FEM MeshGmshFromShape

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FEM MeshGmshFromShape

Menu location
Mesh → FEM mesh from shape by Gmsh
Workbenches
FEM
Default shortcut
None
Introduced in version
-
See also
FEM tutorial

Description

For a finite elements analysis the geometry needs to be discretized into a FEM Mesh. This command uses the program Gmsh (which needs to be installed on the system) for calculating the mesh.

Gmsh is bundled with the FreeCAD installation binaries. Alternatively you can install it separately from FreeCAD and then use the menu Edit → Preferences → FEM → Gmsh to set the path to the gmsh.exe.

Usage

  1. Select the shape you want to analyze. For volume FEM this needs to be a solid or compsolid. A compsolid is necessary if your part is made from multiple materials. (A compsolid can be created with the BooleanFragments command.) -- For shell and beam FEM somebody needs to fill in the details here.
  2. There are several ways to invoke the command:
    • Press the FEM MeshGmshFromShape button.
    • Select the Mesh → FEM mesh from shape by Gmsh option from the menu.
  3. Optionally edit the minimal and maximal element size. (Autodetection works fine unless you apply complicated boundary conditions.)
  4. Click the Apply button and wait for the computation of the mesh to complete
  5. Close the task. You now should see a new FEMMeshGMSH object in your active analysis container.

Properties

  • DataMesh Size From Curvature introduced in version 0.20: The number of mesh elements per times the radius of the curvature. To get a finer mesh at small corners or holes, this value can be increased for better results

Effect of Mesh Size From Curvature'; left: set to 12, right: deactivated

Notes

Nonpositive jacobians