Types of mesh mating conditions

Use the Mesh Mating Condition Type list in the Mesh Mating Condition dialog box to control the type of connection that the software creates between the bodies.

• With a Glue Coincident condition, the software makes both the geometry and the meshes match between the source and the target faces.

• With a Glue Non-Coincident condition, the software creates connections between the meshes on the source and target faces.

• With a Free Coincident condition, the software aligns the meshes on the source and the target faces. The software does not create any connections between the meshes.

Glue coincident mesh mating conditions

With a Glue Coincident condition, the software makes both the geometry and the meshes match between the source and target faces.

• If the source and target faces are geometrically identical, the software merges the two faces to create a single face that is shared by the two bodies. This shared face is sometimes referred to as a non-manifold geometry condition. If the source and target faces overlap each other and are geometrically identical, the software merges the faces in the overlapping region and creates a single, shared face.When you mesh the shared face, the software only generates the nodes on the source face. The nodes on the shared face, including the nodes on the edges of the shared face, belong to the bodies associated with the source and target faces.

• If the two faces are not geometrically identical, the software imprints the common area between the faces on both of the faces. The software then uses that common area as an identical geometric pair which it can process further.

Note:

If the meshes on the source and target faces are of different orders, then the software uses 1D rigid bar elements to connect the midnodes of the parabolic elements to the corner nodes of the linear elements.

Glue non-coincident mesh mating conditions

With a Glue Non-Coincident condition, the software creates connections in the regions where the source and target faces overlap each other.

The type of 1D connection the software creates depends upon your specified solver. For example, for Nastran models, the software generates RBE3 elements between the source and target faces.

The software generates the 1D elements when you mesh the source and target faces. The software determines where to create the 1D elements to connect the source and target faces by casting a ray along the normal from each node on the source face to the target face. If the ray cast from the source face hits the target face, the software creates a 1D element between the node on the source face and the node on the target face. In a Nastran model, for example, the node on the source face become the independent node in the RBE3 definition, while the nodes on the target face become the dependent nodes.

The mesh of 1D elements appears in the Simulation Navigator under the 1D Collectors node. You can manage and edit this mesh like any other mesh. You can control the display and appearance of the mesh. You can right-click the mesh and select Edit Mesh Associated Data to edit core and leg node degrees of freedom for the RBE3 elements in the mesh. You can also use the Reverse Direction option in the Mesh Mating Condition dialog box to reverse which side of the mesh mating condition is dependent for the RBE3 elements.

1D Collectors
MMC RBE3 Collector
auto_mmc_1_mesh
auto_mmc_2_mesh
3D Collectors
Connection Collectors
MMC Collection
auto_mmc_1
auto_mmc_2

When you create glue non-coincident mesh mating conditions for a Nastran model (A), the software generates corresponding RBE3 meshes (B).

Note:

You can create this type of mesh mating condition between any two faces irrespective of their relative positioning. However, the software uses the Search Distance to determine whether to connect the nodes. Therefore, if the two faces are far apart relative to the tolerance, no relationship is created between the two meshes, and the bodies are likely to move independently.

Free coincident mesh mating conditions

With a Free Coincident condition, the software aligns the mesh on both the source and target face but does not connect the meshes.

• The meshes on the source and target faces have the same element pattern.

• There are duplicate nodes at the interface between the source and target faces.

A Free Coincident condition can be useful for setting up surface-to-surface contact problems, such as sliding contact. See Surface-to-Surface Contact (Simcenter Nastran, Simcenter 3D Multiphysics, Abaqus, ANSYS) for more information.

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