Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Chapter 2

Geometry Clean-up
Section 1: Importing and Repairing CAD
HyperMesh is capable of importing geometry from many CAD sources. Most of the popular
CAD packages are read directly, and for those that are not, HyperMesh supports the
popular intermediate languages as well. While the importation of data generally occurs with
little error, there are issues that can occur, and as such HyperMesh, offers a wide variety of
tools to remedy these geometric issues.

The benefits of importing and repairing CAD are:

 Correct any errors in the geometry from import
 Create the simplified part needed for the analysis
 Mesh a part all at once
 Ensure proper connectivity of mesh
 Obtain a desirable mesh pattern & quality
In this section, you will:
 Delete untrimmed surfaces
 Close missing surfaces
 Set the cleanup tolerance
 Equivalence free edges
 Delete duplicate surfaces

HyperWorks 11.0 HyperMesh Introduction 29

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Geometry Import
Importing geometry occurs in the import tab which is accessible through the Import
Geometry Icon . Using this tab the user can import data from popular CAD packages
such as
 Unigraphics (NX2,NX3,NX4,NX5)
o Supports import of .prt files
o Provides a UG part browser
o Requires an installation of UG to be
accessible, either locally or on a network

 CATIA (V4,V5)
o Supports import of .model (V4) files
o Additional license from Altair is required
of .catpart (V5) file import.

 Pro/Engineer (Wildfire 2.0 & 3.0)

o Supports import of .prt and .asm files.

Additionally HyperMesh supports the import of the following intermediate translational

languages:
 IGES (.igs & .iges)
 STEP (.stp)

30 HyperMesh Introduction HyperWorks 11.0

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc
 Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Topology Repair
Surface Definition

Topology
Topology deals with the connection of adjacent surfaces. Connectivity is critical as
HyperMesh will create a contiguous mesh over connected faces thus guaranteeing stresses,
strains and deformations will propagate over the part in a realistic manner. When importing
native CAD files, HyperMesh will read surface connectivity directly from the file. When using
intermediate languages (IGES or STEP) HyperMesh will use a tolerance calculation to
determine when two edges should be connected. While this will work very well, there can
be issues with connectivity that will need to be fixed before meshing.

HyperMesh allows for easy visualization of surface connectivity through the use of an edge
color scheme shown below;

Topology Visualization

HyperWorks 11.0 HyperMesh Introduction 31

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Display of the topology can be controlled with this pull down found in
the HyperMesh Visualization tool bar.
Auto: Surfaces and Edges will be displayed in the component color
unless the user is in a topological editing function where then surfaces
will be colored grey and edges will be in their topological color.
By Comp: Surfaces and Edges will always be displayed in component
colors.
By Topo: Surfaces will always be colored grey and edges will always
be in their topological color.
By 2D Topo: Only 2D topology will be displayed in topological color.
By 3D Topo: Only 3D topology will be displayed in topological color.
Mixed: Similar to By Topo but while the edges will be in topological colors, the surfaces will
be in their component color and not grey.
Mappable: Displays the solid entities in the various mappable states.

In the HyperMesh Visualization toolbar, the Topology Options

Icon will open the visualization tab
This tab will allow the user to display or hide 2D and 3D
topology based on its type. This tab also allows the user to
control the transparency and change the shading colors of
mappable solid regions.
Other functionality in this tab allows visualization control over
the following:

Connector Constraints

Loads Morphing

Systems Vectors

Topology Repair
While HyperMesh will in most cases create proper and connected geometry accurately
representing the initial CAD geometry, there can be issues with the import. Common issues
are:

32 HyperMesh Introduction HyperWorks 11.0

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc
 Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Topology Repair: Tools

HyperMesh has a supply of tools to repair issues in the geometry.
The ultimate goal of Topology Repair is to assure that the geometry that is used to create
the mesh is as close as possible to the design intent of the original CAD data. To this end,
these are the tools that HyperMesh provides:
 Edge Edit Panel
o Equivalence (multiple edges at a time)
 Search surfaces for pairs of free edges and combine into shared
edges
o Toggle (1 edge / edge pair at a time)
 Select an edge; equivalences with other free edges found within a
user specified tolerance
o Replace (1 edge pair at a time)
 Select 2 edges to equivalence together
 Control which edge to retain and which to move
 Point Edit Panel
o Replace (1 edge at a time)
o Release – Combine pairs of free edges with gaps between them into shared
edges
 Defeature Panel
o Duplicates – Identify and delete duplicate surfaces within a user specified
tolerance
 Surfaces Panel
o Spline / filler – Select lines / surface edges to recreate any missing surfaces
 Quick Edit Panel

HyperWorks 11.0 HyperMesh Introduction 33

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

The Quick Edit Panel is a “tool box” of utilities for geometry repair. Many of the tools can be
found in other panels and their functionality is exactly the same. The Quick Edit panel simply
provides a single location for many of the most often used tools. These include:
 Unsplit – Removes / deletes an edge created by splitting a surface in HyperMesh.
 Toggle – Same as edge edit panel; change edge type within tolerance.
 Filler surf – Select a line on a free surface edge to recreate any missing surfaces.
 Delete surf – Same as delete panel (surfaces only).
 Replace point – Same as point edit panel; move/retain point.
 Release point – Same as point edit panel; must be associated with line.

Topology Repair: Strategy

 Understand the size and scale of the model
o With models that represent everything from full size ships to microscopic
electronic parts all residing in a graphics area on a computer monitor, it is
often difficult to understand the overall scope of the model. It is critical to get
an idea of the overall size of the model and determine a global element size
that will be applied to the eventual mesh.
 Set a cleanup tolerance based upon the previously determined global element size.
o With the element size established, a cleanup tolerance can now be set. The
cleanup tolerance specifies the largest gap size to be closed by the topology
functions. This value should never exceed 15-20% of the global element
size. Values beyond this limit can introduce distortion into the mesh.
 Use topology display tools to determine what needs to be fixed.
 Find duplicate surfaces and delete them.
 Use equivalence to combine as many free edge pairs as possible.
o Visually verify no surfaces were collapsed with this function.
 Use toggle to combine and remaining edges.
o Use replace if more control is needed.
 Use filler surface to fill in any missing surfaces.

34 HyperMesh Introduction HyperWorks 11.0

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc
 Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Section 2: Generating a Midsurface

This section uses CAD geometry data for a thin solid clip. Because of the small thickness of
the part, it is assumed that it will be modeled for FEA as shell elements. The elements will
be created on the mid-plane of the part.
In this section, you will learn how to:
 Create a midsurface
 Visualize the midsurface by using shading options and transparency

Midsurfacing: Introduction
Often the most accurate representation of a part is through the use of shell elements.
These elements best represent parts that are relatively thin compared to their overall
surface area and typically have a uniform thickness. Shell elements have no physical
thickness representation; they are displayed as two dimensional entities whose thickness is
simply a numerical value assigned to them. FE Solvers assume the shell element to lie at
the middle of the thickness. As that is the case, the mesh created on the surfaces needs to
lie at the mid-plane of the part. CAD geometry is usually created as either a solid part or a
series of faces representing a solid part. Using the midsurface tool in HyperMesh, proper
surfaces can be extracted that lie on the mid-plane of the part and can be meshed
appropriately.

Midsurfacing: Tools
Midsurface Creation:

 Auto Midsurface – Automatically extracts midsurfaces from surfaces that enclose a

volume or a solid geometry

HyperWorks 11.0 HyperMesh Introduction 35

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

o Can sometimes work if there are missing surfaces

o The greater number of missing surfaces, the less reliable the result
 Surface Pair – creates a midsurface between 2 selected surfaces

A new parameter max R/T ratio has been added to the midsurface “extraction options”
panel. This parameter, while always present in the midsurface function, has now been
“exposed.” Previously this value was hard-coded into the function at a value of 2.0

R/T Information and Tips

 The R/T ratio is taken into account on T-, X- and more complex connections only, as
in the center of the picture below. On a curve without a T-connection (like on the
right side on the picture) it does not apply.

 If R/T is greater than the value specified in the panel, then this location will not be
recognized as a junction.
 If T is different on different sides on the junction (as in the above picture), then the
maximum T is used.
 Will work with fillets that have a variable radius across their length.
 Use of this parameter with a high value can result in situations where it is not valid to
use a midsurface representation. If these are not areas of high stress and the results
in this area are not of interest, then it is acceptable. This option does not affect the
core midsurface algorithm.

36 HyperMesh Introduction HyperWorks 11.0

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc
 Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Midsurface Modification

Quick Edit – Repair a midsurface by correcting where the vertices of the surface were
placed.
Assign Target – An extension to quick edit, and functions in a similar fashion.
Replace Edge – Fill in gaps and slivers by combining one surface edge with another.
same as in the edge edit panel
Extend Surface – Extends two surfaces (e.g., ribs) until they intersect.
View Thickness – Review of the thickness of a midsurface using white lines (probes)
extending from each vertex of the surface.

Midsurfacing: Strategy
 Obtain a closed volume of surfaces or solids
 For complex parts try defeaturing the defining volume
o This simplifies the part and can produce a better midsurface. See section 3
of this chapter for more information about defeature.
 Generate the midsurface using the auto midsurface
 View the midsurface and correct any errors using modification tools.

HyperWorks 11.0 HyperMesh Introduction 37

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Section 3: Simplifying Geometry

This section looks at changing the shape of a part in order to simplify the geometry. Certain
details of the shape, such as small holes or blends, may simply not be necessary for the
analysis being performed. When these details are removed, the analysis can run more
efficiently. Additionally, mesh quality is often improved as well. Changing the geometry to
match the desired shape can also allow a mesh to be created more quickly.
In this section, you will learn:
 Mesh the clip, review the mesh quality, and determine the features to be simplified
 Remove surface fillets
 Remove edge fillets
 Remove pinholes

Defeaturing
There are many features on a part that are not critical to the structure of the part and have
little or no effect on the analysis. These features can include
 Lightening Holes – For part weight reduction
 Edge Filets – For reduction of sharp corners allowing safer part handling
 Surface Fillets – To meet manufacturing requirements
These features often are process driven and are not function critical. While our goal is to
mesh a part that as closely as possible accurately represents the geometry, these features
often degrade the quality of the mesh. As such they can be defeatured out of the design
allowing for a substantially improved mesh with little impact on the results.

Defeaturing Tools
 Pinholes
o Searches for holes within a surface. Fills them in and leaves a fixed point at
their previous center.
 Surf Fillets
o Searched for surfaces that act as a fillet between other surfaces and
tangentially extends them to achieve a sharp corner.

38 HyperMesh Introduction HyperWorks 11.0

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc
 Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

 Edge Fillets
o Searches for rounded edge corner and squares them off.
 Duplicates
o Finds and deletes duplicate surfaces.
 Symmetry
o Identifies part symmetry and deletes or organizes the results.

HyperWorks 11.0 HyperMesh Introduction 39

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Exercise 2a: Midsurface

This exercise will cover the basic aspects of geometry repair and preparation for meshing. It
will cover repairing problems with the geometry, midsurfacing and defeaturing.

Step 1: Open the file Exercise_2a.hm.

Step 2: Review the model

1. Zoom, Rotate and Pan the model to find the
issues with it.
2. Use geometry repair tools to fix the following
issues.

 Duplicate Surfaces Fix with Defeature Panel

 Free Edges Fix with Quick Edit – Toggle Edge

 Missing Surfaces Fix with Quick Edit – Filler Surface

 Large Gap Free Edge Fix with Edge Edit – Replace

HINT: Use the Visualization Options Icon to find free edges.

Step 3: Create the Midsurface

1. From the menu bar select Geometry > Create > Midsurfaces > Auto.
This brings you to the auto midsurface sub-panel in the midsurface panel.
2. Set the switch to surfs.

40 HyperMesh Introduction HyperWorks 11.0

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc
 Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

3. Toggle to closed solid.

4. With the surfs button selected pick the displayed surfaces.
5. Click extract.
A new component will be created called Middle Surfaces and the new mid plane
surfaces will be placed in it. Additionally the original component will be set to be partially
transparent so the Middle Surfaces can be seen.
6. Turn off the display of the original component so that only the Middle Surfaces are
displayed.

7. There are multiple problems with the model. They need to be repaired. Zoom into the
area shown above. Rotate the model to the view shown to the
right.
8. Zooming in reveals some serious problems with the midsurface
in this area. These can be fixed with the quick edit sub-panel.
9. If you have exited the Midsurface panel enter it again.
10. Select the quick edit sub-panel
11. Set the target type to point to point.
12. Set the target location to as selected.
13. Leave the remaining settings and pick the surface shown by the arrow.
The display will now show the way in which HyperMesh decided to create the middle
surface. That needs to be corrected
14. Pick the point in the green circle (circle labeled 1) to indicate the point whose offset you
wish to fix (see image below).

HyperWorks 11.0 HyperMesh Introduction 41

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

15. Pick the point in the blue circle (circle labeled 2) to indicate which point it should have
been offset to (see image below). You will need to hold down the left mouse button to
highlight the line, and then click on the line to select a node.

16. HyperMesh then shows what the new surface offset will look like. This is now correct

17. Select update.

18. Rotate the model slightly; a green line is left where the
problem area was previously. Use the toggle
subpanel in the Edge Edit panel to toggle the edge
from a shared edge to a suppressed edge.
19. Fit the model to the screen and zoom in on the
highlighted area below.

42 HyperMesh Introduction HyperWorks 11.0

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc
 Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

This area has a gap that cannot be fixed with the midsurface tools. Often problems with
a midsurfaced model need to be fixed with the regular geometry repair tools.
20. Go to the Geometry Quick Edit panel.
21. Select Replace point
22. Pick the node in the green circle (circle
labeled 1)as the node to mode, and the
node in the blue circle (circle labeled 2) as
the node to retrain.
The gap will close
23. Repeat for the other point.
24. Find the remaining issues with the model
and use the midsurfacing tools, point
replace, filler surface and other geometry
tools to repair the part.

HyperWorks 11.0 HyperMesh Introduction 43

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Exercise 2b: Defeaturing

Step 1: Load the model Exercise_2b.hm.

Step 2: Removing Edge Fillets

1. Enter the defeature panel.
2. Enter the edge fillets sub panel.
3. Pick the displayed surfaces.
4. Enter 1 for the min radius.
5. Enter 20 for the max radius.
This will guarantee all edge fillets are selected.
6. Click find.
All of the edge fillets will be highlighted.
If there were fillets that you did not wish to be removed they could be right clicked at the
F and they would be deselected and not removed.
7. Click remove.
All of the edge fillets will be
removed leaving sharp
corners in their place. This
will result in better mesh
quality as will be shown in
the next chapter.

44 HyperMesh Introduction HyperWorks 11.0

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc
 Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Step 3: Removing Surface Fillets

1. Select the surf fillets sub-panel.
2. Select the displayed surfaces.
3. Set the min radius to 0.1.
4. Set the max radius to 5.
5. Click find.

The radius around the hole will be selected but the larger fillet will not be. This is
because the larger fillet has a radius of 7 and thus was not found.
6. Click the two surfaces that make the larger fillet to highlight them.
7. Click remove.

The fillets will be removed once again providing for a better mesh quality.

Step 4: Removing Holes

1. Select the pinholes sub panel.
2. Select the displayed surfaces.

HyperWorks 11.0 HyperMesh Introduction 45

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

3. Set the diameter< field to 5.

4. Click find.

The small holes will be selected.

Once again if there is a hole that you do not wish to take out simply right click on it to de-
select it.
5. Click delete

The holes are removed and a fixed point is placed at their former center. This will
guarantee a node is in that location but the points can be removed is no node is needed.

46 HyperMesh Introduction HyperWorks 11.0

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc
 Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Exercise 2c: Importing and Repairing CAD Geometry (optional)

This exercise uses the model file, Exercise_2c.hm.

Step 1: Open and view the model file, Exercise_2c.hm.

Step 2: View the model in topology display toolbar to evaluate its integrity.
1. Observe where the model has incorrect connectivity and missing or duplicate surfaces.
2. Click Geometry > Autocleanup to open the Auto Geometry Cleanup panel.
Note that the surface edges are now colored according to their topology status. This
occurs because Geometry Color is set to Auto ( ).

3. Click Wireframe Geometry ( ) to display the model in Wireframe mode.

The toolbar contains icons that control the display of the surfaces and surface edges.
Surfaces can be shaded with or without edges or wireframe. Right-click the icons to
access the drop-down menu for additional options. Place your mouse over the cursor to
view a description of the button’s functionality.

4. Click Visualization ( ) and navigate to the Topology tab.

Visualization controls the display of the surfaces and surface edges. Surfaces can be
shaded or wireframe. The check boxes within this menu turn the display of the different
edge types and fixed points (surface vertices) on or off.
5. Clear all the check boxes except the Free check box.
Only the free edges should be displayed at this point.
6. Observe the free edges and make note of where they are.

HyperWorks 11.0 HyperMesh Introduction 47

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

The free (red) edges show where there is incorrect connectivity or gaps.
7. Note the locations where there are closed loops of free edges. These are locations that
probably have missing surfaces.

Free edges indicating surface discontinuities of the clip geometry

8. Select only the Non-manifold check box.

9. Observe the non-manifold edges and make note of where they are.
The non-manifold edges show where there are more than two surfaces sharing an edge,
which might indicate incorrect connectivity. For this part, there are yellow edges
completely surrounding two areas. This indicates that there are probably duplicate
surfaces in these locations.
10. Select all the check boxes.
11. Click the Close button to close the Visualization tab.
12. Click return to exit the panel.

13. Click Shaded Geometry and Surface Edges ( )

The surfaces should now appear solid rather than having only their edges displayed.
14. Rotate, zoom, and pan to locate any errors in the geometry.
15. Make note of the areas to be worked on:
 A surface that overhangs a round corner
 A missing surface

48 HyperMesh Introduction HyperWorks 11.0

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc
 Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Surface overhanging an edge and a missing surface

 An edge that has apparently been collapsed

Area of collapsed edge

Step 3: Delete the surface that overhangs the round corner.

1. Enter the Delete panel in one of the following ways:
 From the menu bar click Geometry > Delete > Surfaces
 Press F2
2. In the graphics area, select the overhanging surface shown in the previous figure.

HyperWorks 11.0 HyperMesh Introduction 49

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

3. Click delete entity to delete the selected entities.

4. Click return to exit the panel.

Step 4: Create surfaces to fill large gaps in the model.

1. Click Geometry > Create > Surfaces > Spline/Filler to open the panel to create the
surface.
2. Clear the Keep tangency check box.
The Keep tangency option examines surfaces attached to the selected edges and tries
to create a surface tangent to them. This helps to form a smooth transition to the
surrounding surfaces.
3. Verify the entity type is set to lines.
4. Verify the Auto create (free edges) check box is selected.
The Auto create option simplifies the selection of the lines bounding the missing
surface. Once a line is selected, HyperMesh automatically selects the remaining free
edges that form a closed loop, and then create the filler surface.
5. Zoom into the area indicated in the following image.

Area of missing surfaces

6. Pick one of the red lines bounding one of the gaps (missing surfaces).
HyperMesh automatically creates a filler surface to close the hole.
7. Repeat sub-step 7 to create a filler surface in the other gap.
8. Click return to exit the panel.

Step 5: Set the global geometry cleanup tolerance to .01.

1. Press O to go to the options panel.

50 HyperMesh Introduction HyperWorks 11.0

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc
 Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

2. Go to the geometry sub-panel.

3. In the cleanup tol = field, type 0.01 to stitch the surfaces with a gap less than 0.01.
4. Click return to exit the panel.

Step 6: Combine multiple free edge pairs at one time with the equivalence
tool.
1. From the menu bar, click Geometry > Edit > Surface Edges > Equivalence
2. Activate the equiv free edges only check box.
3. Select surfs >> all.
4. Verify that the cleanup tol= is set to 0.01, which is the global cleanup tolerance
specified in the options panel.
5. Click the green equivalence button to combine any free edge pairs within the specified
cleanup tolerance.
Most of the red free edges are combined into green shared edges. The few remaining
are caused by gaps larger than the cleanup tolerance.

Step 7: Combine free edge pairs, one pair at a time, using the toggle.
1. Go to the toggle sub-panel.
2. In the cleanup tol = field, type 0.1.
3. In the graphics area, click one of the free edges shown in the following image.
4. Rotate and zoom into the area if needed. When the edge is selected, it will change from
red to green, indicating that the free edge pair has been equivalenced.

Area where free edges need to be toggled

5. Use toggle to equivalence the other edges shown in the image.

HyperWorks 11.0 HyperMesh Introduction 51

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

Step 8: Combine the remaining free edge pair using replace.

1. Go to the replace sub-panel.

2. In the Model Browser, click next to the View2 saved view.

3. With the selector under moved edge: active, click the leftmost free edge in the graphics
area.
Verify that the selector under retained edge: is now active.
4. Select the rightmost red edge.
5. In the cleanup tol = field, enter 0.1.
6. Click replace.
Once the line is selected, HyperMesh posts a message similar to:

"Gap = (.200018). Do you still wish to toggle?"

7. Click Yes to close the gap.

Edges to retain and move for replacement

8. Click return to exit the panel.

Step 9: Find and delete all duplicate surfaces.

1. From the Menu Bar, click Geometry > Defeature > Duplicates
2. Click surfs >> displayed.

52 HyperMesh Introduction HyperWorks 11.0

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc
 Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

3. In the cleanup tol = field, type 0.01.

4. Click find.
The status bar displays the following message, "2 surfaces are duplicated."
5. Click delete to remove any duplicate surfaces.

Step 10: Observe the model again to identify any remaining free edges, or
missing or duplicate surfaces.
1. Use the topology display and shaded modes to perform this task. All of the edges in the
model should be displayed as green shared edges, indicating that we have a completely
enclosed thin solid part.
2. Click return to exit the panel.

Step 11 (Optional): Save your work.

With the cleanup operations completed, save the model.

HyperWorks 11.0 HyperMesh Introduction 53

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Chapter 2: Geometry Clean-up

54 HyperMesh Introduction HyperWorks 11.0

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc