Extracting the Middle Skin Geometry from a Complex Solid Part

Tutorial 5
FROM SOLID TO SHELL

EXTRACTING THE MIDDLE
SKIN GEOMETRY
Table of Contents
5.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................2
5.1.1. Prerequisites .......................................................................................................................2
5.1.2. Problem description.............................................................................................................2
5.1.3. Data files .............................................................................................................................2
5.2. Reading the CAD file...................................................................................................................3
5.4. Planning the approach ................................................................................................................6
5.5. Separating the Parts ...................................................................................................................7
5.6. Assigning PIDs with corresponding thickness ............................................................................9
5.7. Creating the middle skin of the smaller Parts ...........................................................................15
5.8. Creating the middle skin of the main shell ................................................................................42
5.9. Connecting the small Parts to the main shell ............................................................................49
5.10. Shell meshing..........................................................................................................................68
5.11. Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................72
BETA CAE Systems S.A.

FROM SOLID TO SHELL – Extracting the Middle Skin Geometry
5.1. Introduction
This tutorial presents the techniques that can be used in order to extract a middle skin description
from a solid part. Although there is not a single function or approach for all such problems, the user
will find representative situations and the recommended function and method to deal with them.
The steps described in this tutorial include:
• Read the STEP file and check topology.

• Examine the main features of the geometry and plan a working approach.
• Remove small features.
• Separate the solid in Parts (main body, ribs etc.) using the Part Manager.
• Extract the middle skin description for each Part using different CAD functions.
• Extend and connect all ribs to the main body.
• Create a draft surface mesh and examine it.
5.1.1. Prerequisites
It is highly recommenced to have performed Tutorials 1 and 2, or to already have a basic ANSA
background. Not all steps are described to the last detail.
5.1.2. Problem description

The geometry of the solid part is shown below.
5.1.3. Data files

The files of this tutorial are located in the directory tutorial_files/05-middle_skin. One
STEP file named skin.step contains the geometry. The resulting ANSA database can be found
for reference in the file skin.ansa .
BETA CAE Systems S.A. Tutorial 5 - 2 ANSA v.12.0.1 Tutorials

5.2. Reading the CAD file

Start ANSA.
Set middle
SETTINGS Tolerance
TOLERANCES settings in
SETTINGS>
TOLERANCES.
RESOLUTION In RESOLUTION,
set 1mm and 4mm
for Curves and CONS resolution
respectively.
Now read in the STEP

FILE file skin.step.
OPEN
Select the CAD file in the File Manager

and press OK.
The CAD file is read and topology is
applied. The geometry should be clean
with no gaps.
De-activate DOUBLE
DOUBLE CONS visibility flag
temporarily to check that no free red
CONS are visible.
Activate back DOUBLE

DOUBLE
CONS visibility and
SHADOW SHADOW display mode.
Press FACEs>ORIENT to
ORIENT assign a uniform
orientation to all the visible Faces.
Press FACEs>INVERT if required to flip

the orientation.
Save the ANSA database locally from FILE>SAVE AS.

The fact that only yellow double CONS are visible everywhere means that this is a closed volume
description of a solid part. In the following steps you will extract the middle skin surface in order to
mesh it with shell elements of equivalent thickness.
Apart from ensuring that the topology is clean you will also perform some detail removal of features
that are not to be retained.
5.3. Removing unwanted details

Rotate the part to view the emboss letters at the
bottom of the part.
Such detail will not be included and so can be
removed.
Activate the OR function of the

OR Focus Group.
Perform a box selection, with the left mouse
button, of the area as shown.
Having isolated the area, activate

LOCK the LOCK flag button in the
Focus group.
You will delete all the Faces that form the

letters.
Activate the NOT function of the

NOT Focus group and remove the
large Face from visible.
Activate the DELETE function

DELETE from the Geometry group and
select all the visible Faces.
Confirm with middle mouse button.
Press OK in the Warning window that appears

next to confirm the deletion of the Faces.
(Note that DELETED Faces still reside in the

database and can be retrieved by the UNDEL
function).
Press the ALL function of the

ALL Focus group to bring all the
locked entities to visible.
Openings are left at the location of the letters.
As there is underlying Surface description to

cover the openings (you can check this using
the SURFs>INFO function on this Face) you will
close them using the CONS>FILL HOL function.

Activate the CONS>FILL HOL

FILL HOL function. In the Fill Hole
Parameters window that appears type in a value
of 100 and press the Select button.
All the openings of the letters are identified.

Press OK to fill them.
De-activate the LOCK flag

LOCK button.

ALL Focus group.
Activate the function FILE>COMPRESS [ALL]. This will completely erase

FILE the deleted Faces. You should use this function only when you are certain
COMPRESS you will not need any deleted entities back and you want to reduce the size
of the database.
Save the file from FILE>SAVE.

5.4. Planning the approach

In this step you should examine the part in order to plan your working approach. That is you must
identify which is the main shell body, what groups of ribs exist, and if there are any regions that
should be modeled with solid elements due to their bulk shape.
In the image below such areas are shown schematically in different colors (no solid regions are
present in this example).
main shell
plate hole inner ribs outer fittings
clip
outer ribs
Although related to the local thickness of the part, these areas do not necessarily correspond to
different PIDs that should be assigned.
This is a grouping of the model which you will follow to separate it into different Parts in the ANSA
Part Manager.
Having the Parts separated will help you in performing the middle skin extraction using different
techniques.
The function MEASURE is very useful in order to make measurements of the various ribs.

5.5. Separating the Parts

You will separate the regions shown in the
previous section in different Parts in the Part
Manager. To facilitate selection of Faces you
will isolate the areas using the functions of the
Focus group.
Activate the NOT function and

NOT remove from visible all Faces
apart from those that belong to the inner ribs
(you will need to perform more selections than
those shown here).
You should leave only these Faces visible.
You will now place these Faces in a new Part.
Activate the Part Manager from

PARTS the PARTS function.
By default there is one Part with all the Faces.
Use the NEW>PART function to create a new
empty Part.
The Part Edit window opens
Type in the name inner_ribs and press OK
The new Part appears as EMPTY in the Part

Manager.
Activate the SET function to select the Faces to

be placed in the Part.

Select with box selection all the Faces.
Left click on the icon of the Part you want to

place the entities to.
The icon is redrawn, displaying now all the

Faces.
Press ALL from the Focus group

ALL to bring all the Faces back to
visible.
Proceed in a similar manner to create 4 more

new Parts:
outer_ribs
plate_hole
outer_fittings
clip
that contain the Faces as shown in section 5.4.
In the end you should view the Parts as shown

in the Part Manager.
Left click on the name of the skin.step Part in

order to place the cursor in it and rename it to
main_shell.

5.6. Assigning PIDs with corresponding thickness

Having separated the working areas into
different Parts you can now assign PIDs to
Faces with the proper thickness values.
You will use the Part Manager for the visibility

control of the Parts.
As a first step isolate the inner_ribs Part.
Activate the Parts function.

PARTS
Press the ALL function of the Part Manager.
All icons become red and all the Parts are

visible on the screen.
Press the NONE function of the Part Manager.
All the icons change back to black and all Parts

become not visible on the screen.
Now left click once on the Part inner_ribs to

make it visible on the screen.
Its icon changes to red again (visible).
You can switch between visible and not visible
every time you click on a Part icon.

Only the Faces of inner_ribs Part are now

2 visible.
You will now use the MEASURE function to

1 measure the various thickness values in this
Part.
Depending on the level of detail you want to

work with, you can take several measurements
in different areas and you can apply all these
values to different Faces, or you can assign an
average value.
Moving to the first inner rib.
Activate the MEASURE function

and select the two Hot Points
shown.
Confirming with middle mouse button, the

reported distance is 3mm.
Ignoring the round fillets this rib can be replaced

by a uniform shell mesh with PID thickness
3mm.
The second rib consists of two distinct areas.
A thick base of thickness 3mm …..
…and a thin of 1mm.
You should assign two different PIDs in this

case.

Switch to PID color mode.

PID ..
You now view the Faces in their PID color.
(Note that the assigned color when you open a

CAD file is random. In your case you may see
different PID colors. You can always change the
PID color from the ColorEdit button in every
Property card).
You will now assign selected Faces to PIDs of

the corresponding thickness.
Activate the FACEs>SET PID
SET PID function.
Select with left mouse button the Faces shown

(use careful left mouse for selection and right
mouse for de-selection).
The Properties window opens listing all the

available PIDs of the database. Currently there
is only one Default PSHELL Property in
the database and all the Faces share it.
Press the NEW button to create a new PID.
A new Shell Property card opens.

Type in the name thickness=3.0mm and the
value 3 in the two corresponding fields.
Here you can also define the color of the

Property from ColorEdit.
Press OK to accept and close the card.

Back in the Properties window, the newly

created PID is marked in black.
Double click on it to select it.
The Faces have changed PID.
The color is now different.
Next select the rest Faces of the ribs.
Select the remaining Faces of the ribs and

confirm with middle mouse button.
Again the Properties window opens.
Press NEW to create a new PID.
Type in the name thickness=1.0mm and the

value 1 in the corresponding fields.
Press OK to confirm and close.
Back in the Properties window double click on

the highlighted in black PID to select it.

Again the Faces change color as they are

assigned to a different PID.
You can proceed with the remaining Parts in a

similar manner.
Use the Part Manager to isolate them and the
MEASURE function to identify the
corresponding thickness values.
Use also the MEASURE function in “Entities”

mode, in order to measure the closest distance
between two CONS.
The outer_ribs Part contains ribs whose

thickness varies between 1.8 and 2.2 mm.
You can create a new PID with thickness

2.0mm for both of them for simplicity.
Similarly the clip Part has a thickness of

1.0mm.
The outer_fittings Part has different

thickness values (1.0mm, 2.0mm and 2.4mm) at
three different locations.

The plate_hole Part has two values, 1.2mm

and 2.0mm.
Finally the main_shell has a uniform

thickness of 1.2mm.
In the end you should have the results shown

below.
The Properties window should contain six PIDs.
PID 1 is now unused and so can be removed.
Select it to become highlighted and press the

DELETE button. The Confirm Delete window
appears.
Press OK to confirm the deletion of the unused

PID.

5.7. Creating the middle skin of the smaller Parts

Here you will use various functions to create the
middle skin of all the small Parts that are
connected to the main shell_body Part.
Again the Part Manager can be very valuable in

LOCK isolating the working area.
Activate the Part Manager and

PARTS with right-click on the icon of the
Part inner_ribs, select the option LOCK.
The icon of the Part is highlighted in yellow

indicating the Lock status of this Part.
Exit the Part Manager with ESC.

ALL Focus group.
Only the entities that belong to the Locked Part

remain visible.
You can furthermore use the OR

OR function of the Focus group to
isolate the first rib.

You will split the rib along its thickness.
Activate the FACEs>

DACH DACH [DIVIDE FACE]
DIVIDE FACE function.
Select with the left mouse button one CONS

across the thickness.
ANSA identifies the whole string of Faces and

provides a preview of the splitting.
Press OK in the Divide Parameters window that
appears.
The Faces are cut in the middle.
Turn over to the other side near the base of the

rib.
Here as there are no Faces to cut you will use
3D Curves.
Activate the visibility flag button
CURVEs CURVEs, to be able to view the
3D Curves to be created.
Activate the CURVEs>MIDDLE

MIDDLE function (by default located in the
buffer window which is accessed by right-mouse
button on the Group Name).
Select consecutively the CONS on one side and

Next select consecutively the CONS on the

opposite side.
ANSA creates 3D Curves in the middle of the

two selected paths.
(SHADOW mode has been de-activated here

for clarity).
Activate the CURVEs>NEW

NEW function to close the 3D Curves
path at the ends.
Select the two Hot Points as shown and confirm

with the middle mouse button.
Similarly on the other side.

Now you will create a new Face for the rib.

Activate the FACEs>NEW
NEW function.
Activate the “AUTO”
flag in the New Face
Options window that
appears, to create a
planar Face.
Select sequentially the
CONS and 3D Curves
that form the boundaries of the rib to be created.
A new Face is created. Note the cyan CONS

indicating triple connectivity. The new Face
belongs to the same Part and PID as the Faces
whose CONS were used for its creation.
Therefore it has the proper PID and thickness of
3.0mm.
De-activate the visibility of CURVEs.
Activate the NOT function of the

NOT Focus group and select the new
Face in order to make it not visible.
Activate the FACEs>DELETE

DELETE function to delete these Faces.
Select with left mouse button box selection.

next.

Press ALL to bring all the Faces

ALL of the Locked Part back to visible.
Isolate the second rib using the

OR OR function.
There may be cases when you cannot split a rib

using the DACH [DIVIDE FACE] function,
because of improper shape or Surface.
In this case you can insert Hot Points manually

on the CONS that run across the thickness of
the rib.
Activate the HOT PNTs>PARAM
PARAM function.
Select with the left mouse button a CONS from
one end. The Input window appears.
Type 0.5 and press Enter.
A Hot Point is inserted at a parametric distance

of 0.5 along the CONS.
While still in the function select other CONS with

the right mouse button to insert more Hot Points
at the same parametric distance.

Again a Hot point is inserted half way.
Activate the FACEs>CUT

CUT function.
Cut the Face along the two Hot Points shown.
The Face is cut.
Proceed in a similar manner all along the

thickness of the rib.

Rotate to the other side.

Here instead of using the CURVEs>MIDDLE
function to create 3D-Curves along the base
centerline, you will create 3D-Curves that “cut”
the thickness at certain locations.

NEW function, select two Hot Points
with the left mouse button and confirm with
middle.
Create more 3D-Curves in this way.
Activate the HOTPNTs>PARAM

PARAM function to insert Hot Points in the
middle of the 3D-Curves.
Specify a value of 0.5 and press Enter.
Using right-mouse button pick the remaining

3D-Curves to insert a Hot Point on them also.


NEW function and create straight
Curves that connect the Hot Points in the
middle.
For non-straight Curves..
Activate the CURVEs>TRANSF

TRANSF function and select one of the two
curved CONS.
An arrow appears indicating the start of the

segment.
Select with the left mouse button two Hot Points

1
as new start and end point positions for the new
2 3D-Curve to be created.
A new 3D-Curve is created by a transformation

of the selected segment to adjust to the new
start and end positions.

NEW [AUTO] function and create a
planar Face selecting with the left mouse button
all the 3D-Curves and CONS that form its
boundaries.
Confirm with middle mouse button

As you have selected CONS that belong to

Faces of different PIDs, the Properties window
appears in order to select a single PID for the
new Face.
Double click on PID thickness=3.0mm.
Still as this rib consists of more than one

thickness you must separate and assign a
different PID.
Activate the CONS>

PROJECT PROJECT [NORMAL]
NORMAL function and select the CONS
shown.
Next select the interior middle Face to project

the CONS onto.

Having formed the interior of the rib, remove it

from visibility in order to delete the outer Faces
easily.
Use the NOT function. Make sure

NOT you remove both Faces that form
the rib.
Activate the FACEs> DELETE

DELETE function and select with box
selection all the remaining visible Faces.
Press OK to confirm.
Press ALL to bring all Faces back

ALL to visble.
Switch to PID color view mode.

PID..
All Faces appear in the color of PID with

thickness 3.0mm.
Activate the FACEs>SET PID
SET PID function and select with the left
mouse button Face shown.
Confirming with middle mouse button opens the
Properties window.
Select the PID thickness=1.0mm.
The selected Face now has the correct PID.
You can now move on to the next Part.


Right-click on the icon of the inner_ribs Part

UNLOCK
and select the UNLOCK option.
Next right-click on the icon of the outer_ribs

Part and select LOCK.
LOCK
Exit the Part Manager
Press ALL from the Focus group

ALL to keep visible on the entities of
the Locked Part.


DELETE function and select the three
Faces that lie along the thickness (one Face on
one rib and two on the other).
Press DELETE to
confirm.
Activate the FACEs>MIDDLE

MIDDLE function.
Select with left mouse button one Face.

1
Next select the opposite Face.
2
As soon as the second Face is selected a
preview of the new Surface is given, and the
Accept Surface window appears.
Press Yes to confirm.
A new Face is created in the middle of the two

selected ones.
The initial Faces were not deleted; instead they

were made not visible so that you can examine
the new Face more clearly.

Proceed to the creation of middle Faces on the

other rib.
Note that the middle Faces are not connected

topologically.
Activate the FACEs>TOPO

TOPO function and select with box
selection the CONS as shown.
Press the INVERT function of the

INVERT Focus group to invert the status of
visible and not-visible entities.
Now only the initial Faces are visible.

DELETE function and select all the Faces.
Press OK to confirm their deletion.

Press ALL to bring all Faces to

ALL visible.
You can proceed to the next Part.

Unlock the outer_ribs Part and lock the

plate_hole one.
LOCK
Press ALL to bring its Faces to

ALL visible.


DELETE from the Geometry group of
functions and carefully select the Faces that run
along the thickness plus the interior Faces of
the cylindrical opening.

next.
Activate the FACEs>MIDDLE

MIDDLE function
Select the two square shaped Faces.
1
2
Press OK in the Accept Surface window.
The middle Face is created.
Press INVERT to bring the

INVERT original Faces to visible.

DELETE function and delete them.
Press ALL from the Focus group.

ALL

Activate the FACEs>OFFSET

OFFSET [FACES] function and select
FACES the four Faces that form the
cylindrical opening.
An arrow appears indicating the positive offset

direction (Note that this coincides with the gray
side of the Faces in SHADOW mode).
The Offset Value window opens
Type in the value 0.6 (half of the local thickness)

and activate the Keep PID & Part flag.
Press OK to proceed.
New Faces are created by offset of the original
ones.
Press Yes in the Confirm window to delete the

original Faces.
You now have the middle surface description of

this Part.
You only need to connect the Faces.

Activate the FACEs>EXTEND

EXTEND function. The function is located
by default in the buffer window, which is
accessed by right click on the Group Name.
Activate the flag in the Extend Face Options
window that appears.
1
2
Select a red CONS from the cylinder and
Next select the bottom Face.
The cylindrical Face is extended and connected
topologically with the bottom Face.
Proceed in a similar manner with the three

remaining Faces for extension.
At some point you may notice that the Shadow

of the bottom Face is disabled.
This is because as you extend and connect
Faces the large Face is cut in a shape of a not-
closed internal perimeter, causing problems in
the shadow operation.
However extending and connecting all four

Faces closes this inner perimeter and shadow is
again possible.
Notice that because the Faces were extended

one by one there are some small open gaps
identified by the red CONS.


TOPO function, select the Faces shown,
and confirm with middle mouse button.
Topology is applied.
Finally some left over Hot Points can be

removed.
Activate the function HOT PNTs>

DELETE DELETE and select with box
selection as shown.
The unnecessary Hot Points are removed.
Finally, delete the inner circular Face to open

the hole, using the DELETE function.
You can proceed with the next Part.

In the Part Manager set the

PARTS outer_fittings Part in Lock
status.
Press ALL to bring the Faces of

ALL this Part to visible.
Focus on the first fitting.

carefully select
- the inner Faces,
- the Faces that lie along the thickness
- and the outer fillet Faces.
Only the outer cylindrical Faces are not selected

here (Only the Faces shown below should
remain).
Press OK to confirm deletion.

OFFSET [FACES] function.
FACES
Select the two remaining Faces and confirm

with middle mouse button.

The arrow appears indicating the positive offset

direction.
Type in the value 0.5 and keep the flag active.
Press OK.
Confirm the deletion of the original Faces
You have the middle surface of this area.
Move on to the second fitting.

carefully select
- all the Faces along the thickness
- and the outer Faces of the cylinder
(please refer to next image to clarify which
Faces should remain).
Press middle mouse button to confirm.
Press OK in the Warning window that appears.
Now you will create

- middle Faces for the triangular shaped ribs
- and offset Faces for the cylinder.

Activate the FACEs>MIDDLE and

MIDDLE select the two Faces of a rib.
Press OK in the Accept Surface window.
Proceed similarly for the second….
…and third rib.
Next, activate the

OFFSET FACEs>OFFSET [FACES]
FACES function and select the Faces
of the cylinder.
The arrow indicates the positive offset direction.
In the Offset Value window that appears type
the value 1.2 (half of the local thickness) and
press OK.

Accept the deletion of the original Faces.
The middle geometry is defined. You should

now connect the ribs to the cylinder.

EXTEND function.
Activate the flag in the Extend Face Option

window
Select the red CONS and confirm with middle

mouse button.
Next select the target Face for the extension,

from its cross hatch.
The Face of the rib is extended and connected

topologically to the cylinder.
Note that Shadowing for this Face now fails.
This is because of the open cut that had been

made on it.
Activate the FACEs>PRJ-CUT

PRJ-CUT function.
1 Select the Hot Point with the left mouse button.

Next select the CONS.
The Hot Point is projected and a cut is made.
Note that the projected position remains

highlighted.
Press middle mouse button to be able to select

a new Hot Point.
Select the Hot Point on the other side and then

the CONS.
A similar cut is made and the shadowing is

again enabled.
Perform the same actions (EXTEND and PRJ-

CUT) on the other rib.
Note that for the third rib you should not use the
EXTEND function, because this Face is near
coplanar with the yellow CONS below.

Activate the HOT PNTs>MULTPR

MULTPR function and select with the left
mouse button the Hot Points shown.
Next select the yellow CONS below.
The Hot Points are projected.
Next activate the SURFs>

COONS COONS function.
Select the two CONS.
Upon confirmation of the Surface the Properties

window opens to select a PID. This happens
because you have selected CONS that belong
to Faces of different PIDs.
You can select from the list, or left click on the

screen on a Face (in this case the triangular
one) whose PID you want to use for the new
Face.
(In case that the resulting COONS Face is

distorted (warped) because the Face of the rib
is not perfectly aligned with the CONS to be
connected, you may have to create a new rib
Face using 3D Curves that will connect the
projected Hot Points with the corner Hot Points
of the rib).

The middle geometry of these fittings has been

extracted.
Press the INVERT button from

INVERT the Focus group.

DELETE function and select with box
selection the Faces for deletion.
You can proceed with the Part clip.
Open the Part Manager and Lock

PARTS the clip Part.


ALL
Activate the !NOT function from

!NOT the Focus group.
Left click on the three Faces on the outer side.
As you select the Faces, they become not

visible.
Press middle mouse button to confirm.
Only the selected Faces remain visible.

OFFSET [FACES] function and select
FACES the Faces.
Type 0.5 and press OK.
Confirm the deletion of the original Faces.

The offset middle Faces remain visible.
Press INVERT from the Focus

INVERT group.
Delete the remaining Faces.

DELETE

5.8. Creating the middle skin of the main shell

Depending on the complexity of the part and the requirements that you have for your modeling, you
can either keep one side (the outer or the inner) of the solid description and use it for meshing as it
is, or you may also want to offset it to the middle position. In ANSA you can offset Faces either by
an absolute distance and create new geometrical description (as you have already performed with
some small features), or you can use the OFFSET [LINK] option, which is faster as it does not
create new Faces. Instead, it virtually offsets the existing ones either by an absolute distance or by
a percentage of the Property thickness of the Faces. This functionality is also embedded in the
FACEs>SKIN function which, in addition, detects and separates automatically one side from a solid
description of a part. The limitations of the SKIN function are that the solid description must be
cleaned up and must form a closed volume, and that the resulting geometry cannot have cyan triple
connectivity (no t-junctions etc.). Therefore, this function should only be used on solid description of
a pressed formed part. This is the reason for which you have treated the ribs separately in advance.
In this tutorial you will use the SKIN function to

perform the task as described above.
Activate the Part manager and

PARTS Lock the main_shell Part.

ALL
This Part is not currently a closed volume

definition.
Deactivating SHADOW and DOUBLE CONS

visibility temporarily shows all the openings.
In order to use the SKIN function you should

close the openings first.
The CONS>FILL HOL function can be used for

this. However bear in mind that in order for the
FILL HOL function to work there must be proper
underlying Surface description.

Activate the SURFs>INFO

INFO function and select the Faces
from their cross hatch. Examine that there is
Surface covering the openings. If some
openings have no Surface, you should close
them using functions that create new Surfaces
(like FACEs>NEW [MANUAL Auto and Auto Fit]
or SURFs>COONS).
In this Part all openings happen to have

underlying Surface.
However there is also an additional point that

should be considered. The CONS>FILL HOL
function can close opening that belong to no
more than two different underlying Surfaces.
To help the function you can create some Faces
manually first.
This opening has three Surfaces that cover it,

and hence the FILL HOL function will not close
it.
NEW function. Select the MANUAL
mode.
Select the two red CONS and confirm with
1 middle mouse button.
2
3 Next select the fillet Face whose Surface you
4 will use. Select from the crosshatch.
A new Face is created based on the existing

fillet Surface.
Now the two openings require only one

underlying Surface, so the FILL HOL function
will close them.

Create similar Faces in other openings.
Now activate the CONS>FILL

FILL HOL HOL function.
The Fill Hole Parameters window opens.
Type in the value 200 and press Select.
ANSA identifies and highlights openings.
Several opening were automatically closed.
De-activate again SHADOW and DOUBLE flags

to view any remaining openings.
Such remaining openings should be located at

the base of the outer_ribs Part. Again these
were left, as they require more than two
Surfaces in order to be closed.

Close these openings also.
Again you can use functions like SURFs>

COONS, or the FACEs>NEW [MANUAL].
Note that if you use the FACEs>NEW

[MANUAL] function, you should close each
opening by creating three Faces (one for each
underlying Surface) carefully selecting the
proper Face to use its Surface.
The advantage of using the NEW [MANUAL] is

that you can then switch to MESH menu and
use the MACROs>JOIN function to join the left-
over boundaries of these openings.
..and because you have created Faces that lie

on the same Surface as their neighbors there
are no remaining CONS.
This leaves a cleaner geometry that you can

work more easily with.
You can delete a few remaining

DELETE Hot Points with HOT
POINTs>DELETE and box selection.
Now you have a closed volume of the Part and

you can therefore use the FACEs>SKIN
function.

Activate the FACEs>SKIN

SKIN function.
Select with box-selection all the Part.
ANSA identifies and highlights in white the

edges that run along the thickness of the Part.
The message “Edit edges” appears in the Text

Window, and the user can add or remove some
of the identified edges with left and right mouse
button respectively.
Indeed there are some edges here that should

not have been included in the “thickness” path.
Zoom in and de-select them with right mouse

button.
Zoom in even further at this corner and using

right and left mouse button selections leave only
the edges shown in this region.

Press F9 to zoom all.
Examine the highlighted edges.
They should all be correct now.
ANSA separates the inner and outer Faces and

highlights them in green and red color.
The message “Select side to keep” appears

next in the Text Window.
Select with the left mouse button a Face from

the red side to keep the outer description.
Only the Faces of the selected side remain

visible and the Middle Surface window opens.
The thickness and proper offset values are filled

automatically in the window.
Check the LINK option and round off the
thickness value to exactly 1.2.
Press OFFSET to proceed with the Link offset

of the Faces by 0.5 of their property thickness.

You can check the “virtual” link

INFO offset using the SURFs>INFO
function.
The Faces have been virtually offset by half of

the PID thickness, while the Surfaces remain at
their original position.
Note:
When you offset Faces to the middle skin position (whether by OFFSET [FACES] or OFFSET
[LINK]) you should check that there are not any Faces that are flipped inside out, due to their size
and position, or the fact that their radius of curvature is smaller than the offset distance.
Original position
In this example a couple of Faces have this problem.
Offset position

5.9. Connecting the small Parts to the main shell

The remaining Faces now describe the middle
surface of the solid Part.
Perform a box selection HOT

DELETE POINTs>DELETE to remove any
unnecessary Hot Points.
Now you will proceed with the connection of the

small Parts to the main_shell Part.
You will work per Part in the same order as that

followed for the middle surface extraction.
As the task is now simpler you may not need to

isolate the working areas using the Part
Manager.
Starting with the inner_ribs.

You will use the FACEs>EXTEND function, as
before, to connect them to the main_shell.
However you should prepare the boundary
CONS by segmenting them properly.
Activate the HOT POINTs>

INTERS. INTERS. function.
Select with the left mouse button the two CONS

shown. ANSA inserts Hot Points on both of
them at their nearest position.
Perform the same at the other side shown.
Now activate the

EXTEND FACEs>EXTEND function.
Ensure that the flag “Project & Topo” is active in

the Extend Face Options window.

mouse button.

Next select the bottom Face.
ANSA extends the Face and connects it

topologically.
Performing the same action for

EXTEND the other side of the rib, leads to
the disabling of Shadow.
Ignore this for now and proceed with the

extension of the last round red CONS to the
fillet.
Use the EXTEND function again

EXTEND here.
Zoom in to this area.
Notice that as the extension was performed in

steps, there are some gaps that remain.

TOPO function.
Select with box selection and confirm with

middle mouse button.

Topology is appied.
These small yellow CONS will be joined later in

the MESH menu.
Finally, to correct the SHADOW

PRJ-CUT problem activate the
FACEs>PRJ-CUT function and select the Hot
2
Point and the top CONS.
ANSA makes the projection and the cut, and

Shadow is recovered.
Use again the functions:
HOT POINTs>INTERS
FACEs>EXTEND
FACEs>TOPO
to connect the second inner rib.
Perform another PRJ-CUT to

PRJ-CUT recover Shadow.

Move on to the outer_ribs.
Use the HOT POINTs>INTERS.

INTERS. function to get Hot Points at the
1 intersection of the two CONS.
Now taking advantage of the fact that the rib is

planar you will use the function FACEs>
3 PLN.CUT [SINGLE] to cut the main_shell
Part.
Activate the function and

2 PLN.CUT select the three Hot Points of
SINGLE the rib Face, to define the
cutting plane.
1
As the point positions are selected the cutting

plane is displayed as a cyan net.
Next select the Faces to be cut.
ANSA cuts the selected Faces.

2 Activate the HOT POINTs>

PROJECT PROJECT and select the Hot
1 Point shown and then the yellow CONS, in
order to properly segment it.
Now you must create Faces in order to close

the gap and connect the rib.
Activate the SURFs>INFO

INFO function and select the Face from
its cross hatch.
Its Surface is revealed.
Notice that it is marginally not enough in order

to cover the gap.
Still, you can modify the Surface.
Activate the function

EXTEND SURFs>EXTEND.
Select the Face from its cross hatch.
As the Surface is previewed, select with the left

1 mouse button one edge of the Surface.
Slide the mouse to extend the Surface.
Left click to lock the Surface to its new

boundary.
2
Next select the other edge of the Surface and

extend it in the other direction.
Press middle mouse button to confirm the

modification.

Check again the Surface with

INFO SURFs>INFO to ensure it is large
enough.

NEW function.
Select the MANUAL option and select the

CONS in a sequential manner (ignore the small
gaps).
Next select the rib Face so that its Surface is

used for the new Face.
The rib is now properly connected.
The narrow Face will be joined later in the

MESH menu so that a good quality mesh is
achieved.
Move on to the other outer rib.
Here the rib is not planar all the way. You will
therefore use a combination of functions.


Select the two CONS with the left mouse button.
Hot Points are created at their intersection.
Now Activate the FACEs>

PLN.CUT PLN.CUT [SINGLE] function.
SINGLE Select with the left mouse
button the three Hot Points.
The cutting plane is displayed.
Next select the Faces to be cut.
Now activate the

PROJECT CONS>PROJECT [NORMAL]
NORMAL function.
Select the two CONS and confirm with middle

mouse button.

Next select the two Faces to project the CONS

onto.
Now the cut is complete.
If shadow is disabled, use the FACEs>PRJ-CUT

function and “close” the cut on this Face.
Activate the SURFs>COONS

COONS function.
2 3 4 Select sequentially the red CONS (skipping the

1 8 7 open gaps).
9
6 5
The Accept Surface window appears and the

generated Surface is previewed.

Note that as you have selected CONS from

Faces that belong to different PIDs and Parts,
ANSA opens the Properties window to select
the desired PID for the new Face.
Instead of picking from the list you can left click
on the screen on a Faces of the rib in order to
use its PID.
Then the Part Manager opens to place the new
Face to a Part. Again you can left click on a
Face from the screen to use its Part also.
Having specified PID and Part, ANSA

completes the creation of the Face by applying
topology.
(You can switch to PID display mode to check

the correct PIDs).
Move on to the plate_hole Part.
Here you will use again the FACEs>EXTEND

function.
Prior to the use of the EXTEND function you

should segment the CONS accordingly.

Select the two CONS.
Perform the same for the other pair.


EXTEND function (located in the buffer
window).
3 1 2
Select one red CONS and confirm with middle
mouse button.
Next select the Face you want to extend to.
Perform the same operation for the other two

CONS.
If shadow is disabled, use the FACEs>PRJ-CUT

function to “close” the cut on this Face.
Apply topology with the

TOPO FACEs>TOPO function to close
the small gaps.
Moving to the outer_fittings Part.
Because here the Faces are inclined, the

EXTEND function may not give the desired
result.

Activate the
PROJECT CONS>PROJECT [USER]
USER function, The USER option
allows you to specify the
direction vector for the projection.

mouse button.
Next select the Face to project the CONS onto.
1 The Vector Definition

window opens. Here
you can pick from
the screen two Hot
Points in order to
specify this vector.
2 Press OK.
ANSA projects and cuts the Face in the

specified direction.
You now need to create Faces to make the

connection.

Check the underlying Surfaces

INFO with SURFs>INFO.
They are large enough to cover the gap.
Hence the FACEs>NEW [MANUAL] function

can be used.
Activate the function FACEs>

NEW NEW and select the MANUAL
4 mode.

mouse button.
2 Next select the Face to use its Surface.

3
1
Move on to the other side.
Again activate the function and select now the

four red CONS sequentially and confirm with
middle mouse button (selecting all four CONS
will ensure proper connectivity of the new Face,
otherwise you will need to use the TOPO
function).
Next select the Face to use its Surface.
The connection is made.

Move on to the other outer fitting.
Here the fitting intersects with the main_shell

Part.
Because the large Face is planar you can easily

find the intersection (there is no need to use the
CURVEs>SURF.INT function.
Activate the FACEs>

PLN.CUT PLN.CUT [SINGLE] and
SINGLE select three Hot Points from
the large Face to define the
cutting plane.
Next select the Faces to be cut and confirm with

ANSA cuts the excess part.

DELETE from the Geometry group of
functions.
Select the excess Faces and confirm with

Press OK in the Warning window that opens.

The cylindrical Faces are not connected to the

planar bottom Face.
Activate the CONS>

PROJECT PROJECT [NORMAL]
NORMAL function and select the red
CONS shown (Shadow is de-
activated here for clarity).
Next select the planar Face.
ANSA makes the cut.

TOPO function to connect topologically
the cylindrical Faces to the planar Face.
Select the CONS and confirm with middle

mouse button.

The cyan CONS are a confirmation of the

connection.

EXTEND function.

mouse button.
Next select the planar Face.
ANSA extends and performs topology.
Shadow is disabled.

PRJ-CUT function and make a cut as shown
to recover Shadow.
Then proceed with the extension of the other

two fins in a similar manner. Note that one fin
consists of two Faces that should be extended
one by one.

As the Faces are extended and connected

some gaps, identified by the red CONS, remain.
Activate again the FACEs>TOPO

TOPO function, select the CONS and

DELETE DELETE function and select with
box selection to remove all unnecessary Hot
Points.
The holes are not open.

Activate the DELETE function of

DELETE the Geometry group.
Select the two Faces from their cross hatch.

next.
The holes are now opened.

PRJ-CUT function and make cuts as shown,
to avoid any shadow problems, and have better
shaped Macros Areas for meshing later.
(Remember that any Faces that fail Shadow will

also fail meshing later).
Finally, activate the FACEs>CUT

CUT function and make a cut between
the two Hot Points shown.

Activate the FACEs>DELETE and

DELETE delete the excess Face.
Finally, move to the clip Part.

EXTEND function and select the red
CONS.
Select the Face to extend to.
ANSA extends, cuts and connects.
Shadow is disabled.

Use FACEs>PRJ-CUT to make

PRJ-CUT the two cuts shown and recover
Shadow.
The clean up is completed.
As mentioned earlier all the Faces that you have

deleted remain in the database.
Activate the FACEs>UNDEL.

UNDEL. function. All deleted Faces are
previewed, and the user can select Faces to be
retrieved if necessary.
Using the
FILE FILE>COMPRESS [ALL]
COMPRESS function will erase this
data and will reduce
significantly the size of the database. Use this
function only when you are certain that clean up
is complete, and you will not need to retrieve the
original data.

5.10. Shell meshing

Switch to MESH menu.
Activate the MACROs>LENGTH
LENGTH function and select all the Macros.
Specify an element length of 4 in the Input
window that appears and press Enter.
Switch to TRIA in the SHELL
TRIA.. MESH>MIXED.. switch button.
Activate the SHELL
FREE MESH>FREE [Visible]
Visible function to mesh all the visible
Macros with the FREE
algorithm and TRIA elements.
The part is meshed.

(If a message “x Macros remain umeshed”
appears in the Text Window, press the
UNMESHED [MACROs] function to isolate them
and check for problems in their topology).
You will proceed with a basic quality check and
improvement. Keep only the SKEW flag active
in the quality criteria buttons at the bottom.
Activate the HIDDEN view mode.

HIDDEN
The skewed elements are viewed in green.
(The bad elements identified here are according
to the ANSA default skewness check. Press
F11 to access the Presentation Parameters
window and select the desired quality settings).
Activate the SHELL

RECONS MESH>RECONS [Visible]
Visible function.
ANSA reconstructs the current mesh.
The reported number of the visible skewed

elements is lowered in the text legend on the
left.

Press the EXTREME function of

EXTREME the Focus group to isolate the
Macros that have skewed elements.
Zoom in to the area shown.
These skewed elements are a result of the short

CONS, and correspondingly here Perimeters,
that the Extension of the Faces left over.
Activate the MACROs>JOIN

JOIN function and select them with the
left mouse button.
Joining these Perimeters results in the deletion

of the mesh locally.
Before remeshing activate the

RECON SHELL MESH>RECON flag, so
that Reconstruction takes place in the
background to get the optimum mesh.
Activate the SHELL

RE-MESH MESH>RE-MESH [Visible]
Visible function.
The erased Macros Area is remeshed with the

same meshing algorithm, in this case the FREE,
and reconstruction is applied automatically.

The other two inner ribs have a similar problem

that should be corrected in the same way.
In addition these Hot Points

DELETE should be deleted with HOT
POINTs>DELETE.
Note that in order to avoid having

A.MESH to use the SHELL MESH>
REMESH function after Perimeter modifications
you can activate the SHELL MESH>AMESH
flag button.
Moving to the outer_ribs Part there are some

narrow Macro Areas with skewed elements.
Use the function MACROs>JOIN

JOIN and delete the left over Hot
Points.
(Note that in SETTINGS>GENERAL SETTINGS

there is an option to delete automatically any
unused Hot Points after a JOIN operation).

Make any other necessary similar modifications.
Note that you can switch to EL.THICK display

mode and view the shell elements colored by
the PID thickness according to a color bar.
SHADOW mode facilitates viewing.
Finally, pressing F11 access the Presentation

Parameters window where you can activate the
flag “Shell as Solid”.
This allows the visualization of shell elements

as solid according to their PID thickness.
The tutorial is complete.
Save the file and quit.

5.11. Conclusion
In this tutorial you have followed all the basic steps to extract the middle surface description of a
solid part and mesh it with shell elements. Not all capabilities were demonstrated. Refer also to
ANSA v12.x User’s Guide and to the On-Line Help for the functionality of ANSA and detailed
description of functions and procedures.

Extracting the Middle Skin Geometry from a Complex Solid Part

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Tutorial 5

FROM SOLID TO SHELL

BETA CAE Systems S.A.

The steps described in this tutorial include:

• Read the STEP file and check topology.

5.1.2. Problem description

5.1.3. Data files

BETA CAE Systems S.A. Tutorial 5 - 2 ANSA v.12.0.1 Tutorials

5.2. Reading the CAD file

Now read in the STEP

Select the CAD file in the File Manager

Activate back DOUBLE

Press FACEs>INVERT if required to flip

Save the ANSA database locally from FILE>SAVE AS.

5.3. Removing unwanted details

Activate the OR function of the

Having isolated the area, activate

You will delete all the Faces that form the

Activate the NOT function of the

Activate the DELETE function

Confirm with middle mouse button.

Press OK in the Warning window that appears

(Note that DELETED Faces still reside in the

Press the ALL function of the

Openings are left at the location of the letters.

As there is underlying Surface description to

BETA CAE Systems S.A. Tutorial 5 - 4 ANSA v.12.0.1 Tutorials

Activate the CONS>FILL HOL

All the openings of the letters are identified.

De-activate the LOCK flag

Press the ALL function of the

Activate the function FILE>COMPRESS [ALL]. This will completely erase

Save the file from FILE>SAVE.

BETA CAE Systems S.A. Tutorial 5 - 5 ANSA v.12.0.1 Tutorials

5.4. Planning the approach

plate hole inner ribs outer fittings

BETA CAE Systems S.A. Tutorial 5 - 6 ANSA v.12.0.1 Tutorials

5.5. Separating the Parts

Activate the NOT function and

You should leave only these Faces visible.

You will now place these Faces in a new Part.

Activate the Part Manager from

Type in the name inner_ribs and press OK

The new Part appears as EMPTY in the Part

Activate the SET function to select the Faces to

BETA CAE Systems S.A. Tutorial 5 - 7 ANSA v.12.0.1 Tutorials

Select with box selection all the Faces.

Confirm with middle mouse button.

Left click on the icon of the Part you want to

The icon is redrawn, displaying now all the

Press ALL from the Focus group

Proceed in a similar manner to create 4 more

In the end you should view the Parts as shown

Left click on the name of the skin.step Part in

Save the file from FILE>SAVE.

BETA CAE Systems S.A. Tutorial 5 - 8 ANSA v.12.0.1 Tutorials

5.6. Assigning PIDs with corresponding thickness

You will use the Part Manager for the visibility

As a first step isolate the inner_ribs Part.

Activate the Parts function.

Press the ALL function of the Part Manager.

All icons become red and all the Parts are

Press the NONE function of the Part Manager.