Visual Environment

Objective:
1. learn how to import CAD models
2. Familiar with GUI of Visual Environment
3. T-joint model design
4. Familiar with mesh function
5. Meshing of T-Joint model
6. Meshing and design welded flange
7. Meshing and design turbine blade



Menu
Bar
Toolbar
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W
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Selection Wizard
Application Manager
Customize Shortcuts
Pop-up Menus
Part Table
The Part Table is used to control part visualization. It allows you to set the
display method (such as Shaded, Wire Frame, etc.), assign colors, or
visualize different attributes of the parts.
1. State
2. ID (Part ID)
3. Name
4. DM (Display Method)
5. Last Column Attribute
Point and Vector Definition
Create / modify a node in 3D space.
Create / modify a point in 3D space.
Create / modify a curve by locating and modifying
the construction points that constitute it.
Locate the orientation vector / node of a line
element in space.
Locate the offset vector of a line element in space.
Vector, Axis and Plane definition.
Create / modify a coordinate system by locating
and modifying the direction of its axes.

Plane / Vector / Axis Definition
Pick three or two points Select one of the X, Y or Z-
axes of the modeling system
for vector definition.
shortcuts
Del Delete F10 Show Element Quality
A MoveView3 Alt + F4 Exit
B Undo view Alt + G Print Preferences
C Define View Point Shift + F11 Renumber
D Zoom Pro Shift + F1 Advanced Renumber
F Fit F7 Align
G Show F9 Trim/Split
H Hide Shift + X Section XY
K Hide Unselected Shift + F3 Boundary
L Locate Ctrl + F10 FullScreen
N Neighbour + Z ZoomArea
P Part Or Element S Panoramic
R Load Selection F4 Measure
W Save Selection Ctrl + F10 Copy
File Options
CAD files
PAM-CRASH
LS-DYNA
NASTRAN
MADYMO
SYSTUS
ASCII
PRO-CAST files
PAM-CEM files
PAM-MEDYSA
PATRAN
MOSAIC
STRIM100
ANSYS
SIMEX
ABAQUS
VDB
IGES
CATIA V4
CATIA V5
*.vdb
*.ASC
This section contains information about setting the
configuration of the Visual-Environment General
behavior. Using the General tab in Preferences panel you can
set preference for the Recent File List,
Window drag effects, Context menu style, Application
activation, Document tiling, Sensitivity of arrow keys.
Entity Selector
In Visual-Environment:
Nodes, elements are FE entities.
Surfaces, stitched surfaces, curves and vertices
are CAD entities.
ellipsoid, cylinders and planes are rigid body
entities.
Parts, groups, etc., are other types of entities.

Entity Relationships
Element By Element Selects all picked elements.
Element By Part Selects all elements that belong to the picked part.
Element By Node Selects all elements that share the picked node.
Element By Assembly Selects all elements that belong to the picked assembly.
Element By Group Selects all elements that share the picked group.
Element Attached To Element Selects all elements attached to the picked elemElement Attached To
Nodes Selects all elements attached to the picked node
Parts Attached To Welds
Selects all parts attached to the picked weld
elements.
Welds Attached To Parts Selects all welds attached to the picked parts.
Plink Between Parts
Selects all plink elements that lie between the two parts
picked.
Spring Between Quad
Selects all spring elements that lie between the pair of quad
elements picked.


Exercize
1- T-JOINT Profile
Rib plate
60*10*200mm
Ground plate
120*10*200mm
Filler metal
6*6*200mm
Gap
10*2*200
Ground Plate Modeling
Click File -> New or press CTRL+N Files
Nodes Creation
0,-60,10 0,60,10
0,-60,0 0,60,0

To Create a Surfaces with the required size, you need to create Nodes.
With the help of these nodes Surface and curves will be created.

Surface Creation by Blend
Post Blend GUI from Surface menu (Surface -> Blend (Spline) )
Change Mesh only option to Surf Only option
In the model window pick Node 1 & Node 2 and confirm by middle
mouse button. This becomes first primary edge for the blend
Surface.
Pick Node 3 & Node 4 and confirm by middle mouse button. This
becomes second primary edge for the blend Surface.
Click on OK to confirm. The new surface will be created and it will
be in Part 1 which is default.

Surface Creation by Sweep
Post Sweep GUI from Surface menu (Surface -> Sweep (Drag) )
Change sweeping curve option to Multiple Curves and enter 200 in
the Distance field.
Change Mesh only option to Surf Only option
Enter 1 in Part ID filed
Pick the top edge of the newly created Surface
After confirming the sweep curve selection, a Vector Definition
GUI is posted
Select Global Axis as the Vector definition option and click on Flip
to make the vector in - X direction
Click on Ok/Close in the Vector Definition GUI to accept the
Vector and close the GUI
Look the preview of the surface to be generated and confirm it by
clicking on Ok in Sweep GUI

Surface Transform
Post Surface Transform GUI from Surface
menu (Surface -> Transform)
Toggle on Fix option for Y Axis and Z Axis and
enter -200 in the dX field
Select the Surface created by blend and confirm
by clicking on Update Entities
Toggle Copy option and keep the other options
default
Confirm the transformation by Clicking on Copy

Rib Modeling
Nodes Creation
(0,-5,12) (0,-5,72)(0,5,12)(0,5,72)
Surface Creation by Blend
Surface Creation by Sweep
Surface Transform

Filler Material Modeling
Nodes Creation
(0, 5, 16) (0, 5, 10) (0, 11, 10)
Surface Creation by Blend
Surface Creation by Sweep
Surface Transform

Gap material Modeling
Post Drop Points/Curves/ Nodes GUI from
Nodes menu. (Nodes -> Drop (Project))or
Nodes Creation (0,-5,10)
Surface Creation by Blend
Surface Creation by Sweep
Surface Transform



Initial model
Curves Generation
Post Nodes Transform GUI from Nodes Menu (Nodes -> Transform)
Select the Node 12 and confirm by middle mouse button on click on
Update Entities
In the posted GUI, Fix X and Z axis. Enter -10 in the dY field and toggle
on the Copy option
Copy the node by clicking on button Copy
Similarly select the Node 11 and confirm by middle mouse button on click
on Update Entities
Fix X and Z axis. Enter 10 in the dY field Copy the node by clicking on
Copy
select the Node 9 and confirm by middle mouse button on click on Update
Entities
Fix X axis and Y axis, free the Z Axis. Enter 10 in the dZ field Copy the
node by clicking on Copy
The new Nodes will have the IDs 13, 14 & 15.

Creating Curve by Sketch
Post Sketch GUI from Curve menu (Curve -> Sketch)
With all the default options pick the pairs of nodes that are original
and copied by drop options in the earlier step
See the below picture for the curves to be created in the below
picture
Once the pair of nodes is selected confirm by middle mouse button
to accept the created Curve.
Make sure that the Curves will be in Part 5
To make sure the picked point is on the Node only follow the below
procedure.
NOTE: Pick the first node for the first Curve. It shows the point handle by Curve (a
Mark)
Once again click on the same node or the Point handle; it posts a point definition GUI
as shown below.


Saving the Model
The model can be saved in different formats:
1- To save VDB format
2-To Export the Model in IGES format

MODEL BULDING
Curve
Surface
Volume
Node
1D
2D
3D
Transform
Change PID
Properties
Assembly
Checks
Tools
Curve
Sketch :This option enables you to create a linear or smooth curve
Smooth or Linear IN 3-D or On Plane,
Circle/Arc: This option enables you to create circles and arcs
3 Points, Center-Axis, Concentric
Extract: This option enables you to extract a curve from selected surfaces
and elements or faces of solid elements to support CAD editing.
By Intersection: This option enables you to create curves at the
intersection of a combination of surface, 2D mesh and plane
Curve Morph: This option enables you to perform the following curve
morphing operations:
A curve can be morphed by specifying 2 new end points.
A morphed curve between 2 curves can be generated with 2 new
end points.
Curve
Ellipse: This option enables you to create ellipse by specifying the parameters in 3
different ways.
Extract :This option enables you to extract a curve from selected surfaces and
elements or faces of solid elements to support CAD editing.
By Intersection: This option enables you to create curves at the intersection of a
combination of surface, 2D mesh and plane.
Drop (Project) :Description of 'Drop Nodes' functionality.
Merge :This option enables you to merge a series of connected curves into one
curve for further modeling usage.
Fillet :This option enables you to perform the following curve filleting operations.
Transform :This functionality enables you to transform and make a copy of CAD
or FE entities such as nodes, curves, surfaces, elements and other entities. The
transformation methods available include Translate, Rotate, Mirror, Sca
Change PID: utility can be used to change the Part ID of the selected elements.
These elements can be moved to an existing compatible part, or to an altogether
new part of the same type as the old one.
Surface
Blend (Spline)
Sweep (Drag)
Revolve (Spin)
Split
Extend: This option enables you to extend surfaces at specified edges. This
functionality is useful for CAD manipulation, particularly during mid-
surface generation. It is also useful for de-featuring fillets, creating fillets
and bridging gaps between surfaces.
Cleanup: When CAD data is obtained from a drafting package, it usually
comes with a lot of details. Such details are not necessary from a finite
element modeling perspective, and can become a hindrance to the auto-
meshing process. CAD data usually comes as surface information - even
solids are represented by their enveloping surfaces. Occasionally, it may
even come as only curve data. The purpose of this section is to show you
how to clean up surface data to enable easy and convenient meshing,
resulting in quality meshes.


Topo Mesh / Surface Mesh
Split and merging of faces.
Cleanup of bad Trim/Overlap regions (interactive and automatic).
Stitching edges within/across topology (interactive and automatic).
Alignment of domain lines by replacing corners (vertices).
Creation of washers around holes (interactive and automatic).
Filling cavities (interactive and automatic).
Creation and deletion of vertices (break points) along edges.
Stitching of surrounding elements with topology.
Control of number of seeds, synchronization of seeds of 2 edges, biasing of seeds.
Creation and deletion of mesh on faces (specification of mesh type and meshing
schemes).
Creation and deletion of analysis points.
Display controls for faces.
Display options for seeding, topology, mesh, surface, etc.
Automatic options to do intelligent editing and seeding.

Welded Flange
1- Draw semicircle (part 1)
r=1000,1770, 1922 angle: 180,
2- Rotate
angle=90
3- Draw R= 1000 angle= 180 , Rotate angle=90
4- Plot points
x=2422 ,y= 266.5,436.5,700, -266.5,-436.5,-700
5- Drop points on arcs
6- Sketch splitter lines(part 2)
7- delete un useful lines
7- Fillet line(part 1)
8- Create external surface by sweep(part 4)
9- Create symmetric surfaces by blend(part 5)
10- Create welded surface by blend(part 6)
11- Create internal surfaces by blend(part 7)




Welded flange
Create volume
Sphere R=1770,1922 C=0,0,0
Box= 1400,1400,2422 C=0,0,1211
Cylinder, R=266.5,436.5 C=0,700,1211
Create intersection curve
Create surface

T-joint meshing
Surface Cleanup
2D Mesh generation by Topology
3D Mesh by Sweep
Meshing the Region Away from Heat Affected Zone
Meshing the Region Away from Heat Affected Zone
Splitting 2D Elements for Joining
Connecting the 2D Elements and Smoothing
3D Mesh by Sweep
Meshing the Gap
3D Mesh by Sweep
1D Element Creation and Removing Duplicate Nodes
1D Elements Creation
Removing the Duplicate nodes
Saving the Model
To save VDB format
To Export the Model in SYSTUS format