Remeshing a Deformed Mesh

When the mesh deformation has become so large that the quality of the mesh is too
bad, you can generate a new mesh for the deformed configuration and then continue
the solver. You can do this by following these steps:

1 Add a stop condition

2 View the deformed mesh
3 Copy the solution
4 Create a deformed configuration
5 Remesh the deformed configuration
6 Continue solving with the new mesh

The following sections contain details about these steps and some additional
information.

ADD A STOP CONDITION

Add a stop condition in the solver to make it stop when the mesh quality becomes too
bad. If you use the time-dependent solver, do this by right-clicking, for example,
Study 1>Solver Configurations>Solver 1>Time-Dependent Solver 1 and selecting Stop
Condition from the context menu. If you use the parametric stationary solver, do this
by right-clicking for example Study 1>Solver Configurations>Solver 1>
Stationary Solver 1>Parametric 1 and selecting Stop Condition from the context menu.
In the Stop expression edit field enter, for example, mod1.ale.minqual-0.1 to stop
before the mesh quality becomes less than 0.1. The solver stops when the stop
expression becomes negative.

VIEW THE DEFORMED MESH

You can view the deformed mesh in a surface plot or volume plot by selecting
Wireframe under Coloring and Style, and selecting No refinement in Resolution under
Quality. In 3D, it is instructive to use an Element scale factor less than 1 under
Shrink Elements.

COPY THE SOLUTION

To keep the first solution, right-click Study 1>Solver Configurations>Solver 1 and select
Solution>Copy. The copied solution appears as a new solver sequence Copy 2 under
Solver Configurations.

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CREATE A DEFORMED CONFIGURATION
Create a deformed configuration by right-clicking, for example,
Results>Data Sets>Solution 2 and selecting Remesh Deformed Configuration. The
deformed configuration appears as a new Deformed Configuration 1 node under Meshes.
The deformed configuration works as a new geometry but with restricted functionality.
For example, its context menu only contains Measurements, Export to File, Mesh, Delete,
Rename, Properties, and Dynamic Help. The Settings window of the deformed
configuration indicates which solution it was constructed from. You can also change
the parameter or time for which the deformed configuration was generated. If you do
this, click the Update button to see the corresponding deformed configuration in the
graphics.

REMESH THE DEFORMED CONFIGURATION

Expanding the Deformed Configuration 1 node shows that a new mesh sequence has
been added beneath it. This mesh sequence only contains a Size feature and a
Reference 1 feature. The reference feature refers to the original mesh sequence. This
means that the new mesh sequence uses the same features as the original mesh
sequence. You can build the new mesh sequence by selecting Build All from its context
menu. If you want to make changes to the new mesh sequence before building it,
right-click Reference 1 and select Expand. Then the features from the original mesh
sequence are copied to the new mesh sequence. You can also add and remove features
in the new mesh sequence. It you need several meshes on the deformed configuration
(for the multigrid solver, for example) you can add an additional mesh sequence by
right-clicking Deformed Configuration 1 and selecting Mesh.

CONTINUE SOLVING WITH THE NEW MESH

1 In the study step (for example, Study 1>Step1: Time Dependent), use the Mesh list to
select the new mesh sequence.
2 Change the Times list or the Parameter values list to include only the time or
parameter corresponding to the deformed configuration plus the remaining times
or parameters.
3 Change the initial value to be the last time or parameter of the previous solution.
Do this by selecting Study 1>Solver Configurations>Solver 1>Dependent Variables.
Under Initial Values of Variables Solved For, change Method to Solution and Solution
to Solver 1 (for example), and select the appropriate time or parameter value in the
list Time or Parameter value. Usually the Automatic alternative suffices, which selects
the last time or parameter value. Change the settings under Values of Variables Not
Solved For similarly.

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 4 Solve for the remaining times or parameters by right-clicking Study 1 and selecting
Compute.

REMESHING SEVERAL TIMES

You can do multiple remeshings by iterating the above steps. For each of the solver
runs you get a copy of the solution (Copy 2, Copy 3, Copy 4, and so on) and a
corresponding data set (Solution 2, Solution 3, Solution 4, and so on). In the plot group
you can select one of these data sets for results analysis and visualization.

ALTERNATIVE USING SEVERAL STUDIES

The above procedure uses a single solver sequence that is modified for each solver run.
If you want to recompute the whole sequence of runs, an alternative that uses one
study for each run is better. To do that, add a new study after meshing each deformed
configuration. The copy solution step is not needed in this case. If you have changed
settings in the study or its solver sequence, make these changes also in the new study.
For example, the stop condition has to be added.

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