Modifying element order

Choose Nodes and Elements tab→Elements group→Element Modify Order to change the order of all elements in a selected mesh. For meshes that are associated with their underlying geometry, Element Modify Order lets you modify the element order without regenerating the entire mesh. With Element Modify Order, you can change:

• A mesh of parabolic elements to a mesh of linear elements.

• A mesh of linear elements to a mesh of parabolic elements.

Modifying the order of elements with the Element Modify Order command is faster than changing the order of elements by editing an existing mesh.

In the following example, we used Element Modify Order to modify a mesh of linear hexahedral elements (A) to a mesh of parabolic hexahedral elements (B).

When you use Element Modify Order:

• The software does not change either the location or label of the corner nodes in the mesh.

• In a mesh that is associated to the underlying geometry, any midnode that the software inserts along an edge or face is associated to that edge or face.

Note:

You cannot use Element Modify Order to modify the order of either a pyramid element mesh or a hexahedral or tetrahedral mesh that adjoins a pyramid element mesh.

Modifying the Midnode Method for parabolic elements

For a mesh of parabolic elements, you can also use Element Modify Order to change the specified Midnode Method for the mesh. The Midnode Method lets you control how the software projects the elements' midnodes onto the geometry.

For example, suppose you used the Mixed option when you originally created the mesh. With the Mixed option, the software projects the midnodes on an element to the geometry unless the projection would cause the element's Jacobian value to exceed the Maximum Jacobian threshold you specified in the 2D Mesh dialog box. You could later use Element Modify Order to change the method to either Curved or Linear. However, if you select a parabolic mesh that is not associated to the underlying geometry, such as a mesh created with commands on the Nodes and Elements tab, you can only change the Midnode Method to Linear.

Where do I find it?

Application	Pre/Post
Prerequisite	An active FEM file
Command Finder	Element Modify Order
Menu	Edit→Element→Element Modify Order

How do I

Reset node and element IDs

Learn more

Manually creating elements

Extruding elements

Projecting elements

Reflecting elements

Revolving elements

Rotating elements

Translating elements

Splitting shell elements

Swapping the diagonals between triangular elements

Splitting 1D elements

Detaching elements from a mesh

Attaching elements into a mesh

Creating a mesh from a cloud of points

Rib detection and removal within a mesh

Thickening a 2D mesh

Convex meshes for FEM acoustics analyses

Acoustic chamber meshes for panel transmission loss analyses

Open duct end meshing for acoustics

Combining triangular elements

Modifying the type of elements

Moving nodes in 2D elements

Modifying element labels

Modifying element connectivity

Deleting elements

Extracting elements from a mesh

Locking and unlocking a mesh

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Modifying element order, Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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