This area appears in both Structure and Thermal, and enables you to refine the mesh near certain geometric features or modeling entities. You use this area if your model includes geometry, loads, constraints, or boundary conditions that would result in mathematical singularities. Singularities are areas of theoretically infinite stress or temperature flux and are undesirable because they can skew analysis results. For example, point loads in shell or solid models create singularities, or stress concentrations. In this case, your analysis solution may primarily reflect these stress concentrations, hampering your ability to focus on overall stress behaviors that you may be more interested in.

You use feature isolation to surround certain types of singularities in your model with a more refined mesh. When feature isolation is active, Creo Simulate populates the area around each singularity with small elements. Working outward from the singularity, the element size increases so that it blends compatibly with the overall model mesh. This meshing approach partially compensates for the impact of singularities on the solution by spreading the behavior over a greater number of elements—in effect, isolating the singularities.

For the Isolation for shells and 2D solids area, you can select one of two menu options—Structural or Thermal. Below this menu, the dialog box displays a list of entities that commonly cause singularities, and that AutoGEM can detect and isolate when it generates elements. The list is different depending on whether you select Structural or Thermal:

AutoGEM detects both structural and thermal entities regardless of whether you are working in either Structure or Thermal. Your model uses the same elements for the structural and thermal versions, so you should check your settings for both the modes before you use AutoGEM.

For example, if you are currently in Structure, but the thermal version of your model contains a point heat load, AutoGEM detects only the point heat load if you select that item on the thermal version of this dialog box. If Point heat loads is not selected, AutoGEM creates elements that may work well only for the structural version of your model.

For more precise control over the entities to be isolated, you can create an Isolate for Exclusion AutoGEM Control.

Return to AutoGEM Settings Dialog Box.