Midplane meshing | News | The Engineer

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Midplane meshing
25 May 2000
Algor has released a new midplane meshing feature that automatically heals gaps inherent in
midplane extraction. The midplane meshing feature converts thin, solid parts, such as car body
panels, into plate/shell elements using the midpoint of the surface elements. This significantly
reduces the number of elements in the model and allows engineers to take advantage of the
faster processing speeds associated with plate/shell elements.
'The release of the midplane meshing feature adds a new dimension in flexibility for engineers
modelling thin-walled objects with a combination of solid and plate/shell elements,' said Michael
L. Bussler, president of Algor. 'What sets this feature apart from the competition is that it
automatically heals the gaps that inevitably occur during midplane extraction to ensure an
accurate finite element analysis (FEA). Other programs often require the user to heal the gaps
manually.'
Gaps often occur during midplane extraction in the areas of the model where intersecting
surfaces are moved from their original location to another location. Loads will not transmit
throughout the part when these gaps exist between the elements in a mesh. However, the
development of Algor's midplane meshing feature brings further robust modelling capabilities to
the industry within Algor's InCAD family of products by automatically filling in these gaps. Now
engineers have more flexibility when choosing elements since midplanemeshing more fully
accounts for the many modelling situations engineers encounter.
Prior to this industry development, few choices existed for engineers desiring to reduce the
number of elements in thin-walled models. Engineers could mesh thin parts using solid
elements, which resulted in an unnecessarily large number of elements for analysis. They could
also select surfaces manually within some CAD solid modellers for midplane extraction and fill in
the gaps themselves. Either way, it was a time-consuming process and could be prone to error.
To take advantage of this new Algor software feature, an engineer need only specify a
thickness. Any plate-like regions of the model or assembly thinner than that thickness are
automatically converted to plate/shell elements. The software assigns the generated plate/shell
elements the appropriate thickness and automatically places them at the midplane of the solid
regions they replace.
Algor customers with current technical support and maintenance agreements can request a
complete software update, including the new midplane meshing capabilities through Algor's web
sites (www.algor.com and www.feaincad.com) or an Algor account representative. The
midplane meshing feature will ship in May with Algor's Integrator modelling level package and
the InCAD family of products. All of Algor's software product line is available for the Windows
95, 98, NT, and 2000 operating systems.
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