Multi Body-Infer Target and Until Target meshes

Video: Sweep a mesh through a body with hexahedral elements

Use the Multi Body-Infer Target and Until Target types in the 3D Swept Mesh dialog box to generate a mapped mesh of hexahedral or wedge elements by sweeping a free or mapped surface mesh through a solid body. You can use these options to generate a structured mesh with layer by layer consistency on any 2 ½ dimensional solid body (a solid with a constant cross section in one direction throughout) that meets certain criteria. For more information, see Criteria for sweepable bodies.

Swept meshing terminology

The source face (A) is the face whose mesh is swept through the volume. The target face (B) is the face onto which the software projects the mesh from the source face. Faces between the source and target faces are the wall faces (C). Each wall face is comprised of individual “rail” curves For more information, see Criteria for source faces.

Sweeping a mesh through a volume

With the Multi Body-Infer Target and Until Target types of swept mesh, the software sweeps a mesh from the source face through the solid body, to a target face. When the software generates the swept mesh, it propagates the mesh into the body, layer by layer until the entire solid body is filled with elements. The mesh on the source face, therefore, controls the mesh through the solid body.

• You can use the 2D Mapped Mesh command to first create a structured seed mesh on the source face before you use the 3D Swept Mesh command. For more information, see 2D mapped meshing.

• You can use the options in the 3D Swept Mesh dialog box to control the mesh on the source face. See Controlling the mesh on the source and wall faces in a swept mesh through a volume for more information.

In a swept mesh, the software propagates all nodes on the source surface to the target surface. For example, the software replicates any nodes created at point-based boundary condition locations on the source face on the target face. However, the software does not honor any existing entities, such as mesh points or edge densities, on target faces.

The following example shows a model with an existing free mesh of quadrilateral elements on the source face (A). The software sweeps these elements through the volume to create solid mesh of hexahedral elements (B).

Using Split Body to subdivide a body prior to swept meshing

Before you try to generate a swept mesh on a body, you may first need to simplify the body by subdividing it into smaller bodies. You can use the Split Body command to divide a complex body into several smaller, simpler bodies. Additionally, you can use the Check for Sweepable Body option in the Split Body dialog box to interactively preview whether the current body is likely sweepable. See Splitting bodies for more information.

Selecting the type of swept mesh to create

The Types menu in the 3D Swept Mesh dialog box lets you control how the software sweeps the mesh through the selected bodies.

• Select Multi Body-Infer Target to sweep a mesh from a selected source face to a target face that the software determines. You can use Multi Body-Infer Target to sweep a mesh through a single body or through multiple individual bodies. If you select source faces from multiple bodies, the software sweeps a separate mesh through each individual body.This graphic shows the use the Multi Body-Infer Target option. Here, faces A, B, and C all selected as source faces for the mesh. Each source face belongs to a different body. The software sweeps a different mesh through each of the bodies.

• Select Until Target to sweep a mesh from a selected source face to a target face that you specify. You can also sweep a mesh from a set of source faces onto a set of target faces.For more information, see Automatically sweeping a mesh from a source face.

Using 3D Swept Mesh to create hexahedral-tetrahedral interfaces between bodies

You can use 3D Swept Mesh to create a mapped mesh of hexahedral or tetrahedral elements to link to a free mesh of tetrahedral elements on an adjacent body. To use this capability, you must create a Glue Coincident type of Mesh Mating Condition between the bodies. Then, you use 3D Swept Mesh to create the mapped mesh. Finally, you can create the tetrahedral mesh on the adjacent body. When you solve your model, the software uses multi-point constraint equations to automatically connect the nodes on the tetrahedral and hexahedral elements.

See Mesh mating conditions for more information on Glue Coincident mesh mating conditions.

Where do I find it?

Application	Pre/Post
Prerequisite	An active FEM file
Command Finder	3D Swept Mesh
Menu	Insert→Mesh→3D Swept Mesh

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Multi Body-Infer Target and Until Target meshes, Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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