16.2 Part object

The following commands operate on Part objects. For more information about the Part object, see Part object, Section 33.1.

Access
import meshEdit


16.2.1 adjustMidsideNode(...)

This method is used to adjust the midside node of second-order elements of an orphan mesh part.

Required arguments

cornerNodes

A sequence of Node objects specifying the nodes towards which connected midside nodes will be biased.

parameter

A Float specifying the normalized distance along the edge of the midside nodes. Possible values are 0.0 parameter 1.0, where 0.0 specifies the position of the corner node. The default value is 0.5.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.2 cleanMesh(...)

This method is used to perform automated mesh cleanup operations on an orphan mesh part composed of linear triangular elements.

Required argument

mergeTolerance

The element size tolerance for removal of small elements. Elements containing edges whose length is shorter than this value will be collapsed.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.3 collapseMeshEdge(...)

This method collapses an edge of a quadrilateral or triangular element of an orphan mesh part or part instance.

Required arguments

edge

A single MeshEdge object specifying the element edge to collapse.

collapseMethod

A SymbolicConstant specifying the method used to collapse the edge. Possible values are FORWARD, REVERSE, and AVERAGE.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.4 combineElement(...)

This method combines two triangular elements of an orphan mesh part or an Abaqus native mesh.

Required argument

elements

A sequence of triangular MeshElement objects specifying the elements to combine.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.5 convertSolidMeshToShell()

This method removes all solid elements from an orphan mesh part and creates triangular or quadrilateral shell elements along their outer faces.

Arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.6 deleteElement(...)

This method deletes the given elements from an orphan mesh part or an Abaqus native mesh. If the elements belong to an Abaqus native mesh then the elements must have been generated using the bottom-up meshing technique.

Required argument

elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects or a Set object containing elements.

Optional argument

deleteUnreferencedNodes

A Boolean specifying whether to delete all those associated nodes that become unreferenced after the given elements are deleted. The default value is OFF.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.7 deleteNode(...)

This method deletes the given nodes from an orphan mesh part.

Required argument

nodes

A sequence of MeshNode objects or a Set object containing nodes.

Optional argument

deleteUnreferencedNodes

A Boolean specifying whether to delete all those associated nodes that become unreferenced after the given nodes and the connected elements are deleted. The default value is OFF.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.8 editNode(...)

This method changes the coordinates of the given nodes on an orphan mesh part or on an Abaqus native mesh.

Required argument

nodes

A sequence of MeshNode objects or a Set object containing nodes.

Optional arguments

coordinate1

A Float specifying the value of the first coordinate. If coordinate1 and offset1 are unspecified, the existing value does not change.

coordinate2

A Float specifying the value of the second coordinate. If coordinate2 and offset2 are unspecified, the existing value does not change.

coordinate3

A Float specifying the value of the third coordinate. If coordinate3 and offset3 are unspecified, the existing value does not change.

coordinates

A sequence of three-dimensional coordinate tuples specifying the coordinates for each of the given nodes. When specified, the number of coordinate tuples must match the number of given nodes, and be ordered to correspond to the given nodes in ascending order according to index. Furthermore, coordinate1, coordinate2, coordinate3, offset1, offset2, or offset3 may not be specified.

offset1

A Float specifying an offset to apply to the value of the first coordinate of the specified nodes.

offset2

A Float specifying an offset to apply to the value of the second coordinate of the specified nodes.

offset3

A Float specifying an offset to apply to the value of the third coordinate of the specified nodes.

localCsys

A DatumCsys object specifying the local coordinate system. If unspecified, the global coordinate system will be used.

projectToGeometry

A Boolean specifying whether to project nodes back to their original geometry. For example, if a node is on a face, this method first positions the node at the new location and then projects it back to the original face. The default value is ON.

Return value

None

Exceptions

A coordinate and an offset may not both be specified for the same coordinate component.


16.2.9 projectNode(...)

This method projects the given nodes onto a mesh entity, geometric entity, or a datum object. The nodes may belong to an orphan mesh part or to an Abaqus native mesh.

Required arguments

nodes

A sequence of MeshNode objects to be projected

projectionReference

An object specifying the target for the node projection operation. The projectionReference can be any one of the following objects: MeshNode, MeshEdge, MeshFace, Vertex, Edge, Face, DatumPoint, DatumAxis, or DatumPlane.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.10 generateMesh(...)

This method generates a new mesh on an orphan mesh part based on the original mesh.

Required arguments

None.

Optional argument

elemShape

A SymbolicConstant specifying the element shape to be used for meshing. Possible values are:

TRI

Refine a planar triangular mesh and replace it with a new one. If no element sizes are attached, the new mesh will be governed by the sizes of the boundary edges in the old mesh.

TET

Create a tetrahedral mesh from a closed shell of triangular elements.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.11 generateMeshByOffset(...)

This method generates a solid or shell mesh from an orphan mesh surface by generating layers of elements that propagate out normal to the surface boundary.

Required arguments

region

A Region object specifying the domain to be offset.

meshType

A Symbolic Constant specifying the type of mesh to be generated. Possible values are SOLID or SHELL.

totalThickness

A Float specifying the total thickness of the solid layers. This argument applies only when meshType=SOLID.

distanceBetweenLayers

A Float specifying the distance between shell layers. This argument applies only when meshType=SHELL.

numLayers

An Int specifying the number of element layers to be generated.

Optional arguments

offsetDirection

A Symbolic Constant specifying the direction of the offset. This argument is required only when the given region relates to a shell mesh. Possible values are OUTWARD, INWARD, and BOTH. The default value is OUTWARD.

initialOffset

A Float specifying the magnitude of the initial offset. The default value is zero.

shareNodes

Boolean specifying whether the first layer of nodes should be shared with nodes on the base surface. The default value is False.

deleteBaseElements

A Boolean specifying whether to delete the shell elements after the offset layers are generated. The default value is False. This argument applies only when meshType=SHELL.

constantThicknessCorners

A Boolean specifying whether to use element-based thickness or nodal-based thickness. The default value is False.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.12 mergeNodes(...)

Merge the nodes of an orphan mesh part, or nodes that were generated using the bottom-up meshing technique.

Required argument

nodes

A sequence of Node objects specifying the nodes to merge.

Optional arguments

tolerance

A Float specifying the maximum distance between nodes that will be merged to a single node. The location of the new node is the average position of the merged nodes. The default value is 10–6.

removeDuplicateElements

A Boolean specifying whether elements with the same connectivity after the merge will merged into a single element. The default value is True.

keepHighLabels

A Boolean specifying which node labels will remain after nodes are merged. If Truethen the highest node labels are kept; when Falsethe lowest node labels are kept. The default value isFalse. This argument applies only to merging of orphan mesh nodes.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.13 mergeNodes(...)

Merge two nodes of an orphan mesh part or an Abaqus native mesh. If the nodes belong to an Abaqus native mesh then at least one of the two nodes must have been generated using the bottom-up meshing technique.

Required arguments

node1

A MeshNode object specifying the first node to merge.

node2

A MeshNode object specifying the second node to merge.

Optional arguments

removeDuplicateElements

A Boolean specifying whether elements with the same connectivity after the merge will merged into a single element. The default value is True.

keepHighLabels

A Boolean specifying which node label will remain after nodes are merged. If Truethen the higher node label is kept; when Falsethe lower node label is kept. The default value is False. This argument applies only to merging of orphan mesh nodes.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.14 orientElements(...)

This method orients the stack direction of elements in a continuum shell or gasket mesh.

Required arguments

pickedElements

A sequence of MeshElement objects specifying the elements to orient.

referenceRegion

A MeshFace object specifying a reference top face that indicates the desired orientation.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.15 removeElementSize()

This method removes the global element size from an orphan mesh part.

Arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.16 setElementSize(...)

This method sets the global element size for an orphan mesh part.

Required argument

size

A Float specifying the desired element size.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.17 splitElement(...)

This method splits quadrilateral elements of an orphan mesh part or a Abaqus native mesh into triangular elements.

Required argument

elements

A sequence of quadrilateral MeshElement objects specifying the elements to split. Each quadrilateral element is split into two triangular elements by the shorter diagonal.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.18 splitMeshEdge(...)

This method splits an edge of a quadrilateral or triangular element of an orphan mesh part or an Abaqus native mesh.

Required argument

edge

A single MeshEdge object specifying the element edge to split.

Optional argument

parameter

A Float specifying the normalized distance along edge at which to split. Possible values are 0.0 parameter 1.0. The default value is 0.5.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.19 swapMeshEdge(...)

This method swaps the diagonal of two adjacent triangular elements of an orphan mesh part or an Abaqus native mesh.

Required argument

edge

A single MeshEdge object specifying the element edge to swap.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.20 wrapMesh(...)

This method wraps a planar orphan mesh part about the Z-axis.

Required argument

radius

A Float specifying the radius of the cylinder about which the part is to be wrapped. The wrapping procedure will relocate a node at point (, ) on the planar mesh to (), where is the specified radius, = , and =.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.21 redoMeshEdit()

This method executes the edit mesh or the bottom-up meshing operation most recently undone by the undoMeshEdit method on an part. A redo action must be currently available for the part. This implies that the user must have executed the undoMeshEdit method on the part and that the user has not subsequently executed any further edit mesh commands on the assembly. It also implies that the user provided a sufficient cache allowance to store the undo operation.

Arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.


16.2.22 undoMeshEdit()

This method undoes the most recent edit mesh or the bottom-up meshing operation on a part and restores the mesh to its previous state. An edit mesh undo action must be available for the part. This implies that prior to executing an edit mesh command on the part, the user enabled edit mesh undo with a sufficient cache allowance to store the edit mesh operation.

Arguments

None.

Return value

None

Exceptions

None.