BASIC ANSA – Geometry Cleanup and Shell Meshing

Tutorial

BASIC ANSA

GEOMETRY CLEANUP AND

SHELL MESHING
Table of contents
1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................... 2
1.1 Prerequisites ................................................................................................................................. 2
1.2 Problem description ..................................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Data files ....................................................................................................................................... 2
2. Read the CAD file ................................................................................................................................. 3
3. Performing geometry cleanup ............................................................................................................ 7
4. Defeaturing ........................................................................................................................................ 35
5. Shell meshing .................................................................................................................................... 47
6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 59

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1. Introduction
This tutorial presents in detail all the steps taken to read a CAD file, perform geometry cleanup, as
well as some geometry simplification, in order to create a good quality shell mesh.
The steps described in this tutorial include:
 Read the IGES file with different tolerance settings and assess the results.
 Geometry cleanup, closing gaps, modification or creation of new Faces etc.
 Optionally, repeat the previous step with the help of automatic cleanup functionality.
 De-featuring, removing details such as small holes and fillets.
 Meshing the parts with an element length of 10 mm
 Improving mesh by manually optimizing the shape of the Macro Areas
1.1 Prerequisites

Reading the 4 pages of section Introduction and Getting Started document is recommended in
order to obtain a familiarization with the ANSA interface and terminology

1.2 Problem description

The geometry of the part is shown here in its final state.

Note that the part consists of more than one Properties, as
shown in different colors

1.3 Data files

The files of this tutorial are: one IGES file named basic.igs contains the geometry and the result can
be found for reference in basic_result.ansa.

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2. Read the CAD file

Start ANSA. By default TOPO menu is active.

Before reading any CAD data into ANSA specify some
settings concerning the application of Topology (the
connectivity of neighboring Faces), and the Resolution
(the appearance of geometrical entities on the screen).
These settings should correspond to the dimensions,
level of detail and tolerances of the CAD file to be
input.

Activate the Tools>Settings function. In the

Translators>All formats>Neutral files with
ANSA>Topology section, activate the Perform ANSA
Topology, Topology between PIDS and Topology
between parts options. These options ensure that the
topology is performed during CAD file opening. As a
result, when the IGES file is read later, the topology
process will be applied. For educational purposes keep
the Clean Geometry and Respect file topology flag
buttons de active and press OK. In this way the
automatic geometry cleanup step will not be performed
and the cleanup will be examined and performed
manually.
Note that the automatic topology is performed
according to the tolerance values specified in
Translators>Resolution/Tolerances/Units. Make sure
to specify appropriate tolerance values before reading
a CAD file, to avoid collapsed Faces (large tolerances),
or gaps (very small tolerances). For demonstration,
activate the function and select extra fine tolerance
values and press OK.

Also note that the appearance of geometrical details

depends on resolution settings under
Translators>Resolution/Tolerances/Units. Keep the
default value of 20 for Perimeter Length in the
Resolution: CONS section. (Note that this value also
corresponds to the initial discretization length or
element length). For 3D Curves specify a smaller
resolution (2) to view small geometrical features in
more detail. Press OK to close the window and in the
warning window that appears press OK again.

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Read in the IGES data from File>Open. The File

Manager window appears. Navigate and select the
IGES file basic.igs.
! Make sure that the filter type is set to IGES or All
Supported Files to be able to view the IGES file.

The CAD file is read and topology is applied. Part

should look like the one on the left picture. Change the
view of the part to better understand its geometry.
Press:
 Ctrl + left mouse button to rotate the part
 Ctrl + middle mouse button to translate the part
 Ctrl + left and middle mouse button to zoom in and
out.
Zoom in and out with the F7 and F8 keys or with the
mouse roller.
! If at any time the view is lost, press F9 to fit everything
on the screen.
Notice that as by default the view mode is ENT (Entity),
red, yellow and cyan CONS are displayed(CONS is the
abbreviation for Curves ON Surfaces).
The coloring is related to the connectivity of the Faces.
Red: indicates a single free edge CONS
Yellow: indicates a double CONS shared by two
neighboring connected Faces
Cyan : indicates a triple CONS shared by three or more
connected Faces.
To make things clearer, activate and deactivate the
visibility of each of the three types of CONS separately
using the Single, Double and Triple flag buttons.
De-activating here the Double flag, only the free red and
cyan CONS are displayed. Apart from the free edges of
the sheet metal there are other openings (gaps,
untrimmed Faces etc.) that must be corrected. Note
that these gaps occur due to the current specified
Tolerances (extra fine) and the fact that the CAD
description is not very accurate. What if the specified
tolerances were larger?

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Activate the Translators>Resolution/Tolerances/Units

function, select middle as tolerance values. Press OK.

! Note that resolution and tolerance values from

Translators section are taken into account only during
import of a CAD file.

Read the same CAD file again. In the Confirmation

window that opens press Discard.
The File Manager opens. Select again the basic.igs file
and press OK. Be careful to select the IGES and NOT
the ANSA file! Switch the filter type to IGES in the File
Manager.
The CAD file is read and topology is applied, this time
with middle tolerance values.
The red free edges are now less, because the topology
process resulted in the connection of more faces
automatically.
Activate back the visibility of Double CONS to
view the whole part

Activate the Shadow view mode flag. Faces are

displayed in gray and yellow (as the ENT view
mode is still selected). Gray color represents
the positive side of a face while yellow the negative.

The orientation is currently random and not uniform.

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Press the Faces>Orient function. There are the options

to apply orientation:
1. on Visible Entities or
2. on Selected Entities
3. volume dependent (not important for this case)
The orientation of all visible faces becomes uniform.

Flip the orientation, by using the Faces>Orient function

once again.

Switch to PID color view mode.

Faces are colored according to their Property.
(Note that the assigned colors to different
Properties are random when opening a CAD file).

Switch back to ENT color view mode to proceed

with the cleanup process.

Save the file from File>Save as to your local directory under the name basic.ansa. The File Manager
opens in order to specify the path and the ANSA database filename. Remember when saving or
output in ANSA the appropriate extension for each file type has to be typed. Proceed with Geometry
cleanup.

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3. Performing geometry cleanup

De-activate Shadow view mode and the

visibility flag button of double CONS.

Isolate a region of the part to work with.

Activate the Or function of the Focus toolbar.

Select with left mouse button (box selection) the
area shown

Or function leaves visible only the selected faces.

(If selection is wrong, press All function, of the same
toolbar to bring all the entities back to visible.
Alternatively, use Undo).

Activate Lock function (from Focus toolbar) to lock the

currently visible entities.

To view completely the faces that have left visible,

activate again the Double CONS visibility flag.
Activate also the Cross Hatches visibility flag. This
allows the visualization of two green dashed lines along
the center of the Faces. Apart from visualization
purposes, crosshatches are also used for easy
selections.

Activate Shadow mode again. Note the problem

in this area. There seems to be an untrimmed
face that extends out of the boundaries of the
other faces.
Select to hide this face. Activate the Not
function, of the Focus toolbar, and select it (with
left mouse button) either from a perimeter
boundary (red CONS) or from its crosshatch.

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The selected face is removed from visible. The problem

is clearer now.

To solve it and fill the gap, the big face has to be

trimmed so that it matches exactly to the boundaries of
the other faces.
Press All (Focus toolbar).
Only the locked entities (all the entities that were visible
at the time that the Lock flag was pressed) appear.

Notice that due to the previously specified Resolution

value of 20, some faces appear coarser than their actual
geometrical description.
Activate the Auxiliaries>Fine function from TOPO Menu
and left click on the crosshatch of the big face twice.
Each time left mouse button is pressed, the Resolution
value of the selected face is halved. This makes the face
appear in more detail. The curvature of the face is now
clearly visible

Note that using Fine function with right mouse button

the Resolution value of selected entities is doubled,
making them appear coarser.
! Note: do not left click more than a couple of times as
the resolution value will become very small and this will
delay the shadow operation.
It is obvious that this face covers well the gap of the
remaining faces. It is only a matter of trimming it
correctly.

Activate the CONS>Project

function and use the Normal
Type of projection from the
function's Options List window.
With left mouse button pick the
four red CONS of the faces behind. De-select with right
mouse button if necessary. Confirm selection with
middle mouse button.

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Next select the face to project and cut the selected

CONS onto.

Pick the face from its crosshatch or one of its red CONS.
De-select with right mouse button if necessary

Confirm with middle mouse button.

The selected red CONS are projected on the face and cut
it.

Press ESC or middle mouse button to exit the function.

! Remember that by pressing ESC you abort any

function.

Activate Faces>Delete function.

Select the excessive face to be
deleted from its boundary (red
CONS). The Faces Delete List window
appears.
Press Delete to delete the face.
(! Note that to retrieve a face, which was deleted
unintentionally, activate Faces>Undelete function and
select it among the previewed deleted faces. Press
middle button. Use Faces>Topo to re-establish
connectivity).
The face is now properly trimmed, but not topologically
connected with the neighboring faces (note the red
CONS).
Activate Faces>Topo function.
Select with left mouse button (box selection) the CONS
shown. Confirm with middle button (It doesn’t matter
that more CONS are selected)

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Topology is applied according to the specified

tolerances.
All CONS appear yellow, indicating proper double
connectivity.
De-activate the Lock function

Press All to bring all faces back to visible.

Move to the next problematic region on the left.

Here we have the opposite problem. A gap that occurs

due to a face that is not large enough.

Activate function Surfaces>Info. Select this face from its

crosshatch.

Its surface (its CAD description) is

also not big enough to cover the
gap.

Notice that the visibility of the surface can be controlled

from the Options List window

Solution is to delete the small face and create a new one

to cover the gap.

Delete the face by using Faces>Delete.

Select the face with left mouse button from its

crosshatch.

! Note that when selecting a face from its crosshatch,

this is deleted without any warning.

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Notice the two magenta cross hot points that were left
over after the face deletion.

Activate the Hot Points>Delete function.

Select with left mouse button these two hot points.

The hot points are deleted. (optionally, delete such hot

points. This leaves uniform longer CONS that are easier
to select for face creation and also results in better
quality mesh later).

A new face that covers this opening has to be created.

Activate the Faces>New function and from the New Face

Options window select Coons option. Pick with left
mouse button the 4 red CONS.

Confirm with middle mouse button.

A preview of the surface to be created is given as a

green net.

Press OK in the Coons window that appears if the result

is satisfactory.

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Upon accepting the surface the new face is also

created, and is also topologically connected with the
neighboring Faces.

Use Faces>Orient to assign the uniform orientation if

necessary.

De-activate Shadow, Crosh Hatches and Double flags.

Note how the problematic regions drop in number.

Activate back Shadow, Crosh and Double flags.

Move to the small triangular gap at the front.

Activate Surfaces>Info function.

Select the face from its crosshatch.

The previewed underlying surface appears to cover the

gap.

It can be used to create a new face that covers the gap

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To do so activate Faces>New again.

In the New Face Options window that appears select the
Existing Surf option.
Select with left mouse button the
three red CONS and confirm with
middle mouse button.

Then, select with left mouse button the crosshatch of

the face who’s surface will be used for the new face.

The new face is created. Inquiring its surface with

Surfaces>Info shows that it uses the same surface as
the larger neighboring face.

Rotate the part to the other side.

See that in this area there are two untrimmed faces that
intersect each other.

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De-activate Shadow, Cross Hatches and Double flag

buttons.

Using Not function from the Focus toolbar, select with

left mouse button the two red CONS as shown.

The faces become not visible.

Next, press INVERT function of the Focus

toolbar.

Visibility is inverted, making only the two previously

selected faces now visible.

Activate Double and Cross Hatches flags to view better

the two intersecting Faces.

Activate also the Curves visibility flag. To find the

intersection of these two Faces 3D Curves will be used.
These are auxiliary entities that are not connected to the
faces and are used for CAD construction. 3D Curves
appear in magenta color and their visibility is controlled
by the Curves visibility flag found in Auxiliaries toolbar.

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To find the intersection between 2 groups of faces,

activate Faces>Intersect function. Select with left
mouse button the first group of intersecting faces.
Confirm with middle

Continue the selection and pick the second group of

intersecting faces. Confirm with middle again.

ANSA calculates the intersection of the two faces and

creates a yellow CONS.

Some of the resulting faces are not necessary for the

model and thus have to be deleted. In the Delete FACEs
Area? Window, user has to decide whether to delete the
highlighted face or not.
Select to DELETE the highlighted face.

Once the face is deleted another face is highlighted.

Select to keep this one.

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Select to keep this as well.

Finally DELETE the last one. Confirm with middle or ESC

to exit the function.

! Note that the order which faces become highlighted

may differ.

The result is shown in the left figure. The initially

intersecting faces are topologically connected at the
intersection area and the unnecessary faces were
deleted.

st
Press Neighb>1 Level to examine the result in a better
way. Although there is topological connectivity in the
model 2 problems need to be fixed:
The 2 small gaps and the fillet discontinuity in the
intersected area

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Next step is to create the small fillet between the 2

faces. To do so, boundaries of the fillet face, which are
currently not available need to be created.
Activate the Curves>Transform function. Select with left
mouse button the CONS that need to be transformed.
This is the common CONS between the previously
intersected faces. Confirm with middle. This function
creates a new Curve by transforming an existing one to
fit new start and end point positions.

Note the arrow that appears next. This arrow indicates

the start of the segment.
Select two point positions as target start and end for the
new transformed 3D curve to be created.
1 ! Note that the start and end positions should
correspond to the direction arrow.

2 Select the Hot Points as shown.

A new 3D Curve is created, from a transformation of the

selected one. Notice how this Curve follows the shape of
the initial one.

(If wrong Hot Points are picked accidentally, delete the

unwanted new curve, using Curves>Delete).

While still in the Curves>Transform function, select

again the initial CONS.

Confirm with middle mouse button.

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According to the direction of the arrow, select the two

target start and end Hot Points as shown, on the other
Face.
1

Another similar 3D Curve is created.

Although the boundaries of the fillet are created, they are

not related to the faces yet.

Activate the CONS>Project function and use the Normal

Type of projection from the function's Options List
window.

Select the 3D curve shown. Confirm with middle mouse

button.
Next select the face to project onto.

Face an be selected either from its crosshatch or from a

boundary CONS.

Confirm with middle mouse button.

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The 3D Curve is projected and cuts the face. A yellow

CONS appears along the cut.

While still in the CONS>Project function select the other

3D Curve.

Confirm with middle mouse button.

Select the face to project onto and cut.

Confirm with middle mouse button.

Having completed the work with the 3D Curves, de-

activate their visibility flag button.

Delete the excessive faces using the Delete function

from Utilities Toolbar.

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Activate the Delete function. Select the two faces with

left mouse button. Confirm with middle mouse button.

!Note: faces can be selected from their common yellow

CONS or from their crosshatches

A Warning window that appears press OK to proceed

with faces deletion.

(The advantage of the Delete function of the Utilities

Toolbar in comparison with the Faces>Delete, is the fact
that more than one Faces can be selected, without being
prompted to confirm each time).

Activate the Faces>New function and select the Coons

option.

Activate the Loop flag button in the Feature Selection

window that appears.

Select with left mouse button one red CONS.

As the Loop flag is active, after selecting the first CONS,

ANSA automatically identifies and selects the whole
closed string of CONS of the same loop.

(Use right mouse button to de-select CONS if required).

Confirm with middle mouse button. The surface to be
created is previewed as a green net.

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Confirm with middle or press OK in the Coons window that

appears. Note that in this case, the selected CONS belong
to faces of different Property. (Remember that the flange
has a different PID than the main body). As a result ANSA
prompts you to select a PID for the new Face that was
created.
The PROPERTY HELP window appears. Double-click on
one of the available properties in the list or select a face
from screen. The respective property is selected on the
list. Confirm with middle.

A new face is created. Switch to PID display mode to

check the different properties in color. (Change the PID of
selected faces using the Faces>Set PID function).

Moving on to the next problematic area. Activate the Or

function of the Focus group. Select with box selection as
shown.

(If selection is wrong, press All to bring all faces back to

visible and re-select. Alternatively use Not and And
functions of the Focus group).

Leave visible only the round protrusion and the large face
shown here.

It appears that the round protrusion is not connected to

the face. See the red CONS all around.

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Rotate to the other side to see that the large face has no
corresponding opening for the protrusion.

Back to the front side, notice that again due to a relatively large
Resolution length the protrusion appears quite coarse and it is
hard to distinguish its proper shape.

Activate the Auxiliaries>Fine function. Left click a couple of

times on the cross hatches of the faces in order to reduce the
Resolution length.

Note that if the resolution length is dropped too much, shadow

of the face may be lost. To fix this use right mouse button to
perform the opposite, i.e. increase the Resolution length and
make entities appear coarser.

Now the geometry appears much clearer.

Activate the CONS>Project function and use the Normal Type

of projection. Select the four red CONS around the protrusion.

Note that if in the Feature Selection window the Feature option

is selected, only one CONS has to be selected. ANSA selects
the whole string provided the angle between two consecutive
CONS is smaller than the specified limit.
Confirm with middle mouse button
Next select the large face to project the CONS onto.

Confirm with middle mouse button

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The CONS are projected and cut the face.

Rotate the part to the rear side to view the yellow CONS
along the cut that was made.

Note that although the cut was made, still the protrusion is
not connected.

Activate the Faces>Topo function.

Select with box selection the CONS as shown.

Confirm with middle mouse button.

ANSA performed topology connection.

Now the boundary appears in cyan indicating that three
Faces are connected at each CONS.

Delete the interior face.

Activate the Faces>Delete function.

Select the crosshatch of the inner face.

Note that as selection was done from the crosshatch the

face was deleted without confirmation.

(Again in case of accidental deletion of a face, use Undo or

Faces>Undelete functions. ANSA previews all previously
deleted faces in white. Select one with left mouse button to
retrieve it).

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Press All from the Focus group and rotate the

part to view from outside as shown.

Activate Faces>Delete function and select with

left mouse button the crosshatch of the small
round Face shown.

The face is deleted without confirmation and

the hole is opened.

Activate the Faces>Orient>Visible function to

make the orientation of all the Faces uniform.

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Moving to the next area shown here.

De-activate Shadow, Cross hatches and Double flag

buttons, to view the remaining gaps more easily.

Activate the Or function from the Focus group and select

with box selection the area shown.

Activate back the Cross and Double flags to view the

four faces that remain visible.

Here we have a gap that was not closed by the topology

operation during CAD input.

Point the cursor near the opening and zoom in real close
using the F7 key or the mouse roller. (F8 can be used to
zoom out).

Note that by zooming in closer and closer, two white

horizontal lines appear at the bottom left corner of the
display. These lines represent graphically the tolerance
values that you have specified in
Settings>Resolution/Tolerances/Units. These values are
used by ANSA for the automatic topology operation.
Notice that since the gap here is larger than the
tolerances, ANSA didn’t connect the faces at this
location. These CONS have to be pasted manually.
curves match dist
nodes match dist

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Activate the CONS>Paste function. Select with left

2 1 mouse button the CONS as shown. Confirm with middle
mouse button.
Due to exceeding tolerances, a Warning window appears.
Press OK to confirm.

Upon confirmation the first CONS is moved and pasted

to the second one.

Perform the same operation for the two CONS at the

bottom.

(What is going to happen to the small red CONS??)

1
Select the two CONS.
2

Confirm with middle mouse button.

Again the first CONS is pasted on the second one. As a

result a white dot appears. This is a topological problem,
as a white dot in the TOPO menu represents a collapsed
CONS. Collapsed CONS is a CONS that its start and end
coincide.

To fix such a problem first release all topological

conditions at this location. Activate the Hot
Points>function and select with box selection the area
shown.

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All topological conditions are released. The Hot

Points>Release function can always be used to correct
improperly pasted CONS.

As a result all CONS now appear in red, and five distinct

Hot Points are visible.
To be able to pair these CONS in pairs ensure that they
are properly segmented.
Activate the Hot Points>Delete function and select with
left mouse button to delete the Hot point shown.

The Hot Point is deleted leaving one uniform CONS at

that edge of the Faces.

Now the CONS can be pasted correctly is pairs.

Activate the CONS>Paste function and select the CONS

as shown.
2

Confirm with middle mouse button.

Perform the same on the opposite side.

Here the 2 CONS lie each other. For this reason they
cannot be distinguished.
2

1 Confirm with middle mouse button.

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A remaining gap has to be closed.

Still in the Paste function select the CONS as shown.

2 1

Confirm with middle mouse button.

And the two CONS here.

Confirm with middle mouse button.

1
2

The problem is fixed.

Yellow CONS and a single Hot Point at the center

indicate that there is a proper topology.

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Press All from the Focus menu to bring all faces back to
visible.

Press F9 to fit all to screen.

De-activate Cross hatches and Double visibility flags.

Some problematic red CONS that remain are at the top

of the image.

Activate the Double visibility flag and zoom in close to

that area.

Some CONS are not connected.

Activate the CONS>Paste function and select them with

left mouse button.
Remember that when CONS are pasted, the first
selected is pasted to the second.

1
2

Confirm with middle mouse button.

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Select also the two remaining CONS.

1
2

Confirm with middle mouse button.

The geometry here is now clean.

Press F9 to zoom all.

De-activate the Double and Single bounds flag button.

Only the cyan CONS remain visible.

Cyan CONS show connectivity of more than two faces.

Cyan CONS are usually present at T-junctions. If there
are no T-junctions present, then usually cyan CONS
imply the existence of multiply defined faces.

Zoom in to the area on the right.

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Activate back the Double and Single bounds.

Activate Shadow and Cross hatches button.

The resolution is a bit coarse to clearly identify the

problem.

Activate the Auxiliaries>Fine function and left click once

on the crosshatch of both Faces.

The resolution is better.

This is an area of overlapping faces.

To inquire, activate the Faces>Info function and click on

one red CONS.

ANSA highlights the whole face.

Repeat the same. Pick the other red CONS to see the
overlap.

Activate the CONS>Project function and use the Normal

Type of projection from the function's Options List as
previously.

Select with left mouse button the CONS shown.

Confirm with middle mouse button.

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Next select the face to be trimmed, from its crosshatch.

Confirm with middle mouse button.

The face is trimmed.

Activate the Faces>Delete function and select the

excess Face.

Press Delete in the Delete Face window that appears.

A gap remains.

Activate the Faces>Topo function, select with box

selection the area and confirm with middle mouse
button.

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Activate the Hot Points>Delete function and use box

selection to delete all remaining unnecessary Hot
Points.

Finally zoom in to the area where cyan CONS are

present.
De-activate Cross hatches visibility so as not to
accidentally select a Face from its crosshatch.

To identify and fix the problem use Faces>Delete

function and its preview capabilities.

Activate the Faces>Delete function. Select the face from

one cyan CONS.

The Delete Face preview window appears, indicating that

3 faces are connected at that CONS. The first one (1 of
3) is highlighted.
(! Note the order of preview may be differ).
Press the Keep button (or K in the keyboard) to keep
this face and proceed to the next
one.

The second face (2 of 3) is then previewed.

Again press the Keep button (or K in the keyboard) to
keep it.

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Finally, the third face is previewed. This face must be

deleted, as it is redundant.

Press the Delete button (or D in the keyboard)

The face is deleted.

Only yellow CONS remain.

The geometry is clean.

One last check by de-activating Cross hatches and

Double, leaves red CONS only at expected locations, i.e.
free edges and openings.

Activate Shadow and Double flag buttons.

Save the file from File>Save.

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4. Defeaturing

Some small openings exist at the bottom flange of the

part. Remove these, as their size will create problems in
mesh.
Activate the CONS>Fill Hole function.
The Fill Hole Parameters window opens.
Select with left mouse button the opening shown.

The selected opening (red CONS perimeter) is

highlighted. Alternatively, enter a value of 20 and press
the Select button.

All the openings with diameter smaller than the input

value are selected automatically.

Press OK.

All the selected openings are filled.

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Move to the top of the part.

Here there is a small non-uniform flange.

Activate the Measure function from the Utilities Toolbar.

The Measure window opens, where by default the Nodes

selection mode is active.

Select with left mouse button the two Hot points shown.

As long as a selection has been made, the possible

available results are listed in the Measure window.

The distance as shown on the screen and reported in the

Text Window is less than 3mm.

Target is to replace this flange all around with a constant

height flange of 10mm.

Activate the Faces>Flange>Width function.

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Select all the red CONS shown (in the direction of flange
extension only) with left mouse button.
Confirm with middle mouse button.
The Flange Distance window appears.

Type a value of 10 and activate the Delete Old

Flange flag. Press OK.

The faces of the old flange are deleted and new faces of
the specified height are created.

Note some remaining red CONS.

Activate the Faces>Topo function.

Select with box selection the CONS as shown.

Confirm with middle mouse button.

Topology is applied.

The CONS are now yellow.

Activate the Hot Points>Delete function.

Select with box selection the area shown.

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The unnecessary Hot Points are deleted.

Finally press the Faces>Orient function to assign a

uniform orientation to all visible Faces.

Press again the Orient button to flip the current

orientation if necessary.

The next step will focus on fillet sharpening.

Zoom in closer to the base of the top round flange.

Although not very clear due to the coarse Resolution,
this base is a round fillet.

(Check this by using the Surfaces>Info function to view

the underlying surface description).
Activate the Faces>Dach>Dach function. The Dach
Selection window opens.

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Type in the values shown and

press Select. ANSA identifies
and selects all the fillets with
radius of curvature less than
3 and width less than 5.
Check that no other faces
have been selected. De-select them with right mouse
button if necessary.
Press middle mouse button to confirm and proceed.

A preview of the new surfaces to be created, to replace

the fillets with sharp corners is provided.
The Dach Parameters window
appears.
Select the DELETE FILLET option.

Keep the Join Macros flag active.

While in preview mode, rotate the part to view better the

surfaces to be created.

Zoom out to ensure that ANSA has created appropriate

surfaces.

Press OK in the Dach Parameters window.

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The faces of the fillet are deleted and new faces forming
sharp corners are created.

Note that as Join Macros option was selected, some

Double CONS are colored in light brown color instead of
yellow. This means that they are not visible in MESH
menu as they are joined. This way narrow Macro Areas
are avoided.

Zoom out.

Apply Dach function to the fillet around the large flange

all-round the part. This time faces will be selected
manually.

Zoom in to this area.

Activate the Faces>Dach>Dach and pick with left mouse

button the CONS shown.

Ignore the Dach Selection window and select with left

mouse button the CONS shown.

ANSA should highlight the string of faces shown. Use

right mouse button to de-select any faces that should
not be included.

Confirm selection with middle mouse button.

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A preview of the surfaces to be created is displayed on

the screen and the Dach Parameters window appears.
The DELETE FILLET flag is now active from the last time.

Press F9 to zoom all and ensure that all Surfaces are

well described.

Press OK in the Dach Parameters window.

The faces of the fillet are deleted and replaced with new
that form sharp corners.

Zoom to the top flange.

Notice that its corners appear sharp (due to the relatively

coarse resolution), but in fact they are not.

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Use the Auxiliaries>Fine function in the Geometry Group

and click with left mouse button on the red CONS to
examine its actual form.

For shell meshing purposes, it would be better if these

corners were sharp and the corner node, well defined. In
the next steps these round corners will be modified to
sharp ones.

Use the Hot Points>Insert function and place four Hot

Points, one on each side of the two round corners, as
shown here.

This is done so as to define the arc area of the round

corner.

Activate the Faces>Flange>Corner.

The Radius Definition window appears.

Keep the Manual flag button option.

Pick with left mouse button the CONS between the

manually inserted Hot Points.

ANSA makes the corner sharp and inserts a Hot Point

automatically, and deleted the inserted Hot Points.

Left click on the opposite corner, to do the same there

also.

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The flange now has sharp and well-defined corners. This

will help in the creation of a good quality mesh.

(If necessary establish uniform orientation by using the

Faces>Orient function).

Press F9 to zoom all.

Switch to PID view mode.

Faces are now colored according to their Property.

(Note that the colors may differ).

Zoom in close to this area.

The previously applied Dach function splitted the fillet in

two and left a discontinuity in Property as shown in the
picture.

(Use Auxiliaries>Fine function to improve the Resolution

locally and better understand the geometry).

This detail has to be corrected in order to avoid quality

problems in the shell meshing later.

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First de-activate Shadow mode, to facilitate viewing.

Activate the Faces>Cut function.

Select with left mouse button the two Hot Points shown.

A cut is made between these two positions and a new

CONS appears (note that while in the Cut function, undo
an unwanted Cut by selecting the new CONS with right
mouse button).

Now activate the Faces>Set PID function. Select with

left mouse button the small triangular face from its
crosshatch.
Confirm with middle mouse button.
The Properties window appears. Pick the property that
will be assigned to the selected face.

Make it easier by picking with left mouse button a face

from the screen. ANSA marks it in the list. Press Ok to
confirm.

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The property is assigned to the face.

Activate again the Shadow display mode.

The area is now better shared by the two properties.

The same property difference problem occurs on the

other side as well.

Treat it in a similar manner.

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Switch to ENT view mode.

The cleanup process should now be complete.

Some final checks need to be done.

De-activate Shadow, Cross hatches and Double visibility

flags.

Three closed paths of red CONS should be displayed.

They correspond to the outer perimeter and two
openings of the part.

If not correct the problems.

Bring back Shadow and Double flags. Note in case that

there are faces that fail the Shadow operation, the so
called Unchecked faces, then these faces
are reported on the Screen. Using the
Context Menu of the unchecked faces,
these can be isolated on the screen in
order to be corrected
Such faces usually are thin needle shaped
faces or faces that have bad Surface description. If no
Unchecked Faces are reported on the screen, then no
such problems exist in your model.
Press All from the Focus group to make all faces visible.

The geometry defeaturing is completed. Save the file

from File>Save.

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5. Shell meshing

Switch to MESH menu.

In MESH menu the faces are now Macro Areas and the
CONS are Perimeter Segments. The Hot Points are here
displayed as white dots. Magenta crosses along the
Perimeter Segments are Perimeter Grids. They are
defined automatically according to the CONS Resolution
settings. In this case they are placed approximately
every 20mm. Distance differs in regions where Fine
function was applied.
Assign a uniform distance between Perimeter Grids, or
Element Length. Activate the Perimeters>Length
function. Select all the Macro Areas with left mouse
button. Confirm with middle mouse button. The Input
window opens.
Type in a value of 10 in the Length
field, leave the other fields empty
(default values will be used) and
press Enter.

The new element length is applied to all the Perimeter

Segments of the selected Macro Areas.
(Note that although the initital CONS Resolution length
(and correspondingly Element Length) was 20mm, the
part will be meshed with an element length of 10, so as
to keep more details).
Activate the Mesh Generation>Free function.

In the Options window

enable the reconstruct
option to be run right after
the meshing algorithms in
order to get high quality
mesh. For element type select mixed.
All the Macro Areas are meshed with the Free algorithm.
The number of the visible elements is given in a text
legend on the left (Note, the values may vary).

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Use some functions to improve the quality of the

generated mesh.
Zoom in to the front of the part. Notice how the
elements are squeezed in the small triangular shaped
Macros Area.
Activate the Macros>Join [Erasing Mesh] function.
Select with left mouse button the two Perimeter
Segments shown.

The Perimeters are removed and the two Macros are

joined to form a larger one. The mesh is of course
erased.
Note that if a Perimeter is joined by mistake, can be
retrieved by using the Macros>Release function, just
picking it from the preview.
Notice that some Hot Points are left over. Activate the
Hot Points>Delete function and select them with left
mouse button.

The Hot Points are removed and the Perimeter

Segments are connected into longer, more uniform
Segments. The mesh of the neighboring Macro is also
erased.

Activate the Mesh Generation> Remesh>Visible

function.

The erased Macros Areas are remeshed with the same

meshing algorithm, in this case the Free.

The middle Macro Areas are quite narrow and do not

leave space for a good quality mesh as shown in the left
picture.
They have to be split in half.

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Switch to TOPO to perform a vertical cut along the

middle faces.

Activate the Faces>Dach>Divide Face function.

Ignore the Dach Selection window that appears and

select with left mouse button the red CONS at the
bottom. ANSA selects and highlights the whole string of
faces along that path.

Confirm with middle mouse button.

The Divide Parameter window opens.

Ensure that the Join Macros flag is active and press OK.

ANSA splits the selected Faces in two.

Switch to MESH menu.

The mesh has been locally erased, as the Macros have

been modified.

Notice that the split faces were joined with their

neighboring ones, as the Join Macros flag was active.
This will leave better space for the shell mesh.

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Use the Remesh>Visible function to remesh all the

affected Macros.

The mesh now appears better in this area.

Every action that results in the modification of a Macro,

leads to the erasure of its mesh. It can be meshed again
by using function Mesh Generation>Remesh.

Note: activate the Delete hot

points flag and the Remesh
Macros in the Options List
window that appears when
functions that affect the
Macros are activated(e.g. Macros>Join).
These options allow the automatic deletion of any
remaining Hot Points after JOIN operations and the
automatic remeshing of the Macros.
Move to the top round flange area.

Notice here a Perimeter Segment that is

too short to have even one Perimeter
Node. This leads to some triangular
elements that could otherwise be avoided.
Activate the Perimeters>Number function.
Select with left mouse button the small Perimeter
Segment. The Number Input window opens, where the
current edges number is reported. Type in the value 2
and press Enter.

In the Options window enable the Remesh Macros option

so that macros are remeshed after each modification is
made to the mesh and cause its erasure. Make sure that
this option is from now on enabled on all those functions
that support it.
A nodal number of one is assigned to this Segment,
which is now colored red, to indicate that the nodal
number has been specified explicitly and not via the
element length.

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Notice how this inclined Perimeter distorts the mesh.

Activate the Macros>Join function and join it.

The mesh is better.

Move to the other side of the top

flange. A similar problem exists here
also. Activate the
Perimeters>Number function and
apply an edge number of two.

The mesh is improved here as well.

Moving now to the round flange itself.

Suppose two rows of elements along the flange are

needed.

The flange has to be meshed with 2 rows of elements.

This means that an edge number of 2 has to be assigned
to all vertical segments.
Activate the Number function and switch the selection
mode from Loop to Opposite.

Pick a segment with left mouse button. All segments

that are parallel to the initially selected become
highlighted. Assign an edges number of 2 and press
enter.

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ANSA assigns automatically the specific edges number

to all of the Perimeter Segments that are parallel to the
selected Segment in a continuous path of Macro Areas.

However the automatic remeshing does not give the

desired result. In this case the Free algorithm did not
produce two rows of elements everywhere.

Activate the Mesh Generation>Map>Re-Generate

function. (The Re-Generate option means erase and
mesh from new with the current algorithm and settings).

Select with left mouse button the Macros of the flange

and confirm with middle.

ANSA erases the mesh and meshes with the MAP

algorithm to produce the desired result.

(Actually in a more advanced tutorial is explained how

mesh treatment of flanges, holes, fillets etc. can be
prescribed in ANSA in advance and applied
automatically).

Move on to the top flange of the part.

Notice how the elements are misaligned. Making a Cut
2 along the symmetry plane of the part would improve the
mesh.
1

Activate the Macros>Proj.Cut function. Select the

bottom Hot Point and the opposite top Perimeter.

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A new Hot Point is created at the projection location and

a Cut between the two is made.

ANSA remeshes the Macros automatically.

While still in the Proj.Cut function select the top

Perimeter, as shown, in order to continue from the last
position with the cut operation further upwards.

ANSA projects, cuts and remeshes.

The last Hot Point remains highlighted for further cut

operations, but in this case press ESC to exit the
function.

Finally use the Perimeters>Number function to place

two edges in the two short vertical Perimeters.

Press Enter.

ANSA applies the new number of edges and remeshes.

While still in Number function select the upper vertical

Perimeter with right mouse button to assign the same
nodal number to other Perimeters.

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ANSA assigns there also an edges number of one.

Mesh of the fillet can be improved by using a different

meshing algorithm.

Activate the function Mesh Generation>Map> Re-

Generate.

Select the Macro Area with left mouse button. D-select

with right mouse button if required.

Confirm with middle mouse button.

ANSA erases the current mesh and meshes with the new
algorithm.

The resulting mesh represents better the curved fillet.

Move on to the area shown.

1 See how this tilted Perimeter Segment interrupts the

orientation of the mesh.

Activate the Macros>Cut function.

2
Select the Hot Point and then the Perimeter Node as
shown.

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A cut is made and a new Segment is created.

The affected Macros are remeshed.

Activate the Macros>Join function and select the tilted

perimeter Segment.

The Segment is removed as the two Macro Areas are

joined into one.

The resulting mesh is better, but still contains some

triangles, that could be removed.

Activate the Shell

Mesh>Reconstruct>Sel
ect function. In the
Options List window
that appears specify a
Target Length of
10mm.
Switch to Macro Area selection mode. Select with left
mouse button this Macro and middle click to confirm.

ANSA reconstructs the mesh, removing the unwanted

triangles, and gives a preview of the result.
Confirm with middle or press OK.
Note: Rerun the function if the result
is not acceptable.

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The mesh looks now OK.

Move to the area of the round protrusion.

Notice how many small elements are confined in narrow

Macro Areas.

Use Macros>Join function to join the Segments, and

create larger Macros.

Use the Perimeters>Number function and assign edge

numbers (2 and 9) to the two remaining Segments
shown.

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Moving to the last area, near the top end of the big
flange.

Join these two small Segments.

Assign an edges number of 2 to this Segment.

The mesh is improved.

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Press F9 to zoom all.

Join these two Segments that interrupt the mesh of the

flange.

The mesh is complete. Note that the number of

elements displayed in the legend may differ depending
on the actions that were taken during Macro
manipulation.

(Output the shell mesh in any of the available output

formats, through File>Output).

De-activate the visibility flag buttons

for Perims and Hot Points (under the
Perimeters Points flag) in order to
view the mesh better.

Notice that in case the Perimeter flag

is deactivated the Perimeters Points get also not visible.

The tutorial is completed. Save the file from File>Save.

Quit ANSA from File>Quit.

! Having quit ANSA, user may delete (or not) the ANSA.defaults file that has been created from
Tools>Settings>'Save Settings option. This file is located at users home directory. Specify a
different directory by selecting the 'Save settings as' option. Changes that may have occurred in the
Graphics User Interface may be saved in the ANSA.xml file, by selecting the corresponding option
from: Tools>Settings>Save GUI Settings option.

Deleting the corresponding files will ensure that the next time ANSA is launched, will appear with its
inherent default settings.

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6. Conclusion

In this tutorial all the basic steps to clean up the geometry of a part, remove some small details and
mesh it with shell elements are followed. Not all capabilities were demonstrated. Refer also to
ANSA v17.x User’s Guide and to the On-Line Help for the ANSA functionality and detailed
description of functions and procedures

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