This option enables AutoGEM to detect reentrant (for example, inside) corners on an individual surface in your model and place a transitional set of small elements around them. A reentrant corner can be an area of high stress or flux concentration. Placing small elements around reentrant corners helps prevent these stress or flux concentrations near the local feature from degrading the efficiency of the analysis process in larger neighboring elements. For an example of how this AutoGEM feature works, see Example: Reentrant Corners.

AutoGEM does not detect reentrant corners that span more than one surface. AutoGEM also does not detect reentrant corners on volumes. Note that in 3D solid elements, reentrant corners are edges. In 2D solid elements and 3D shell elements, reentrant corners are vertices. A reentrant edge may become a reentrant vertex after shell compression.

The Reentrant Corners option appears on both the Structure and Thermal versions of the AutoGEM Settings dialog box, and works the same way in either mode.

With Reentrant Corners selected, you have the option of designating transitional elements created around a reentrant corner as excluded elements when you define an analysis. If you select excluded elements when you define an analysis, Creo Simulate automatically highlights the elements that AutoGEM created at reentrant corners.

While meshing a solid model, Creo Simulate highlights edges that form singular reentrant corners if you set the configuration option, sim_expanded_diagnostics to yes.

You should create one or more excluded elements around a reentrant corner for the following reasons:

If you do not exclude elements around a reentrant corner, the results from adjoining elements may be less accurate and engine efficiency may be reduced.

Return to Feature Isolation.