Map Mid-Mesh Thickness Tool file:///C:/Program Files/Altair/13.0/help/hm/map_mid_mesh_thickness...

HyperMesh and BatchMesher

Map Mid-Mesh Thickness Tool

Use the Map Mid-Mesh Thickness tool to calculate the thickness of a mid-mesh from the solid
geometry. The thickness will be assigned on the mid-mesh either on node card, element card, nodal
thickness on element card or also as properties on elements depending on the user profile you are
using. You can access the Mid-Mesh Thickness tool by clicking Mesh > Edit > Elements >
Midmesh Thickness from the menu bar when the OptiStruct, RADIOSS, Abaqus, LS-DYNA, or
Nastran user profiles are loaded.
The Map Mid-Mesh Thickness tool is divided into the following sections:

Input

The mid-mesh and solid can be specified by selecting entities in the HyperMesh session
interactively, or optionally, external geometry or FE solver decks can also be selected as input.

FE and Geometry displayed

Traditional Element Visualization

Thickness Output

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The following options are available from the Thickness Output section:
Thickness Output:

Select one of the following thickness output options:

Output Description User Profile

Node Assigns a thickness on node cards. Abaqus

Element Assigns a single thickness on RADIOSS, Abaqus,

element card. LS-DYNA (SHELL card
image)

Nodal Thickness on Assigns multiple thicknesses on OptiStruct, LS-DYNA,

Elements elements for each node. Nastran

Properties on Creates properties for groups of OptiStruct, Nastran,

Elements elements, and assigns a thickness Abaqus
to each property.

Properties on Creates components and properties LS-DYNA

Components for groups of elements, assigns a
thickness to each property, and
then assigns the property to a
component.

Select Card Image Assigns a thickness on INISHE RADIOSS

entities, when you select one of the
following card images from the list:
SHELL, EPESP_F, STRA_F, and
STRS_F.

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Minimum Thickness: (Optional)

Any calculated thickness below the specified value will be reset to the specified minimum
value.

Maximum Thickness: (Optional)

Any calculated thickness above the specified value will be reset to the specified maximum
value.

Assign offset to elements:

If set, the offset value will be assigned on the element cards.

Note that the mesh deviates from the geometry; the mid-mesh node is equidistant from mesh corners, but not from
the nodes on the geometry corners.
- 2D Detailed Element Representation is active
- No Element Offset is active

Here, the offset has caused the mesh to match the geometry, though the initial mid-mesh node remains unchanged.
such that it now matches the geometry.
- 2D Detailed Element Representation is active
- An Element Offset is active

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Assign average thickness to element groups:

This option is available when the thickness output option is Elements. By setting this option,
the thickness values on individual elements will be approximated to be an average value
representing a group of elements.

Maximum Thickness Range Interval:

This option is available when the thickness output option is Properties on elements or
when the Assign average thickness to element groups check box is selected.
Use this option to control the number of thickness properties or groups. Setting this ensures
that no thickness group or property will have a thickness interval range greater than the
specified value. In other words it is the maximum limit on the max thickness – min
thickness in a thickness group or property.

Truncate Thickness to Range Interval

This option is only available when the Maximum Thickness Range Interval check box is
selected. By selecting this option, the thickness values will be rounded up or down to have the
same number of decimal digits as the input value in the Maximum thickness range interval
field.

Correction Method:

On elements or nodes where the thickness could not be computed correctly, there are different
options to correct it:
• Interpolate from Neighbors: An appropriate thickness value is interpolated from the
neighboring element/node thickness.
• Adjust to min/max values: If either minimum or maximum thickness is defined it is
assigned on the corrected elements.

Scaling at corners:

This option is available only when the Correction method is set to Interpolate from
Neighbors. When interpolating thickness values near t-junctions or corners, a scaling
algorithm is applied:
• Supplying a value less than 1 will result in linear decrease in the thickness values
nearer to the junctions / corners.
• A value of zero will result in an approximate mass-conserved thickness estimation.

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Scaling at corners = 0 Scaling at corners = 0

Thickness Contour Applied Thickness Contour Applied
Traditional Element Visualization 2D Detailed Element Representation

If this is equal to 1, the thickness is extrapolated / interpolated without any scaling.

Scaling at corners = 1 Scaling at corners = 1

Thickness Contour Applied Thickness Contour Applied
Traditional Element Visualization 2D Detailed Element Representation

If this is greater than 1, the thickness will increase as you go closer to the junction.

Max Midmesh/Solid Angle (0,90):

This is the maximum angle (0 to 90) that the mid-mesh makes with the solid, beyond which
the estimated thickness will be ignored and corrected.

Max Thickness Gradient (0, 10):

This is the maximum change in thickness allowed across two adjacent measurement locations,
as a factor of the distance between the locations. Allowable factors range from 0 to 10.

Max search distance:

Use this option to specify the maximum distance which will be considered for searching solid
proximity. This value is also used to restrict the maximum distance from which a good
thickness value is considered for correcting an incorrect thickness estimate. You can also used
this option to restrict the algorithm from assigning incorrect thicknesses for the mid-mesh that
is out of the solid proximity.

Do not assign thickness to Mid-mesh outside solid

When this option is enabled, a thickness will not be assigned to the Mid-mesh outside of the
solid.

Save log file:

The information logged during the computation can be directed the supplied file.

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Clicking the Calculate Thickness button will begin the operation. The thickness will be computed
and assigned on the mid-mesh.

View

In the View section, there are several options for visualization:

Element Coloring by thickness:

HyperMesh Element Color mode will be set to ‘By Thickness’ resulting in contour plot of
thickness.

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Thickness Contour Applied

2D Detailed Element Representation

2D Detailed Element Representation:

The mid-mesh elements will be visualized as 2D with the assigned thickness as depth.

2D Detailed Element Representation

Assigning a thickness for each individual Node or element, allows you to assign a variable
thickness to elements. You can visualize both the element and nodal thickness in the graphics
area by selecting the 2D Detailed Element Representation option from the Visualization
toolbar.
The behavior of the 2D Detailed Element Representation option depends on what you assigned
a thickness to. For example, if you assign a component an element thickness, then the element
thickness representation will be displayed. If you assign a nodal thickness to an element node,
then each individual node thickness will be plotted and you will be able to see the first and
second order trias and quad elements. When you assign a nodal thickness, you can select the
By Thickness option in the Visualization toolbar to display each node value. If you assign a
nodal thickness, and the offset option is on, then the element thickness from the nodes will be
calculated, the element will be offset, and the nodal thickness 2D Detailed Element
representation on the offset elements will be plotted.

Limitations
Currently, composites with variable thickness are not added for this new feature.

Highlight Corrected Elements:

The elements are highlighted whereby the thickness could not be calculated from solid, and the
correction method has been deployed.

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2D Detailed Element Representation

Corrected Elements Highlighted

See Also:
Checking & Editing Mesh

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