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Volume Tetramesh with embedded tria elements

Altair Forum User

Hello,

I am trying to mesh a fairly complex geometry. I am doing simulations of a fractured reservoir. My geometry is a box which represents the rock mass and a number of variably oriented planes contained within the box which represent fractures.

I have successfully meshed the planes using 2D Auto Mesh. I would now like to mesh the volume with tetramesh however it is very important that the tetra elements and the tria elements have shared nodes.

I have attached a screen shot of the geometry to give an idea of what it looks like. You can see the meshed fractures and the containing box.

I tried using tetramesh but I got an error message stating that the mesh is not enclosed. I am not sure if I selected the correct options. Can someone please advise on the best way to get this done.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

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QuyNguyenDai

Make TRIA mesh for your box firstly and then try TET mesh.

Have a look at my test: my TRIA 2D mesh is yellow. My 2D mesh of the box is green (closed volume). The final 3D shares the same nodes as TRIA 2D mesh.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

Altair Forum User

Ok I tried this approach.

I used volume tetra to mesh it and it seems to have worked

However, I need to change the material number of the TRIA element which belong to the fracture so that I can differentiate them from the TRIA elements of the enclosing surfaces. Currently, all the elements have the material number 0 in the output file. As can be seen in the attached screen shot. (highlighted green)

Does anyone know how to assign this?

Cheers,

Ariel

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

QuyNguyenDai

That's simple. Create 2 shell properties: one for embbed 2D & another for enclosing 2D mesh.

Create two different components for each 2D mesh. Apply the property for each component.

Altair Forum User

Thanks a lot for your feedback.

I think I figured it out.. I am very new to the HM environment and not used to a lot of the functionality as I am from a geoscience background and not familiar with FE meshing software and terminology etc