Cubit 16.14 User Documentation
In contrast to the ACIS format, Mesh-Based Geometry (MBG) is not a third party library and has been developed specifically for use with CUBIT. Most of CUBIT's mesh generation tools require an underlying geometric representation. In many cases, only the finite element model is available. If this is the case, CUBIT provides the capability to import the finite element mesh and build a complete boundary representation solid model from the mesh. The solid model can then be used to make further enhancement to the mesh. While the underlying ACIS geometry representation is typically non-uniform rational b-splines (NURBS), Mesh-Based Geometry uses a facetted representation. Mesh-Based Geometry can be generated by importing either an Exodus II format file or a facet file.
Many of the same operations that can be done with traditional CAD geometry can also be done with mesh-based geometry. While all mesh generation operations are available, only some of the geometry operations can be used. For example, the following can be done with geometric entities that are mesh-based:
Some operations that are not yet available with mesh-based geometry include:
Mesh based geometry models can be created in one of two ways
While both of these methods create geometry suitable for meshing, there are some significant differences:
Exodus II files
Exodus II contains a mesh representation that may include 3D elements, 2D elements, 1D elements and even 0D elements. It may also contain deformation information as well as boundary condition information. The import mesh geometry command is designed to decipher this information and create a complete solid model, using the mesh faces as the basis for the surface representations. Exodus II is most often used when a solid model that has previously been meshed requires modification or remeshing. Importing an Exodus II file will generate both geometry and mesh entities, assigning appropriate ownership of the mesh entities to their geometry owners. Deleting the mesh and remeshing, refining or smoothing are common operations performed with an Exodus II model.
Facet files
The facet file formats supported by CUBIT are most often generated from processes such as medical imaging, geotechnical data, graphics facets, or any process that might generate discrete data. Importing a facet file will generate a surface representation only defined by triangles. If the triangles in the facet file form a complete closed volume, then a volume suitable for meshing may be generated. In cases where the volume may not completely close or may not be of sufficient quality, a limited set of tools has been provided. In addition to the standard meshing tools provided in CUBIT, it is also possible to use the triangle facets themselves as the basis for an FEA mesh.
In many cases, the triangulated representations that are provided from typical imaging processes are not of sufficient quality to use as geometry representations for mesh generation. As a result, CUBIT provides a limited number of tools to assist in cleaning up or repairing triangulated representations.
1. Using tolerance on STL files
Stereolithography (STL) files, in particular, can be problematic. The import mechanism for STL provides a tolerance option to merge near-coincident vertices.
2. Using the stitch option on AVS and facet files
The stitch option on the import facets|avs command provides a way to join triangles that otherwise share near-coincident vertices and edges. This is useful for combining facet-based surfaces to generate a water-tight model.
3. Using the improve option on facet files.
The improve option on the import facets command will collapse short edges on the boundary of the triangulation. This option improves the quality of the boundary triangles.
4. Smoothing faceted surfaces.
Individual triangles in a faceted surface representation may be poorly shaped. Just like mesh elements may be smoothed, facets may also be smoothed in CUBIT using the following command
Smooth <surface_list> Facets [Iterations <value>] [Free] [Swap]
To use this command, the surface cannot be meshed. Facet smoothing consists of a simple Laplacian smoothing algorithm which has additional logic to make sure it does not turn any of the triangles in-side out. It also determines a local surface tangent plane and projects the triangle vertices to this plane to ensure the volume will not "shrink". The iterations option can be used to specify the number of Laplacian smoothing operations to perform on each facet vertex (The default is 1).
The free option can be used to ignore the tangent plane projection. Used too much, the free option can collapse the model to a point. One of two iterations of this option may be enough to clean up the triangles enough to be used for a finite element mesh.
The swap option can be used to perform local edge swap operations on the triangulation. The quality of each triangle is assessed and edges are swapped if the minimum quality of the triangles will improve.
5. Creating a thin offset volume
Offset surfaces may be generated from an existing facet-based surface. This would be used in cases where a thin membrane-like volume might be required where only a single surface of triangles is provided. This command may be accomplished by using the standard create body offset command
The result of this command is a single body with an inside and outside surface separated by a small distance which is generally suitable for tet meshing. This command is currently only useful for small offsets where self-intersections of the resulting surface would be minimal. It is most useful for bodies that may be initially composed of a single water-tight surface.
6. Creating volumes from surfaces
A mesh-based geometry volume can be created from a set of closed surfaces. This can be accomplished in the same manner as the standard create body surface command
Create Body Surface <surface_id_range>
This command is limited to surfaces that match triangles edges and vertices at their boundary. The command will internally merge the triangles to create a water-tight model that would generally be suitable for tet meshing.
Mesh-Based models may be meshed just like any other geometry in CUBIT by first setting a scheme, defining a size and using the mesh command. This standard method of mesh generation can be somewhat time consuming and error prone for complex facet models with thousands of triangles. CUBIT also provides the option of using the facets themselves as a surface triangle mesh, or as the input to a tetrahedral mesher. This may be accomplished with one of two options:
Mesh <entity_list> From Facets
This command will generate triangular finite elements for each facet on the surface. If the entity_list is composed of one or more volumes, then the tetrahedral mesh will automatically fill the interior. This method is useful when further cleanup and smoothing operations are needed on the triangles after import.
Import Facets <filename> Make_elements
The make_elements on the import facets command will generate the triangular finite elements on the surface at the time the facets are read and created. This option is useful if no further modifications to the facets are necessary.
Creating triangular finite elements in this manner can greatly speed up the mesh generation process, however it is limited to non-manifold topology. If the triangular elements are to be used for tetrahedral meshing (i.e. all edges of the triangulation should be connected to no more than two triangles)
Mesh-Based geometry models and their mesh may be exported by one of the following methods:
Exodus II
Exporting to an Exodus II file saves the finite element mesh along with any boundary conditions placed on the model. It will not save the individual facets that comprise the mesh-based geometry surface representation. Importing an Exodus II file saved in this manner will regenerate the surfaces only to the resolution of the saved mesh.
CUBIT also provides the option to save just the surface representation to a facet or STL file. The following commands can be used for saving facet or STL files:
Export Facets 'filename' <entity_list> [Overwrite]
Export STL [ASCII|Binary] 'filename' <entity_list> [Overwrite]
These commands provide the option of saving specific surfaces or volumes to the facet file. If no entities are provided in the command, then all surfaces in the model will be exported to the file. The overwrite option forces a file to overwrite any file of the same name in the current working directory.