41.5 Surface object

The Surface object stores surfaces selected from the assembly. A surface is comprised of geometric or discrete entities but not both. An instance of a Surface object is available from the surface member of the Assembly object.

Access

import part
mdb.models[name].parts[name].allInternalSurfaces[name]
mdb.models[name].parts[name].allSurfaces[name]
mdb.models[name].parts[name].surfaces[name]
import assembly
mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.allInternalSurfaces[name]
mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.allSurfaces[name]
mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.instances[name].surfaces[name]
mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.surfaces[name]

41.5.1 Surface(...)

This method creates a surface from a sequence of objects in a model database. The surface will apply to the sides specified by the arguments.

Path

mdb.models[name].parts[name].Surface

mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.Surface

Required argument

On three-dimensional solid faces, you can use the following arguments:

side1Faces
side2Faces

On three-dimensional shell faces, you can use the following arguments:

side1Faces
side2Faces
side12Faces

On three-dimensional wire edges, you can use the following arguments:

end1Edges
end2Edges
circumEdges

On three-dimensional or two-dimensional or axisymmetric edges, you can use the following arguments:

side1Edges
side2Edges

On two-dimensional or axisymmetric shell elements, you can use the following arguments:

face1Elements
face2Elements
face3Elements
face14Elements

On solid elements, you can use the following arguments:

face1Elements
face2Elements
face3Elements
face4Elements
face5Elements
face6Elements

On three-dimensional shell elements, you can use the following arguments:

side1Elements
side2Elements
side12Elements

On three-dimensional wire elements, you can use the following arguments:

end1Elements
end2Elements
circumElements

On two-dimensional or axisymmetric wire elements, you can use the following arguments:

side1Elements
side2Elements

name

A String specifying the repository key. The default value is an empty string.

Optional arguments

side1Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to SIDE1 of element). The default value is None.

side2Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to SIDE2 of element). The default value is None.

side12Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to both SIDE1 and SIDE2 of element). The default value is None.

end1Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to END1 of element). The default value is None.

end2Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to END2 of element). The default value is None.

circumElements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to circumference of element). The default value is None.

face1Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to FACE1 of element). The default value is None.

face2Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to FACE2 of element). The default value is None.

face3Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to FACE3 of element). The default value is None.

face4Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to FACE4 of element). The default value is None.

face5Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to FACE5 of element). The default value is None.

face6Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to FACE6 of element). The default value is None.

side1Faces

A sequence of Face objects (surface applies to SIDE1 of face). The default value is None.

side2Faces

A sequence of Face objects (surface applies to SIDE2 of face). The default value is None.

side12Faces

A sequence of Face objects (surface applies to both SIDE1 and SIDE2 of face). The default value is None.

side1Edges

A sequence of Edge objects (surface applies to SIDE1 of edge). The default value is None.

side2Edges

A sequence of Edge objects (surface applies to SIDE2 of edge). The default value is None.

end1Edges

A sequence of Edge objects (surface applies to END1 of edge). The default value is None.

end2Edges

A sequence of Edge objects (surface applies to END2 of edge). The default value is None.

circumEdges

A sequence of Edge objects (surface applies circumferentially to edge). The default value is None.

Return value

A Surface object.

Exceptions

InvalidNameError.

41.5.2 SurfaceByMerge(...)

This method creates a surface that is the result of merging two or more surfaces.

Path

mdb.models[name].parts[name].SurfaceByMerge

mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.SurfaceByMerge

Required arguments

name

A String specifying the repository key.

surfaces

A sequence of Surface objects.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

A Surface object.

Exceptions

InvalidNameError.

41.5.3 SurfaceFromElsets(...)

This method creates a surface from a sequence of element sets in a model database.

Path

mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.SurfaceFromElsets

Required arguments

name

A String specifying the repository key.

elementSetSeq

A sequence of element sets. For example,
elementSetSeq=((elset1, S1),(elset2, S2))
where elset1=mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.sets['Clutch'] and S1 and S2 indicate the side of the element set.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

A Surface object.

Exceptions

InvalidNameError.

41.5.4 Members

The Surface object can have the following members:

edges

An EdgeArray object.

faces

A FaceArray object.

elements

A MeshElementArray object.

nodes

A MeshNodeArray object.

sides

A tuple of SymbolicConstants specifying the sides; for example, (SIDE1, SIDE2).

instances

A tuple of Ints specifying the instances. This member is not applicable for a Surface object on an output database.