Menu

Discussion Forum

New Discussion
Filter

Discussion Closed This discussion was created more than 6 months ago and has been closed. To start a new discussion with a link back to this one, click here.

CAD import preparation for successful modeling

Posted Aug 23, 2013, 8:50 a.m. EDT CAD Import & LiveLink™ Products for CAD, Geometry, Mesh 3 Replies

Richard Heslop
Send Private Message Flag post as spam

Please login with a confirmed email address before reporting spam

In preparing CAD models for effective modeling, I have made the following I have found the following to be useful:
1) Importing to COMSOL as solids only
2) Ticking the three boxes for repair options in the CAD import window
3) Adjustment of the CAD import tolerance (although I welcome suggestions of science behind this adjustment - thus far I have found no general trend)
4) Use of the repair function selecting all parts of the CAD (incidentally, is there a way to automatically select all parts of the CAD?) and adjusting the tolerance of repair. Similarly to the import tolerance I welcome suggestion as to a procedure to appropriately choose the size.
5) Use of repair functions in Spaceclaim. Although I have not yet found a consistent approach which works reliably. And in some cases I find that Spaceclaim, by performing one repair operation causes other problems - similar to a dog chasing its tail.
6) Virtual operations in COMSOL - ignoring edges etc. I find can sometimes help, though again I have no reliable procedure.
7) The use of extreme variation in mesh size. With smallest mesh size set to similar to the import tolerance and a rate of growth of 50 or more, has facilitated apprently unmeshable geometries in some cases.

The essential question I have is really, does anyone have a consistent method incoproating Spaceclaim, Solidworks and COMSOL to reliably and efficiently generate successful meshes from complex CAD models which are classed as "okay" by Solidworks, yet are problematic to mesh?
3 Replies Last Post Nov 9, 2014, 12:21 p.m. EST
COMSOL Moderator

Hello Richard Heslop

Your Discussion has gone 30 days without a reply. If you still need help with COMSOL and have an on-subscription license, please visit our Support Center for help.

If you do not hold an on-subscription license, you may find an answer in another Discussion or in the Knowledge Base.

Steve Conrad
Send Private Message Flag post as spam

Please login with a confirmed email address before reporting spam

Posted: 1 decade ago Nov 8, 2014, 7:43 p.m. EST
Although the above post is a year old, with the recent divorce between COMSOL and SpaceClaim, are there any updates to the above, or has anyone worked out the necessary steps to most reliably import SpaceClaim models?

--
Steven Conrad, MD PhD
LSU Health
Although the above post is a year old, with the recent divorce between COMSOL and SpaceClaim, are there any updates to the above, or has anyone worked out the necessary steps to most reliably import SpaceClaim models? -- Steven Conrad, MD PhD LSU Health
Ivar KJELBERG COMSOL Multiphysics(r) fan, retired, former "Senior Expert" at CSEM SA (CH)
Send Private Message Flag post as spam

Please login with a confirmed email address before reporting spam

Posted: 1 decade ago Nov 9, 2014, 11:57 a.m. EST
Hi
Well as Space Claim was bought out by ANSYS, and not COMSOL as I hoped ;(,
I just managed to block our investment in SpaceClaim that we had budgeted, I feel really lucky, but I decided on gut feeling that something would happen when I saw the announcements.

Anyhow, my best interface to COMSOL is Parasolid files (even having LiveLink to SolidWorks, I mostly use *.x_t format), but I do not know of you can easily export "Parasolid" .x_t or .x_b files from SpaceClaim ?

--
Good luck
Ivar
Hi Well as Space Claim was bought out by ANSYS, and not COMSOL as I hoped ;(, I just managed to block our investment in SpaceClaim that we had budgeted, I feel really lucky, but I decided on gut feeling that something would happen when I saw the announcements. Anyhow, my best interface to COMSOL is Parasolid files (even having LiveLink to SolidWorks, I mostly use *.x_t format), but I do not know of you can easily export "Parasolid" .x_t or .x_b files from SpaceClaim ? -- Good luck Ivar
Steve Conrad
Send Private Message Flag post as spam

Please login with a confirmed email address before reporting spam

Posted: 1 decade ago Nov 9, 2014, 12:21 p.m. EST
Thanks, I'll try that workflow. I think SpaceClaim puts out both the Parasolid binary (x_b) and text (x_t) file formats.

--
Steven Conrad, MD PhD
LSU Health
Thanks, I'll try that workflow. I think SpaceClaim puts out both the Parasolid binary (x_b) and text (x_t) file formats. -- Steven Conrad, MD PhD LSU Health

Note that while COMSOL employees may participate in the discussion forum, COMSOL® software users who are on-subscription should submit their questions via the Support Center for a more comprehensive response from the Technical Support team.

Suggested Content