Tutorial Abstract: Houdini Basic Surface and Solid Meshing

Tutorial Abstract: Houdini Basic Surface and Solid Meshing

Fourth in a Series

This series presents an abstract of one of Algor's keystroke-specific tutorials, which showcases important capabilities of Algor software. Tutorials are available on our web site and the DocuTech CD-ROM. In the following tutorial, Algor's Houdini software is used to import a three-dimensional (3-D) CAD solid model of a steel bracket, create a surface mesh and then use that surface mesh to create a solid mesh that is suitable for finite element analysis (FEA).

Houdini is a modeling environment where you can access Algor's surface and solid mesh generation/enhancement tools while exchanging files with popular CAD and FEA software programs. It is a convenient, one-stop workshop for performing multiple mesh-related operations on a model to prepare it for FE analysis.

A 3-D solid model of a steel bracket was created using a leading CAD software program and saved as a trimmed surface IGES file Brack.igs. (Although this demonstration uses an IGES file, the concepts demonstrated in this tutorial can be applied to the other file types such as ACIS and STL files.) The file Brack.igs is available in a self-extracting compressed format, which can be downloaded along with the tutorial document.

Once the file Brack.igs is in place, the Houdini surface mesh translator is used to create a surface mesh from the supplied CAD solid model. A visual inspection of the bracket model reveals that the surface mesh does not require enhancement.

At this point, you would refine the mesh, if necessary, apply boundary conditions to the model for an FE analysis. Algor provides another tutorial called "Houdini Advanced Surface and Solid Meshing Tutorial" which shows how to refine a mesh, remove unnecessary detail and apply boundary conditions.

In the solid mesh generation phase, the tutorial demonstrates how to use Houdini's Hexagen component to create a 3-D solid mesh from the surface mesh. Houdini's Hexagen component is a solid mesh generator that automatically builds 3-D eight-node "brick" finite element models from tetrahedral meshes or CAD solid models.

The Houdini Basic Surface and Solid Meshing Tutorial instructs engineers on how to produce a solid mesh from the IGES file shown above.

Download an Algor Tutorial

Algor’s keystroke-specific, step-by-step tutorials are distributed electronically in a format that customers can easily print out. Algor’s web site is your best source for an up-to-date listing of available tutorials. All tutorials are available in a compressed format for fastest downloading time.

Tutorials are also available on the DocuTech CD-ROM. Request an update of your Algor software to receive the latest DocuTech CD-ROM.

With Hexagen, Houdini can generate three types of solid mesh: a standard Hexagen mesh, an all eight-node "bricks" mesh or an all tetrahedral mesh. This tutorial employs the standard Hexagen option, which provides the highest quality mesh and the lowest number of elements. Finally, instructions are given for viewing a rendered display of the solid mesh.