Range Element Tutorials
Range Element Tutorials
Range Element Tutorials
Range Software
Software for Engineering Simulations
Finite Element Analysis
Version 2.3.0
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Import a Model and Manipulate With It...........................................................................................................................4
1.1 Create a new project..................................................................................................................................................4
1.2 Import an STL model................................................................................................................................................4
1.2.1 Open model.........................................................................................................................................................4
1.2.2 Post-execute action – Auto mark faces...............................................................................................................5
1.3 Display model entities...............................................................................................................................................7
1.3.1 Show / hide model entities..................................................................................................................................7
1.3.2 Change element group display properties..........................................................................................................7
1.4 Manipulate the model................................................................................................................................................8
1.4.1 Translate.............................................................................................................................................................9
1.4.2 Rotate..................................................................................................................................................................9
1.4.3 Zoom...................................................................................................................................................................9
1.5 Retrieve information..................................................................................................................................................9
2 Create a Simple Geometry..............................................................................................................................................11
2.1 Create a new project................................................................................................................................................11
2.2 Create a new model.................................................................................................................................................11
2.3 Draw cylinder..........................................................................................................................................................11
2.4 Create a hole............................................................................................................................................................12
2.4.1 Display element edges......................................................................................................................................12
2.4.2 Create a new face entity (element group).........................................................................................................12
2.4.3 Translate face....................................................................................................................................................13
2.5 Extrude face.............................................................................................................................................................15
3 Repairing Geometry and Generation of a 3D Mesh.......................................................................................................17
3.1 Import a STL model................................................................................................................................................17
3.1.1 Display element edges......................................................................................................................................17
3.2 Simplify geometry...................................................................................................................................................18
3.2.1 Collapse small edges........................................................................................................................................18
3.2.2 Find remaining small edges..............................................................................................................................18
3.2.3 Display element nodes......................................................................................................................................19
3.2.4 Delete nodes and close hole..............................................................................................................................19
3.2.5 Auto-mark faces...............................................................................................................................................20
3.2.6 Merge faces and swap triangle normal - optional.............................................................................................20
3.3 Fix overlapping triangles.........................................................................................................................................21
3.3.1 Delete triangles.................................................................................................................................................21
3.3.2 Close hole in the faces – create triangles..........................................................................................................22
3.3.3 Swap triangles and auto-mark faces.................................................................................................................23
3.4 Save the mesh..........................................................................................................................................................24
3.5 Generate 3D mesh...................................................................................................................................................24
4 Advanced Mesh Generation...........................................................................................................................................27
4.1 Open model..............................................................................................................................................................27
4.2 Generate 3D mesh...................................................................................................................................................27
4.2.1 Set-up regions...................................................................................................................................................27
4.2.2 Apply volume constraints.................................................................................................................................28
4.3 View the final mesh.................................................................................................................................................29
5 Stress-Strain – Simple Beam..........................................................................................................................................30
5.1 Create a new project................................................................................................................................................30
5.2 Prepare model..........................................................................................................................................................30
5.3 Problem set-up.........................................................................................................................................................31
5.3.1 Select problem..................................................................................................................................................31
5.3.2 Environment set-up...........................................................................................................................................31
5.3.3 Apply boundary conditions..............................................................................................................................32
5.3.4 Check material settings.....................................................................................................................................32
5.4 Solve problem..........................................................................................................................................................32
5.5 Post-process results..................................................................................................................................................33
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figure.
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translation.
1.4.1 Translate
To translate the model press down the left mouse button and move to desired direction. The model will
be translated accordingly.
1.4.2 Rotate
To rotate the model press the middle mouse button and move the mouse while holding the button.
If your mouse does not have a middle button you can use the combination of Shift key and the left
button.
1.4.3 Zoom
You can zoom in on the model either with the right button or the scroll wheel.
You can also specify a region to zoom in. To do so hold down the Ctrl key and with the right button
create a window to zoom in. This is shown on the figure below.
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shown here: and then select the node to be deleted. But first zoom to the place where the two nodes are
displayed so you can clearly see that there are two near nodes.
Repeat this step for the three remaining triangles.
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To create a triangle click the following icon: and select three nodes. After the third node is selected a
dialog will pop-up confirming your action. Details on the creation of this new triangle are shown in the figure
below.
To close hole a Close hole function can be also used.
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Apply the following coordinates for the three regions. Double-click on the value and enter a new one.
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Now click Generate button and wait until the mesh generation finishes.
Once the mesh generation process is finished you can load the generated mesh into Element. After
showing the body groups and enabling the element edges you should see something similar to the figure
above.
As you can see bodies have different mesh density. This is caused by applied volume constraints.
This is the end of the tutorial.
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To scale the variable open a Variable scales dialog by clicking on the following icon: . A dialog will
appear. Change the displacement by factor 500 as shown.
This scaling should produce results similar than those which are shown on the next figure.
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6 SHAPE OPTIMIZATION
This tutorial will describe how to optimize model geometry based on a Stress-strain results.
To enable shape optimization open a Shape optimization dialog by clicking on the following icon:
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7 PROBLEM COUPLING
In this tutorial a coupling of Heat-Transfer and Stress-strain problems will be examined.
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Also set ambient temperature to 293.15 K. Ambient temperature can be specified in Problem Setup
dialog.
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After creating a display variables and applying them on the model entities you should see something very
similar as on the next picture.
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