Transfer Geometry to EDEM

Mrage
Mrage Altair Community Member
edited April 2021 in Community Q&A

Hello,

I am struggeling to transfer my Geometry from MotionView to EDEM with correct Scale.

- In EDEM i set All Units to SI (Tools > Options > Units)

- In MotionView i set Lenght to Meter (under Forms Panal Units)

When I transfer the Geometry to EDEM by Coupling Server the Geometry is always scaled way to small. I would say aprox. 1/1000. Even if I scale it up in MotionView its alwaya scaled down.

What am I missing out here? Help is highly appriciated!

Thanks

Answers

  • Stephen Cole
    Stephen Cole
    Altair Employee
    edited March 2021

    Hi,

     

    In EDEM the tools > Options > Units settings are the display units rather than any changes to the import.  When you import to EDEM there is the option of choosing 'cad units' or having the user select the units (which is essentially how much the geometry is scaled).

     

    If you are 1000/1 out I'd choose mm in the EDEM CAD import dialogue, it seems like the MotionView file maybe created in mm and the import to EDEM is meters causing the discrepancy.

    Regards

    Stephen

  • Mrage
    Mrage Altair Community Member
    edited March 2021

    Hi,

     

    In EDEM the tools > Options > Units settings are the display units rather than any changes to the import.  When you import to EDEM there is the option of choosing 'cad units' or having the user select the units (which is essentially how much the geometry is scaled).

     

    If you are 1000/1 out I'd choose mm in the EDEM CAD import dialogue, it seems like the MotionView file maybe created in mm and the import to EDEM is meters causing the discrepancy.

    Regards

    Stephen

    Hi Stephen,

    thanks for thw quick reply. Unfortunately I cannot find the option 'cad units' when i transfer the Graphics to EDEM from MotionView a window pops up in EDEM which says 'Converting CAD file' and 'Loading in converted file'. There is not much i can do within this process.

    I am using DEM 2020 and MotionView 2019.1.

    Couls you tell me where to set up the Units for Import?

    Regards,

    Leandro

  • Stephen Cole
    Stephen Cole
    Altair Employee
    edited March 2021
    Mrage said:

    Hi Stephen,

    thanks for thw quick reply. Unfortunately I cannot find the option 'cad units' when i transfer the Graphics to EDEM from MotionView a window pops up in EDEM which says 'Converting CAD file' and 'Loading in converted file'. There is not much i can do within this process.

    I am using DEM 2020 and MotionView 2019.1.

    Couls you tell me where to set up the Units for Import?

    Regards,

    Leandro

    Hi Leandro, I've asked one of my colleagues to review.  Regarding the import units if you import a geometry directly into EDEM via the Creator > Geometry > Import Geometry dialogue you get to choose the different import units there.  One option would be to manually import a CAD file this way.

  • Ignacio Diez Alonso_21259
    Ignacio Diez Alonso_21259
    Altair Employee
    edited March 2021

    Hi Leandro,

     

    From my experience and testing, the dimensions and scale of the geometries that are imported from MS into EDEM are set from the MS side.

    The correct model size or scale should be set-up prior to transferring the geometries to EDEM if you are doing it through the MS EDEM coupling. I have not seen this kind of issue in the past, so I also wanted to ask what version of EDEM are you using? And is the scale and size correct in MotionView?

     

    I assume that you are scaling it by following the next steps, but if you are not could you please try these and also specify how you were scaling the geometries in MotionView? Going to the geometry graphic in MotionView> Open the Location Tab and in the Scale column change the values accordingly> then save the model and session if you want> to proceed with creating the EDEM Subsystem in MotionView> Select the graphics that you would like to import in this new system> Start the coupling server in your EDEM interface > Go back to MotionView and press on Transfer Geometries > Then check if these are the correct dimensions in EDEM.

     

    Could you alternatively try importing the CAD file into MS already scaled and then transferring it to EDEM if its possible for you to do this.

     

    Regards

    Ignacio

  • Mrage
    Mrage Altair Community Member
    edited March 2021

    Hi Leandro, I've asked one of my colleagues to review.  Regarding the import units if you import a geometry directly into EDEM via the Creator > Geometry > Import Geometry dialogue you get to choose the different import units there.  One option would be to manually import a CAD file this way.

    True, this works. But i cannot co-simulate using this way.

  • Mrage
    Mrage Altair Community Member
    edited March 2021

    Hi Leandro,

     

    From my experience and testing, the dimensions and scale of the geometries that are imported from MS into EDEM are set from the MS side.

    The correct model size or scale should be set-up prior to transferring the geometries to EDEM if you are doing it through the MS EDEM coupling. I have not seen this kind of issue in the past, so I also wanted to ask what version of EDEM are you using? And is the scale and size correct in MotionView?

     

    I assume that you are scaling it by following the next steps, but if you are not could you please try these and also specify how you were scaling the geometries in MotionView? Going to the geometry graphic in MotionView> Open the Location Tab and in the Scale column change the values accordingly> then save the model and session if you want> to proceed with creating the EDEM Subsystem in MotionView> Select the graphics that you would like to import in this new system> Start the coupling server in your EDEM interface > Go back to MotionView and press on Transfer Geometries > Then check if these are the correct dimensions in EDEM.

     

    Could you alternatively try importing the CAD file into MS already scaled and then transferring it to EDEM if its possible for you to do this.

     

    Regards

    Ignacio

    Hi Ignacio,

    I am currently using EDEM 2020 and MS 2019.1. Can you please explain again where i can find the 'Location Tab' again? Under Graphics>Box(in my trial case)>there is no 'Location Tab'.Could not find anything else where.

    Also I am unable to import a CAD file into MS.

     

    Best regards,

    Leandro

  • Ignacio Diez Alonso_21259
    Ignacio Diez Alonso_21259
    Altair Employee
    edited April 2021
    Mrage said:

    Hi Ignacio,

    I am currently using EDEM 2020 and MS 2019.1. Can you please explain again where i can find the 'Location Tab' again? Under Graphics>Box(in my trial case)>there is no 'Location Tab'.Could not find anything else where.

    Also I am unable to import a CAD file into MS.

     

    Best regards,

    Leandro

    Hi Leandro,

     

    Apologies for the late reply, I'm afraid that I missed this when you sent it. I do not have access to MS 2019.1 at the moment, so I am not certain if it is found in the same place. I would recommend updating to MS 2021 if possible, as there will be multiple fixes and updates that will help the coupling between MS and EDEM be much smoother. 

     

    You should be able to add a CAD file as a graphic to MotionView, I have personally only done this from versions 2020 onwards, but I believe it should be possible to do this in previous versions too, even though I am not sure if the naming is the same.

     

    Kind regards

    Ignacio