Week - 5 - 2D meshing for Plastic components

AIM:-

To mesh the given plastic component.

Procedures for Meshing a 2D component:-

i) Importing the CAD model into ANSA:-

• The cad model is imported into the Ansa software by clicking File ---> New command.

ii) Geometry Checks:-

• This will help us clear all the surface errors, unwanted cons, and any disruptions placed in the CAD model.
• This can be done by the command Tools ---> Checks ---> Geometry. And errors like cons, unchecked surfaces, cracks, needle faces, etc are shown.
• Some of these errors can be automatically resolved by the ANSA by using the command Right click + Fix in the geometry check dialog box.
• Some of the errors like unchecked faces will be cleared manually using Faces ---> Delete and Faces ---> New commands.
• When all the errors are fixed check it again in geometry checks.

• Once all errors are fixed we can move to mid-surfacing and meshing the given component.
• Before extracting the Mid surface of the components, it is important to measure their thickness. And this can be achieved by using the command Utilities---> Measure.

Meshing:-

here we can use both manual mid surfacing and auto mid if it is possible.

For manual mid-surfacing, we need to use the middle feature to extract mid surface.

• Now we need to provide the quality criteria as provided by using the command Utilities ---> Quality Criteria ( or by clicking F11 ).
• Then switch to the 'Presentation parameters' tab, In the Graphics division put a tick mark for Elements% and choose the Details on demand effect as 'More details'.
• Then choose Utilities ---> Mesh parameters and give the target length as 1.
• Then choose Perimeters ---> Length command, choose the entire component, and give the target length of the mesh value as 1.
• For fixing the errors the following commands are commonly used, Elements ---> Split, Elements ---> Swap, Grids ---> Paste, Elements ---> Join, Shell mesh ---> Reconstruct, and Shell mesh ---> Smooth.
• Then the Midsurface ---> Align manager is used to match the areas and perimeters which came out of their original mid surface.
• Try to keep the tria percentage as low as possible.
• If an error cannot be fixed then we can compromise with the Cad model.
• Atlast set a new PID for the mid surface and provide the required thickness.