How to Skip Resolving the Intersection Within a CAD Body During Surface Mesh

Santhoshkumar

If the input CAD body contains an overlapping face, SimLab will try to resolve the intersection by default during surface meshing. Sometimes, resolving the intersections automatically creates a bad mesh and the geometry is collapsed. Bringing it back to the original shape takes time.

To skip the automatic resolving of an intersection within a body, use the environment variable:

SIMLAB_SKIP_INTERSECTION_REMOVAL=1 

To add the above environment variable:

1. Navigate to File > Preferences > Application > General.
2. Click the User defined environment variables button.
   
3. Under the Name column, enter SIMLAB_SKIP_INTERSECTION_REMOVAL.
4. Under the Value column, enter 1.
5. Click OK.

Example 

In the below example, the CAD body contains overlapping elements. By using the environment variable, the automatic resolving of element intersection can be skipped.

#1: Surface Mesh (with NO environment variable) 

• Import CAD 

• On generating the surface mesh, it automatically tries to resolve the intersections. Due to this, the geometry is collapsed. Bringing it back to the original shape will take time. 

 

#2: Surface Mesh (with environment variable) 

The SIMLAB_SKIP_INTERSECTION_REMOVAL environment is set as described above.

• Import CAD 

• Upon generating the surface mesh, it skips resolving the intersections within a body. After surface mesh, the element intersection will be resolved manually.