Importing 2D Exodus Files

Coreform Cubit has a limited capability to create ACIS Geometry from 2D ExodusII finite element mesh files. (For a more general capability, see the Import Mesh Geometry command, which will create Mesh-Based Geometry).

To import a 2D Exodus II file and create ACIS geometry, the following command can be used:

Import Free Mesh '<filename>' {Time <t> | Step <step#> | Last}

Coreform Cubit can create ACIS geometry from 2D Exodus II data files (4, 8, or 9 node QUAD or SHELL element types) that do not have enclosed voids (holes surrounded by mesh) and which were originally generated with Coreform Cubit and exported to ExodusII with the Nodeset Associativity option set to on. The Nodeset Associativity command records the topology of the geometry into special nodesets which allow Coreform Cubit to reconstruct a new solid model from the mesh even after it has been deformed. The new solid model of the deformed geometry can be remeshed with standard techniques or meshed with a sizing function that can also be imported into Coreform Cubit from the same ExodusII file. Coreform Cubit's implementation of the paving and triadvance algorithms can generate a mesh following a sizing function to capture a gradient of any variable (element or nodal) present in the ExodusII file.

In order for this feature to be effective, the following commands must be issued when the mesh is exported and later imported:

nodeset associativity on

set associativity complete on

The first command ensures that the geometry will be correctly recovered from the mesh, while the second ensures that boundary condition and material IDs will be recovered.