion prescribed by a Polynomial Boundary feature used in shape optimization. Also, when enabling Modify model configuration for study step in a Study Step node, you can use the Deformed Geometry branch to control the overall behavior of Deformed Geometry features: whether they should control the material frame, and whether smoothing equations should be solved for.

The Deformed Geometry menu that you find when right-clicking a Component node includes the three domain nodes Prescribed Deformation, Rotating Domain, and Deforming Domain. The complete set of features, including boundary nodes, can be found when right-clicking the Deformed Geometry branch in a component: