nx8 Adv Sim Process PDF

Advanced Simulation Processes
Student Guide
October, 2011
MT15020-s-NX 8
Publication Number
mt15020-s-nx8
Proprietary and restricted rights notice
This software and related documentation are proprietary to Siemens Product

Lifecycle Management Software Inc.
© 2011 Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
All trademarks belong to their respective holders.
2 Advanced Simulation Processes mt15020-s-nx8

Contents
Proprietary and restricted rights notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Course overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Lesson format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Classroom system information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Part I: Analyzing a model
Introduction to Advanced Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

Advanced Simulation overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
What Advanced Simulation can do for you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
The finite element analysis process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Why use finite element analysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
The finite element method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Finite element mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Assumed displacement field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Element stiffness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Equilibrium equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
Global stiffness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Solving and results recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
Review questions — Introduction to Advanced Simulation . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-15
Working with Advanced Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

Advanced Simulation files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Simulation Navigator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Creating new entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Controlling visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
Editing and managing entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Moving entities in the Simulation Navigator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
Filtering entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10
Physical and material views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
Displaying the Physical Properties View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Displaying the Material View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Simulation File View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
Advanced Simulation Processes 3

Contents
Review questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Selecting entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Filtering entity selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2

Filtering entity selection by method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Smart Selector Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Selecting geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Selecting nodes and elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Selecting groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Review questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Managing CAE analysis data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
What are Teamcenter and Teamcenter Integration for NX? . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2

NX in Teamcenter Integration for NX versus native mode . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Teamcenter for Simulation support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Creating and saving data in Teamcenter Integration using Teamcenter for
Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Teamcenter for Simulation data model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Using Simulation Search View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Finding related CAE items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
Creating managed copies of simulation data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Importing and exporting data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Basic meshing techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
Meshing overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2

3D Tetrahedral Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
3D tetrahedral mesh quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
2D Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
Defining the meshing method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
Using free mapped meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
Defining 2D meshes on fillets and cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Seed meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
Workflow for using a 2D mesh to seed a 3D mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10
Assigning shell element thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11
Viewing shell element thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
2D Mapped Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16

Contents
Boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1

Boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Geometry-based and FE-based boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Structural loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
Geometry-based loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Predefined loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Structural constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Geometry-based constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
Predefined constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9
Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-12
Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
The solution process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Supported FE solvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Solver language in NX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4
Solutions and subcases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5
Solution attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
Output requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-7
Solver parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
NX Nastran structural analysis and solution types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9
NX Nastran structural analysis and solution types, 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-10
NX Nastran structural analysis and solution types, 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-11
NX Nastran solution files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-12
NX Nastran solution files, 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-13
Multiple solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-14
Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-15
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-17
Post-processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Post-processing overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2
Loading analysis results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
Importing analysis results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Nodal, element-nodal, and elemental data types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Data components in results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Post views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-7
Contour plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Marker plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Tensor markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10
Cutting planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12
Deformation in post views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-13
Overlaying post views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-14
Post view templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-15

Contents
Identify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-16
Marker on/off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-17
Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-18
Graphing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-19
Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-20
Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-21
Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-22
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-24
Part II: Model preparation
Geometry idealization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1

Geometry idealization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Creating associative copies of geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Promote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
WAVE Geometry Linker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Midsurfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Midsurface creation commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Appropriate parts for midsurfacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Midsurface by Face Pairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
Workflow for creating a midsurface with face pairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10
Workflow for creating a midsurface with face pairs, continued . . . . . . . . 9-11
Split Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-12
Idealize Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-13
Defeature Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-14
Sew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-15
Divide Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-16
Idealization commands for modifying features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-17
Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-18
Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-19
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-21
Synchronous modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-1

Synchronous Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
Modeling modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-4
Synchronous Modeling commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-5
Delete Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-6
Move Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-7
Pull Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-8
Dimension commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-9
Relate commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-10
Workflow for creating and updating a mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11
Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-12
Review questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-13

Contents
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-14
Geometry repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1

Using NX Modeling commands to repair geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-2
Repairing problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-3
Timestamp Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-4
Creating surfaces using 3D curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-6
Surface creation commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-7
Surface addition and removal commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-8
Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-9
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-11
Part III: Meshing techniques
Mesh collectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1

Mesh collectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2
Mesh collector uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-4
Creating a mesh collector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-5
Managing mesh properties with mesh collectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-6
Mesh collector property overrides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-7
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-9
Materials and physical properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1

Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-2
Material types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-3
Using custom materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-5
Material orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
Physical property tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-7
Creating a physical property table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-8
Assigning mesh color by property table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-9
Edit Mesh Associated Data and Element Modify Associated Data . . . . 13-10
Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-11
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-13
Element size and mesh density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1

Controlling element size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Setting automatic element size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-3
Setting element size based on curvature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-4
Transitioning element size from local to global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-5
Mesh Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-6
Defining mesh control density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-7
Defining mesh control density — Chordal Tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-8

Contents
Defining mesh control density — Biasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-9

Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-10
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-12
Beam modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-1

Preparing a beam model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-2
1D Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-3
Ensuring consistent element orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-4
1D Element Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-5
Workflow for defining beam cross sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-6
Cross section orientation and offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-7
Displaying beam meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-8
Setting up persistent solid cross section display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-9
Setting up persistent wireframe cross section display . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-10
Requesting force output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-11
Beam post-processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-12
Beam stresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-13
Stress calculation process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-14
Displaying results on cross sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-15
Adding fillets to cross sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-16
Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-17
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-19
1D connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-1
1D connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-2
Geometry-based 1D connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-3
Defining geometry-based 1D connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-4
FE-based 1D connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-5
Edge to face 1D connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-6
Point-to-point 1D connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-7
Defining spider elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-8
RBE2 and RBE3 elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-9
Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-10
Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-11
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-13
Mesh connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-1

Mesh Mating Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-2
Setting mesh mating condition types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-3
Defining point-to-point contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-4
Surface Contact Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-5
Spot Weld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-6

Contents
Bolt Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-7

Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-8
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-10
3D swept meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-1

3D Swept Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-2
Simplifying a complex body before meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-3
Selecting the swept mesh type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-4
Controlling the mesh on the source face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-5
Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-6
Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-7
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-9
Manual meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-1

Manual meshing overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-2
Model Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-3
Node creation commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-4
Node copy commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-5
Element Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-6
Element Extrude and Element Revolve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-8
Element copy commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-9
Modifying node locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-11
Modifying 2D elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-12
Modifying element connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-13
Node and element management commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-14
More node and element management commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-15
Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-16
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-18
Mesh quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-1

Checking the quality of your mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-2
Checking element shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-3
Modifying shape threshold values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-4
Improving element shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-5
Checking for free element edges and element faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-6
Merging coincident nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-7
Controlling element normal direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-8
Checking node proximity to geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-9
Checking material and physical properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-10
Checking the model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-11
Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-13

Contents
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-15
Part IV: Working with polygon geometry
Geometry abstraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-1

Geometry abstraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-2
Polygon geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-4
Geometry abstraction compared to geometry idealization . . . . . . . . . . . 21-5
The geometry abstraction process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-6
Automatic abstraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-7
Split Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-9
Split Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-10
Merge Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-11
Merge Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-12
Stitch Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-14
Collapse Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-15
Suppressing holes in sheet bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-16
Face Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-17
Reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-18
Identifying and repairing polygon body problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-19
Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-20
Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-21
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-23
Part V: Boundary condition types and techniques
Boundary condition types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-1

Structural loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-2
Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-3
Structural constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-4
Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-5
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-7
Boundary condition techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-1

Boundary conditions displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-2
Creating displays to validate temperature or pressure loads . . . . . . . . . 23-3
Boundary conditions management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-4
Simulation coordinate systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-5
Absolute coordinate system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-6
Work coordinate system (WCS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-7
Local coordinate system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-8
Nodal coordinate system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-9
Excluding objects from boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-10

Contents
Resolve constraint conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-12

Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-13
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-15
Using fields in boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-1

Using fields in Advanced Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-2
Types of fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-3
Defining boundary conditions with fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-4
Using fields with standard boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-5
Using fields with spatial boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-6
Define force with a formula field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-7
Define a spatial normal pressure load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-8
Breakout modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-10
Breakout modeling uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-11
Breakout modeling workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-12
Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-16
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-18
Model quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-1

Checking the model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-2
Check boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-4
Check solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-5
Run a linear static solve first . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-6
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-8
Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-1
Creating a report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-2
Exporting a report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-3
Adding images to the report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-4
Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-5
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-7
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Index-1

Course overview
Advanced Simulation Processes introduces the finite element modeling and

analysis tool integrated in NX.
It is intended for design engineers and analysts who want to learn the details
of how to do finite element analysis on NX models.
This course covers the details of the FEA processes from preparing a model,
meshing, applying boundary conditions, solving, and post-processing the
results.
Prerequisites
• The Essentials for NX Designers class, or in self-paced training: Basic
Concepts in NX, Design – Sketching, and Design – Feature Modeling.
• Working knowledge of NX Modeling.
• Basic understanding of finite element analysis principles.
Lesson format
The general format for lesson content is:
• presentation
• online activity
• project (additional optional activity, for some lessons)
• summary and review questions
It is important that you work through the lessons in the sequence presented.
Later lessons assume you have learned concepts and techniques taught in
earlier lessons. If necessary, you can always refer to any previous activity
where a method or technique was originally taught.

Course overview
Classroom system information

Note
Your instructor will provide the following items for working in the
classroom:
Student login:
User name:
Password:
Instructor:
Roles
Roles tailor your interface by hiding tools you are unlikely to use in a given
role.
The role you choose affects the number of buttons that appear on toolbars,
and the number of shortcut menu items you will see.
This course was designed to use the Advanced with Full Menus role.
To activate a role:
1. On the Resource bar, click the Roles tab to open the palette.
2. Click the role you want or drag it to the graphics window.
3. Click OK to accept the new role or click Cancel to cancel your selection.

Part
I Analyzing a model
mt15020-s-nx8 Advanced Simulation Processes

Lesson
1 Introduction to Advanced
Simulation
Objectives
Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
• Describe the finite element analysis process.
• Use Advanced Simulation to build a finite element model.
• Use Advanced Simulation to review finite element analysis results.
This lesson also includes a review of finite element modeling theory.
Advanced Simulation Processes 1-1

Introduction to Advanced Simulation
Advanced Simulation overview

Advanced Simulation:
• Is a comprehensive finite element modeling and results visualization
product.
• Includes a full suite of pre-processing and post-processing commands.
• Supports industry-standard solvers, including NX Nastran, NX Thermal

and Flow, NX Electronic Systems Cooling, NX Space Systems Thermal,
Abaqus, ANSYS, and LS Dyna.
1-2 Advanced Simulation Processes mt15020-s-nx8

What Advanced Simulation can do for you

The traditional approach for validating a design is to build a prototype and
test it. If the test reveals problems with the design, the design is changed
and a new prototype is built and tested. This time-consuming and expensive
iterative process continues until the prototype performs satisfactorily.
A complementary approach is to use Advanced Simulation to perform a finite
element analysis (FEA) of the design. With FEA, you can:
• Simulate your product’s performance in a virtual environment.
• Identify and remedy potential problem areas before you construct a

prototype.
• Reduce product development cost and time by building fewer prototypes

and running fewer tests.

The finite element analysis process

1. Obtain a part or an assembly.
2. Select the solver and specify the analysis type, for example, NX Nastran
and SOL 101.
3. Idealize the part.
4. Create a mesh on the part. Define the material and physical property
data.
5. Apply the boundary conditions. Boundary conditions include loads and

constraints.
6. Solve the model using an industry-standard FE solver.
7. Review the results and prepare a report.

Why use finite element analysis?

Finite element analysis allows you to understand the response of a structure
even if a closed-form solution is unavailable.

The finite element method

The finite element method is the numerical procedure used to perform a finite
element analysis. The finite element method can be applied to problems from
structures, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer, among others.
Using the principle of minimum potential energy, the finite element method
can be formulated to solve static structural problems. The basis of this
formulation is that:
• A structure is in static equilibrium when the potential energy, Π, of the
structure is a minimum.
• The potential energy of a structure is the strain energy of the structure,

Λ, minus the work potential of the external forces, W.

Finite element mesh

You create a finite element mesh by dividing the structure into discrete regions
called elements. The points where elements are connected are called nodes.
• Elements are simple geometric shapes like triangles or quadrilaterals for
2D problems and tetrahedrons and hexahedrons for 3D problems.
• Nodes are the locations where forces and constraints are specified, and
reactions and displacements are computed.
• The strain energy of the structure is the sum of the element strain
energies, Λ(e).
• The element strain energy is the inner product of the element stress field,
{s(e)}, and the element strain field, {(e)}, integrated over the element
volume, V(e).
• The constitutive matrix, [E(e)], relates stresses and strains.

Assumed displacement field

To evaluate the expression for the element strain energy, a displacement field
is assumed for the element.
• The displacement at any location within the element is interpolated from
the nodal displacements.
• The interpolating functions are customarily called shape functions.
• The assumed displacement field, {d(e)}, is the product of the shape function
matrix, [N(e)], and the nodal displacements, {D(e)}.
• The element strain field is found by differentiating the assumed

displacement field.

Element stiffness
The element stiffness matrix, [k(e)], relates nodal displacements to element
strain energy.
• The element stiffness matrix is expressed in terms of derivatives of the
shape functions, [B(e)], and the constitutive matrix.
• Entries in the element stiffness matrix are obtained by integrating over

the element volume.

Equilibrium equation
The equilibrium equation is obtained by minimizing the potential energy
of the structure.
• A global displacement vector, {D}, containing all the nodal displacements
is assembled from the nodal displacements.
• The strain energy of the structure is expressed in terms of the global

displacement vector and a global stiffness matrix, [K], which is the matrix
that represents the stiffness of the entire structure.
• The work potential of the external forces is expressed as the inner product
of the global displacement vector and an external force vector, {F}, that
contains the external forces acting at the nodes.

Global stiffness
The global stiffness matrix is assembled from the element stiffness matrices.
• The size of the element stiffness matrices is increased to be conformable
with the global displacement vector.
• The contributions from each element stiffness matrix are summed to

produce the global stiffness matrix.

Solving and results recovery

After the global stiffness matrix is assembled, the equilibrium equation
is partitioned to separate the known nodal displacements, D0, from the
unknown nodal displacements, DU. Doing so also partitions the external
force vector, F, into:
• Known applied forces, P, acting where nodal displacements are unknown.
• Unknown reactions, R, acting where nodal displacements are known.
The partitioned equilibrium equation is then solved for the unknown nodal
displacements. Using the nodal displacements, other results like reaction
forces, strains, stresses, and so on are calculated. These final calculations
are referred to as results recovery.

Activity
Introduction to Advanced Simulation — This activity introduces you to
Advanced Simulation by walking through a simple linear statics analysis.

Review questions — Introduction to Advanced Simulation

1. What are the solvers that you can use with Advanced Simulation?
2. List the steps of the finite element analysis process.
3. True/False. In structural problems, NX solves for strains directly and

then uses the strains to compute the displacements.

Summary
In this lesson you:
• Learned about the finite element analysis process.
• Reviewed finite element analysis theory.
• Analyzed a linear statics model using Advanced Simulation.

Lesson
2 Working with Advanced

Simulation
Objectives
• Identify the four Advanced Simulation file types.
• Manage entities in your CAE model using the Simulation Navigator.
• Navigate the files loaded in your current session using the Simulation
File View.

Working with Advanced Simulation
Advanced Simulation files

To support concurrent engineering and data reuse, Advanced Simulation
stores CAE model data in four separate but related files:
• The Simulation file (.sim) is an NX assembly that contains a component
FEM. Boundary conditions and solutions are stored with the Simulation
file.
• The FEM file (.fem) acts as the master model for the Simulation file.
Nodes, elements, and physical and material properties are stored with the
FEM file. Typically, the FEM file also includes polygon geometry derived
from an associated idealized part file.
• The idealized part file (_i.prt) is a special NX assembly associated with

a FEM file. The idealized part file contains modifications to master part
geometry to make it suitable for analysis.
• The master part is a component of the idealized part. You must promote
or WAVE-link the idealized part before you can modify its geometry using
the idealization tools. All modifications are stored with the idealized part
file, and the original master model geometry is unaltered.

Clockwise from top: A master part, a midsurfaced idealized part, a

FEM file containing a mesh, a Simulation file containing the FEM file
and boundary conditions
For detailed information about simulation file types, including assembly
relationships, file associations, and the types of data stored in each file, see
Advanced Simulation files in the Advanced Simulation online Help.
For information and best practices for managing simulation files, see Data
Management®Advanced Simulation file management in the Advanced
Simulation online Help.

Simulation Navigator
The Simulation Navigator presents the file relationships and analysis data in
your CAE model as a graphical, interactive, hierarchical tree.
From the Simulation Navigator, you can:
• Review the structure, content, and status of your analysis.
• Navigate among related files that contain analysis data.
• Create analysis files, meshes, boundary conditions, and so on.
• Show and hide geometry, meshes, boundary conditions, and so on.
• Edit, rename, delete, and interrogate most defined analysis entities.
You can complete almost any task in an analysis workflow without leaving
the navigator.
A component FEM file
Associated CAD geometry
Mesh collectors and

meshes
The loads, constraints, and

objects that define boundary
conditions
A solution and results

The commands available for nodes in the Simulation Navigator are

context-sensitive, and may vary depending on your selected solver and
analysis type. Right-click any node in the tree to see the commands for that
node.

Creating new entities

You can create new entities from the Simulation Navigator. Entities that
you can create include meshes, loads, and constraints. You can right-click
any container node in the tree to create a new instance of the corresponding
entity. For example:
• When the FEM file is displayed, you can create a new mesh collector or a
new 3D mesh when you right-click the 3D Collectors node.
• When the Simulation file is displayed, you can create a new load when
you right-click the Load Container node, or you can create a new subcase
when you right-click a solution.

Controlling visibility
You control the visibility of entities in the graphics window from the
Simulation Navigator. A visibility check box appears next to each entity’s
node.
• A red check indicates that the object is visible.
• A grey check indicates that the object is hidden.

Editing and managing entities

You can edit, rename, or delete an entity, or view information about the entity
using the shortcut menus in the Simulation Navigator.

Moving entities in the Simulation Navigator

The Simulation Navigator supports limited drag-and-drop capability, which
lets you organize your model. For example:
• You can move the elements in one collector to another collector.
• You can copy boundary conditions from one solution into another solution.

Filtering entities
You can apply a filter to remove any entity from the navigator tree in the
Simulation Navigator. By default, the Simulation Navigator displays nodes
for:
• CSYS (first level of hierarchy only)
• Groups
• DOF sets
• Regions
• Fields
• Polygon geometry
• Mesh collectors
• Simulation Object, Load, and Constraint Containers
Filtering entities helps you to reduce clutter and remove rarely used entities
from the navigator tree.
Mesh collectors, Filter Mesh collectors sorted Mesh collectors,
and Sort turned off by name wildcard filter = B*,
sorted by name
3D Collectors 3D Collectors 3D Collectors
Solid(1) Solid(1) Solid(1)
PPT ALT (Filtered)
BTZ BOL BOL
ALT BOT BOT
NAN BTM BTM
BTM BTZ BTZ
LER LER
BOL NAN
BOT PPT

Physical and material views

In the Simulation Navigator, data is organized by element order in the
standard view. The 3D mesh collectors are grouped together, as are the 2D,
1D and 0D mesh collectors.
For large models that contain multiple mesh collectors, it can be useful to
determine how physical and material properties are distributed among
meshes.
When you interrogate large finite element models that containing multiple
meshes, materials, and physical property tables, you can use Physical
Properties View and Material View to determine which meshes share the
same physical properties, and which meshes and polygon bodies share the
same materials.

Displaying the Physical Properties View

To display the Physical Properties View, click the background of the
Simulation Navigator, and choose Physical Properties View.
• Expand the Physicals folder to see a listing of all physical property tables
defined in your model. If a physical property table is currently assigned to
mesh collectors in your model, expand the physical property table node to
see all mesh collectors that use that material.
• Expand the No Physical node to see all mesh collectors which do not have
a physical property table assigned.
• Right-click the Physicals folder and choose Manage Physicals to display

the Physical Property Tables Manager dialog box.

Displaying the Material View

To display the Material View, click the background of the Simulation
Navigator, and choose Material View.
• Expand the Materials folder to see a listing of all materials defined in your
model. If a material is currently assigned to mesh collectors or polygon
bodies in your model, expand the material node to see all mesh collectors
and polygon bodies that use that material.
• Expand the No Material node to see all entities which do not have a
material assigned.
• Right-click the Materials folder and choose Manage Materials to display

the Assign Material dialog box.

Simulation File View

The Simulation File View is a special browser window within the Simulation
Navigator. You can use this browser to:
• View all loaded parts as well as all FEM and Simulation files within their
hierarchical relationship to the master part.
• Change the part being displayed. The icon and name of the currently
displayed part are shown in color.
• Create new FEM and Simulation files for any design or idealized part
without having to first display the part.

Review questions
1. True/False. The FEM file includes elements, physical and material
properties, and boundary conditions.
2. True/False. You cannot move a mesh to a different mesh collector.
3. How can you see a listing of all physical properties defined in your model?

Summary
In this lesson, you learned about how to work with Advanced Simulation,
including:
• The four types of Advanced Simulation files.
• How to create, edit, and manage modeling entities using the Simulation
Navigator.
• How to modify data shown in the Simulation Navigator.
• How to navigate the files in your session using the Simulation File View.

Lesson
3 Selecting entities
Objectives
• Select entities using selection methods.
• Control which entities are selected.
• Use groups to organize the entities in your model.

Selecting entities
Filtering entity selection

When you need to select entities in the graphics window, you can filter the
entities that you can select using the Type Filter and Selection Scope. As
you move your cursor over the model, only the entities that are available
for selection are highlighted.
In Advanced Simulation, you can use the Method options on the Selection bar
to select related entities easily and more efficiently. To further refine your
method filter, use the Smart Selector Options button.
Type Filter
Selection Scope
Method
Smart Selector Options button.
For example, suppose you want to select all cylindrical faces in a body to apply
bearing loads. If you set the Method list to Cylinder Faces, and select the
polygon body, the software selects all the cylindrical faces in the solid body.

Selecting entities
Filtering entity selection by method

The Method list is available on the Selection bar when you do the following:
• Use the Show Only or Show Adjacent options to control the display of
entities.
• Create meshes.
• Create and edit nodes and elements manually.
• Create FE groups.
• Create node and element sets.
• Create loads and constraints.
The methods and types available at any time vary depending on the operation
you are performing and the specific context.
Fillet faces selected with the Method list, then the resulting mesh

Selecting entities
Smart Selector Options

You can use various criteria to determine how and whether different
polygonal geometry is related.
For example, these criteria determine the maximum angle between two
faces that are considered tangent, or the minimum and maximum radii that
determine what is considered a fillet face. You can adjust these criteria
depending on your model, or to filter selections when working with complex
parts.
Click Smart Selector Options on the Selection bar to control these criteria.
For example, suppose you want to select from a number of cylindrical faces
in a part. By specifying the minimum and maximum angle for cylinder and
fillet faces, you can more effectively filter the selection to select only the faces
you want, as demonstrated in the following figures.

Selecting entities
Selecting geometry
The options for selecting geometry that are available in the Methods list
depend on the command that you are using. For example, if you choose the
Hydrostatic Pressure command, the options for faces are listed.

The geometry selection method options include the following:
• Circular Edges
• Tangent Faces
• Adjacent Faces
• Fillet Faces
• Cylinder Faces
• Sliver Faces
• Related Faces
Selected cylinder faces in a body that match the specified criteria

Selecting entities
Selecting nodes and elements

The options for selecting nodes and elements that are available in the
Methods list depend on the command that you are using. For example, if
you choose the Hydrostatic Pressure command, an option for Feature Angle
Element Faces is listed.
The node and element selection method options include the following:
• Related Nodes
• Nodes by Feature Angle
• Nodes on Feature Edges
• Feature Angle Element Faces
• Related Elements
Nodes selected by feature angle

Selecting entities
Groups
Groups are user or system-defined collections of FE and/or design entities.
You can store the following entities in a group:
• Nodes • Mesh points • Polygon bodies
• Elements • Points • Curves
• Meshes • Polygon faces • Coordinate systems
A group can contain multiple types of entities.
Group containing elements and loads

Use lightweight entities when creating groups. For example, use meshes and
bodies instead of nodes, elements and surfaces. These entities provide a quick
way to view large portions of your model.
Nodes, elements and surfaces should only be added to a group if you need to
perform an operation on a subset of the mesh or body. The operation might be
applying a load or viewing a subset of the model.
When you create and display a group of elements, the related nodes are
available for display and selection. Likewise, when you create and display a
group of nodes, the related elements are available for display and selection.

Selecting entities
Selecting groups
The options for groups that are available in the Methods list depend on the
command that you are using. For example, if you choose the Hydrostatic
Pressure command, an option for Faces by Group is listed.

The group selection method options include the following:
• Faces by Group
• Nodes by Group
• By Group

Selecting entities
Review questions
1. Are selection methods always available?
2. True/False. The Type Filter list contains the same options regardless
of the command selected.
3. What feature allows you to create subsets of entities like nodes, elements,
meshes, etc.?

Selecting entities
Summary
In this lesson you learned:
• How to select entities.
• How to use groups to organize your model.

Lesson
4 Managing CAE analysis data
Objectives
• Interact with Advanced Simulation while running Teamcenter Integration

Managing CAE analysis data
What are Teamcenter and Teamcenter Integration for NX?

Teamcenter is a data management tool used in conjunction with the NX
software. When NX is used in Teamcenter Integration for NX mode,
Teamcenter is running at the same time as a separate process. Because the
two programs communicate, you can create, store, and access your data
within a Teamcenter database.
Teamcenter Integration for NX combines the power of NX in modeling and
generating data from geometric shapes, with the power of Teamcenter in
storing and retrieving data in a controlled fashion.
The integration of NX and Teamcenter provides:
• Management of NX parts and related files.
• Improved access control for data over operating system capabilities.
• Ability to easily revise NX parts, and keep all revisions of a part together.
• Convenient organization of data into user-defined folders.
• Manual and automatic checkout and checkin.
• Ability to easily locate stored data.
• Tools to facilitate workgroup and enterprise collaboration.

NX in Teamcenter Integration for NX versus native mode

The dialog boxes that appear while running Teamcenter Integration for
NX are similar in appearance to the standard NX dialog boxes. Instead of
working directly with part files organized at the operating system level,
Teamcenter Integration for NX allows you to search for and select part files
based on data stored in the Teamcenter database.
Following are some advantages of using NX in Teamcenter Integration for
NX mode:
• There is no need to specify directories in the path name for your parts.
Teamcenter Integration for NX organizes and finds the parts for you.
• You can create, access and modify part files directly in the database.
• You can supply configuration rules when loading assemblies to determine

which revisions of component parts are loaded from the database.
• Related files like drawings and manufacturing files can be organized with
the master geometry so they are easy to find and manage.

Teamcenter for Simulation support

Teamcenter Integration for NX includes support for the Teamcenter for
Simulation. Teamcenter for Simulation is data model that enables you to
track and manage finite element analysis data in Teamcenter.
Using this data model and datasets, you can:
• Track item revisions for FEM and Simulation files. When you create a
new FEM or Simulation, specify the number and revision.
• Create a FEM and Simulation on a locked master part.
• Perform where-referenced queries on simulation data in Teamcenter. For

example, you can find all Simulations defined for a particular master part.
• Create CAE data item revisions and edit CAE data relationships in the
CAE Structure Editor in the Teamcenter client.

Creating and saving data in Teamcenter Integration using Teamcenter

for Simulation
When creating and saving data in Teamcenter Integration mode using
Teamcenter for Simulation, be aware of the following differences:
• When you create a new FEM or Simulation, you must specify a number
and revision for the idealized part, FEM, and Simulation files in the New
FEM and Simulation dialog box.
• When you save a solved model, you are prompted to import any
solver-generated files, as well as any reports. These files are stored as
named references in the dataset container under the CAE Analysis item
revision.
• When you choose File®Save or File®Save As, a Save As dialog box is

displayed. Specify the numbers and revisions for the new item revisions
for the migrated data. Data stored using the traditional data model is
automatically migrated to the Teamcenter for Simulation data model
when you save it.

Teamcenter for Simulation data model

In the Teamcenter for Simulation data model, the idealized part file, the
FEM file, and the Simulation file are stored as separate item revisions with a
defined relationship to the master part and each other.
The following table shows the dataset for each item revision, and lists the NX
files associated with each dataset.
Item Revision Dataset Files
Master Part UGMASTER *.prt — the master part file
CAE Geometry CAEGeom *_i.prt — the idealized part file
CAE Model CAEMesh *.fem — the FEM file
CAE Analysis CAESolution *.sim — the Simulation file
solver-related files
results files
.afu files

Using Simulation Search View

Simulation Search View is an extension of the Simulation File View panel in
the Simulation Navigator. Use this view to search Teamcenter for CAE items
related to the item that you select in the Simulation File View.

Finding related CAE items

Right-click an item revision in the Simulation File View and choose Find
CAE Items:
• Right-click a master part item revision to find all idealized part item
revisions and FEM item revisions related to the master part.
• Right-click an idealized part item revision to find all FEM item revisions
related to the idealized part.
• Right-click a FEM item revision to find all related Simulation item

revisions.

Creating managed copies of simulation data

Use the Clone SIM command to create a managed copy of all model data in
the displayed Simulation file in a single operation. You specify the number
and revision level for each item revision, creating a duplicate model structure.
To clone a Simulation file, display the Simulation file and choose Clone SIM.
A cloned simulation. The entire data structure (revision C) is

duplicated.
Use the Clone FEM command to clone a displayed FEM file. When you clone
a FEM, the idealized part is cloned, but the Simulation file is not. To clone a
FEM, display the FEM file and choose Clone FEM.
A cloned FEM (revision D). The idealized part is also cloned.

Importing and exporting data

• Use the Import Assembly command to add data on your local operating
system to the Teamcenter database.
• Use the Export Assembly command to place an unmanaged copy of

Teamcenter data on your local operating system.
When you import a simulation using the Teamcenter for Simulation data
model, the software relies on target relationships to locate related files. If
you import the Simulation file, all associated data is imported with it. If
you import the FEM file, only the FEM file, the idealized part file, and the
master part are imported.

Review questions
1. What is the name of the Teamcenter packaged solution that enables you
to track and manage finite element analysis data?
2. What command allows you to create a managed copy of all model data
in a single operation?

Summary
• How Teamcenter Integration and Advanced Simulation work together.

Lesson
5 Basic meshing techniques
Objectives
• Generate a 3D tetrahedral mesh.
• Generate 2D free and mapped meshes.
• Generate a 2D seed mesh, then use it to generate a 3D mesh.

Basic meshing techniques
Meshing overview
Creating a good finite element mesh is one of the most critical steps in the
analysis process, as the accuracy of your finite element results depends partly
on the quality of the mesh.
The meshing capabilities available in Advanced Simulation let you
automatically generate:
• 3D (solid) elements on volumes.
• 2D (shell) elements on faces.
• 1D (beam) elements on edges.
• 0D (concentrated mass) elements on selected points.
In this lesson you will learn about 3D tetrahedral elements and 2D elements.

3D Tetrahedral Mesh
To create a mesh of three-dimensional solid elements on a selected body, use
the 3D Tetrahedral Mesh command. A 3D mesh is useful for cast parts.

You can generate a mesh of linear or parabolic tetrahedral elements.

3D tetrahedral mesh quality

When you generate a solid mesh on your model, the software automatically
evaluates the quality of the resulting elements.
The evaluation includes checks for:
• Deviation from an ideal size and shape, such as aspect ratio.
• The Jacobian determinant.
• Collapse of tetrahedral elements.
To control whether the software tries to automatically repair any detected

element quality problems, use the Auto Fix Failed Elements option on the 3D
Tetrahedral Mesh dialog box.
Note
For all quality checks other than the Jacobian check, the software uses
corresponding quality threshold values specified in the Threshold
Values dialog box. For the Jacobian check, the Max Jacobian value you
specify in the 3D Tetrahedral Mesh dialog box overrides the Jacobian
values in the Threshold Values dialog box.

2D Mesh
To generate a mesh of linear or parabolic triangular or quadrilateral elements
on selected surfaces, use the 2D Mesh command. 2D elements are also

commonly known as shell or plate elements. You can use 2D Mesh to create a
mesh of elements on selected surfaces.
With 2D Mesh, the software automatically generates a free (unstructured)
mesh on your geometry. Free meshes are flexible and allow you to
automatically mesh complicated geometry with little user input.

Defining the meshing method

To define how to generate the mesh, use the Meshing Method option on the
2D Mesh dialog box.
• With the Subdivision method, the software uses a recursive subdivision
technique to generate the mesh on the selected faces. With recursive
subdivision, the software repeatedly divides and then subdivides the
selected geometry to create the mesh. With this method, once the software
has generated the initial set of elements, it then performs a series of
cleaning and smoothing operations to improve the overall quality of the
mesh.
• With the Paver method, the software combines a paving technique with
a recursive subdivision technique to produce more structured, boundary
conforming free meshes with good quality. This hybrid approach allows
the software to create a more structured mesh around the surface’s
outer boundary as well as around any interior holes (or loops) while still
generating a free mesh on the rest of the surface.
2D mesh with subdivision method
2D mesh with paver method

Using free mapped meshes

To create a mapped-like mesh within the context of a free mesh use the
Attempt Free Mapped Meshing option in the 2D Mesh dialog box. These
types of meshes are known as “free mapped” meshes.
With a free mapped mesh, the software tries to create mapped meshes on all
four-sided surfaces as well as on any cylinders.
Free mapped meshes give you some of the flexibility of a free mesh while
providing a more structured, mapped appearance.
Free mesh of quadrilateral elements
Free mapped mesh of quadrilateral elements

Defining 2D meshes on fillets and cylinders

When you create a 2D mesh on a model, you may want to create a mesh on
the fillet and cylindrical surfaces using different criteria, such as a different
element size, than you use for the rest of the geometry.
With a 2D mesh, you can use the Fillet Faces and Cylinder Faces selection
methods in conjunction with options in the 2D Mesh dialog box to control the
mesh on fillets and cylinders.
With 2D Mesh, when you use the Fillet Faces or Cylinder Faces selection
methods, if the software detects any surfaces that meet the specified criteria
(which you define in the Smart Selector Options dialog box), it displays
additional options in the 2D Mesh dialog box.

Seed meshes
A seed mesh is a 2D mesh applied to selected faces on a solid part. When
you create a 3D mesh on the part, the seed mesh drives the size and node
locations of 3D elements on those faces. Use seed meshes to:
• Control element distribution on fillets and cylinder faces.
• Create more regular meshes on mappable faces.
• Control local element lengths in areas of interest.

Workflow for using a 2D mesh to seed a 3D mesh

1. Create a 2D mesh on selected surfaces.
2. Generate a 3D mesh.
The software uses the 2D elements as a starting point (seed) from which
to create the 3D elements through the body.
To control whether the software exports the mesh to the specified solver, use
the Export Mesh to Solver option on the 2D Mesh dialog box. If you plan to
use a 2D mesh only as a seed mesh, clear this option.

Assigning shell element thickness

The solver, element formulation, and the needs of your model determine how
you assign thickness to shell elements. You can:
• Assign a default thickness in the physical property table for the mesh
collector. You can define the default thickness of 2D shell elements as a
constant value or an NX expression.
• Specify that the elements inherit thickness information from the

midsurface data. You can do this only if your 2D mesh is associated with a
midsurface. In the Mesh Associated Data for the mesh, set Thickness
Source to Midsurface.
• Use fields to define shell thicknesses for a mesh. In the Mesh Associated
Data for the mesh, set Thickness Source to Field.
• Define corner node thickness for selected elements or nodes. Enter the
Corner Node Thickness in the Element Associated Data dialog box.

Viewing shell element thickness

To view and visually validate the distribution of 2D element thickness values
in your model, you can create three different types of displays :
• To create a temporary “hedgehog” type display of the 2D element
thickness values in your model, you can use the Thickness Information
command in the Simulation Navigator . The software uses both colors
and the relative length of lines to indicate the variance in thickness
values across the mesh. You can query the assigned thickness values
at individual nodes and elements.
• To display the elements in the graphics window with their assigned

thickness values, use the Display 2D Element Thickness and Offset
option in the Mesh Display dialog box. In this type of display, the shell
elements look like solid elements.
• To generate a contour plot of shell element thicknesses as a standard post

view, use the Plot Thickness Contours in the Simulation Navigator.

2D Mapped Mesh
To generate a structured mesh on selected three-sided or four-sided faces,
use the 2D Mapped Mesh command. Structured meshes are also known as
mapped meshes. You can generate mapped meshes of linear or parabolic
triangular or quadrilateral elements
Mapped meshes have the following characteristics:
• They allow you to better control the distribution of elements across a
surface than free meshes.
• They are useful for meshing certain types of geometry, such as fillets
and cylinders.
If you generate a mapped mesh on a three sided face, you can control the
vertex at which the mesh degenerates.
(Top right) Mapped mesh on three sided face; (Bottom right) Mapped
mesh on a four sided face

Activities
3D meshing activities:
• 3D meshing — This activity explores various techniques for producing
a high-quality tetrahedral mesh.
• 2D meshing — This activity defines a 2D free mesh on a midsurface.
• Mapped/swept meshing — This activity defines a 2D mapped mesh and

uses it to create a hex mesh.
• Using a 2D mesh to seed a 3D mesh — This activity uses a 2D seed mesh

to control the size of a 3D mesh.
See also:
• Using local coordinate systems (Boundary condition techniques lesson) —
This activity uses seed meshes to provide fine control over the elements
and node locations where two meshes meet.
For more information

See Meshing in the Advanced Simulation online Help.

Review questions
1. True/False. 3D tetrahedral meshing is well suited for irregular part
geometries produced by manufacturing processes like casting.
2. Name the two meshing methods for 2D free meshes.
3. What is a seed mesh?

Summary
In this lesson you learned how to:
• Generate a 3D tetrahedral mesh.
• Generate a 2D free mesh.
• Generate a 2D mapped mesh.
• Generate a 2D seed mesh, then used it to generate a 3D mesh.

Lesson
6 Boundary conditions
Objectives
• Select the appropriate structural loads and constraints in Advanced
Simulation.
• Apply a load to a model.
• Apply a constraint to a model.

Boundary conditions
Boundary conditions
In Advanced Simulation, loads, constraints, and simulation objects are
all considered boundary conditions. Loads include forces and pressures,
constraints include fixed constraints and user-defined constraints, and
simulation objects include contact and gluing.
You create boundary conditions using the selected solver language. For
example, if you select the NX Nastran solver, the Force dialog box provides
options that are specific to the NX Nastran FORCE card.
You can apply boundary conditions only when the Simulation file is active.

Boundary conditions
Geometry-based and FE-based boundary conditions

Boundary conditions can be applied to:
• Geometry: edges, faces, vertices, and points. Geometry-based boundary
conditions update automatically when you update the geometry or mesh.
• FE entities: nodes, elements, element faces, and element edges. FE-based

boundary conditions are useful for:
o Imported meshes with no underlying geometry.
o Locations that are not defined by geometry.
o Areas where small faces or edges were removed during abstraction.
A pressure applied to a polygon face
A user-defined constraint applied to a node

Boundary conditions
Structural loads
A structural load is a force applied to nodes.
Loads are defined by the following:
• Direction
• Magnitude
• Distribution function
Use the Force command to define a structural load.
You can also define certain loads in terms of applied acceleration. The solver
calculates the resulting inertial forces. For example, Centrifugal applies

normal and tangential inertia forces that result from angular motion to the
entire model. (The normal component is directed in the sense opposite the
normal acceleration and the tangential component is directed in the same
sense as the tangential acceleration.)

Boundary conditions
Geometry-based loads
In Advanced Simulation, you can apply loads to nodes and elements, or
directly to geometry.
• Loads applied to geometry are updated when you modify either the
geometry or the mesh.
• Loads applied to FE entities may be lost when you modify the mesh.
When you launch a solve or export a simulation, depending on the load

type, NX writes out geometry-based loads to either nodes or elements in the
solver input file. During the solve, all loads are ultimately resolved to forces
acting on nodes.
Geometry-based bearing load updates automatically when the part

is remeshed

Boundary conditions
Predefined loads
To facilitate modeling common structural loading conditions, Advanced
Simulation provides a variety of predefined load types, such as:
• A Bearing load that applies a sinusoidal or parabolic normal force

distribution to a cylindrical face or circular edge.
• A Pressure load that applies a distributed force over a face.
• A Bolt Pre-Load load that applies a tensile preload force to CBAR

and CBEAM elements used to model bolts.
Bearing load
For a complete description of predefined loads in Advanced Simulation,
see Structural Loads for Nastran, Abaqus, and ANSYS in the Advanced
Simulation online Help.

Boundary conditions
Structural constraints
A structural constraint defines the available degrees of freedom or enforced
displacement acting on nodes. Each translational and rotational degree of
freedom may be:
• Free
• Fixed
• Displaced by a specified distance.
You define degrees of freedom and enforced displacements with respect to the
global coordinate system or a local coordinate system.
Use the User Defined Constraint command to define a generic constraint.

Boundary conditions
Geometry-based constraints
In Advanced Simulation, you can constrain nodes, or apply constraints to
geometry.
• Constraints applied to geometry update automatically when
non-associated geometry is modified and the mesh is updated. They are
also updated when you modify only the mesh.
• Node-based constraints may be lost when you modify the mesh.
When you launch a solve or export a simulation, NX writes out

geometry-based constraints to nodes in the solver input file.
A geometry-based constraint updates automatically when

non-associative geometry is modified and the mesh updates

Boundary conditions
Predefined constraints
To facilitate modeling common structural boundary conditions, Advanced
Simulation provides a variety of predefined constraint types. Some examples
include:
• A Fixed Translation Constraint that fixes all translation degrees of

freedom and leaves rotations free.
• A Pinned Constraint that creates a cylindrical coordinate system at

the center of a cylindrical face. Tangential translation (DOF2) is free; all
other DOFs are fixed.
• A Symmetric Constraint that fixes translation normal to the plane of

symmetry and fixes rotation about axes lying in the plane of symmetry.
Pinned constraint
For a complete description of predefined structural constraints in Advanced
Simulation, see Structural Constraints for Nastran, Abaqus, and ANSYS in
the Advanced Simulation online Help.

Boundary conditions
Activities
Boundary conditions activities:
• Loading an I-beam — In this activity, you will apply loads and constraints
to a simple I-beam.
• Applying loads and constraints on a bracket — In this activity, you will

apply loads and constraints on a bracket.

See Boundary Conditions in the Advanced Simulation online Help.

Boundary conditions
Review questions
1. True/False. Boundary conditions cannot be applied to geometry.
2. In what file are boundary conditions located?
3. Fill in the blank. Boundary conditions include loads, constraints, and

_____________.

Boundary conditions
Summary
In this lesson you:
• Learned about the structural loads and constraints that you can define in
Advanced Simulation.
• Learned how to create loads.
• Learned how to create constraints.

Lesson
7 Solving
Objectives
Upon completion of the lesson, you will be able to:
• Solve an analysis model.
• Identify some of the solution types available with the NX Nastran solver.

Solving
The solution process

Advanced Simulation uses NX to pre-and post-process the FE model and a FE
solver to solve the FE model. NX interacts with the FE solver as follows:
1. NX writes a solver-specific ASCII input file.
• The input file contains the mesh data, boundary conditions, and solver
parameters contained in the FE model.
• The input file is placed in the same directory as the Simulation file
(*.sim).
2. The FE solver runs a batch solution and writes a results file in the same
directory as the Simulation file (*.sim).
3. NX reads the results file and displays the results in Post-processing.

Solving
Supported FE solvers
NX supports these FE solvers:
• NX Nastran
• NX Space Systems Thermal
• NX Thermal/Flow
• NX Electronics Systems Cooling
• MSC Nastran
• ANSYS
• Abaqus
In this class, you will use the NX Nastran solver.

Solving
Solver language in NX
To help you prepare your model, the NX user interface uses the language of
the specified FE solver. For example, if you select the NX Nastran solver, you
will see element names that correspond to Nastran element names. You
will see solver-specific names for elements, physical properties, loads, and
constraints.
(Left) 2D Mesh dialog box with NX Nastran selected as the solver;

(Right) 2D Mesh dialog box with ANSYS selected as the solver

Solving
Solutions and subcases

A solution, which is stored in the Simulation file, contains a set of loads,
constraints, and simulation objects.
Each solution contains additional storage elements called steps or subcases,
depending on the solver. Each step or subcase holds solution entities such as
loads, constraints, and simulation objects.
• NX Nastran structural solves: constraints can be stored in the main
solution or in the subcases; loads are stored in subcases.
• NX Nastran thermal solves: loads and constraints are both stored in

subcases.

Solving
Solution attributes
Solution attributes define options for the selected solver. You can define
solution attributes for a new solution, or for an existing solution before you
solve.
The options available depend on the solver type (such as NX Nastran), the
analysis type (for example, Structural, Linear Static), and the solution type
(for example, SESTATIC 101 — Single Constraint).

Solving
Output requests
Output requests identify the type of data output from the solver.
Some output types are selected by default; you must select others explicitly.
To modify the default output requests, use the Customer Defaults dialog box.
You can save a named group of output requests and reuse it in other solutions.

Solving
Solver parameters
Solver parameters include settings for the selected solver.

Solving
NX Nastran structural analysis and solution types

The following tables include a partial list of the solution types available in
the NX Nastran structural analysis type. For a complete list of solution types
supported by Advanced Simulation, see the Advanced Simulation online Help.
Analysis Solution type Description
Linear Static SESTATIC101 – Structural solve used to solve linear
Single Constraint and some nonlinear problems, such as
gaps and contact elements.
SESTATIC101 –
Multi-Constraint
SESTATIC101 –
Superelement

Solving
NX Nastran structural analysis and solution types, 2

Modal Analysis SEMODES103 Evaluates normal modes and natural
frequencies.
SEMODES103
– Response
Simulation
SEMODES103 –
Superelement
SEMODES103 –
Flexible Body
Linear Buckling SEBUCKL105 Determines buckling loads and
buckled mode shapes.
Nonlinear NLSTATIC106 — Considers geometric and material
Statics Single Constraint nonlinear behavior.
NLSTATIC106 —
Multi-Constraint

Solving
NX Nastran structural analysis and solution types, 3

Advanced ADVNL 601,106 Considers geometric and material
Nonlinear nonlinear behavior.
Statics (implicit)
Design DESOPT 200 Adjusts the defined design variables
Optimization within the limits you specify as it
DESOPT 200 — searches for the optimum conditions,
Model Update while working in the scope of your
overall optimization objective and
output constraints.
Axisymmetric SESTATIC101 - Solves an FE model that is defined for
Structural Single Constraint only a section cut on one side of the
axis of an axisymmetric part. This
SESTATIC101 - greatly reduces the degrees of freedom
Multi-Constraint (DOF) and hence also significantly
reduces solution time.

Solving
NX Nastran solution files

For NX Nastran, the following files are generated when you solve the model.
File type Description
*.dat NX Nastran ascii input file
Contains the model data, solution options, and output
requests.
You can edit this file at the beginning of the solve process
within NX or in a text editor.
This file is also referred to as an input “deck.”
*.f06 Contains results such as displacements and stresses.
Diagnostic information, warnings, and errors are also written
to this file.
The information in the .f06 file is important for debugging
solution problems.
*.f04 Contains information that helps you monitor and tune the
performance of your analysis job.

Solving
NX Nastran solution files, 2

For NX Nastran, the following files are generated when you solve the model.
File type Description
*.log Contains system information such as the name of the
computer on which the analysis was run. It also contains any
system errors encountered during the analysis.
*.op2 Results output from the solve.
NX reads this binary file during post-processing.
These are the most common NX Nastran file types. For more information on
all file types, see the NX Nastran User’s Guide.

Solving
Multiple solutions
You can define multiple solutions in a single Simulation file. With multiple
solutions, you can:
• Explore how variations on boundary conditions or solution options affect
the analysis results.
• Reuse defined boundary conditions by dragging and dropping them among

the defined solutions and steps or subcases.
• Use the same material and physical properties in all solutions.

Solving
Project
Solving — This optional project uses the SESTATIC 101 solution sequence to
perform a structural analysis on a tire iron.

Solving
Review questions
1. True/False. In a solution, loads are always stored in subcases.
2. In NX Nastran, which output file is important for debugging solution

problems?

Solving
Summary
• How to solve a finite element model.
• About various solution types available for NX Nastran.

Lesson
8 Post-processing
Objectives
• Display analysis results using the Post-Processing Navigator.
• Create and alter post views.
• Identify numerical results.
• Create and format graphs.
• Display results in multiple viewports.

Post-processing
Post-processing overview
Using the Post-Processing Navigator and post-processing tools, you can:
• Create contour plots.
• Create marker plots.
• Create cutting-plane views.
• View and animate deformations.
• Graph results along a path or across iterations.

Post-processing
Loading analysis results

To load results from the current simulation, you can either:
• Double-click the Results node in the Simulation Navigator.
• Right-click the result data set node in the Post-Processing Navigator

and select Load.
When you launch a solve, the software creates a file pointer from the solution
to the resulting solver output file. A Results node appears in the Simulation
Navigator, and the results are available to you whenever the Simulation
file is loaded.
The result data set appears in the Post-Processing Navigator and is named
for the active solution.

Post-processing
Importing analysis results

You can import and access results for solves performed outside of the current
set of solutions.
A partial list of the file formats you can import includes:
• .op2 (Nastran binary results file)
• .rst (ANSYS structural)
• .rth (ANSYS thermal)
• .fil (ABAQUS)
• .odb (ABAQUS)
• .unv (I-DEAS results file)
• .bun (I-DEAS binary universal file)
Typically, you import results through the Post-Processing Navigator:

• When sharing results of a completed analysis with colleagues.
• To quickly view results without loading the associated FEM and

Simulation data.
• To view results created outside NX.
You can view and interrogate these results like any other results file;
however, these results are not saved with the current part. You do not need
a Simulation file loaded to view results this way.
You import results through the Simulation Navigator to associate results
with the current Simulation file. For example, if you export your Simulation,
edit the solver input file, and perform a batch or stand-alone solve, you can
use this technique to associate those results with your Simulation. When you
re-open the simulation file in subsequent sessions, you have access to the
imported results, and you can load them as you would any native results file.

Post-processing
Nodal, element-nodal, and elemental data types

Result types listed in the Post-Processing Navigator may be nodal,
element-nodal, or elemental.
• For nodal result types, a single value of each data component exists at
each node. Examples of nodal results are displacement, reaction force,
and temperature.
• For element-nodal result types, multiple values of each data component

exist at each node. In general, one value for each data component exists
at each node for every element that shares the node. Examples of
element-nodal results are stress, strain, and heat flux.
• For elemental results, a single value of each data component is calculated

at the centroid of each element. Elemental results are typically calculated
for stress and strain.
For element-nodal result types, you can use the Set Result command to
specify that averaged nodal values be used for post-processing.

Post-processing
Data components in results

The results calculated during a solve represent physical quantities. These
physical quantities may be:
• Scalar, such as pressure and temperature.
• Vector, such as displacement and heat flux.
• Tensor, such as stress and strain.
For scalar quantities, a single data component exists which is read directly
from the solver results file. For vector and tensor quantities, there are
multiple data components.
Vector or tensor
components read
directly from the
solver results file.
(The shear strains
listed as tensor
components are
engineering strains.)
Quantities calculated
by NX from the vector
or tensor components.

Post-processing
Post views
A post view represents results displayed on the model in the graphics
window. A post view represents results using a contour or marker display,
and includes the result type and data component, cutting plane settings,
deformation, and so on.
You can create multiple post views and overlay them or display them in
multiple viewports.
You can save post view settings as templates and apply them to the current
post view.

Post-processing
Contour plots
Contour plots use color-coding to display results. In a contour plot, each color
represents a constant value of the plotted data component.
(Left to right) Banded contour plot, Element plot, Iso-line plot

Post-processing
Marker plots
Marker plots use symbols and color-coding to display results at either nodes
or element centroids.
• Cubes and spheres are used to represent the magnitude of scalar, vector,
or tensor data components. The size of the cubes or spheres is proportional
to the magnitude.
• Arrows are used to represent magnitude and direction of vector data

components. The size of the arrows is proportional to the magnitude.
• Tensor markers are used to represent the magnitude and direction of

tensor data components.

Post-processing
Tensor markers
Tensor markers display applicable tensor data components as arrows acting
on a rectangular parallelopiped. The size of the arrows is proportional to
the plotted data component.
The faces of the rectangular parallelopiped are
• Aligned with the X, Y, and Z directions when the XX, YY, ZZ, XY, YZ, or
ZX data components are plotted.
• Aligned with the principal directions when the min principal, mid
principal, or max principal data components are plotted.
• Rotated 45° about the mid principal axis to the max shear configuration
when the max shear data component is plotted.
The size of the edges of the rectangular parallelopiped are proportional to the
magnitude of the normal data component acting in the direction of the edge.
• When the XX, YY, ZZ, XY, YZ, or ZX data components are plotted, the
sizes of the edges are proportional to the XX, YY, and ZZ data components.
• When the min principal, mid principal, or max principal data components
are plotted, the sizes of the edges are proportional to the min principal,
mid principal, and max principal data components.
• When the max shear data component is plotted, the sizes of two edges
are proportional to the mean normal value calculated by averaging the
min principal and max principal data components and the third edge is
proportional to the mid principal data component.

Post-processing

Post-processing
Cutting planes
To create cutaway and cross section displays of results, use cutting planes.
Cutting plane displays are useful for visualizing the distribution and direction
of results in the interior of solid models.

Post-processing
Deformation in post views

When you create a deformed model display, nodal displacements are initially
transformed and scaled with respect to the origin of the current coordinate
system. By default, this is the absolute coordinate system, but it may also be
the work coordinate system or a selected results or model coordinate system.

Post-processing
Overlaying post views

You can overlay multiple post views in a single viewport. You can set the post
view settings for each post view independently.
An isoline plot of stress overlaying an isosurface display of

displacements on the undeformed model

Post-processing
Post view templates

You can save the settings on the Post View, Results, Deformation, and
Cutting Plane dialog boxes as a post-processing template, which you can then
apply to subsequent post-processing displays. You can define a set of standard
templates for displays you use often.
Templates you create are shown in the Post-Processing Navigator, as shown
below.
Templates
Stress contour – undeformed
Stress isoline
Strain Y-axis cutting plane
Scaled displacements

Post-processing
Identify
To probe and display nodal and elemental information in your post view, use
the Identify command. You can:

• Obtain node and element IDs.
• Display numerical results for nodes and elements.
• List results for selected nodes and elements.
• Write node and element data to either a spreadsheet or .csv file for use
defining fields or for processing outside NX.

Post-processing
Marker on/off
To quickly locate the minimum and maximum values of the plotted data
component, use the Marker On/Off command.

Post-processing
Animation
To generate and control the display of animation frames, use the Animation
command.
• You can animate a single result from zero to its maximum value.
• You can animate mode shapes through their full range of motion.
• You can animate a single result across multiple time steps.
• You can animate optimization variables across multiple iterations.
• You can animate flow along streamlines.

Post-processing
Graphing
You can create an XY graph of the results shown in the current post view.
There are two basic types of graphs:
• You can graph results from a single results set along a path through the
part. You can define a path as a series of nodes, along nodes that lie on a
feature edge, or along a line passing through defined points in space.
• You can graph results at a single node across multiple modes, times
steps, or iterations.
Graphs are created as AFU files. Once you create a graph, you can use the
Functions and Graphing tools to further refine your graph displays. For more
information, see Functions and Graphing in the online Help.
A graph of displacements along an edge

As a best practice, before you change the formatting of a graph, create a
graph template. This allows you to create and save unique formatting for the
graph. If you do not create a graph template, any changes you make to graph
formatting are applied to the default graph template.

Post-processing
Viewports
You can divide the screen into multiple viewports. Use up to nine viewports
to display views of the pre-processed model, contour and marker plots,
animations, and graphs simultaneously.
• Use the Layout Manager toolbar to specify the number of viewports and
how they are selected.
• Use the Post-Processing Navigator to track and manage what is

displayed in each viewport.

Post-processing
Activities
Post-processing activities:
• Post-processing fundamentals — This activity explores how to display
results.
• Graphing fundamentals — This activity shows how to create graphs from

analysis results.

See Post-processing in the Advanced Simulation online Help.

Post-processing
Project
Post-processing — This optional project uses the SESTATIC 101 solution
sequence to perform a structural analysis and then uses the post processing
tools to graph the results.

Post-processing
Review questions
1. How do you access the results of an analysis?
2. Is it possible to display more than one result simultaneously?
3. What command displays minimum and maximum results markers?
4. True/False. Mode shapes can be animated through their full range of

motion.

Post-processing
Summary
• Locate results using the Post-Processing Navigator.
• Create and alter post views.
• Save post view settings in a post view template.
• Animate results.
• Create and format XY graphs.
• Display results in multiple viewports.

Part
II Model preparation

Lesson
9 Geometry idealization
Objective
• Simplify your model before meshing it.

Geometry idealization
Geometry idealization is the process of removing or suppressing features from
your model prior to defining a mesh. Geometry idealization:
• Removes features, such as bosses, that are not significant to your analysis.
• Splits a larger volume into multiple smaller volumes to facilitate

structured meshing.
• Creates midsurfaces to facilitate shell meshing of thin-walled parts.
• Modifies the dimensions of the idealized part using interpart expressions.

Creating associative copies of geometry

Before you can make any modifications to the idealized part, you must first
create an associative copy of the geometry you want to modify.
Depending on your requirements, there are two different commands you can
use to enable modifications to the idealized part:
• Promote
• WAVE Geometry Linker
Although both commands allow you to modify the geometry to meet the
requirements of a CAE analysis, there are benefits and limitations to each
technique.

Promote
To associatively copy a sheet or solid body from the idealized part into a
higher level in the assembly hierarchy, use the Promote command.

After you promote the body, you can use the CAE geometry idealization
commands and Modeling application commands to add or modify features.
A promoted body remains associated to the history in the master part. If
updates occur to the master part, NX also updates the promoted body in
the idealized part.
Advantages:
• Using Promote is simpler and more straightforward than using the
WAVE Geometry Linker command, particularly if you do not have a lot
of experience working with assemblies in NX.
Disadvantages:
• Because you can use Promote only on bodies, it does not provide granular
control over entities you are copying. For example, even if you want to
modify only a single face, you would need to promote the entire solid or
sheet body.
• Promoted bodies do not give you control over geometry updates.
• Promoted bodies are not visible unless their master part is loaded and
visible as well.
• You cannot work in the History-free mode in Modeling on promoted bodies.
• Promoted bodies cannot be re-parented or re-linked.

WAVE Geometry Linker

To create associatively linked copies of selected geometry, use the WAVE
Geometry Linker command. There is a direct link between WAVE-linked

geometry in the idealized part and the geometry in the master part. When
the geometry in the master part updates, any WAVE-linked geometry in the
idealized part also updates.
Advantages:
• You have more control over the geometry that is associatively copied.
While you can use the Promote command only on bodies, you can use
WAVE Geometry Linker on other features as well. For example, you can
copy individual faces or collections of faces.
• You can control when or if to accept updates to the geometry.
• You can reference the linked data with modeling operations even when
the part containing the defining geometry is not loaded.
Disadvantages:
• You need to be knowledgeable about how assemblies work in NX.
• You must take extra steps to ensure that WAVE linked bodies are not
duplicated in your FEM file. For more information, see Preventing
duplicate bodies after WAVE linking in the online Help.
• Your updates may take longer if you are working in managed mode and
have a number of WAVE links within a large assembly.

Midsurfaces
For certain types of parts, you can simplify your geometry for CAE analysis
by creating a midsurface on a solid body. A midsurface is a simplification of
the CAD geometry made by generating an approximation of the part’s medial
surface between pairs of surfaces. You can perform your CAE analysis directly
on the midsurface, rather than on the original solid model. Midsurfaces:
• Let you simplify a model for analysis.
• Are most appropriate for thin-walled parts.
• Can be created directly on the CAD geometry or on an idealized part.
• Contain information about the geometric thickness of the paired surfaces.

You can use the midsurface’s thickness data to define the thickness of the
elements in the mesh you will create.
• Are generally created as part of a multi-step process. After you create the
midsurface, you may need to use additional Modeling or polygon geometry
commands to ensure that the midsurface is fully stitched.

Midsurface creation commands

Creates a midsurface halfway between sets of
opposing face pairs. The face pair method is
useful for creating midsurfaces for thin-walled
Midsurface by Face Pairs
parts with ribs.
Designates an existing sheet body as the
midsurface of a part. You can manually model
a sheet body to approximate the midsurface
User Defined
of a thin-walled part and then use that sheet
body as the midsurface for your part.

Appropriate parts for midsurfacing

The midsurface commands are primarily intended for use on the following
types of parts:
• Thin-walled, tangent continuous parts. These types of parts tend to have
a constant wall thickness and are often sheet metal or stamped parts.
• Thin-walled, intersection parts. Intersection parts tend to have a variable

wall thickness and are often either molded or shelled parts, or forged or
extruded parts.
Thin-walled parts are parts whose thickness can be accurately analyzed using
2D (shell) finite elements, although the accuracy of the results can depend
on the thickness of the part’s walls.
Thin-walled, tangent continuous parts
Thin-walled, intersection parts

Midsurface by Face Pairs

To create a midsurface on a body by selecting the faces to pair, use the
Midsurface by Face Pairs command. The software uses the paired

faces to:
• Determine the appropriate size and shape of the midsurface.
• Calculate the thickness values to apply to the midsurface.
Original solid body
Midsurface created using face pairs

Workflow for creating a midsurface with face pairs

1. Before you define the face pairs, use the Object Display command on the
Edit menu to set the translucency of the solid body to 70%. This makes it
easier for you to see the resulting mid-sheets relative to the solid body.
2. Use the Midsurface by Face Pairs command to define the face pairs and
generate the mid-sheets.
3. In the Midsurface by Face Pairs dialog box, use the Strategy option to
specify the approach the software uses to create the face pairs.
4. Use the Face Pair list in the Midsurface by Face Pairs dialog box to
review the pairs and modify any faces that are paired incorrectly.
5. Examine the previewed mid-sheets and use the Advanced options in the
Midsurface by Face Pairs dialog box to adjust the trimming and creation
methods, if necessary.

Workflow for creating a midsurface with face pairs, continued

6. Click OK in the Midsurface by Face Pairs dialog box to generate the
midsurface.
7. Use commands in Modeling and Advanced Simulation to clean up the

geometry of the midsurface.
8. Create a FEM file.
9. Create a 2D mesh on the midsurface. Make sure to click Edit Mesh

Associated Data in the 2D Mesh dialog box to set the Thickness Source
for the mesh to Midsurface. This instructs the software to apply the
calculated thickness from the different face pairs to the mesh.
10. Use the Thickness Information command or the Display 2D Element

Thickness option in the Mesh Display dialog box to validate the thickness
values.
11. Apply boundary conditions to the meshed midsurface and solve the model.

Split Body
To divide geometry into one or more bodies, use the Split Body command.
The geometry can be either sheet or solid bodies.
Split Body produces an associative feature that appears in the model’s
history. You can update, edit, or delete the associative feature.
You can use Split Body to:
• Help prepare complex geometry for meshing. For example, you can use
Split Body to subdivide a larger model into smaller, sweepable regions
to facilitate hexahedral meshing.
• Create mesh mating conditions automatically.
• Use color coding to indicate sweepable bodies.
(Left) Part before using Split Body. (Right) Part while using Split
Body, with Check for Sweepable Body selected.

Idealize Geometry
To simplify geometry by removing features from a body or a region of a body
that satisfy certain criteria, or that you explicitly select for removal, use the
Idealize Geometry command.
For example, you may want to remove small geometric features that would
otherwise cause too many additional elements to be created. Notice the
difference between the mesh in and after , in which the two holes
have been removed:
Original part
Part after using Idealize Geometry to remove the fillets

Defeature Geometry
To defeature a model, use the Defeature Geometry command. When you
defeature a model, you simplify geometry by using selections in the graphics
window to remove a face or set of faces. This is a quick way to remove larger
model features such as slots or bosses containing multiple faces.
To use Defeature Geometry, you must have the idealized part displayed in
the graphics window. To modify the idealized part, you must first either
promote or WAVE link the body.

Sew
To join sheet bodies or solid bodies, use the Sew command .
You can join:
• Two or more sheet bodies to create a single sheet. If the sheet bodies
enclose a volume, the software creates a solid body.
• Two solid bodies if they share one or more common faces.
Original solid body, with free edges highlighted
Body after using Sew

Divide Face
To divide one or more faces of an existing body (or bodies) using multiple
dividing objects like curves, edges, faces, datum planes, and/or solid bodies,
use the Divide Face command. The faces are associative.
You can use Divide Face to create parting edges on models of parts, patterns,
molds, or dies.
Original midsurface
Midsurface after using Divide Face. The center rib was used as a
dividing object.

Idealization commands for modifying features

Edits parameter values of a feature in the
current model state.
Edit Feature Parameters
Temporarily removes a feature from a model.
Suppress Feature
Restores a suppressed feature.
Unsuppress Feature
Modifies the idealized part’s feature or sketch

dimensions to investigate design alternatives.
Master Model Dimension

Activities
Geometry idealization activities:
• Removing features — In this activity, you will remove unnecessary
features from the idealized part.
• Meshing a midsurface — In this activity, you will create a midsurface

using the face pair method.
• Midsurfacing techniques — In this activity, you will explore the

midsurfacing techniques in NX by creating a midsurface on a thin-walled
part.

See Geometry Idealization in the Advanced Simulation online Help.

Project
Geometry idealization — This optional project uses the SESTATIC 101
solution sequence to perform a structural analysis on an idealized geometry.

Review questions
1. True/False. Geometry idealization is performed in the FEM file.
2. Give three uses for geometry idealization.
3. What command can be used to join sheet or solid bodies?

Summary
• Simplify your model before meshing, using several techniques.

Lesson
10 Synchronous modeling
Objectives
• Use synchronous modeling commands to modify a part, in preparation
for meshing.

Synchronous modeling
Synchronous Modeling
To modify a model regardless of its origins, associativity, or feature history,
use the commands on the Synchronous Modeling toolbar.
The CAE analyst obtains geometric models from many sources. These
models are not always appropriate for the desired analysis, and may require
modification before an analysis can be performed. Typically, features must
be simplified or larger physical problems must be corrected, such as the part
misalignment. If the analyst is not the original designer of the model, it
can be difficult to understand the part well enough to make the appropriate
modifications.
You can use Synchronous Modeling to:
• Resolve inaccuracies such as gaps and sliver surfaces.
• Reduce complexity, such as removing holes and fillets.
• Propose design changes.
• Examine what-if analysis scenarios.
Design revisions can be quickly applied to the finite element model and the
CAD model integrity is maintained.

The figure shows part misalignment, which can be corrected using

Synchronous Modeling

Modeling modes
The Modeling application works in two modes:
• History mode
• History-free mode
The Synchronous Modeling commands work in history-free mode.
History mode
In History mode, you create and edit the model using an ordered sequence
of features that are displayed in the Part Navigator. This is the traditional
history-based feature modeler and the principal mode for designing in NX.
This mode is useful for highly-engineered parts. It is also useful for parts
designed to be modified using predefined parameters based on the design
intent built into the sketches, features, and feature order used to model the
part.
History-free mode
In History-free mode, you create and edit the model based on its current state,
without an ordered sequence of features. Only local features that are not
reliant on a sequential structure are created.
Using Synchronous Modeling in history-free mode

Synchronous Modeling commands help you work effectively in History-free
mode. With these commands, your modeling intent relies on face and feature
recognition to help you identify certain geometric conditions. The Face Finder
option in Synchronous Modeling commands can help you select related faces
based on settings you control.
You can switch between History mode and History-free mode in the Modeling
application, but most or all features in the history tree are lost.

Synchronous Modeling commands

The following is a partial list of the Synchronous Modeling commands.
Copies a face set from the body, keeping the original face set
intact.
Copy Face
Pastes a cut face set into a target body.
Paste Face
Copies a face set, mirrors it about a plane, and pastes it into
the part.
Mirror Face
Adds an adaptive shell to a solid body by piercing one or
more faces, specifying a wall thickness, and forming a shell
(History-Free Mode only).
Shell Body
Adds faces to an existing adaptive shell or applies wall
thickness to a face set (History-Free Mode only).
Shell Face
For more information on the Synchronous Modeling toolbar, see the NX

Help library.

Delete Face
To delete faces, use the Delete Face command. You can:

• Automatically heal the open area left in the model by the deleted
unwanted faces, by extending adjacent faces.
• Preserve adjacent blends.
In the History Modeling mode, after you delete a face, the Delete Face
feature appears in the history of the model. You can edit or delete this like
any other feature.
Delete Face is especially useful when modifying an imported model that
has no feature history.

Move Face
To move a set of faces and automatically adjust adjacent blend faces, use the
Move Face command.

Because you can make changes directly to the model, regardless of feature
history, and without having to send the model to the original design engineer,
this command is also useful in downstream applications such as Tooling,
Manufacturing, and Simulation.
You can use the Move Face command to:
• Relocate a group of faces to a different position to meet design intent.
• Change the bend angle of a sheet metal part that has no history.
• Rotate a face or set of faces about a given axis and about a point. For
example, you can change the angular position of a keyway slot.
• Change the orientation of an entire solid body, regardless of its history,

to a different orientation.

Pull Face
To derive a volume from a face region and then modify the model with that
volume, use the Pull Face command.

It retains the area of the pulled face and does not modify the adjacent faces
Although similar to the Move Face command, Pull Face adds or subtracts a
new volume, while Move Face modifies an existing volume.

Dimension commands
Synchronous Modeling includes three types of dimensions that you can use
to modify a part:
• To move a set of faces by adding a linear dimension to their edges and
then changing its value, use the Linear Dimension command.
• To move a set of faces by adding an angle dimension to a model and then
changing its value, use the Angular Dimension command.
• To move a set of cylindrical or spherical faces, or faces with a circular

edge, by adding a radial dimension and then changing its value, use the
Radial Dimension command.

Relate commands
Use the Synchronous Modeling Relate commands to move selected faces
by relating them to other faces. You can specify the following types of
relationships between faces:
• Coplanar
• Coaxial
• Tangent
• Symmetric
• Parallel
• Perpendicular
• Fixed
• Offset
You can also review or delete saved face relationships such as locked
dimensions, fixed faces, and offset relationships.

Workflow for creating and updating a mesh

1. Open a model in NX.
2. In the Advanced Simulation application, display the FEM file.
3. Mesh the model.
4. Display the idealized part or the master CAD part.
5. Use Synchronous Modeling to modify the existing model.
6. Redisplay the FEM file.
7. Update the mesh.

Activity
Synchronous Modeling — In this activity, you will use Synchronous Modeling
commands to update a geometric model for use in a finite element analysis.
You will learn how to update a finite element mesh after the underlying
geometry has been changed.

See the Synchronous Modeling online Help.

Review questions
1. True/False. Synchronous modeling enables you to maintain the history
of the part.
2. How do you move a set of faces, then adjust the surrounding faces to
accommodate?

Summary
• How to modify a part using Synchronous Modeling commands.
• The workflow for modifying a part using Synchronous Modeling, then

updating a mesh based on this part.

Lesson
11 Geometry repair
Objectives
• Use Modeling tools to correct problems with geometry.

Geometry repair
Using NX Modeling commands to repair geometry

For many models, you can use the Advanced Simulation abstraction and
idealization commands to modify geometry.
Sometimes, however, you need the tools available in Modeling. For example:
• The abstraction tools are not intended for creating complex geometry
features. For example, if your geometry is missing complicated faces after
importing external CAD geometry from STEP or IGES, you can use the
Modeling tools to recreate them.
• When you use abstraction commands, modifications are not retained in

the model history. CAD features and repairs are history-supported when
you use modeling commands.
Free-form modeling is commonly used to repair geometry problems.

Free-form modeling uses 3D curve and surface creation to create shapes that
are difficult to build using standard features.

Geometry repair
Repairing problems
You can use 3D curve and surface creation commands to create shapes that
would be difficult to build with standard features.
For example:
• To remove an existing problem face from a body, use the Unsew command
(Insert→Combine→Unsew) .
• To combine faces or add faces to a body, use the Sew (Feature toolbar)
or Patch (Insert→Combine→Patch) commands.
After each repair, check for free edges using the Sheet Boundaries option in
the Analysis®Examine Geometry dialog box.

Geometry repair
Timestamp Order
In the Part Navigator in Modeling, you can view the features in your work
part in a timestamp order or by dependencies. The timestamp order is turned
on by default.
In the normal viewing mode:
• All bodies in the work part, along with their features and operations, are
shown in the main panel.
• You can expand or collapse feature nodes.
Part Navigator
Unused Items
Fixed Datum Plane (11)
Reference Sets
Model
Solid Body “Block (4)”
Block (4)
Unite (5)
Solid Body “Extrude (3)”
Extrude (2)
Sketch (1) “SKETCH_000”
Sheet Body “Extrude (6)”
Extrude (6)
Block (4)
When Timestamp Order is turned on:

• All features in the work part appear in a history list of nodes in the order
of their creation timestamp.
• You cannot expand or collapse feature nodes to see their parents.
• You cannot view all node types that you would see in the normal mode.
Part Navigator

Geometry repair
Model History
Datum Coordinate System (0)
Sketch (1) “SKETCH_000”
Extrude (2)
Extrude (3)
Block (4)
Unite (5)
Extrude (6)

Geometry repair
Creating surfaces using 3D curves

3D curves may be required to define new boundaries for surface creation.
For example, you could reduce the complexity of a single complex face by
building it with many faces.
To create 3D curves, use the commands on the Curve toolbar and the options
in the Insert®Curve®Basic Curves dialog box in Modeling.

Geometry repair
Surface creation commands

To create new surfaces, you can use the following Modeling commands.
Creates a body through multiple

Through Curves (Surface sections where the shape changes to
toolbar) pass through each section.
Creates a body through a mesh of
Through Curve Mesh (Surface sections in one direction, and guides
toolbar) in another direction, where the shape
fits through the mesh of curves.
Creates a surface enclosed by a set of
N-sided Surface (Surface end-connected curves.
toolbar)
Trims off a portion of a sheet body
Trimmed Sheet (Feature toolbar) using curves, faces, or a datum plane.
Trims or extends a set of faces by
Trim and Extend (Feature distance or to the intersection with
toolbar) another set of faces.
Insert®Surface®Bounded Plane Creates a planar sheet body enclosed
by a set of end-connected planar
curves.
Through Curve Mesh
Use the Through Curve Mesh to create a body through a mesh of sections in
one direction, and guides in another direction, where the shape fits through
the mesh of curves.
This command uses sets of primary curves and sets of cross curves to create a
bi-cubic surface.
• Each set of curves must be contiguous.
• The sets of primary curves must be roughly parallel and the sets of cross
curves must be roughly parallel.
• You can use a point instead of a curve for the first or last primary set.

Geometry repair
Surface addition and removal commands

To add or remove surfaces, you can use the following Modeling commands.
Combines sheet bodies by sewing common edges

together, or combines solid bodies by sewing
Sew (Feature toolbar) common faces.
Unsew
Unsews faces from a body.
(Insert→Combine→Unsew)
Patch Modifies a solid or sheet body by replacing faces
(Insert→Combine→Patch) with the faces of another sheet.
Creates a body by copying a face, a set of faces,

Extract Body (Feature or another body.
toolbar)

Geometry repair
Activity
Geometry repair — In this activity, you will use free-form modeling commands
to create a solid body from imported surfaces.

See the Modeling online Help.

Geometry repair
Review questions
1. True/False. Geometry repair uses modeling tools on either the master
or idealized part.
2. In NX Nastran, which output file is important for debugging polygon

geometry problems?
3. What commands are used to identify free edges of sheet bodies?

Geometry repair
Summary
• Identify problems with geometry that will be used in Advanced
Simulation.
• Use Modeling tools to correct problems with geometry.

Part
III Meshing techniques

Lesson
12 Mesh collectors
Objectives
• Create a mesh collector.

Mesh collectors
Mesh collectors
A mesh collector is an entity that:
• Contains meshes that share the same properties, such as materials,
physical properties, and display properties.
• Contains only meshes of the same element family. For example, a 3D

mesh collector contains only 3D type elements.
• Allows you to assign the same properties to all meshes within that
collector.
You can view mesh collectors in the Simulation Navigator.

Every mesh is assigned to a collector. You first assign a mesh to a collector
when you create the mesh. The collector to which you assign the new mesh
is called the destination collector. After you create a mesh and assign it to a
destination, you can later reassign that mesh to another collector.
Mesh collectors are especially valuable when working with complex,

non-homogenous models, or models based on assemblies. Use mesh collectors
to create logical groupings of meshes to facilitate model management. You
can control visibility by mesh collector, to focus on specific areas of the model.
Because shared properties are stored with the collector rather than assigned
to multiple meshes, collectors promote improved performance with large
models.
You edit mesh properties at the collector. Changes to the mesh collector
properties are inherited by all meshes contained in the collector. Collectors
facilitate the management of overrides and the re-use of FE models for
multiple analyses.

Mesh collectors
You can define mesh display properties for collectors, such as element color,
shrink percentage, and so on. All meshes contained in the collector inherit
the display properties of the collector. When you reassign a mesh from one
collector to another, the mesh’s display automatically updates to show the
new display properties.

Mesh collectors
Mesh collector uses

Use mesh collectors to:
• Work with complex, non-homogenous models, or models based on
assemblies.
• Create logical groupings of meshes to help you manage models.
• Display specific areas of the model. You can control visibility by mesh
collector.
• Improve performance with large models, because shared properties are

stored with the collector rather than assigned to multiple meshes.

Mesh collectors
Creating a mesh collector

To create a mesh collector, you can:
• Create an empty mesh collector and assign properties to it. You can then
make the collector a destination collector for a mesh that has the same
properties.
• Create a mesh collector at the time that you create the mesh. The
completed mesh is assigned to the new collector.
• Create a mesh collector using the automatic creation option. For simple
models with few meshes, the automatic creation option assigns a collector
to each mesh. Automatic mesh collectors use the default physical
properties and inherit the material properties of the solid model. You can
later edit the automatic mesh collector to assign specific physical and
material properties.
You can view and manage mesh collectors using the Simulation Navigator.
Collectors are grouped by 0D, 1D, 2D, or 3D element types.

Mesh collectors
Managing mesh properties with mesh collectors

You can use mesh collectors to manage mesh properties in two ways:
• You edit mesh properties at the collector. Changes to the mesh collector
properties are inherited by all meshes contained in the collector.
Collectors facilitate the management of overrides and the re-use of FE
models for multiple analyses.
• You can define mesh display properties for collectors, such as element
color, shrink percentage, and so on. All meshes contained in the collector
inherit the display properties of the collector. When you reassign a mesh
from one collector to another, the mesh’s display automatically updates to
show the new display properties.

Mesh collectors
Mesh collector property overrides

In the Simulation file, you can override the physical properties assigned to
the mesh collector in the FEM file.
If you have multiple Simulation files, the overrides let you explore how
different physical properties affect the solution results.
You can also create an override in the FEM file, but this workflow is less likely.
To override physical properties, in the Simulation Navigator, right-click the
collector and choose Edit Attribute Overrides.

Mesh collectors
Review questions
1. True/False. A mesh collector can contain multiple meshes.
2. True/False. A mesh collector can contain a mix of 1D, 2D, and 3D meshes.
3. True/False. When a mesh is created, it is either assigned to an existing

collector or a collector is automatically created.

Mesh collectors
Summary
• Create mesh collectors.
• Use mesh collectors to organize meshes in your model.

Lesson
13 Materials and physical properties
Objectives
• Create a new material.
• Create a new physical property table.
• Assign a material to a mesh collector.
• Use collectors to organize materials and physical properties.

Materials and physical properties
Materials
You can only solve a model that has materials assigned to it. To assign a
material to a model, you can:
• Use the material inherited from the selected body.
• Assign a new material to a physical property table. When you assign

the physical property table to a mesh collector, a mesh assigned to the
collector inherits these physical properties.
Advanced Simulation includes a material library that provides some standard

materials. You can also create new materials.

Material types
In NX, you can define the following material types:
• An Isotropic material such as aluminum or steel. An isotropic material
has the same material property in all directions at a given location in
the structure.
• An Orthotropic material, which is a special anisotropic material that can

be used for plate and shell elements. It contains three orthogonal planes
of material symmetry at a given location in the structure. This material
can be defined by nine independent elastic constants in the stress-strain
relationships.
• An Anisotropic material, which has a different property in each direction

at any given location in the structure. There is no material plane of
symmetry associated with an anisotropic material. This material can
be described by 21 independent elastic constants in the stress-strain
relationship.
• A Fluid material such as a liquid or gas.
• A Hyperelastic material, which is a type of material model that is

used to analyze materials that can experience large elastic strain that
is recoverable. For an NX Nastran solve, you can choose a general
hyperelastic material or use another type of material model.


Using custom materials

NX includes a library of standard materials, but you can also create new
materials. These custom materials can be stored in a separate material
library file as material definitions that you can assign to any NX model.
• You can store custom material definitions in two external libraries: a Site
library and a User library, which you can manage independently using
customer defaults. This lets you specify a material library that everyone
uses (Site) and a second material library to which only certain users are
given access (User).
NX stores custom material libraries as XML files in the MatML schema.
• When you assign a material definition to a model, the material is saved

as a local material directly in the current FEM.

Material orientation
When using orthotropic or anisotropic materials or composite laminates, you
must define a material coordinate system that is consistent across the mesh.
Shell and solid elements have unique element coordinate systems that are
defined by their node locations and the order in which the nodes are labeled.
Elements in the same mesh can have different element orientations, even if
the mesh is planar. You can define the material orientation independently
of the element coordinate systems.
(1) Element coordinate systems on a shell mesh; (2) Material

coordinate systems on a shell mesh

Physical property tables

A physical property table is an entity that:
• Stores the physical property data for elements. Physical properties
describe the physical qualities and characteristics of an element, such as
thickness or nonstructural mass.
• Is assigned to a mesh collector. A mesh assigned to a collector inherits the

physical properties of the collector.
• Has material properties assigned to it, for most solver types.
To view physical property tables stored in your model, use the Physical
Property Tables Manager .

Creating a physical property table

You can:
• Create the physical property table while creating or editing a mesh
collector.
• Create a physical property table using the Physical Properties Table

Manager. You can then assign the physical property table to a mesh
collector.
Physical property tables are created in the FEM file. You can override a
physical property table definition in the Simulation file.

Assigning mesh color by property table

When you interrogate large or complex models, you can identify by color
which meshes share the same physical or material properties, and also detect
errors in physical or material property assignments. You can also distinguish
different meshes by color without having to manually specify the display
settings for each mesh collector.
When you choose Physical Property Table or Material Property Table from
the Color Basis list on the Model Display dialog box, the software assigns the
same color to all meshes that reference the same property table. Colors are
assigned arbitrarily.

Edit Mesh Associated Data and Element Modify Associated Data

Use the Edit Mesh Associated Data option and the Element Modify
Associated Data command to define solver-specific element attributes

that are not defined in physical property tables, such as:
• Material orientation
• Beam section orientation
• Spring stiffness
• Mass and inertia properties
• Shell offsets
The solver and element type determine the attributes that you can define.
Edit Mesh Associated Data defines element attributes for an entire mesh.
Modify Element Associated Data defines element attributes for selected
elements or subset of elements within a mesh.
Note
All element-associated data is lost when you update the mesh.

Activities
Mesh collectors — This activity uses mesh display properties to distinguish
different meshes, and uses property inheritance to perform what-if analysis
by moving meshes among collectors with different defined materials.
See also:
• Introduction to Advanced Simulation (Introduction to Advanced
Simulation lesson) This activity takes advantage of default values and
inheritance to create a mesh collector automatically.
• Using local coordinate systems (Boundary condition techniques lesson)

— This activity walks you through the process of predefining multiple
materials, physical properties, and mesh collectors prior to meshing the
model.

See Mesh collectors in the Advanced Simulation online Help.

Review questions
1. True/False. A material is assigned to a mesh collector.
2. Name three material types.
3. True/False. You can use physical property tables to assign colors to your
model.

Summary
• Create a new material.
• Create a new physical property table.
• Use collectors to organize materials and physical properties.

Lesson
14 Element size and mesh density
Objectives
• Set overall element size.
• Set element size based on curvature.
• Set the density of elements on selected meshes or faces.

Element size and mesh density
Controlling element size

To control the length of elements in either a free or a mapped mesh, use the
Element Size (global element size) option on the meshing dialog boxes. This
length is the approximate length of an element’s edge.
Because the software takes into account the surrounding geometry as well
as element quality issues, the actual length of element edges in your model
may vary.
Element length measured on (A) 1D or beam elements; (B) 2D or shell

elements; (C) 3D or solid elements
If a mesh based on the global Element Size is not refined enough to
sufficiently capture the details in your model, you can:
• Vary the size of elements in areas where the surface curvature is higher.
Use the Curvature Based Size Variation option in the 2D Mesh dialog
box or the Surface Curvature Based Size Variation option in the 3D
• Locally control the size of elements on selected edges or faces. Use the
Mesh Control command. For example, you can use the Size on Edge
option in the Mesh Control dialog box to specify the exact element length
to use on a particular edge

Setting automatic element size

To compute an estimated element length based on the selected geometry, use
the Automatic Element Size option in the meshing dialog boxes. The
software bases this estimate on a number of different criteria and factors.
• With a 2D mesh, the software performs one set of calculations to
determine the estimated size.
• With a 3D mesh, the software first performs the 2D calculations and then
proceeds with further evaluations to determine the estimated size of the
solid elements.
(Left) 3D element size options; (Right) 2D element size options

Setting element size based on curvature

To control how the software varies the length of triangular elements according
to the surface curvature, you can:
• Use the Curvature Based Size Variation option in the 2D Mesh dialog box.
• Use the Surface Curvature Based Size Variation option in the 3D

These options allow you to refine the mesh in specific curved areas, by
creating more and smaller elements in those regions.
(A) Surface coarsely meshed using only the Element Size option; (B)
the same surface meshed with the Curvature Based Size Variation
or Surface Curvature Based Size Variation slider set to 50%; (C) the
same surface meshed with the slider set to 100%
Controlling the curvature based variation
In the 2D Mesh and 3D Tetrahedral Mesh dialog boxes, the Curvature Based
Size Variation and Surface Curvature Based Size Variation options let you
specify a percentage that controls how much the software can vary the
element length based on the curvature:
• If you move the slider to 0, the software uses the overall element length
throughout the model regardless of the curvature.
• If you move the slider to 50%, the software varies the element length
between 60% and 100% of the overall element size based on the surface
curvature.
• If you move the slider to 100%, the software varies the element length
between 10% and 100% of the overall element size.

Transitioning element size from local to global

To gradually transition the size of elements from local element sizes back to
the global element size, use the Transition Element Size option.
To create the transition, the software gradually increases the size of the
elements in each successive layer of elements until the element size matches
the defined global size.
For parts with a small curves and a large surface-to-volume ratio, using
Transition Element Size with a high Surface Curvature Based Size Variation
percentage may result in a uniformly smaller element size, rather than a
greater variation in mesh size. If Transition Element Size results in an
unacceptably large number of elements, turn this option off.

Mesh Control
To create edge and face densities for free and mapped meshes, use the Mesh
Control command. You can create edge and face densities either before
or after you generate the mesh.
Edge and face densities give you local control over the number and
distribution pattern of elements along an edge or across a face.
Mesh controls are:
• Displayed as symbols on the part.
• Listed under the Mesh Controls node in the Simulation Navigator when
you create edge or face densities. You can use this node to control the
visibility and appearance of mesh control symbols in the graphics window.

Defining mesh control density

• To specify the number of elements to create on a selected edge, use the
Number on Edge option. This option lets you define an unequal number
of elements per side. This is useful when a surface has opposite sides of
different lengths, or when you want more elements on a side where you
expect high stresses.
• To specify the approximate element size on a selected edge, use the Size
on Edge option. You can use the Location option to choose a specific
location along an edge to which to specify the element size.
• To specify the approximate element size for the selected face, use Size
on Face.
(A) Preview of Size on Face element density of 1 mm; (B) resulting

mesh

Defining mesh control density — Chordal Tolerance

To produce a parametric set of node locations, use the Chordal Tolerance on
Edge density type on the Mesh Control dialog box. The software derives the
node locations from equations related to the curvature of the edge or curve.
You enter a chordal tolerance value, which is the maximum distance between
an arc along the curve and the curve itself.
The software creates:
• A higher density of nodes in regions where the curvature is greater.
• A lower density of nodes in regions where there is less curvature.
Preview of chordal tolerance

Defining mesh control density — Biasing

To specify a ratio that controls the distribution of nodes along a selected edge,
use the Biasing density type on the Mesh Control dialog box.
This option produces a series of node locations which are more dense in one
region of the edge and less dense in the other regions.
You use the Bias Origin options to control where on the edge the nodes are
more dense: at the beginning, end, or center.
(A) Mapped mesh with no bias; (B) Mapped mesh with a bias at the
center of the right edge

Activity
Mesh density — This activity uses mesh controls to fine-tune the size and
distribution of tetrahedral elements.

See Mesh Controls in the Advanced Simulation online Help.

Review questions
1. True/False. If element size is specified, all elements in the mesh will be
the same size.
2. What settings are available to locally refine the mesh over curved
surfaces?
3. What option is available to gradually adjust the element size from a local,
highly refined mesh to a global mesh size?
4. What command is available to specify the number of elements on an edge?

Summary
• Set element size.
• Set the density of elements on selected meshes or faces.

Lesson
15 Beam modeling
Objectives
• Prepare a model for beam meshing.
• Create beam cross sections.
• Generate a 1D mesh.
• Orient and offset beam cross sections.
• Request element force output.
• Post-process beam models.

Beam modeling
Preparing a beam model

You can create a 1D mesh on polygon edges in the FEM file; however, in most
cases it is preferable to create associative points and curves in the master or
idealized part file to better define node locations and beam positions.
Advanced Simulation provides a selection of curve-creation commands when
a part file is displayed. Some helpful commands include:
• Insert®Datum/Point®Point — Use the Point command to define end

points and node locations.
• Insert®Curve®Line — Use the Line command to connect snap points or

existing points.
• Insert®Curve from Curves®Project— Use the Project command to

project curves or points to nearby geometry, such as midsurfaces.

Beam modeling
1D Mesh
To create a mesh of one-dimensional elements that are associated with
geometry, use the 1D Mesh command. You can create or edit
one-dimensional elements along curves or polygon edges.
1D elements have the following characteristics:
• They are two-noded elements which, depending on type, may or may not
require an orientation component.
• They represent rod and beam behavior.
• They have stiffness along a line or curve between nodes.
• They are typically used for beam structures, stiffeners, and trusses.
Beam elements have cross sections. You define these cross section using
the 1D Element Section command, and then assign physical properties
to the cross sections.

Beam modeling
Ensuring consistent element orientation

In the 1D Mesh dialog box, you can use the Auto Chain Selection option to
ensure that the beam elements are:
• Correctly oriented.
• Properly connected from start to end so that the B node of one element
connects to the A node of the next element.
• Numbered sequentially.
Every edge or curve has a defined mesh direction that controls the direction
in which the software generates the 1D elements. If the curve directions are
inconsistent, the resulting mesh is inconsistent.
The Auto Chain Selection option uses the direction of the first curve or edge
in the selection to control the direction of all others.
(A) Inconsistent edge directions; (B) Inconsistent mesh
(C) Selected using Auto Chain Selection; (D) Consistent mesh

direction

Beam modeling
1D Element Section
To create cross sections for a mesh of 1D bar elements or 1D beam elements,
use the 1D Element Section command. You assign cross sections in the
beam mesh’s physical property table. To create a cross section, you can:
• Choose a section from a solver-specific list, and then specify dimensions
for the cross section.
• Create a cross section from the face of a solid.
• Create a cross section from sketch geometry.
You assign cross sections to a mesh by editing the physical property table
for the mesh collector.
You adjust the orientation and offset cross sections by editing the mesh’s
mesh-associated data.
Because the section properties are associative, the software updates them
whenever changes are made to the data from which they are derived.

Beam modeling
Workflow for defining beam cross sections

1. Create the beam cross section.
In the 1D Element Cross Section dialog box, define the beam cross
section.
2. Assign the cross section to the 1D mesh.

In the Physical Property Table Manager dialog box for the 1D mesh,
assign the cross section.
3. Orient the cross section on the 1D mesh.

In the Mesh Associated Data dialog box, orient the cross section on the
1D mesh.
4. Define offsets.
In the Mesh Associated Data dialog box, use an offset to adjust the
distance of the cross section relative to the 1D mesh.

Beam modeling
Cross section orientation and offset

You modify a cross section’s orientation and offset by editing the mesh
associated data for the mesh.
• Orientation refers to the alignment of the cross section’s coordinate
system with respect to the element coordinate system.
You can modify the orientation by aligning the cross section’s Y- or Z-axis
to a specified vector.
• Offset refers to the relative position of the cross section with respect to
the mesh.
You can modify the section offset by aligning a point on the cross section
with a location on your model.

Beam modeling
Displaying beam meshes

You can control the display of cross sections for meshes using the options in
the Mesh Display dialog box. You can:
• Make the persistent display of the cross sections either solid or wireframe.
• Control how cross section orientation, end releases, and orientation

vectors are displayed.

Beam modeling
Setting up persistent solid cross section display

To render beam elements as solids, choose the Solid option from the Display
Section list in the Mesh Display dialog box. The software extrudes section
geometry along the length of the element.
You can use a solid cross section display to:
• Identify issues with beam orientation or section definition.
• Provide a more realistic rendering of the model.
A beam mesh with a solid cross section display

Beam modeling
Setting up persistent wireframe cross section display

When you choose Curves from the Display Section list in the Mesh Display
dialog box, the software creates a persistent wireframe display showing cross
section geometry at each node of your mesh.
You can use a wireframe cross section display to:
• Select nodes or underlying geometry.
• Conserve system resources.
The beam mesh with a wireframe cross section display

Beam modeling
Requesting force output

By default, Advanced Simulation does not include element force output
requests in a standard structural solution. When defining the solution for
models containing beams, be sure to request element force output in your
solution. The post-processor uses element forces to:
• Derive beam force and moment resultants.
• Calculate complete beam stresses.
• Display results on beam cross sections.
How you include a force output request varies according to your solver.
Using NX Nastran as your solver, create or edit a Structural Output Requests
modeling object. Click the Force tab, and select Enable FORCE Request.

Beam modeling
Beam post-processing
Beam stresses vary both over the length of the beam element and across the
cross section. You can display beam stresses in two ways:
• By creating a deformed line display of stresses at a defined stress recovery
point (or at the minimum or maximum of all recovery points) as it varies
along the length of a beam.
• By creating a contour display of stresses across beam sections at the fore

or aft end of the beam.

Beam modeling
Beam stresses
Structural FE solvers do not output a complete stress tensor for beam
elements. This means:
• Stress datasets based on solver output are incomplete.
• Derived results such as von Mises stress may be inaccurate.
• Many stress component datasets listed in the Post Processing Navigator

are empty.
For complete and accurate stress tensor components, the software can
calculate stress tensors from element forces, material properties, and beam
geometry.
To calculate stress tensor components, on the Set Result dialog box, select
Calculate Beam Results from Forces and Beam Geometry.

Beam modeling
Stress calculation process

When you request calculated beam stresses, the software:
1. Queries the results file for material properties (Young’s modulus and
Poisson’s ratio) and section definition.
If that information is not available in the results file, the software queries
the model.
2. Retrieves element force results from the current load case or iteration.
3. Generates an adaptive mesh on each section, and then computes the

stress tensor at each node in the mesh. Derived components such as von
Mises are also calculated for each node.
4. Retains tensors at nodes closest to the original stress recovery points.
A progress bar is displayed in the Status line while the calculation takes
place. For large models containing many section definitions, the calculation
may take a few moments.

Beam modeling
Displaying results on cross sections

You can display stress and strain contours on specified beam cross sections.
To create a cross-section display:
1. Create a standard post view of your model.
2. On the Post Processing toolbar, click Cross-Section View .
3. On the Selection page, select an element and specify the fore or aft end
and click Apply to create the display.
Tip
Select Preview to help you refine your selection before generating a
cross-section view.
4. Use the remaining pages on the Cross-Section View dialog box to further
refine your display.
The software automatically generates an adaptive mesh on the beam section

geometry and calculates stresses from element forces, material properties,
and beam geometry.

Beam modeling
Adding fillets to cross sections

On the Set Result dialog box for your cross-section view, you can select Add
Fillets to add fillets to interior corners of your beam section geometry. The
software:
• Multiplies the Fillet Radius Scale Factor by the minimum beam wall
thickness to determine the fillet radius.
• Modifies the section geometry.
• Remeshes the section
• Recalculates stress components.
Adding fillets can reduce artificial stress concentrations at interior corners.
Top: Section view without fillets. Note stress concentrations at

arrows. Bottom: Section view with added fillets. Artificial stresses
are reduced.

Beam modeling
Activities
Beam modeling activities:
• Beam pre-processing — In this activity, you will learn how to prepare a
model for beam meshing, define cross sections, generate 1D meshes, and
modify beam orientation and offset.
• Beam post-processing — In this activity, you will learn how to request

force output for a beam solution, calculate complete beam stresses from
element forces and geometry, examine beam stress components, generate
cross-section displays, and add fillets to cross sections.

See 1D Meshing and Beam post-processing in the Advanced Simulation online
Help.

Beam modeling
Review questions
1. True/False. In Advanced Simulation, you can create solver-specific
standard cross sections.
2. True/False. To modify the orientation and offset of beam elements, edit

the mesh collector for the mesh.
3. A force output request is required in your solution in order to view which

of the following results:
a. Beam forces and moments.
b. Complete stress tensors.
c. Cross-section views.
d. All of the above.

Beam modeling
Summary
• Prepare the model for beam modeling.
• Define beam cross sections.
• Generate a 1D mesh.
• Orient beam cross sections.
• Request element force output.
• Display beam post-processing results.

Lesson
16 1D connections
Objectives
• Use 1D connections to join meshes.

1D connections
1D connections
Use 1D connections to:
• Connect component FEMs within an assembly FEM.
• Connect multiple sheet and solid bodies within a FEM.
• Model pins and bolts.
• Distribute mass, loads, or constraints.
• Define connection points for flexible body analysis.

1D connections
Geometry-based 1D connections
The 1D Connection command supports both geometry-based and

FE-based connections. Geometry-based connection types include:
• Point to Point • Edge to Edge
• Point to Edge • Edge to Face
• Point to Face

1D connections
Defining geometry-based 1D connections

You can define geometry-based 1D connections before or after you mesh the
polygon bodies to be connected.
• If you define 1D connections on unmeshed geometry, the software creates
a connection recipe, which is shown in the Simulation Navigator under
the Connection Collectors node. The connection is displayed in the
graphics window using a generic connection symbol.
When you subsequently mesh the polygon geometry, the software
generates 1D elements of the appropriate type, using nodes defined in the
geometry mesh. These 1D meshes are shown in the Simulation Navigator
under the 1D Collectors node.
• If you define 1D connections on meshed geometry, the software creates

both the connection recipe and the 1D meshes simultaneously.
1D Collectors
RBE3 Collector(1)
connection_recipe_1_mesh
connection_recipe_2_mesh
Connection Collectors
Connections
connection_recipe_1
connection_recipe_2

1D connections
FE-based 1D connections
You can also create FE-based 1D connections. FE-based 1D connections
are useful when you require precise control of node location or when the
underlying geometry is not available. However, FE-based connections may
not be updated correctly if the geometry or mesh is modified.
FE-based connection types include:
• Node to Node
• Element Edge to Element Face

1D connections
Edge to face 1D connections

To connect a set of edges to a set of faces, use the Edge to Face geometry-based
1D connection or the Element Edge to Element Face FE-based 1D connection.
When NX Nastran is the selected solver, the software:
• Projects RBE2 elements from the selected edge to the selected face.
• Uses RBE3 elements to tie the projected nodes to nodes on the face mesh.

1D connections
Point-to-point 1D connections
To connect nodes on one body to nodes on another body, use the Point to
Point geometry-based 1D connection and the Node to Node FE-based 1D
connection. The type of connection that is created depends on the number of
source and target points that you select:
• Use one-to-one connections — for structural elements such as pins or
struts.
• Use one-to-many connections — for spider elements to distribute mass,

loads, or constraints.
• Use many-to-many connections — when edge-to-edge or edge-to-face

connections are not appropriate.
Node-to-node connection distributing a lumped mass on an imported

mesh

1D connections
Defining spider elements

A spider element is defined as a single core node that is connected to multiple
leg nodes with rigid or constraint elements.
To define a spider element, use the Point to Edge 1D connection or the Point
to Face 1D connection.
You can also use the Point to Point 1D connection or the Node to Node 1D
connection to define a spider element. These connections provide more control
over leg node locations, and are especially useful when using spider elements
to distribute mass or loads.
When NX Nastran is the selected solver, spider elements are typically RBE2
or RBE3 elements. When ANSYS or ABAQUS is the solver, spider elements
are implemented as multi-point constraints (MPCs).

1D connections
RBE2 and RBE3 elements

In NX Nastran, RBE2 and RBE3 elements are frequently used as spider
elements.
RBE2 The displacement of the core node is enforced on the leg
nodes. Consequently, the leg nodes are dependent nodes
and RBE2 elements are rigid.
RBE3 The weighted average displacement of the leg nodes is
enforced on the core node. Consequently, the core node
is a dependent node and RBE3 elements are compliant.
These elements are well-suited for distributing mass and
loads in a model without adding stiffness.
Double-dependencies occur when two elements share a dependent node. To
automatically resolve most double-dependencies, set the NX Nastran solution
parameter AUTOMPC = Yes.
To set the AUTOMPC parameter, create a Solution Parameters modeling
object and select it on the Parameters page in the Solution Options dialog box.
Core node
Leg nodes

1D connections
Activities
For activities that contain 1D connections, see the following activities from
other lessons:
• Bolts and bolt preloads (Mesh connections lesson) — This activity uses a
CBEAM element to represent a bolt and uses RBE3 spider elements to
connect the ends of the bolt to the surrounding mesh.
• Applying a time-dependent boundary condition (Using fields in boundary

conditions lesson) — This activity uses a point-to-face 1D connection to
define a spider element to distribute an enforced displacement.

See Creating connections between meshes in the Advanced Simulation online
Help.

1D connections
Project
1D connections — This optional project uses the SESTATIC 101 solution
sequence to determine the amount a shaft twists.

1D connections
Review questions
1. If 1D connections are created on meshed geometry, does the software
create a connection recipe?
2. The core node for a mesh of RBE2 elements displaces 1 mm in the X

direction. What is the displacement of the leg nodes?
3. The core node for a mesh of RBE3 elements displaces 1 mm in the X

direction. What is the displacement of the leg nodes?

1D connections
Summary
• Connect meshes with RBE3 elements and point–to–face 1D connections.

Lesson
17 Mesh connections
Objectives
Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to connect meshing using:
• Mesh mating conditions.
• Contact meshes
• Spot welds.
• Bolted connections.

Mesh connections
Mesh Mating Condition

To connect individual 2D or 3D meshes together at a specified interface,
use the Mesh Mating Condition command. The software ensures that
connectivity is maintained at that interface.
For example, you can use Mesh Mating Condition to:
• Connect the meshes on similar bodies within an assembly.
• Create identical meshes on two faces to facilitate contact definition.
When you create a mesh mating condition, the software adds it to the
Connection Collectors in your FEM file in the Simulation Navigator.

Mesh connections
Setting mesh mating condition types

The Mesh Mating Condition Type list on the Mesh Mating Condition dialog
box controls the type of connection that you can create between bodies. You
can choose from the following types.
• With a Glue Coincident condition, the software makes both geometry

and the meshes match between the source and target faces.
• With a Glue Non-Coincident condition, the software creates

connections between the meshes on the source and target faces.
• With a Free Coincident connection, the software aligns the meshes on

the source and target faces. The software does not create any connections
between the meshes.

Mesh connections
Defining point-to-point contact

Use Contact Mesh to create point-to-point contact between two edges or a
portion of two edges defined by limiting points. The contact is defined with
gap elements.
Result types supported in post-processing for contact mesh include normal
force, sliding force, element status, and gap/penetration.

Mesh connections
Surface Contact Mesh

To create and define contact elements between two selected faces, use the
Surface Contact Mesh command.
Using surface contact, you can choose between four contact conditions:
standard, rough, no separation, or bonded. Depending on the solver you plan
to use, you define the contact elements as surface contacts or node-to-node
gap elements.

Mesh connections
Spot Weld
To define 1D element connections by projecting a series of locations to selected
faces that define the top and bottom of the meshes you are connecting, use
the Spot Weld command. You define the points to project by selecting
points or mesh points, or by selecting a curve or polygon edge and defining
the mesh density along that edge.

Mesh connections
Bolt Connection
To model bolts, use the Bolt Connection command. The Bolt Connection
command automatically creates an element that represents the shank of the
bolt and a pair of spider elements that connect the ends of the element to
the surrounding mesh.
NX provides other commands to assist in modeling bolted connections:
• You can use the Circular Imprint command to define the surfaces
around the bolt hole that are under the heads of the bolt and nut. By
imprinting these surfaces, the legs of the spider elements that are created
using the Bolt Connection command are automatically connected to all
the nodes within the imprinted surfaces.
• If NX Nastran is the solver and the elements representing the bolts are
CBEAM or CBAR, you can use the Bolt Pre-Load command for direct
entry of bolt preload forces.

Mesh connections
Activities
Mesh connections activities:
• Mesh mating — In this activity, you create automatic mesh mating
conditions to join the edges of a speaker cabinet.
• Bolts and bolt preloads— This activity uses a CBEAM element to

represent a bolt and uses RBE3 spider elements to connect the ends of
the bolt to the surrounding mesh.

See Meshing®Connecting Meshes in the Advanced Simulation online Help.

Mesh connections
Review questions
1. What two mesh mating condition types create aligned meshes on the
source and target faces?
2. Does a Free Coincident mesh mating condition connect the meshes?
3. Gap elements are created using what command?
4. True/False. The Bolt Connection command automatically creates an

element representing the shank of the bolt and a pair of spider elements
connecting the ends of the shank element to the surrounding mesh.

Mesh connections
Summary
• Create a mesh mating condition.
• Create spot welds.
• Create bolted connections.
• Create contact meshes.

Lesson
18 3D swept meshing
Objectives
• Prepare a part for swept meshing.
• Generate a 3D swept mesh.

3D swept meshing
3D Swept Mesh
To generate a mapped mesh of hexahedral or wedge elements by sweeping a
free or mapped surface mesh through a solid body, use the 3D Swept Mesh
command. You can use 3D Swept Mesh to generate a structured mesh

with layer by layer consistency on any 2 ½ dimensional solid body (a solid
with a constant cross section in one direction throughout) that meets certain
criteria.
The software sweeps a mesh from the source face through the solid, to a
target face. When the software generates the swept mesh, it propagates the
mesh into the body, layer by layer until the entire solid body is filled with
elements. The mesh on the source face, therefore, controls the mesh through
the solid body.
• You can use the 2D Mapped Mesh command to first create a structured
seed mesh on the source face before you use the 3D Swept Mesh command.
• You can use the options in the 3D Swept Mesh dialog box to control the
mesh on the source face.
For more information, see Criteria for sweepable bodies in the online Help.
(Top) 2D mesh on the source face; (Bottom) A hexahedral mesh on

the body after using 3D Swept Mesh

3D swept meshing
Simplifying a complex body before meshing

Before you generate a swept mesh on a body, you may first need to simplify
the body by subdividing it into smaller bodies.
You can use the Split Body command to divide a complex body into several
smaller, simpler bodies.
The Check for Sweepable Body option in the Split Body dialog box lets you
interactively preview whether the current body is sweepable:
• Red indicates that you must divide the body further before you can
generate a swept mesh.
• Yellow indicates that you may be able to generate a swept mesh on the
body but that the software has identified ambiguous target faces.
• Green indicates that you can generate a swept mesh on the body.
(A) Part with original colors; (B) part with Check for Sweepable
Bodies selected

3D swept meshing
Selecting the swept mesh type

The Types menu in the 3D Swept Mesh dialog box lets you control how the
software sweeps the mesh through the selected bodies.
• Select Multi Body-Infer Target to sweep a mesh from a selected source face
to a target face that the software determines. You can sweep the mesh
through a single body or through multiple individual bodies. If you select
source faces from multiple bodies, the software sweeps a separate mesh
through each individual body.
• Select Until Target when you want to sweep a 3D mesh from:

o A source face in one body to a target face in another body. In this
case, any intervening bodies between the source face and the target
face must be contiguous.
o Multiple, connected source faces to a single target face.
A, B, C are source faces for the swept mesh

3D swept meshing
Controlling the mesh on the source face

When you generate a swept mesh, the software sweeps the mesh on the
source face through the volume to the target face. The mesh on the source
face controls the mesh through the solid body. Consequently, you should
ensure that the mesh on the source face is regular (as structured as possible)
and contains high quality elements. Here are ways to control the mesh on
the source face:
• Use the 2D Mapped Mesh command to first create a structured seed mesh
on the source face.
• Use these options in the 3D Swept Mesh dialog box:

Attempt Free Mapped Meshing lets you create a mapped-like mesh
within the context of a free mesh.
Attempt Quad Only lets you control whether the software includes any
triangular elements in the mesh on the source face.
Edge Mapping tells the software to project any vertices along the
boundaries of the source face or faces to the target face.
The mesh on the wall faces when (A) the Edge Mapping check box is
cleared; (B) the Edge Mapping check box is selected

3D swept meshing
Activity
Swept meshing — In this activity, you will work through the process for
generating a swept mesh, including splitting the bodies into smaller bodies,
generating mesh mating conditions, and choosing swept meshing options.

See 3D swept meshing in the Advanced Simulation online Help.

3D swept meshing
Project
Swept meshing — This optional project shows how to generate a swept mesh
on a more complex assembly.

3D swept meshing
Review questions
1. What type of elements are created from 3D swept meshing?
2. How can you simplify a body before using swept meshing?

3D swept meshing
Summary
• Prepare a part for swept meshing using Split Body.
• Generate a 3D swept mesh.

Lesson
19 Manual meshing
Objectives
• Create nodes and elements.
• Copy nodes and elements.
• Modify nodes and elements.
• Get information about nodes and elements.

Manual meshing
Manual meshing overview

Manual meshing commands let you work directly with nodes and elements.
You can use these commands to:
• Make manual modifications to selected regions of an existing finite
element model. For example, you can use the Drag Node command to
reposition individual nodes within your model to improve aspects of
element quality. You can also use commands such as Split Shell to divide
selected 2D elements.
• Build an entire finite element model by creating individual nodes and

elements. This method is known as “bottom up” meshing. This technique
is useful in cases where the actual geometry is not available or, for
example, when you can approximate the geometry using beam elements.
To manually create and modify nodes and elements, use the commands on the
Node Operations and Element Operations toolbars.
Manually generated nodes and elements are not associated to the underlying
geometry. If your geometry is updated, the positions of the manually
generated nodes and elements are not updated.

Manual meshing
Model Display
To modify the symbols and colors used to display nodes and elements, use the
Preferences®Model Display dialog box.
• You can display nodes as dots or asterisks.
• You can choose the display quality for elements. You can also base the
element color on physical property or material property tables.

Manual meshing
Node creation commands
Creates nodes on selected points.

Node Create
Creates one or more nodes between

existing nodes.
Node Between Nodes
Creates nodes on a point, or along an

edge or curve.
Node on Point/Curve/Edge
(Top) Original nodes; (Bottom) Nodes after using Node Between

Nodes

Manual meshing
Node copy commands

Moves a group of nodes a specified
distance. You can either translate
the nodes, or copy and translate the
Node Translate copied nodes.
Rotates nodes through an arc, about
a point. You can either rotate the
nodes, or copy and rotate the copied
Node Rotate nodes.
Reflects nodes across a plane. You
can either reflect a set of nodes to the
opposite side of a plane, or copy and
Node Reflect reflect the copied set of nodes.
(Top) Original nodes; (Bottom) Nodes after using Node Translate

Manual meshing
Element Create
To create elements in your model by selecting existing nodes, use the Element
Create command.
For example, you can create a few individual 1D elements to join two different
sheet bodies or solid bodies.
To create an element, you:
• Select the element type, which depends on the solver and analysis type.
• Assign the element to a mesh collector.
• Select nodes to define the element.

Manual meshing
(Top) Hole in mesh; (Bottom) An element is created to fill the hole

Manual meshing
Element Extrude and Element Revolve

Extrudes element edges or faces in
any direction in 3D space.
For example, you can extrude the face
Element Extrude of a quadrilateral element to create a
brick element.
Revolves element edges into 2D
elements or element faces into 3D
Element Revolve elements.
(Left) Original mesh of 2D elements; (Right) Mesh of 3D elements

after the 2D elements are extruded along a vector

Manual meshing
Element copy commands

Copies and moves selected elements
either a distance with respect to a
Element Copy and Translate coordinate system, or along a vector.
Projects 1D or 2D elements along a

vector to a target surface.
Element Copy and Project
Creates a symmetrical model by
copying elements and reflecting them
Element Copy and Reflect across a plane.

Manual meshing
(Top) Original elements; (Bottom) Original and reflected elements

Manual meshing
Modifying node locations

Use the following commands to modify the position of individual nodes with
respect to a mesh:
• Use the Node Drag command to interactively reposition nodes

associated with 2D elements.
• Use the Node Align command to align one or more nodes with respect
to a line you define by selecting two nodes. The software adjusts the edges
of the elements associated with those nodes.
• Use the Node Modify Coordinates command to move a node by

modifying its coordinates relative to a specific coordinate system.
(Top) Original mesh; (Bottom) Mesh after using Node Align

Manual meshing
Modifying 2D elements
Use the following commands to modify 2D elements to improve mesh quality:
• Use the Split Shell command to subdivide quadrilateral 2D elements.
• Use the Combine Triangles command to combine two selected

triangular elements into a single quadrilateral element.
• Use the Move Node command to reposition the node of a 2D element.
(Top) Original quadrilateral element; (Bottom) Resulting triangular

elements after using Split Shell

Manual meshing
Modifying element connectivity
Use the Element Modify Connectivity command to replace a node from

one element with another node.
(Top) Original elements; (Bottom) Elements after changing

connectivity. Element shapes are modified.

Manual meshing
Node and element management commands

Modifies the label of selected nodes.
Node Modify Label

Modifies the label of selected elements.
Element Modify Label

Lists properties of selected nodes and elements.
Node/Element Information
Deletes nodes.
Node Delete
Deletes elements.
Element Delete

Manual meshing
More node and element management commands

Unlocks a locked mesh so it can update.
Unlock Mesh
Assigns a nodal displacement or reference
coordinate system to nodes or geometry.
Assign Nodal Coordinate
System
Identifies the nodal displacement or reference
coordinate system for selected nodes.
Nodal Coordinate System
Modifies mesh order from linear to parabolic,
or parabolic to linear.
Element Modify Order
Extracts elements into new meshes.
Element Extract

Manual meshing
Activities
Manual meshing activities:
• Manual meshing — In this activity, you use some of the manual node and
element commands to improve element quality and create new elements.
• Repairing free edges — In this activity, you use manual meshing tools to
repair free element edges and improve node connectivity.

See Manual meshing in the Advanced Simulation online Help.

Manual meshing
Review questions
1. True/False. An entire finite element model can be created using the
manual meshing commands.
2. Discuss how the Split Shell command can be used to improve mesh quality.
3. Discuss how the Combine Tris command can be used to improve mesh
quality.

Manual meshing
Summary
• Create nodes and elements.
• Copy nodes and elements.
• Modify nodes and elements.
• List information about nodes and elements.

Lesson
20 Mesh quality
Objectives
• Check the quality of the mesh before solving.

Mesh quality
Checking the quality of your mesh

In Advanced Simulation, you can use several commands to check the quality
of your mesh. You can:
• Check the status of meshes in the Simulation Navigator to make sure
they are up-to-date. If not, use the Update Finite Element Model
command.
• Check for mesh quality with the Finite Element Model Check checks.
You can run these checks: Element Shapes, Element Outlines, Nodes, 2D
Element Normals, 2D Element Normals by Seed, Node Proximity to CAD
Geometry, and 2D Element Material Orientation.
• Delete free nodes that are not connected to any elements. To do this,
deselect the mesh displays in the Simulation Navigator, and set the
node display marker to asterisk with the Preferences®Model Display
command. If the node is not used by an element, it is displayed.
Free nodes that are not part of a mesh

Mesh quality
Checking element shapes

Use the Element Shapes check on the Model Check dialog box to detect
elements that may be too distorted to yield good analysis results.
Each type of element has an ideal shape. As elements in a model deviate from
their ideal shape, quality decreases and inaccuracies within results increase.
For a persistent display of problem elements, use the Model Display command
and set the Color Basis option to Element Quality Checks.
(Top) Ideal element shape; (Bottom) Distorted element shape

Mesh quality
Modifying shape threshold values

To view and adjust specific threshold values for the quality checks, click
Threshold Values on the Model Check dialog box. Set the Element Type,
then set the maximum value allowed for each test.
Any element whose test results exceed the threshold values will fail the test.
Failed elements are stored in an output group that is listed in the Simulation
Navigator. You can select the output group to display only the failed elements.
The values you enter should depend on the accuracy you need from your
analysis and the requirements of your specified solver.
The default threshold values are not solver specific. They are intended to
provide a general assessment of element quality.

Mesh quality
Improving element shapes

To improve distorted elements, you can:
• Modify the underlying geometry using the geometry abstraction tools.
• Modify the elements using commands on the Element Operations toolbar,
including Split Shell and Move Node .

Mesh quality
Checking for free element edges and element faces

To ensure that your model is continuous and does not have any cracks, use
the Element Outlines check on the Model Check dialog box. You can:
• Highlight free edges, which are element edges that are not connected to
any other element. Use the Display Free Edges option.
• Highlight free faces of meshes, which are element faces that are not
connected to any other element. Use the Display Free Faces option. This
option also checks all 2D shell elements to ensure that they have an
assigned thickness.
Free faces displayed on a model

Mesh quality
Merging coincident nodes

To detect and merge coincident (duplicate) nodes between meshes, use the
Nodes check on the Model Check dialog box.
This check is useful when you work with assembly models or with models that
contain multiple meshes. If a model contains coincident nodes, singularities
or other rigid body motion errors can occur during the solve.

Mesh quality
Controlling element normal direction

Two checks let you control the direction of element normals. Consistent
element normal directions are important, for example, to ensure the proper
post-processing of element stress and strain results.
• To display and reverse 2D element normals, use the 2D Element Normals
check on the Model Check dialog box. Once you reverse an element’s
normal, the software maintains that reversal across all mesh updates.
When you reverse an element’s normal, you reverse the connectivity of
that element. For example, if the software created the element’s nodes
in the order of 1,2,3,4, the order becomes 4,3,2,1 when the connectivity
is reversed.
• To orient the normals of 2D elements to match the normal of a selected

“seed” element, use the 2D Element Normals by Seed check on the Model
Check dialog box.
2D element normals

Mesh quality
Checking node proximity to geometry

To check the proximity of the nodes to the original CAD geometry, use the
Node Proximity to CAD Geometry check on the Model Check dialog box. You
can evaluate the fidelity of the mesh to the underlying CAD part. The mesh
is created on the polygon geometry.
This check is useful before you perform a contact analysis when you need to
ensure the proximity of node locations in regions of contact. When you use
this check, you:
• Specify a Proximity Tolerance to define the maximum distance a node can
lie from the corresponding CAD edge or face. The software evaluates the
nodes and reports any that exceed the tolerance.
• Use the Adjust Node Proximity option to move nodes so they lie within
the tolerance.

Mesh quality
Checking material and physical properties

You can use mesh collectors to ensure that material and physical properties
are properly defined. You can:
• Display each mesh collector in turn to verify that meshes are assigned to
the correct collector.
• Edit each mesh collector to check that the correct physical and material
properties are assigned to the elements. Ensure that the properties use
the correct units.

Mesh quality
Checking the model

To run general model checks in the Simulation file, use the Finite Element
Model Check Model Setup check to verify that:

• Meshes have the required physical properties, such as thicknesses for
shell meshes.
• Materials required by meshes exist and material properties are properly

defined.
• Solutions and associated steps have boundary conditions defined.
• Parameters are set correctly. Parameters vary depending on the solution

type.
The software displays the check results and error summaries in an

Information window.

Mesh quality

Mesh quality
Activity
Mesh quality — In this activity, you will mesh a midsurface and then evaluate
the quality of the elements.

Mesh quality
Review questions
1. True/False. The Finite Element Model Check can be used to locate highly
distorted elements.
2. True/False. The user can adjust the threshold values of the criteria used
to locate highly distorted elements.

Mesh quality
Summary
• Check the quality of the mesh before solving.

Part
IV Working with polygon geometry

Lesson
21 Geometry abstraction
Objectives
• Understand the difference between geometry abstraction and geometry
idealization.
• Use geometry abstraction techniques to improve the quality of your

geometry for meshing.

Geometry abstraction
To perform geometry abstraction operations on your model, use the Model
Cleanup toolbar commands. Geometry abstraction eliminates issues with the
CAD geometry that can cause undesirable results when you mesh your model.
With geometry abstraction commands, you can:
• Improve the quality of your mesh by manually eliminating problematic
geometry. For example, you can remove very small surfaces or small edges
from your model that can degrade element quality in that region.
• Create boundaries on which to define loads and constraints.

(Top) Geometry before abstraction; (Bottom) Geometry after

abstraction

Polygon geometry
Polygon geometry is a faceted representation of the geometry in the master
part. When you create a FEM file, the software automatically creates polygon
geometry from the idealized part. Polygon geometry allows you to:
• Tailor the CAD geometry to fit the needs of your CAE analysis.
• Repair issues with the design geometry, such as narrow regions or tiny
edges, that can prevent the software from meshing or solving your model.
The polygon geometry is initially a one-for-one representation of your original

master part. That is, for every body, face, and edge in your model, the software
creates a corresponding polygon body, polygon face, and polygon edge.

Geometry abstraction compared to geometry idealization

Geometry idealization and geometry abstraction operations are similar in
their intent. Both allow you to specifically tailor the geometry to the needs of
your analysis. However, the two are fundamentally distinct processes that
operate on different aspects of your model.
Geometry abstraction:
• Is performed on the polygon geometry within the FEM file.
• Lets you eliminate issues with the CAD geometry that can cause
undesirable results when you mesh your model.
Geometry idealization:
• Is performed on the idealized part.
• Lets you simplify your model by removing or suppressing unnecessary

features.

The geometry abstraction process

To abstract the polygon geometry in your FEM file, you can:
• Use the software’s automatic abstraction capabilities during 2D or 3D
meshing.
• Use Auto Heal Geometry and other manual cleanup commands

to manually abstract your model. These commands are on the Model
Cleanup toolbar.
During abstraction, the software eliminates:

• Short edges.
• Sliver faces.
• Highly pinched regions of the geometry.
(Top) Original geometry; (Bottom) Geometry after using Auto Heal

Geometry

Automatic abstraction
During the 2D or 3D meshing process, the software has the ability to
automatically abstract the following geometry to prevent problems :
• Edges that are shorter than the specified small feature tolerance. This
prevents the software from creating an element with a very short edge
from being created on the geometry that is meshed.
• Sliver faces whose width (W) is smaller than the specified small feature
tolerance.
• Highly pinched regions of the geometry. A pinched region is a very narrow

region of a surface whose width is smaller than the specified small feature
tolerance.


Split Edge
To split a single edge into two separate edges, use the Split Edge
command.
You may want to split an edge to:
• Define separate boundary conditions on different portions of an edge.
• Prepare to split a face.
(Top) Edge split before meshing; (Bottom) A higher mesh density

defined along the center edge

Split Face
To divide a selected polygon face into two separate faces, use the Split Face
command.
You can use this command to:
• Add an edge to divide a face so that you can apply an edge-based load.
• Divide an irregular face into several smaller faces on which you can define
mapped meshes.
• Restore an edge that was previously removed by the Merge Face or Auto
Heal Geometry commands, or by the automatic abstraction that occurs
during meshing.
(Top) Original face; (Bottom) Face after using Split Face

Merge Edge
To merge two edges together at a selected end-of-edge location, use the Merge
Edge command.
You may want to merge edges to:
• Create a larger or more continuous boundary edge prior to meshing.
• Recombine edges that you previously divided with the Split Edge
command.
(Top) One edge selected; (Middle) A second edge selected and merged
with the first edge (Bottom) The mesh after using Merge Edge

Merge Face
To merge two polygon faces into a single polygon face along a common polygon
edge, use the Merge Face command.

You may want to merge polygon faces to:
• Create larger faces prior to meshing.
• Recombine faces that you previously divided with the Split Face command.

(Top) Original part; (Bottom) After using Merge Face

Stitch Edge
To stitch edges to other edges or faces, use the Stitch Edge command.
• Join multiple edges into a single edge. You can join edges of either
dissimilar or similar lengths.
• Stitch an edge to a face.
Stitch Edge is particularly useful for eliminating free edges that can occur
when you create a midsurface on a thin-walled part. You can also use Stitch
Edge to repair small gaps or cracks between surfaces in your model.
(Top) Original free edges; (Bottom) Edges after using Stitch Edge

Collapse Edge
To collapse an edge to either one of its end points or to a specified point along
the edge, use the Collapse Edge command.

• Manually remove very small edges from your model by collapsing them to
a point.
• Collapse a selected polygon edge to any point along that edge.
(Top) A very small polygon edge; (Bottom) The edge collapsed to its
end point after using Collapse Edge

Suppressing holes in sheet bodies

Some models may contain holes that have little impact on its overall stiffness.
In analyses in which you are interested in the overall behavior of a structure
and not the stresses in the vicinity of the holes, you may want to ignore
selected holes to eliminate unnecessary mesh density. You can use the
Suppress Hole command to remove holes from sheet bodies, such as

midsurface sheet bodies. You can remove:
• Selected holes or all holes whose diameter is smaller than a specified
threshold value.
• Holes contained within a single face.
• Holes that span multiple faces.
• Both circular and non-circular holes.
(A) shows a 2D mesh on a midsurface sheet body that contains a

series of 4 mm holes. (B) shows the updated mesh on the sheet body
after the Suppress Hole command was used to remove all holes with
a diameter smaller than 5 mm.
You can use the Suppress Hole command either before or after you create a
mesh on the part. If you use Suppress Hole to remove holes from a face that
you have already meshed, you must use the Update Finite Element Model
command to update the mesh.

Face Repair
To create new polygon faces from free polygon edges on the surrounding body,
use the Face Repair command.

• Repair a corrupt or poor quality polygon face that did not tessellate
properly when the software created the polygon geometry.
• Create a new polygon face to fill a missing void in your model.
• Delete existing polygon faces.
(Top) A missing face; (Bottom) The face after using Face Repair

Reset
To restore abstracted polygon geometry to its original state, use the Reset
command.
• Remove changes you made to the polygon geometry with the geometry
abstraction commands such as Split Face.
• Return the portion of the polygon geometry you select to its original state
prior to any modifications.
The Reset command does not work for changes made with the Stitch Edge
command, because of the way that the Stitch Edge command modifies the
polygon geometry. Use the Unstitch Edge command to undo the Stitch Edge
command.

Identifying and repairing polygon body problems

When you create a FEM file, if you select the Associate to Part option
in the New FEM dialog box, the software automatically creates polygon
geometry from the geometry in your CAD model. As you work with that
polygon geometry, polygon bodies may develop data consistency or corruption
problems. In other cases, you may make unintended modifications to that
polygon geometry.
Two tools can help you identify and repair these problems:
• You can use the CAE Model Consistency option in the Model Check
dialog box to check all polygon bodies in your FEM file for issues. If the
software identifies problems, it lists the affected polygon bodies by name
and stores the modified bodies in an output group.
• If the software identifies polygon bodies with consistency issues, and the
CAD part that is associated with the current FEM file is loaded, you can
use options in the Simulation Navigator to fix those issues: Recreate
and Update, Recreate, and Delete.

Activities
Geometry abstraction activities:
• Geometry abstraction — In this activity, you will mesh a simple part to
familiarize yourself with the geometry abstraction tools.
• Stitching — In this activity, you will learn the process for stitching a
model with unstitched surfaces.

See Geometry Abstraction in the Advanced Simulation online Help.

Project
Geometry abstraction — This optional project uses the SESTATIC 101
solution sequence to perform a structural analysis on stitched geometry.

Review questions
1. True/False. Geometry abstraction occurs in the idealized part file.
2. True/False. During meshing the software will automatically abstract

(eliminate) edges, sliver faces, and pinched regions smaller than a
user-specified small feature tolerance.
3. What command can be used to combine small edges into a larger edge?
4. Give examples of when the Stitch Edge command might be used.
5. Can abstracted geometry be restored to its original state?

Summary
• The difference between geometry idealization and geometry abstraction.
• How to use various geometry abstraction tools to simplify geometry before

meshing it.

Part
V Boundary condition types

and techniques

Lesson
22 Boundary condition types
Objectives
• Apply bearing and pressure loads.
• Apply fixed and pinned constraints.

Boundary condition types
Structural loads
Used to model concentrated forces.
Force
Used to model the force distribution that is
transmitted between cylindrical bodies.
Bearing
Used to model pressure acting on surfaces and
distributed force acting on beams.
Pressure
Used to model pressure that increases linearly
with depth.
Hydrostatic Pressure
Used to model weight and inertia forces.
Gravity
Used to specify temperatures. The
temperatures are used for thermal strain and
temperature dependent material properties.
Temperature Load

Force
The force load applied to geometry or FE entities depends on the type of
force load you select:
• Magnitude and direction defines a force with a magnitude and a single
direction.
• Normal defines a force with a magnitude and a +/– direction normal to

the selected geometry or element faces.
• Component defines a force in terms of a global or local coordinate system.
• Edge-face defines a force on an edge using the face for the orientation.
• Node ID Table defines a force load using a node ID table. The node ID table
contains a list of nodes and X, Y, and Z components applied to each node.

Structural constraints
Constrains any of the six individual degrees of

freedom (DOF). Each DOF can be either free, fixed,
User Defined or given an enforced displacement.
Constraint
Applies a known displacement to geometry or FE

Enforced entities.
Displacement
Constraint
Fixes all six DOF.

Fixed Constraint
Allows translation in a specified direction. All five
other DOF are fixed.
Slider Constraint
Constrains a cylindrical face or circular edge to
rotate about its axis by allowing translation in the
tangential direction, fixing the radial and axial
Pinned Constraint translations, and fixing the rotations about all three
translational directions.

Activities
Boundary conditions types activities:
• Applying a bearing load and pinned constraints — In this activity, you
will create a bearing load and pinned constraints.
• Applying a pressure load and fixed constraint — In this activity, you will
create a pressure load on a subdivided face.


Review questions
1. Give an example of where a bearing load is appropriate.
2. A pinned constraint is based on a cylindrical coordinate system and

allows only rotation about the Z axis. How could you create an equivalent
constraint condition using the User Defined Constraint command?
Assume 3D elements.

Summary
In this lesson you learned how to apply:
• Bearing and pressure loads.
• Pinned and fixed constraints.

Lesson
23 Boundary condition techniques
Objectives
• Modify boundary condition symbol displays.
• Manage boundary conditions using the Simulation Navigator.
• Use a coordinate system to define a boundary condition.
• Resolve constraint conflicts.

Boundary condition techniques
Boundary conditions displays

Loads and constraints are displayed graphically. You can modify the color,
line weight, or size of the boundary condition symbol.

Creating displays to validate temperature or pressure loads

To generate a contour plot of pressure, nodal pressure, or temperature
loading as a standard post view, use the Plot Contours option. You can use
these contour plots to verify your loading conditions, to generate high-quality
visualizations for reports or presentations, and to interrogate and extract
loading data
When you generate a contour plot of pressure or temperature, the
Post-Processing toolbar is enabled, and you can use these tools to view and
interrogate your loading conditions.
You can use Edit Post View to modify the loading display, and you can
use Identify Results to probe loading values at nodes and write export
them to a spreadsheet or comma-separated-value file.
(Top) A parametric spatially varying pressure load; (Bottom) The

same load as a spherical marker plot

Boundary conditions management

In the Simulation Navigator, you can:
• Edit the options that define the boundary condition.
• Copy a boundary condition from one solution to another.
• Remove a boundary condition from a solution.
• Rename a boundary condition.

Simulation coordinate systems

Coordinate systems help you both to perform geometry model operations and
to define your finite element model. Coordinate systems used in Advanced
Simulation include:
• The absolute coordinate system
• The work coordinate system (WCS)
• Local coordinate systems
• Nodal coordinate systems
Local and nodal coordinate systems may be (A) Cartesian, (B)

cylindrical, or (C) spherical.
Creating additional coordinate systems

You can define additional coordinate systems in the FEM file, the Simulation
file or the idealized part file.
• In the FEM file, use additional coordinate systems during manual node
and element creation and to define nodal displacement coordinate systems.
• In the Simulation file, use additional coordinate systems to define

component loads and constraints.
Choose Insert®Model Preparation ®Coordinate System to define additional

coordinate systems.

Absolute coordinate system

The absolute coordinate system has the following characteristics:
• It is defined automatically.
• It is permanent.
• It cannot be moved.
• It is Cartesian.
• It provides the frame of reference for all other coordinate systems.
• It is used when exporting an input file for another solver. The software
writes out the location of each node in the absolute coordinate system.
The view triad is circled. It shows the orientation of the absolute

coordinate system.

Work coordinate system (WCS)

The work coordinate system has the following characteristics:
• It can be moved anywhere in model space.
• It is the frame of reference for modeling operations.
• It is used when you create, orient, or examine an FE entity or geometry.

For example, you specify a node’s coordinate with respect to the WCS.
The work coordinate system is circled.

Local coordinate system

A local coordinate system has the following characteristics:
• It is user-defined.
• It can be referenced when defining component-based boundary conditions.
• It can be Cartesian, cylindrical, or spherical.
The circled area is a local coordinate system.

Nodal coordinate system

A nodal coordinate system is a local coordinate system that has been assigned
to one or more nodes.
• The nodal displacement coordinate system provides the nodal frame of
reference for the structural degrees of freedom.
Use the nodal displacement coordinate system when you define nodal
displacement constraints.
• The nodal reference coordinate system provides the nodal frame of

reference for node coordinates (grid points).
After you assign a nodal reference coordinate system to a set of nodes,
you can move those nodes and the attached elements by repositioning or
reorienting the reference coordinate system.
Use the Assign Nodal Coordinate System command to assign

displacement and reference coordinate systems to nodes.
The circled area is a local coordinate system assigned to a nodal

displacement coordinate system.

Excluding objects from boundary conditions

When you define loads or constraints, use the Excluded option to specify
geometry or FE entities to exclude from the boundary condition definition.
For example, you can define a fixed constraint on a polygon face, and exclude
the polygon edges.
Use the Excluded option to:
• Avoid conflicts in constraints applied to shared geometry. You can prevent
the software from creating a constraint along edges that are shared
between faces.
• Apply a load to geometry and exclude selected elements. You can then
apply a different load to the excluded elements.

(Top) Fixed constraint on a polygon face; (Bottom) Fixed constraint

on a polygon face, with a polygon edge excluded

Resolve constraint conflicts

Constraint conflicts may occur if a constraint set includes multiple constraints
that are applied to the same geometry. Each time you create a constraint,
a conflict check automatically runs and identifies constraint conflicts. Icons
appear in the Simulation Navigator next to the conflicting constraints to
indicate the conflict.
To resolve the constraints, right-click the solution node and choose Resolve
Constraints.
For the constraints you choose to resolve, the software resolves the degrees
of freedom at the common geometry and then saves them to a Resolved
Constraint Group in the Simulation Navigator.

Activity
Using local coordinate systems — In this activity, you will learn techniques
for working with local coordinate systems to define boundary conditions.


Review questions
1. True/False. The global coordinate system can be moved and redefined as
cylindrical.
2. True/False. By default, the nodal displacement coordinate system is the

global coordinate system.
3. What option on the constraint dialog boxes can be used to avoid creating
conflicting constraints?

Summary
• Modify boundary condition symbol displays.
• Manage boundary conditions using the Simulation Navigator.
• Use a coordinate system to define a boundary condition.
• Resolve constraint conflicts.

Lesson
24 Using fields in boundary

conditions
Objectives
• Define time-dependent or spatially-varying boundary conditions using
fields.
• Evaluate stresses for a portion of a model using the breakout modeling

technique.

Using fields in boundary conditions
Using fields in Advanced Simulation

In NX, you can use fields to define a function for one or more dependent
domains or variables based on their relationships to one or more independent
domains or variables.
In Advanced Simulation, you can use fields to:
• Define how boundary conditions vary with time, temperature, or
frequency. For example, you can use a field to define how the magnitude
of a force varies with time.
• Define how the magnitude of a boundary condition is distributed spatially.

For example, you can use a field to vary the magnitude of a force
depending on its location on a surface.
• Define material properties. For example, to define a hyperelastic material,

you can use a table field to define stress/strain data.

Types of fields
• Formula fields let you use NX expressions to define the relationship
between independent and dependent variables.
• Table fields let you define a table of independent variables and dependent
variables. An interpolation algorithm is applied to a table to create a
smooth data fit through the defining values.
• Linked fields let you reference an existing field, and then override the
spatial map used to define the field’s location.
• Spatial fields can be used to define how a boundary condition maps to

a spatial area of a model.

Defining boundary conditions with fields

You can use fields to define how the magnitude of the load or constraint varies,
as well as how the load or constraint maps to a spatial area of the model. The
type of boundary condition determines the methods that you can use to define
magnitude or to define how the boundary condition is distributed spatially.
• Non-spatial or standard boundary condition types include Force, Moment,
Bearing.
• Spatial boundary conditions include the spatial types of Pressure loads,

Temperature Load, and many others.
Some boundary conditions, such as Pressure, have both standard and spatial
types.

Using fields with standard boundary conditions

You use a field with most standard boundary condition types to:
• Define how the magnitude of a boundary condition varies with frequency,
time, or temperature. You can also apply a unitless scaling factor to the
magnitude.
• Define how the boundary condition is distributed spatially over a model.

The same spatial distribution field can be used for different boundary
conditions such as force, pressure, or enforced displacement. This method
is best for spatially-varying boundary conditions.
(Left) Options for defining a force with a field; (Right) Options for
defining spatial distribution of a force with a field

Using fields with spatial boundary conditions

For spatial boundary conditions, you define the spatial distribution and
magnitude at the same time.
Spatial types of boundary conditions include spatial in the name; otherwise,
the boundary condition is a standard type.
Spatial boundary condition types are best for applying externally generated
results to the model. The spatial boundary condition types use a field to define
the units for the boundary condition, which corresponds well to external data.

Define force with a formula field

This example shows how to define the magnitude of a normal force using a
formula field that varies with time.
1. Create a direct transient response solution (NX Nastran SEDTRAN 109).
2. On the Advanced Simulation toolbar, click Force.
3. Select Normal from the Type list.
4. Select the geometry or FE entity to which the force will be applied.
5. In the Magnitude group, select Field from the Force list.
6. From the Specify Field list, select Formula Constructor.
7. On the Independent page, In the Domain group, select Time from the
Domain list.
8. In the Expressions box, enter 1000*ug_var(“time”)/1sec
9. Click Accept Edit
10. Click OK in all dialog boxes.

Define a spatial normal pressure load

This example shows how to define a normal pressure using a spatial type load.
1. Choose Analysis®Measure Distance, and measure the length of your
part. In this example, the length of the part is 300 mm.
2. On the Advanced Simulation toolbar, click Pressure.
3. From the Type list, select Normal pressure on 2D elements or 3D element

faces – spatial.
4. Select the geometry or FE entity to which the pressure will be applied.
5. In the Magnitude group, from the Specify Field list, select Formula
Constructor.
6. In the Formula Field dialog box, on the Independent tab, in the Domain
group, select Length.
7. In the Expressions box, enter sin((ug_var("x")/300)*180)

Notice that the independent variable is X.
8. In the Spatial Map group, select Cartesian from the Type list.
9. Define a new coordinate system. The field will use the X axis of this
coordinate system.
10. Click Accept Edit.
11. Click OK in all dialog boxes.
12. In the Simulation Navigator, expand the Fields node.
13. Under Fields, select Pressure to turn on the display of the spatial field.

The field is defined along the X axis of the new Cartesian coordinate
system. The pressure magnitude varies with the field.

Breakout modeling
Breakout modeling is a technique that allows you to evaluate stresses for a
portion of an overall model. In breakout modeling, you:
• Analyze the overall structure, using a coarse mesh, and then solve for
displacements.
• Create breakout models and critical stress locations using a fine mesh.
• Map the displacement results from the overall model to the cut faces of
the breakout model.
• Solve the breakout model and evaluate stresses.

Breakout modeling uses

You may want to use breakout modeling for the following reasons:
• Creating a fine mesh of an overall structure can be very expensive
in terms of performance and hardware requirements, especially for
nonlinear analysis.
• Large, fine meshes can significantly increase turnaround times for

variants and model changes.
• Stress evaluations must be done with existing (coarser) models.
• It is difficult to refine critical areas in advance because not all critical

locations are obvious.

Breakout modeling workflow

1. Build a model of a structure, using a coarse mesh.
2. Solve the model for displacements.
3. Identify a portion of the model to study. Make a group of the nodes and
elements.

4. In Post processing, save displacement results for the group to a .csv file.
5. Create a new FEM that includes geometry for the group.

6. Mesh the new model with a finer mesh.
7. Create boundary conditions on the borders of the breakout model. To

define an enforced displacement, create a field that uses the displacement
results from the original analysis.

8. Solve the new model, and review the displacement and stress results.

Activities
Using fields in boundary conditions activities:
• Applying a time-dependent boundary condition — In this activity, you use
a table field to define a time-dependent enforced displacement constraint.
• Applying a spatially-varying pressure — In this activity, you use a formula

field to define a spatially-varying pressure.


Review questions
1. True/False. Fields can be used to define how boundary conditions vary
with time, temperature, or frequency.
2. True/False. A spatial field can be used to define how the magnitude of a

boundary condition varies with location.

Summary
• Define time-dependent and spatially-varying boundary conditions using
fields.
• Evaluate stresses on a portion of the model using the breakout modeling

technique.

Lesson
25 Model quality
Objectives
• Check the quality of the Simulation file before solving.

Model quality
Checking the model

To run general model checks in the Simulation file, use the Finite Element
Model Check Model Setup check to verify that:

• Meshes have the required physical properties, such as thicknesses for
shell meshes.
• Materials required by meshes exist and material properties are properly

defined.
• Solutions and associated steps have boundary conditions defined.
• Parameters are set correctly. Parameters vary depending on the solution

type.
The software displays the check results and error summaries in an

Information window.

Model quality

Model quality
Check boundary conditions

• Display each boundary condition in turn to check that it is applied to the
appropriate geometry or FE entity.
• Edit each boundary condition to check that values are defined correctly.
Ensure that the units are correct. Check to see that the correct
displacement coordinate system is used.
• Review conflicts between constraints sharing the same geometry.

Model quality
Check solutions
• Check the solution attribute values. Make sure that you request the
correct output types.
• If your model contains primarily tetrahedral elements and does not

include contact, turn on the Iterative Solver option in the solution
attributes.
• After you run a comprehensive check on the model, turn on the Iterative
Solver option if you are prompted to do so.

Model quality
Run a linear static solve first

To verify models before you do a transient or nonlinear solve, run a linear
static solve that includes a gravity load. This will verify if:
• The mass is correct.
• The meshes are connected correctly with mesh mating or gluing.
• The meshes are able to come into contact, when contact is included.
• The constraints are applied correctly.

Model quality
Review questions
1. True/False. In the Simulation file, the Model Setup feature of the Finite
Element Model Check command can be used to check that boundary
conditions are defined.
2. What is a good way to verify the quality of a model before you run a
time-consuming solve like a nonlinear analysis?

Model quality
Summary
In this lesson you:
• Learned how to check the quality of the Simulation file before solving.

Lesson
26 Reports
Objectives
• Generate a report containing model data.
• Export the report to an HTML file.
• Add images to a report.

Reports
Creating a report
Use the Create Report command to generate a report.

The report is an HTML document. It contains:
• A title.
• Multiple chapters. Each chapter contains automatically generated

information, with some sections including optional information that you
can enter or edit.
• GIF images.
Report structure in the Simulation Navigator

Reports
Exporting a report
To write the report to an HTML file and graphics files, use the Export option.
The report is stored in your local temp directory.
When the files are written, the software launches your default browser and
displays the resulting report.

Reports
Adding images to the report

In the Simulation Navigator, under Report, right-click the Images node and
choose Snapshot.
You can snap model images, as well as Post-processing images.

Reports
Activity
Reports — In this activity, you create an HTML report of model data, solution
data, and images.

See Reports in the Advanced Simulation online Help.

Reports
Review questions
1. What command automatically generates a report?
2. True/False. Images can be included in a report.

Reports
Summary
In this lesson you:
• Generated a report.
• Exported the report to an HTML file.
• Added images to the report.

Index
Numerics/Symbols Assign Nodal Coordinate System

command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-15
1D element connections Associative copy techniques . . . . . . . 9-3
spot weld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-6 Attempt Free Mapped Meshing
1D element sections . . . . . . . . 15-3, 15-5 option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
1D meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-3 swept meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-5
2D Element Normals check . . . . . . 20-8 Attempt Quad Only option
2D Mapped Mesh command . . . . . . 5-13 swept meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-5
2D Mesh command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5 Attributes
2D meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5, 5-7 solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
fillets and cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8 Auto Chain Selection option
3D Swept Mesh command . . . . . . . 18-2 1D Mesh dialog box . . . . . . . . . . 15-4
3D Tetrahedral Mesh command . . . . 5-3 Automatic Element Size option . . . 14-3
AUTOMPC parameter . . . . . . . . . . 16-9
A Axisymmetric Structural
analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9–7-10
ABAQUS solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Absolute coordinate system . . . . . . 23-6 B
Abstraction
automatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-7 Basic Curves dialog box . . . . . . . . . 11-6
geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-2, 21-6 Beam cross sections . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-6
Abstraction tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-2 displaying . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-8–15-10
Add Fillets option . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-16 displaying results on . . . . . . . . . 15-15
Adjacent Faces selection method . . . 3-5 fillets in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-16
Advanced Nonlinear Dynamic analysis orientation of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-7
(explicit) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9–7-10 Beam elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-3
Advanced Nonlinear Statics analysis Beam meshing
(implicit) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9–7-10 preparing model for . . . . . . . . . . 15-2
Advanced Nonlinear Transient Response Beam stresses . . . . . . . . . . 15-12–15-14
analysis (implicit) . . . . . . . . . . 7-9–7-10 Bearing command . . . . . . . . . . 6-6, 22-2
Advanced Simulation Biasing option
compared to Design Simulation . . . 1-2 Mesh Control dialog box . . . . . . . 14-9
Analysis types Bolt Connection command . . . . . . . 17-7
NX Nastran . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9–7-10 Bolt Pre-Load command . . . . . . 6-6, 17-7
Animation command . . . . . . . . . . . 8-18 Boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . 6-2–6-3
Anisotropic material checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-4
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-3 managing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-4
ANSYS solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3 Breakout modeling
Advanced Simulation Processes Index-1

Index
uses of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-11 work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-7

workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-12 Copy
Breakout modeling technique . . . . 24-10 associative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
By Group selection method . . . . . . . . 3-8 Corner Node Thickness . . . . . . . . . 5-11
Create Report command . . . . . . . . . 26-2
C Cross Section View command . . . . 15-15
Centrifugal command . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4 Cross sections
Check for Sweepable Body option . . 18-3 1D elements . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-3, 15-5
Checks beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-6–15-7
mesh quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4 displaying . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-8–15-10
model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-11, 25-2 displaying results on . . . . . . . . . 15-15
Chordal Tolerance on Edge option . . 14-8 Cross Sections
Circular Edges selection method . . . 3-5 fillets in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-16
Circular Imprint option . . . . . . . . . 17-7 Curvature Based Size Variation
Clone option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2, 14-4
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9 Curve toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-6
Coincident nodes Curves option
merging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-7 Display Section list . . . . . . . . . . 15-10
Collapse Edge command . . . . . . . 21-15 Cutting planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12
Collectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2 Cylinder Faces selection method . . . . 3-5,
Combine Triangles command . . . . 19-12 5-8
Conflicts
resolving for constraints . . . . . . 23-12 D
Connections .dat file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-12–7-13
edge and face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-6 Data components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
geometry based . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-3 Data model
Connectivity Teamcenter for Simulation . . . . . . 4-6
elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-13 Data types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Constraint conflicts Defeature Geometry command . . . . 9-14
resolving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-12 Deformation
Constraints post view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-13
fixed translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9 Delete Face command . . . . . . . . . . 10-6
geometry-based . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8 Density
pinned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9 of mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-6
predefined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9 Direct Frequency Response
structural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7 analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9–7-10
symmetric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9 Displacements
Contact elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
defining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-4 nodal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Contact Mesh command . . . . . . . . . 17-4 Display 2D Element Thickness and
Contour plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8 Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Coordinate systems Divide Face command . . . . . . . . . . 9-16
in Simulation Navigator . . . . . . . 2-10 DOF sets
local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-8 in Simulation Navigator . . . . . . . 2-10
nodal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-9 Drag and drop
Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-5 in Simulation Navigator . . . . . . . . 2-9
Index-2 Advanced Simulation Processes mt15020-s-nx8

Index
E definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Edge Mapping option displacement field . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
swept meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-5 display of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-3
Edge to Face command . . . . . . . . . . 16-6 modifying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-12
Edges modifying connectivity . . . . . . . 19-13
collapsing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-15 RBE2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-9
merging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-11 RBE3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-9
splitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-10 shape checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-3
stitching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-14 shape threshold values . . . . . . . . 20-4
Edit spider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-8
from Simulation Navigator . . . . . . 2-8 stiffness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Edit Feature Parameters Elements by Feature Angle selection
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-17 method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Element Associated Data Enforced Displacement Constraint
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-10 command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-4
Element Copy and Project Engineering
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-9 strain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Element Copy and Reflect Equilibrium equation . . . . . . . 1-10, 1-12
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-9 Excluded option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-10
Element Copy and Translate Export
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-9 from Teamcenter . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Element Create command . . . . . . . 19-6 Extract Body command . . . . . . . . . 11-8
Element Delete command . . . . . . 19-14
Element Edge to Element Face F
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-6 .f04 file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-12–7-13
Element Extract command . . . . . . 19-15 .f06 file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-12–7-13
Element Extrude command . . . . . . 19-8 Face Repair command . . . . . . . . . 21-17
Element force output . . . . . . . . . . 15-11 Faced by Group selection method . . . 3-8
Element Modify Connectivity Faces
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-13 merging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-12
Element Modify Label command . . 19-14 repairing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-17
Element Modify Order command . . 19-15 splitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-10
Element normals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-8 FEM file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2, 4-6
Element Operations toolbar . . . . . . 19-2 Field
Element Outlines check . . . . . . . . . 20-6 thickness source . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11
Element Revolve command . . . . . . 19-8 Fields
Element Shapes check . . . . . . . . . . 20-3 formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-3, 24-7
Element Size option . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2 in Simulation Navigator . . . . . . . 2-10
Element stiffness matrix . . . . . . . . . 1-9 in spatial boundary conditions . . 24-6
Element strain energy . . . . . . . . 1-8–1-9 linked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-3
Element thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11 spatial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-3–24-4
Element-nodal results standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-4–24-5
averaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5 table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-3
Elemental results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5 using . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-2
Elements Files
creating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-6 Advanced Simulation . . . . . . . . . . 2-2

Index
input to solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2 definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7

NX Nastran . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-12–7-13 in Simulation Navigator . . . . . . . 2-10
output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Fillet Faces selection method . . . 3-5, 5-8 H
Find CAE Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
Finite element analysis . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 History mode
process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4 in Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-4
Finite Element Model Check History-free mode
command . . . . . . . . . . 20-2, 20-11, 25-2 in Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-4
Fixed Constraint command . . . . . . 22-4 Hydrostatic Pressure command . . . 22-2
Fixed translation constraint . . . . . . . 6-9 Hyperelastic material
Fluid material definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-3
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-3
Force I
load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-3 Idealization
Force command . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4, 22-2 definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Formula fields . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-3, 24-7 Idealize Geometry command . . . . . 9-13
Free Coincident option . . . . . . . . . . 17-3 Idealized part file . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2, 4-6
Free mapped mesh Identify command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-16
2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7 Import
Free mesh file formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5 from Teamcenter . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Functions and Graphing tools . . . . 8-19 Import Results node
in Simulation Navigator . . . . . . . . 8-4
G Isotropic material
Geometry definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-3
resetting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-18 Item revisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
Geometry abstraction . . . . . . . 21-2, 21-6
automatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-7 J
compared to geometry Jacobian determinant . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
idealization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-5
L
compared to geometry
abstraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-5 Layout Manager
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2 using . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-20
Geometry-based connections . . . . . 16-3 Linear Buckling analysis . . . . . 7-9–7-10
Global stiffness matrix . . . . . . . . . . 1-11 Linear Static analysis . . . . . . . 7-9–7-10
Glue Coincident option . . . . . . . . . . 17-3 Linked fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-3
Glue Non-Coincident option . . . . . . 17-3 Loads
Graph bearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6, 22-2
across iterations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-19 bolt preload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
AFU files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-19 centrifugal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
from path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-19 force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4, 22-2–22-3
Gravity command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-2 geometry-based . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Group selection methods . . . . . . . . . 3-8 gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-2
Groups hydrostatic pressure . . . . . . . . . . 22-2

Index
predefined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6 creating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-5–12-6

pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6, 22-2 definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2
structural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4 overriding properties of . . . . . . . . 12-7
temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-2 uses of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-4
Local coordinate system . . . . . . . . . 23-8 Mesh Control command . . . . . 14-2, 14-6
.log file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-12–7-13 Mesh controls
biasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-9
M chordal tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-8
Mapped mesh density types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-7
2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13 using to control density . . . . . . . . 14-6
free 2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7 Mesh Display dialog box . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Marker On/Off command . . . . . . . . 8-17 Mesh Mating Condition command . . 17-2
Marker plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9 Mesh mating conditions
Markers defining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-2
arrows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9 types of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-3
cubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9 Mesh quality
spheres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9 solid mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9–8-10 Meshing Method option . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
Master Model Dimension Method
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-17 selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Master part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2 Midsurface
Material orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6 thickness source . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11
Material types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-3 Midsurface by Face Pairs
Material View . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11, 2-13 command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9–9-10
Materials Midsurfaces
assigning to a model . . . . . . . . . . 13-2 creating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6, 9-10
checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-10 parts for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
custom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-5 Modal Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9–7-10
defining orientation . . . . . . . . . . 13-6 Modal Frequency Response
Merge analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9–7-10
coincident nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-7 Modal Transient Response
Merge Edge command . . . . . . . . . 21-11 analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9–7-10
Merge Face command . . . . . . . . . . 21-12 Model Cleanup toolbar . . . . . . . . . . 21-2
Mesh Model Display command . . . . 13-9, 19-3
1D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-3 Models
2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5, 5-7 simplifying . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-13–9-14
2D mapped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13 Move Face command . . . . . . . . . . . 10-7
2D seed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9–5-10 Move Node command . . . . . . . . . . 19-12
3D tetrahedral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3 MSC Nastran solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
creating and updating . . . . . . . . 10-11 Multi Body-Infer Target option
defining colors for . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-9 swept mesh type . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-4
swept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-2 Multiple solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-14
Mesh Associated Data command . . 5-11,
13-10 N
Mesh Collector command . . . . . . . . 12-6 New Group command . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Mesh collectors Nodal coordinate system . . . . . . . . 23-9

Index
Nodal Coordinate System native mode

command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-15 compared to Teamcenter Integration
Nodal displacement coordinate for NX mode . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-9 NX Electronics Systems Cooling
Nodal displacements . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12 solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Nodal results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5 NX Flow solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Node Align command . . . . . . . . . . 19-11 NX Nastran
Node Between Nodes command . . . 19-4 analysis and solution types . . 7-9–7-10
Node Create command . . . . . . . . . . 19-4 files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-12–7-13
Node Delete command . . . . . . . . . 19-14 NX Nastran solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Node Drag command . . . . . . . . . . 19-11 NX Space Systems Thermal solver . . 7-3
Node Element Information NX Thermal solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-14
Node Modify Coordinates O
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-11
.op2 file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-12–7-13
Node Modify Label command . . . . 19-14
Orientation
Node on Curve Edge command . . . . 19-4
beam cross sections . . . . . . . . . . . 15-7
Node Operations toolbar . . . . . . . . 19-2
Orthotropic material
Node Proximity to CAD Geometry
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-3
check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-9
Output
Node Reflect command . . . . . . . . . . 19-5
for beam modeling . . . . . . . . . . 15-11
Node Rotate command . . . . . . . . . . 19-5
Output files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Node to Node connection
Output requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-7
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-7
Overlay
Node Translate command . . . . . . . 19-5
post view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-14
Nodes
Override
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
physical properties . . . . . . . . . . . 12-7
display of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-3
merging coincident . . . . . . . . . . . 20-7
modifying locations . . . . . . . . . . 19-11 P
proximity check . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-9 Parameters
Nodes by Feature Angle selection solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6 Part
Nodes by Group selection method . . . 3-8 for midsurfacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Nodes on Feature Edges selection idealized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6 master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Nonlinear Static analysis . . . . . 7-9–7-10 Patch command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-3
Nonlinear Transient Response Path command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-8
analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9–7-10 Paver meshing option . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
Normal pressure Physical properties
spatial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-8 checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-10
Normals creating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-8
element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-8 Physical Properties Table
Number on Edge option Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-8
mesh control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-7 Physical Properties View . . . . 2-11–2-12
NX Physical property tables

Index
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-7 S
Pinned constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9
Scalar
Pinned Constraint command . . . . . 22-4
quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Plots
Sections
contour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
1D elements . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-3, 15-5
marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Seed mesh
Point to Edge connection
creating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-8
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
Point to Face connection
Selection methods . . . . 3-2–3-3, 3-6, 3-8
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-8
Set Result dialog box . . . . . . . . . . 15-16
Point to Point connection
Sew command . . . . . . . . 9-15, 11-3, 11-8
command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-7
Sheet Boundaries check . . . . . . . . . 11-3
Polygon geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-4
Shell element thickness . . . . . . . . . 5-11
Post view
display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
creating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-7
Show Adjacent selection method . . . . 3-3
deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-13
Show Only selection method . . . . . . . 3-3
overlay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-14
Simplifying models . . . . . . . . 9-13–9-14
saving settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-15
Simulation file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2, 4-6
template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-15
Simulation File View . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
Post-Processing Navigator
Find CAE Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
loading results in . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
Simulation Navigator
uses of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2, 8-20
containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10
Potential energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
drag and drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
Pressure command . . . . . . . . . . 6-6, 22-2
editing in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Promote command . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3–9-4
Simulation Search View . . . . . . . . 4-7
standard view of data . . . . . . . . . 2-11
R using . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4, 2-6
RBE2 elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-9 visibility in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
RBE3 elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-9 Simulation Search View . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Regions Size on Edge option
in Simulation Navigator . . . . . . . 2-10 mesh control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-7
Related Elements selection method . . 3-6 Size on Face option
Related Faces selection method . . . . 3-5 mesh control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-7
Related Nodes selection method . . . . 3-6 Slider Constraint command . . . . . . 22-4
Report Export command . . . . . . . . 26-3 Sliver Faces selection method . . . . . . 3-5
Reports Sliver Tolerance selection method . . . 3-5
creating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-2 Smart Selector Options . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
exporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-3 Solid display
images in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-4 beam cross sections . . . . . . . . . . . 15-9
Reset command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-18 Solid mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Resolved Conflict Group . . . . . . . . 23-12 Solution attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
Results Solution dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3 Solution output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-7
node in Simulation Navigator . . . . 8-3 Solution types
Revisions NX Nastran . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9–7-10
items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8 Solutions

Index
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5 Synchronous Modeling

multiple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-14 definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
Solver input file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2 Synchronous Modeling toolbar . . . . 10-5
Solver Parameters dialog box . . . . . . 7-8
Solvers T
support for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4
supported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3 Table fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-3
Solving Tangent Faces selection method . . . . 3-5
process of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2 Teamcenter for Simulation . . . . . . . . 4-5
Spatial fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-3 data model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Spatial normal pressure . . . . . . . . . 24-8 support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Spider elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-8 Teamcenter Integration for NX
Split Body command . . . . . . . 9-12, 18-3 benefits of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Split Edge command . . . . . . . . . . . 21-9 definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Split Face command . . . . . . . . . . . 21-10 What is Teamcenter Integration for
Split Shell command . . . . . . . . . . 19-12 NX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Spot Weld command . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-6 Teamcenter Integration mode . . . . . . 4-5
Stiffness matrix Temperature Load command . . . . . 22-2
element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9 Tensor
global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11 components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Stitch Edge command . . . . . . . . . 21-14 marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10
Strain energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7 quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Stresses strain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
beam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-12–15-14 Thickness
Structural Analysis types . . . . . 7-9–7-10 corner node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11
Structural constraints . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7 shell element . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11–5-12
Structural loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4 Thickness Information
Structural Output Request dialog in Simulation Navigator . . . . . . . 5-12
box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-7 Thickness Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11
Subcases Threshold Values option
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5 Element Shapes command . . . . . 20-4
Subdivision meshing option . . . . . . . 5-6 Through Curve Mesh command . . . 11-7
Suppress Feature command . . . . . . 9-17 Timestamp Order viewing mode
Surface Contact Mesh command . . . 17-5 in Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-4
Surface Curvature Based Size Transition Element Size option . . . 14-5
Variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Surface Curvature Based Size Variation U
option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-4
Surfaces Unlock Mesh command . . . . . . . . 19-15
3D curves in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-6 Unsew command . . . . . . . . . . 11-3, 11-8
adding and removing . . . . . . . . . 11-8 Unsuppress Feature command . . . . 9-17
creating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-7 Until Target option
Swept mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-2 swept mesh type . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-4
control mesh on source face . . . . . 18-5 Update FE Model command . . . . . 23-12
preparing for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-3 Update Finite Element Model
Symmetric constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9 command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-2

Index
User Defined Constraint Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-20

command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7, 22-4 Views
in Simulation Navigator . . . . . . . 2-11
V Visibility
Variables in Simulation Navigator . . . . . . . . 2-7
in fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-2
Vector W
components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6 WAVE Geometry Linker command . . 9-3,
View 9-5
material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13 Wireframe display
physical properties . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12 beam cross sections . . . . . . . . . . 15-10
Simulation File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14 Work coordinate system . . . . . . . . . 23-7

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Course agenda
Day 1 Morning
Lesson 1 Introduction to Advanced Simulation
Lesson 2 Working with Advanced Simulation
Lesson 3 Selecting entities
Lesson 4 Managing CAE analysis data
Lesson 5 Basic meshing techniques
Afternoon
Lesson 6 Boundary conditions
Lesson 7 Solving
Lesson 8 Post-processing
Lesson 9 Geometry idealization
Day 2 Morning
Lesson 10 Synchronous modeling
Lesson 11 Geometry repair
Lesson 12 Mesh collectors
Lesson 13 Materials and physical properties
Afternoon
Lesson 14 Element size and mesh density
Lesson 15 Beam modeling
Lesson 16 1D connections
Lesson 17 Mesh connections
Day 3 Morning
Lesson 18 3D swept meshing
Lesson 19 Manual meshing
Lesson 20 Mesh quality
Lesson 21 Geometry abstraction
Afternoon
Lesson 22 Boundary condition types
Lesson 23 Boundary condition techniques
Lesson 24 Using fields in boundary conditions
Lesson 24 Model quality
Lesson 26 Reports
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Advanced Simulation Processes

This software and related documentation are proprietary to Siemens Product

2 Advanced Simulation Processes mt15020-s-nx8

Proprietary and restricted rights notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Part I: Analyzing a model

Introduction to Advanced Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

Working with Advanced Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

Advanced Simulation Processes 3

Review questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15

Selecting entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1

Filtering entity selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2

Managing CAE analysis data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1

What are Teamcenter and Teamcenter Integration for NX? . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2

Basic meshing techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1

Meshing overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2

4 Advanced Simulation Processes mt15020-s-nx8

Boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1

Advanced Simulation Processes 5

Part II: Model preparation

Geometry idealization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1

Synchronous modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-1

6 Advanced Simulation Processes mt15020-s-nx8

Geometry repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1

Part III: Meshing techniques

Mesh collectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1

Materials and physical properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1

Element size and mesh density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1

Advanced Simulation Processes 7

Defining mesh control density — Biasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-9

Beam modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-1

Mesh connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-1

8 Advanced Simulation Processes mt15020-s-nx8

Bolt Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-7

3D swept meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-1

Manual meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-1

Mesh quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-1

Advanced Simulation Processes 9

Part IV: Working with polygon geometry

Geometry abstraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-1

Part V: Boundary condition types and techniques

Boundary condition types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-1

Boundary condition techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-1

10 Advanced Simulation Processes mt15020-s-nx8

Resolve constraint conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-12

Using fields in boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-1

Model quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-1

Advanced Simulation Processes 11

Advanced Simulation Processes introduces the finite element modeling and

• Working knowledge of NX Modeling.

• Basic understanding of finite element analysis principles.

• project (additional optional activity, for some lessons)

• summary and review questions

Advanced Simulation Processes 13

Classroom system information

2. Click the role you want or drag it to the graphics window.

14 Advanced Simulation Processes mt15020-s-nx8

mt15020-s-nx8 Advanced Simulation Processes

• Use Advanced Simulation to build a finite element model.

• Use Advanced Simulation to review finite element analysis results.

This lesson also includes a review of finite element modeling theory.

Advanced Simulation Processes 1-1

Advanced Simulation overview

• Includes a full suite of pre-processing and post-processing commands.