How to use the Paste option in ANSA for better Mesh flow?

There are many Mesh improvement tools available in ANSA. The Paste option is one of them. In ANSA GUI, the Paste option can be found in GRIDS in the MESH deck. (Refer below image)

The paste command is used to join two nodes together in different ways.

Two Methods to Use The Paste Command:

Below are the methods by which you can use the Paste Command:

1. Paste node pairs
2. Paste to the last node

Both methods have three paste positions:

1. Last node
2. COG
3. First node

Let's first understand Paste node pairs with these three paste positions.

Method 1: Paste Node Pairs to the Last Node in ANSA

By using the Last Node option in the Paste node pairs command, The first selected node will paste to the second selected node location. Refer to the below image for a better understanding.

                                   Image 4: Demonstration of Paste node pairs to last node

Note: To confirm the paste action, a Middle click (scroll click) from the mouse needs to be done.

Method 2: Paste node pairs to COG in ANSA

By using the COG option in the Paste node pairs command, The first and second selected nodes will paste to their middle location. Refer to the below image for a better understanding.

                   Image 5: Demonstration of Paste node pairs to COG

Method 3: Paste node pairs to First Node in ANSA

By using the First Node option in the Paste node pairs command, The second selected node will get pasted to the first selected node location (i.e. opposite to method-1). Refer to below image for a better understanding.

                                   Image 6:Demonstration of Paste node pairs to first node

Till now, Paste positions for Paste node pairs option was discussed. Now, let’s see what is the difference between “Paste node pairs” and “Paste to the last node” methods. To understand this let us take the Paste position as COG and see one example.

Method A: Paste Node Pairs with COG

This method will consider only a pair of nodes for the paste to happen (i.e. Even if more nodes are selected, this method will only take a pair of nodes to paste together). Refer to the below image for a better understanding.

                    Image 7: Demonstration of Paste node pairs to COG

 

Method B: Paste to the last node with COG in ANSA

This method will consider all the selected nodes for the paste to happen. Refer to the below image for a better understanding.

        Image 8: Demonstration of Paste to the last node pairs to COG

Important: 

Every time you use the Paste tool, It is advisable to use the smooth option for better Mesh flow.

Applications of Paste tool in ANSA:

Mainly, the Paste Tool is used for two reasons.

1. To eliminate two opposite tria elements
2. To coarser the Mesh pattern

Let’s understand both the applications with below examples:

Example 1: To eliminate two opposite tria elements

                   Image 9: Demonstration of Paste to eliminate Opposite Tria elements

• A swap option can be used to swap the edges which will enable Tria elements to move in a horizontal direction. By swapping the edge, we are making sure that two tria elements come in one line. 
• After having two opposite tria elements in one line, the Paste option can be used to eliminate two tria elements as demonstrated in the above image. 

Example 2: To coarser the Mesh pattern

                           Image 10: Demonstration of Paste to coarser the Mesh pattern

• From the above image, it is observed that. The region above the hole is having finer mesh which may fail for quality criteria. 
• In order to coarser the mesh, the Paste option can be used multiple times to eliminate a few rows of elements which makes the mesh pattern uniform.