Femap basic day 1

© 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
Geometry
Geometry, Solid
Geometry - > Midsurface
Material
Model, Material
Property
Model, Property
Mesh
Mesh, Mesh Control
Mesh, Geometry
Analyze
Model, Analysis
Postprocess
View, Select (F5)
Constraints and Loads
Model, 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 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 Meshing
Single 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 –
Selector Actions Menu

 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 –
Selector Actions Menu

 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 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

 Remesh Entities using Combined,
Add Curves and Combine
Surfaces
V10 Meshing

 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
 Edge to Edge…

Face Splitting Tools
 Geometry – Curve From Surfaces,
 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

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