femap basic - day 1

Femap Training

Basic Course

© UGS Corp. 2006. All rights reserved.Femap with NX Nastran - Basic 1-2

Femap with Nastran - Basic

Day 1 Agenda

Modeling Procedures in Femap

• Exercise 1 – Analyzing a Solid Part

Femap User interface and the On-Line Help

View and Display options

• Exercise 2 – User Interface

Defining and modifying materials, defining properties

• Exercise 3 – Analyzing a Beam Model

Mesh Sizing and Meshing

• Exercise 4 - Beam/Plate Meshing

Mesh Toolbox and Geometry Subdivision Tools

• Exercise 5 - Interactive Meshing and Geometry Manipulation

© UGS Corp. 2006. All rights reserved.Femap with Nastran - Basic

Femap Basic

Preferences

1-3


Femap Preferences

Used to configure Femap for optimum performance and the way

you prefer to work

Preferences are stored in the femap.ini file in Femap folder

Set File, Preferences

Messages

Views

Render

User Interface

Database

Geometry

Interfaces

Library/Startup

Colors

Spaceball


Femap Preferences

(continued)

Many Femap preferences will take effect immediately after they

have been set, but in some cases you will need to close and re-

open Femap for the changes to take effect

Examples of when Femap needs to be restarted to take

effect include:

Debug messages turned on for Render graphics

Performance Cache Pages and Blocks/Page have been changed

Fonts changed for the Messages Window, etc.


Femap Preferences –

Messages and Views

The Messages tab sets the fonts and

colors in this window

The Views tab allows to:

Startup View for new Femap model

Picture Copy and Save Defaults

Background Bitmap or Logo

Set view Options for

Alternate Fill Mode

Workplane

Alternate Contour Palette - sets

blue as the lowest color

Views of Existing Models – ratio

2D Tensor Plot - settings

Specify View and Dynamic Rotation

options.



Render

Render mode is a high-speed

graphics mode based on OpenGL

Render dialog box controls the level

of functionality while in Render

mode

Hardware Acceleration can be

toggled off if the graphics card,

or it's drivers are causing

instability in Femap

Including less entities with the

Include In Dynamic Rotation

option will speed up dynamic

rotation of large models


Desktop area resolution should be taken into consideration when

using Femap

Having a very fine screen resolution can increase the time

animations need to generate and the time individual windows need

to refresh.

If Femap appears to be having graphics errors, it could be the driver

for your graphics card - Update the drivers for your graphics

card often!

Drivers from the manufacturers of the graphics card chipset tend

to be more stable then the drivers from the maker of the

graphics card. (e.g. use an ATI or nVidia driver vs an ASUS

driver)

Graphics Card Performance

Considerations


User Interface sets preferences for

Alternate Color Schemes,

Autorepeat Create Commands,

Number of Recently Used Files

Remember Dialog Positions tells

Femap to remember where a

user has placed a specific dialog

box on the screen (during the

current Femap session).

Dockable Panes can be set to

animate the “fly-out” or simply pop-up.

Show Entities Defaults sets default

highlighting settings

Use to save and load layouts of

Toolbars and Dockable Pane(s)


User Interface


Defines various Database memory

settings

Data Memory Limit sets to 20% of

the RAM memory in the computer.

Changing Limit does not change

the amount of memory used for the

current session. For this selection

to take effect, you must exit and

restart FEMAP

Set Cache Pages, Blocks/Page

Max Cached Label for improved

RAM management and

performance

Open/Save Method


Database


Specify Scratch Directory for the

location of the temp, scratch, and

recovery files Femap writes out

(TEMP by default)

Recover Scratch Directory for

use when the model has been

corrupted during the File, Save

command.


Database (continued)



Geometry/Model

Select between the Standard or

Parasolid geometry, Parasolid

engine is recommended.

The Solid Geometry Scale Factor

is used to convert your model

units into meters

If you use inch units, there are

39.37 inches/meter and Femap

uses this number as scale factor to

store geometry in the model

database (1 inch = .0254 meters).


The Alternate Section Property

Calculator can be turned on in

this dialog box. For this option

Femap will use another method

to calculate beam section

properties which in certain cases

will be more accurate than the

standard method.

The tetrahedral and surface

meshing in FEMAP has changed

in version 10. These two

switches allow to always use the

"pre-v10" tetrahedral and/or

surface meshing from previous

versions.


Geometry/Model (continued)


The Element Distortion sets default values used when checking

element distortion, using Tools, Check, Distortion




The Output Orientation allows to choose the default orientation of

the "X" direction for different types of output for different element




Interfaces sets the default

analysis interface

Setting File Reference Options

Femap will check if imported

Geometry, Analysis Input Files,

and/or Analysis Results have

been modified when a Femap

model is opened.

Use the File, References

command to check references

during a Femap session.


Interfaces


Library/Startup preferences

specify Femap library files

Objects saved such as Views,

Materials, Properties, etc. can

be saved into the preferred

libraries


Library/Startup, and Colors


Colors preferences allow you to select the default colors for entities

Spaceball preferences set scale factors for sensitivity control


Library/Startup, and Colors


Femap Basic

Modeling Procedures

1-19


Modeling Procedures in Femap

Femap Modeling Process Flow

Femap Model Objects and Commands


Femap Modeling Process Flow

GeometryGeometry, Solid

Geometry - > Midsurface

MaterialModel, Material

PropertyModel, Property

MeshMesh, Mesh Control

Mesh, Geometry

AnalyzeModel, Analysis

PostprocessView, Select (F5)

Constraints and LoadsModel, Constraint

Model, Load


Femap Model Objects and

Commands - Geometry

Geometry

Import Geometry Create Geometry Modify Geometry

File, Import Geometry

File, References

Geometry, commands Geometry, commands

Modify, commands

Direct CAD geometry interfaces

Solid Edge, NX (Unigraphics and I-deas), ProE, CATIA, SolidWorks

Industry standard CAD geometry Interfaces

Parasolid, ACIS, IGES, STEP, STL

Femap geometry creation and editing

Points, 2D and 3D curves

Surfaces

Solid creation and editing operations

Midplane surface extraction and editing


Femap’s geometry engine is Parasolid

Femap is unitless, but Parasolid default unit is meter

Set the Solid Geometry Scale Factor in Femap via the File,

Preferences, Geometry command

The File, References command tracks the source file of the imported

geometry and will prompt the user to update a Femap model that has

it’s source geometry file modified when the Femap model is opened.

Setting Solid Geometry Scale Factor

e.g. 1000 indicates that the length

units for this model are in mm

Femap Geometry Engine


Femap Model Objects and Commands

Materials and Properties

Isotropic

2D and 3D

Orthortropic and

Anisotropic

Hyperelastic,

Fluid,

Other Types -

analysis program

specific types

(LS-Dyna,

Abaqus, Marc)

Line

Plane

Volume

Other

Materials and PropertiesMaterials Properties

Model, Material commands Model, Property commands


Boundary Conditions

Constraints Loads

Model, Constraint commands Model, Load commands

Femap models can contain multiple Constraint and Load Sets

Constraints and Loads can be assigned to geometry or meshes

For loads, Model Info window allows:

Creation, editing, highlighting, and deletion of load sets.

Creation and editing of Body, Nonlinear, Dynamic and Heat Transfer

loads and settings


Commands – Boundary Conditions



Commands – Meshing

Mesh

Mesh Control and Multi-

element MeshingSingle Nodes Single Elements

Mesh, Mesh Control,

Mesh, Geometry commands

Model, Node… Model, Element…



Commands - Postprocessing

Analyze and Visualize Results

Analyze View Results (Post-process) Report

Model, Analysis View, Select… (F5)

View, Options… (F6)

View, Advanced Post,

commands

List, Output, commands

Data Table operations


Femap Basic

Exercise 1 – Analyzing a Solid Part

1-28


Femap Basic

Femap User interface and the On-Line Help

1-29


Femap Main Window Layout

Femap Title Bar

(active Model and View listed)

Femap Main Menu

Docked and Tabbed

(retracted) dockable

panes

Femap Status Bar Femap Trays

Floatable, dockable pane

Named “Tab” for graphics windows

Femap Graphics window

Toolbars


Graphics Windows

Multiple Models can be opened with multiple views

A single model with multiple views has the view name displayed in the

view tab

When multiple models are open, each view has their view tab displayed

as [Model Name] : [View Name]

View information stored separately for each Window.

Can change view options for only one view or all views at one time.


Graphics Windows (continued)

True Windows - provide easy transfer from Femap to other Windows

programs.

Cut and Paste

Windows Metafiles

AVI, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, GIF/Animated GIF and BITMAP files

When in render mode (default):

Rotate the model by pressing and dragging in the graphics window.

Zoom the model by holding down the shift key while pressing and

dragging in the graphics window.

Pan the model by pressing holding down the CTRL key and dragging in

the graphics window.


Femap Main Menus

Access to all commands through

drop-down menus.

Lists Short-Cut Keys and shows

icons on menu (includes user-

defined shortcut keys and icons,

when assigned)


Toolbars

Dockable Toolbars

Toolbars can be

docked anywhere around the perimeter of the

main Femap window.

When “docked”, toolbars can be placed next to

one another or “stacked” on top of one

another.

Floating Toolbars

Toolbars can be “peeled” off the perimeter of

the main Femap window and made to “float”

anywhere within the main Femap window.

“Floating” toolbars can be reshaped by placing

the cursor on the edge of the toolbar and then

dragging the toolbar into the desired shape.


Customizing Toolbars

Pressing on the

customize triangle which

allows you to Add or

Remove Buttons to the

toolbar

Toolbars, Customize

command contains more

options


Select Toolbar allows to

select entities one at a time or create a list of selected entities

to choose entities of different types first and then perform multiple

commands on the selected entities

Select Toolbar is essential to the use of Entity Editor and Data Table

Select Toolbar consists of 5 items

Selector Entity Menu

Selector Modes Menu

Selector Actions Menu

Selector Clear (Clear current selection list)

Snap Modes (Snap to Screen, Snap to Grid, Snap to Point, Snap to Node)

Select Toolbar


This menu allows you to choose type of entity to

select.

Selected entity type will be marked with a check

mark in an orange square (depends on color

scheme)

Selector Entity icon visible on the toolbar will

change to the icon of the current entity type

being selected

The entity types are separated into geometric

entities, connections, finite element entities and

text

Select Toolbar – Selector Entity


Different modes to select entities,

create “selection list” and modify

selection list

Add To Selection - Adds entities to the

current selection list when Select

Multiple is active or simply chooses

entities when Select Single Item is

active which is default

Remove From Selection - Removes

entities from the current selection list

when Select Multiple is active. Only

allows selection of entities currently in

the selection list. Does not highlight

anything when Select Single Item is

active

Select Toolbar –

Selector Modes Menu


Normal - Highlights entities which are

selectable when the cursor is placed

over a specific entity (default mode)

Query - Allows you to choose a position

on the screen near the entity you wish

to select, then select all the entities from

the list

Front - always selects the entity “closest

to the front of the screen”.

Select Toolbar –

Selector Modes Menu (continued)


Select Any Inside - box pick mode which

means that any entity touched by the

outline of a selection box, circle, polygon,

and freehand picking will be included in

the selection when Select Multiple is

active.

Select All Inside - pick mode which selects

only entities completely inside the box will

be included in the selection.

Select Related - selects ALL other entities

that are related to the selected entities

and places them in the selection list.

Select Toolbar –



Select Single Item - restricts selection

to only one item at a given time with

edition by Entity Editor

Select Multiple - Allows you to create a

Selection List which can contain

multiple entities of one type or multiple

entity types

Select Toolbar –



Show Tooltips - will activate useful

information about the entity currently

highlighted

When entity selection is set to e.g. Node,

the Tooltip will contain Node Number,

Coordinates, Definition Coordinate

System, and Output Coordinate System.

When post-processing, the output results

will appear in the Tooltip for highlighted

nodes.

Pressing the left mouse button, the

information will be sent to Entity Editor

and/or Data Table dockable panes, when

they are unlocked.

Select Toolbar –



Contains different Actions for Selector

Box, Circle rectangular or circular

selection to pick multiple entities at

once

Polygon - multi-sided shape area for

selection of multiple entities at once

Freehand - freehand sketched area

for selection of multiple entities at

once.

Works very similar to the Polygon

mode, but the shape is not limited to

the use of only straight lines.

Select Toolbar –



Different Actions for Selector (cont.)

Coordinate - entity selection using

combination of X,Y, and/or Z values from

selected coordinate system.

Around Point - entity selection using each

entity's position in 3-D space in relation to

a specified point in 3-D space

Around Vector - entity selection using each


a specified vector

Around Plane - entity selection using each


a specified plane

Select Toolbar –



Grow - adds the elements surrounding the

currently selected elements to the selection

list

Shrink - Removes the outer-most layer of

selected elements from the selection list.

Works in the reverse direction as the Grow

command.

1st Growth Iteration 2nd Growth IterationInitial Selection

Select Toolbar –

Selector Actions Menu (continued)


Dialog - brings up the specific Femap

Entity Selection dialog box for the entity

currently active in the selector

Create Group - brings up the Save

Selection as Group dialog box. Allows

you to create a new group or to add,

remove, or exclude the entities in the

Selection List from the active group.

Load Group - Allows you to add the

entities of any existing group to the

current Selection List.

Select Toolbar –



Export Neutral - export a FEMAP

neutral file containing all of the entities

currently in the Selection List

Copy - copy all of the entities in the

Selection List and Paste then into a

different model.

Paste - paste a copied Selection List

into different model.

Select Toolbar –



Add to Data Table - all of the entities

in the Selection List that are active

in the Selector will be sent Data

Table.

Data Table MUST be “unlocked” in

order for this command to be

available

Select Toolbar –



Only active entity in the

selector will be available for

picking in the graphics

window.

By pressing the right mouse

button Context Sensitive

commands will be available

Select Toolbar –

Context Sensitive Menus


Select Toolbar –

Clear Selector Options

Two options for clearing a Selection List:

Clear All – clears the entire Selection List

Clear Active Entity – clears only the active Selector Entity

Since the Selector Entity is

set to Elements, Clear Active

Entity reomves only the three

(3) elements from the

Selection List


Four standard panes

Model Info Tree

Entity Editor

Messages Window

Data Table

Five other dockable

panes

Program File

API Programming

Meshing Toolbox

Data Surface Editor

Entity Info

Can be turned on and off

using the Tools menu

Panes can be resized when

docked or floating

Dockable Panes


Panes can be shown on

the screen in a few

different configurations

Floating, Docked

Docked and “Stacked”

(press Tab to activate

Pane)

Docked and Tabbed

The Push Pin Icon is used to toggle a

dockable pane from simply “Docked”

to “Docked and Tabbed”.

Dockable Panes –

Display Configurations


Docking position

indicators are used to

position Dockable

Panes in specific

places in the interface

and can also be used

to “stack” the panes

Docking position

indicators only appear

when a dockable pane

is being dragged from

one position to

another

Dockable Panes - Positioning


Messages Window

Turn on and off by Tools, Other Windows, Messages menu

Provides Femap information on commands

List and error information

Undock Window by double-click on the Title Bar, return to previous

docked size by double-clicki Title Bar again.

Copy or Save Information from List

Highlight and Cut, Save to File


Format contents of the Messages

window with the context sensitive

pop-up menu (right-mouse press).

Messages Window – Other Options


Entity Editor

Turn on and off with the Tools, Entity Editor

Provides information of specific entities in

Femap displayed using different types of

fields

Numeric Value - Enables you to enter a

numeric value for a specific field

Text - Text can be typed directly into these

fields.

Drop-down menu button - lists options for

that can be selected for a particular field

Options button - brings up the color palette

or a dialog box that is used to change the

information in that specific field.

Read Only - Cannot be changed.


Entity Editor

Entities can be sent to the Entity Editor using the following entry

methods:

Select Toolbar - When activated, the last chosen entity will

appear in the Entity Editor pane.

Data Table pane - Once the Data Table has entity data in it, every

time a row containing entity data in the table is highlighted, it will

appear in the Entity Editor.

Model Info tree - When an entity in the tree is highlighted, it will

appear in the Entity Editor (Analyses and entities in the Selection

List from the tree will not populate the Entity Editor when

highlighted)


Entity Editor –

Icons

Lock/Unlock Toggle

when unlocked, the Entity Editor will always display the entity that was

last selected using an entity entry method

when locked, the data in the Entity Editor will remain there until the

pane is unlocked

Copy to Clipboard

copies the current data in the Entity Editor to the clipboard so it can be

pasted into the Messages Window or an outside program

Clear All

clears the contents of Entity Editor window, does not delete the entity

Categorized

default listing method of the Entity Editor


Entity Editor –

Icons

Alphabetic

Displays all the fields without any categories in alphabetical order

Collapse/Expand All

Collapses or expands ALL categories in the Entity Editor at once

Reload From Model

Reloads the Entity Editor fields with the values that are currently in the

model for the chosen entity

Use this to recover the original values for all the fields, except for

modifications made with a prior Update Model action.

Update Model

Applies any changes made in the Entity Editor to a chosen entity and

saves the changes to the model database


Model Info Tree

Quick access to “top-level” entities in Femap

Top-level items found in the tree include

Coordinate Systems

Geometry – Solids Only

Connections – Properties, Regions, Connectors

Model – Functions, Materials, Properties, Load

Sets, Constraint Sets, and Contact Surfaces

Analyses – Analysis Sets

Results – Output Sets

Views

Groups

Layers


Model Info Tree –

Selection List

Selection List – created when Select Multiple is

active in the Select Toolbar

Lists each entity type currently in the selection set

Displays the number of entities of each entity type

in parentheses

Context-Sensitive menus available for each item

in the Model Tree by highlighting an item then

pressing the right mouse button

Active Entity of each entity type is displayed with

Blue text in the tree


Collapse/Expand All - collapses or expands ALL categories in the

Model Info tree at once

Reload From Model - Reloads the Model Info tree with all current

information from the model. Always collapses the whole tree

completely.

Send To Data Table - Sends selected data to the Data Table pane

for sorting, filtering, and evaluation. Data Table MUST be open and

unlocked for this icon to be used.

Show When Selected - toggle on/off

and settings for highlighting of selected

objects

Model Info Tree –

Icons


Context-Sensitive menus

are available for each

item in the Model Tree

For context sensitive

commands which require

multiple entities (e.g.

MultiSet Animate)

activate them using

CTRL and SHIFT keys

Select individual

entities using CTRL key

Hold down the SHIFT

key and select a first

entity and a last entity

Model Info Tree –

Context Sensitive Menus


Data Table

Use Tools, Data Table command to turn the Data Table on and off

Data is placed into an interactive, dynamically changing table using

various methods to fill the table

Each item appears as a single row separated into a number of columns

when it enters the Data Table

Information of entities of the same type can be sorted, filtered, and

evaluated

In many ways, the Data Table is a complement to the other dockable panes

and can also simply be an alternate method to list and view entity data


Contained at bottom of Femap Main Window

Provides running total of nodes and elements in model

Short description of commands when in the menu structure of

Femap or positioned over icon

Tray on Right

Provides Access to Current Entities

Displays Active Property, Load Set, Constraint Set, Group and

Output Set

Change Current Entity or create a new one

Status Bar and Tray


Entity Selection Dialog Box

The Entity Selection dialog box is used by commands to build

a list of entity IDs that will be used for the operation.

Add/ Remove graphically and using Methods adding or removal of

entity IDs to the list of IDs.

Exclude - to exclude entity IDs permanently from the list

Delete command will delete the entity ID from the list

Method - additional methods which will vary depending on the

entity type

Pick - to select by box, polygon, etc.

Preview button graphically highlights selected entities


Provides quick and convenient access to common

commands

OK and Cancel for commands and dialog boxes

Previous Command - recalls last executed command

Setup, display or change Workplane.

Show Tooltips shows information for a highlighted

entity in a “Tooltips” window

Snap to and Pick Options - Snap To, Pick Query, Pick

Any Inside, Pick All Inside, Select

Change method of entity selection

Query selection and front screen picking

Available while in a command

Right Mouse Button


Equations

Brings up the Equation Editor in Femap (a field must

be highlighted in a dialog box for this option to be

available).

Visibility, Post, and XY Data

Convenient method of changing view parameters

Shortcut access to Post Data and XY Data for

results evaluation

Right Mouse Button - continued


Femap contains preprogrammed shortcut keys for commonly used

commands.

F5 - View Select, F6 - View Options, F8 - View Rotate, Ctrl+D - View

Redraw, Ctrl+A - View Autoscale Visible, Ctrl+G - View Regenerate,

Ctrl+Z - Undo, and Many More. (See Appendix A of User Guide)

Preprogrammed Keys shown on Menu Structure.

Dialogue Box Keys – available when in a command

Ctrl+A - Measure an Angle

Ctrl+C - Windows Copy

Ctrl+D - Measure a Distance

Ctrl+Z - Use Standard Coordinate Selection Dialog Box to define

location

And Many More (See Appendix A of User Guide)

Shortcut Keys


From any toolbar select Add or

Remove Buttons, Customize, then

choose the Keyboard and

Category then highlight the

command.

Once the command is highlighted,

press in the Press new shortcut

key field and press a key or

keyboard combination.

After you have chosen the correct

key or keyboard combination,

press the Assign button.

Creating Customized Shortcut Keys


On-Line Help

Menu Help - Femap provides description of each command while

pointing at it or accessing it on the Status Bar .

Help is also context sensitive

Access a command

Hit F1 to access HELP

Shift + F1 to choose a command with the “What’s This?” cursor

- Help Window will appear with description of the current command.


Femap Help Menu

Full on-line help system accessed through the

Help Menu

Toolbars, Dockable Panes, NX Nastran, Analysis

What’s New , Examples, Using Help

Programming – access the API Programming

Guide

Basic Language – access when the API

Programming window is open

Tip of the Day

Femap on the Web (opens Femap website on

computers with internet access)

Technical Support

About – shows licensing info and allows input of

new license keys for dongle-based licenses


Femap Basic

Exercise 2 – User Interface and Viewing

1-78

Femap Basic

Materials and Properties


Materials Supported by Femap

Isotropic

Properties are constant in all directions (values entered as a single value)

Orthotropic

Direction dependent, define in two planer or three principle directions

Anisotropic

Properties specified as a general 3x3 (2-D) or 6x6 (3-D) elasticity matrix

Hyperelastic

Materials subject to large deformations

Input distortional and volumetric deformations or stress/strain data.

Other Types

Unique material types for LS-DYNA, MARC, and ABAQUS/Explicit.

User Defined material types for custom program interfaces.


Use Model, Material for new materials creation or in

Model Info right-click on the Material and select New

Default material type is Isotropic

To select different material model, choose Type

Defining Materials


To enter values for material

properties

Type values directly into the

fields provided or access the

material library by selecting

the Load button

Function References,

Nonlinear, Creep,

Electrical/Optical and/or

Phase information can also

entered in this dialog box by

pressing on the

corresponding tab

Defining Materials (continued)


Other Types of Materials

Other Type materials are solver specific materials


Modifying Materials

Modify, Edit, Material

Specify the Material ID you

want to edit; or

Use Method to select a

material by Element, etc…

Modify field in the Define

Material

Model Info window right-click

on individual material to be

edited

Right-clicking on Materials

tree will select ALL materials

for editing.


Defining Properties

Property defines the element shape and

associated material

Create new properties using Model, Property

or in the Model Info window, right-click on the

Property object and select New.

Default property (element type) is Plate.

Other types are selected with

Elem/Property Type dialog box.

Properties define additional analysis

information for each element type, and are

controlled by the element type.


Defining Properties

Property data includes (depending on element shape)

Material selection

Geometric information (thickness, radii, areas, etc.)

Mass and inertia

Stress Recovery Points


Bar and Beam Properties

For Elem/Property types Bar, Beam or Curved Beam

Enter values directly or

Use the Shape button


Choose Standard or NASTRAN shape

Enter appropriate values for a shape and determine stress recovery points

Choose General Section in Shape to select any surface as the cross section

Beam properties will be automatically calculated by pressing OK.

Bar and Beam Shape Input


Modifying Beam

Orientation and Offsets

Beam nodes are located by default at the beam centroid

Offsets can be preset when creating or editing a beam element.

Mesh, Mesh Control, Attributes on Curve has options to preset beam

Offset(s) and Orientation.

Use Modify, Update Elements, Orientation/Offsets to change

orientation/offset of the selected beam elements


Modify, Update Elements

Commands

Reassign Element Properties

Beam settings

Plate settings

Order linear/parabolic

elements



Commands (continued)

Type – modify type of elements by property

Formulation – modify formulation of elements

of the same type

Property ID – choose new property of same

type for elements

Material ID – choose new material for

selected physical property

Line Element Orientation – update beam/bar

element orientations

Line Element Offsets – update beam/bar

element offsets

Line Element Reverse Direction – reverse

beam/bar element axial direction

Beam/Bar Releases – update beam/bar

element end releases




9. Beam Warping – update beam warping as

defined using NASTRAN SPOINTs

10. Remove Cross Section– removes beam/bar

element section shape; retains properties

11. Reverse Normal /Orient First Edge – reverse

element normal direction for planar and solids

12. Material Angle – updates the element material

orientation angle for planar and axisymmetric

elements

13. Split quads – splits quads into triangles

14. Adjust Plate Thickness/Offset – enables to

adjust the thickness or the offsets of the

selected plate elements




15. Linear/Parabolic Order – change between

linear and parabolic elements

16. Midside Nodes – moves midside node to

midpoint of edge

17. Rigid Thermal Expansion – allows you to

change the Coefficient of Thermal

Expansion (CTE) for existing rigid elements

in your model


Modify, Update Elements, Adjust

Plate Command

To modify Element Offsets and/or Thicknesses of plate elements

Modify Offset distance of the selected plate elements

By default, nodes are located at the midplane (1/2 the thickness) of

shell elements

Use the Mesh, Mesh Control, Attributes on Surface to preset the offset

Change the Thickness of the selected elements, including creating

and/or modifying variable thickness shells

Automatically creates new

Properties for the variable

thickness


Exercise 3 –

Analyzing a Beam Model

Run Femap Example 11 – Analyzing a Beam Model


Femap Basic

Meshing

1-96


Mesh, Mesh Control creates

settings

Toggle Mesh Size symbols with the

View Style, Mesh Size icon on the

View toolbar

Many of these commands are on

the Mesh toolbar

Mesh Control


Mesh, Mesh Control, Default Size

Used to define the default element

size and along curves that have

no other sizing specified

Mesh, Mesh Control, Size….

At Point, used to specify the size

along any curve that references

that point, and does not already

have a size specified

Along Curve, specifies the

element size or number of

elements to be placed and how

they will be spaced along the

curve.

Mesh, Mesh Control Commands


Mesh, Mesh Control,

Size…. commands

On Surface, used to

specify the size on all of

the curves referenced by

the surface and gives

other options for

controlling the mesh on

the surface



Mesh, Mesh Control,

Size…. commands

On Solid, provides the

same basic mesh

control as the

previous, but also has

additional options that

pertain primarily to

multi-solid meshing

and hex meshing.



Mesh, Mesh Control, Interactive, allows you to interactively modify

existing mesh sizes along one or more curves

Add: The current curve mesh size is increased by the number of

elements specified

Subtract: The current curve mesh size is decreased by the number of

elements specified. It is not reduced below 1.

Set To: The curve mesh size is set to the number of elements specified.


(continued)


Mesh, Mesh Control, Custom Size

Along Curve, can be used to place

nodes at specific locations along

curves and match one curve mesh

sizing to another

Mesh, Mesh Control, Mapped

Divisions on Surface allows to

specify divisions for a mesh on 3

and 4 sided surfaces.

Mesh, Mesh Control, Mesh Points

on Surface, defines specific

locations on a surface

where nodes will be

created when the

surface is meshed.


(continued)


Mesh, Mesh Control, Attributes

At Point, used to assign meshing properties to points, so that when

the points are meshed, the properties will automatically be assigned

to the points.

Along Curve, in addition to specifying the property to be used, there

are additional options, like element orientation, releases, and offsets.

On Surface, most commonly used for assigning plate properties to

surfaces, and should be used when meshing multiple surfaces with

different properties in one meshing operation. Includes ability to pre-

assign plate offsets to surface

On Volume/Solid, are much the same as the above, only applies to

volumes/solids.


(continued)



(continued)

Mesh, Mesh Control, Approach on Surface, used to specify how,

Femap will create a free/boundary mesh or a mapped mesh

Automatic point selection for Mapped – Four Corner (Femap

V10.1.1 and above)


Setting Mesh Sizing on Solids

Solid Mesh Sizing setup

Set mesh size on solid first

Set mesh size on surface(s) to override the mesh size on the

selected surface(s)

Set mesh size on curves to override the previously set mesh sizes

on the selected curve(s)


Geometry Meshing –

Points, Curves and Surfaces

Mesh, Geometry, Point will generate nodes (and elements for 0D

element types such as Mass Elements) at the selected points.

Allows you to specify the beginning node and element ID.

Mesh, Geometry, Curve

Creates a mesh of nodes and 1-D elements along a curve.

Mesh, Geometry, Surface - creates nodes and planar elements on

selected surfaces

Must first define the mesh sizing using one of the various Mesh Control

commands.

There are also basic Mesh Control options on the Automesh form, as

well as Mesh Smoothing, and Element Shape options.


Mesh, Geometry, Volume - creates nodes and elements in a

selected set of volumes

Since this command uses a mapped meshing technique, the number of

nodes/elements along opposite faces of a volume must always be

equal.

Mesh, Geometry, Solid - produces a 3-D solid tetrahedral mesh in a

solid part

Mesh, Geometry, Solids From Elements - meshes a plate element

mesh that encloses a volume into a solid element mesh

Geometry Meshing –

Volumes and Solids


Semi Automatic Hex Meshing

Femap can automatically hex mesh solids that

are valid mapped meshing solids.

Preparing the solid for Hex Meshing

Begin by slicing the solid into simple sections

that are extrudable.

Slicing and sectioning the geometry is

accomplished using Geometry, Solid, Slice,

Slice Match, Slice Along Face, and Embed

Face commands.

Meshing the Solids

Use Mesh Control to set the size and link the

adjacent surfaces

Then Mesh, Geometry, Hex Mesh Solids

Solids Hex Meshing


Exercise 4 -

Beam/Plate Meshing

In this example we will read in simplified wireframe geometry of the

following assembly.

The top plate will be modeled with plate elements, and the underlying

support beams will be modeled with beam elements.


Femap Basic

Meshing Toolbox (Femap V10 and above)

1-110


Meshing Toolbox (1)

Visibility controls of various tools

Entity Locator controls

Mesh Quality visualization toggle

Auto Remesh or User Controlled

V10 Meshing


Meshing Toolbox (2)

Toggle All Tools

Access to all tools using Feature Type

and Action

Select or Dialog Select options

V10 Meshing


Meshing Toolbox - Tools

Use Locator to quickly find undesirable

geometric features in the model

V10 Meshing



Locator, Search For, Curves

Search Method

Short Edges

Free Edges

NonManifold Edges

From Group

Based On

Global Mesh Size

Curve Length

Shortest Curves

% of Mesh Size

V10 Meshing



Locator, Search For, Surfaces

Search Method

Surface Geometry

From Group

Small Surfaces

Fit In Radius

Slivers

Sliver Tolerance

Spikes

Spike Width

By Area

Area Less Than

V10 Meshing



Feature Removal

Feature Type (Select First)

Loops

Curves

Surfaces

Limit Size

Agresive Removal

V10 Meshing



Combine / Composite Curves

Action (Select First)

Add By Point

Add Curves

Split At

Remove

Delete

Select Entity

Combine Surfaces

Automatic combine

V10 Meshing



Using Combined Curves and

Combine Surface

Locator, Search For, Curves

Search Method

Short Edges (1 Curve)

One edge broken

Initial Mesh

V10 Meshing



Check Mesh Quality

Remesh Entities using

Combined, Add By Point and

Combine Surfaces

V10 Meshing



Check Mesh Quality

Remesh Entities using Combined,

Add Curves and Combine

Surfaces

V10 Meshing



Check Mesh Quality

Remesh Entities using change of

edge Mesh Sizing

V10 Meshing


Femap Basic

Geometry Subdivision Tools

(Femap V10 and above)

1-123



Geometry – Curve From

Surfaces with new specific tools

for updating geometry for

meshing

Split at Locations…

Offset Curve/Washer…

Pad…

Point to Point…

Point to Edge…

Edge to Edge…

Geometry Manipulation



Geometry – Curve From Surfaces, Offset Curve/Washer specific

tools for updating geometry for meshing

Washer burns a concentric circle around existing planar hole

No Split Lines versus Split Lines






Offset Curve works with non-planar or non-circular holes

No Split Lines versus Split Lines






Offset Curve works with non-planar




Geometry – Curve From Surfaces, Pad imprints orthogonal

shapes around a circular or close to circular hole to achieve better

mesh transitions from hole to linear edges

Without Pad

With Pad




Geometry – Curve From Surfaces

Combining Washer and Pad

Pad Options, by default length/witdh of the

pad is 2.0 times the selected hole radius



Face Splitting Tools

Geometry – Curve From Surfaces

Point to Point…

Point to Edge…

Edge to Edge…



Face Splitting Tools

Geometry – Curve From Surfaces,

Point to Point…

Point to Edge…

Edge to Edge…



Model Mesh after using Geometry Subdivision Tools

Default Mesh without any changes versus

Default Mesh after geometry update using subdivision and

splitting tools



Femap Basic

Exercise 5 – Interactive Meshing and Geometry

Manipulation

1-134

femap basic - day 1

Documents

offset curvewasher

model info

femap preferences

femap preferences

main femap

current selection

model info

data table