About AutoGEM
Use commands on the AutoGEM menu to create and work with AutoGEM meshes in native mode. AutoGEM is the Creo Simulate Automatic Geometric Element Mesher. Because the finite elements that AutoGEM mesher creates are very accurate to underlying model geometry, these elements are sometimes called geometric elements.
The commands on the AutoGEM menu help you verify whether Creo Simulate can successfully mesh your model prior to analysis and enable you to indicate how you want your model treated during meshing. Reviewing the mesh prior to analysis can help you determine whether the mesh will be successful and, if not, which geometry problems caused AutoGEM to fail. You can then use several techniques to fix mesh problems and ensure that the engine uses the corrected mesh.
The AutoGEM menu includes the following commands:
• Control—Create AutoGEM mesh controls for your model. When you select the
Control command, the
AutoGEM Control dialog box opens. Use the dialog box to impose mesh controls on your model, thus improving the mesh in problem areas.
• Create—Create an AutoGEM mesh for your model. When you select the
Create command, the
AutoGEM dialog box opens. Use the dialog box to create, review, and save the mesh. If a mesh file is already present, the
Create command automatically loads the mesh elements.
• Settings—Review and alter AutoGEM's basic settings and limits. When you select the
Settings command, the
AutoGEM Settings dialog box opens. Use the dialog box to control the types of activities AutoGEM performs when generating elements and to modify element shape parameters such as aspect ratio and maximum edge turn. Adjustments to the
AutoGEM Settings dialog box are a possible method of correcting mesh problems.
• Review Geometry—Opens the
Simulation Geometry dialog box that allows you to view the different types of connections and simulation geometry for your model before meshing.
• Geometry Tolerance—Refine geometry tolerance settings for your model to improve the geometry prior to meshing. When you select the
Geometry Tolerance command, the
Geometry Tolerance Settings dialog box opens. Use the dialog box to ensure that
Creo Simulate resolve slivers, cusps, and other geometry problems in your model.
• Mesh treatment options—There are three model treatment options—
Solid,
Midsurface, and
Solid / Midsurface. You use these options for models that include midsurfaces. These options enable you to specify whether
Creo Simulate will treat your model as a solid, midsurface shell, or a mixture of both during meshing and analysis.
While meshing your model using commands on the
AutoGEM menu, AutoGEM creates mesh elements that you can later use when calculating displacements, reactions, stresses, thermal fluxes, and temperatures. If you want
Creo Simulate to use these elements when running an analysis or design study, you need to select the
Use element from existing mesh file option on the
Run Settings dialog box. If you do not want to use the AutoGEM elements, you can direct
Creo Simulate to create new elements by selecting the
Create elements during run option on the
Run Settings dialog box.
When it meshes your model, AutoGEM uses the default element type for the model type unless you specify otherwise. For example, in 3D models, solid tetrahedrons are the default element type. However, before you create the AutoGEM mesh, you can manually create
idealizations or
connections—for example, shells, springs, masses, welds, and so forth—to alter or enhance the default AutoGEM mesh by incorporating additional element types that better reflect aspects or behaviors of your model.