Using BATCH_RECONSTRUCT and MANUAL_RECONSTRUCT

Before the model can be remeshed, the surface calculated by Tosca Structure.smooth needs to be modified. In general, this modification attempts to make the surface homogeneous by distributing the elements evenly. In contrast to the surface smoothing done by Tosca Structure.smooth, the nodes and elements of the surface get replaced so that the topology of the surface changes as well as the geometry. However, the nodes with boundary conditions or loads either remain unchanged or (in case of SPC nodes) are modified in a way that complies to the conditions. Additionally, the user can freeze the SPC nodes manually.

  1. Both BATCH_RECONSTRUCT and MANUAL_RECONSTRUCT items in Task Manager provide basically the same functionality of surface modification. To open the dialog, select BATCH_RECONSTRUCT > Edit as shown in the following figure:

  2. You can choose from the following settings:

    • Preview (checked by default) tells Tosca ANSA® environment if the preview dialog that requests the user confirmation of the reconstructed surface is to be shown.
    • Automatic feature line recognition at SMOOTH_CUT_ELEMENTS area (unchecked by default): when switched on, the new surface will follow the feature lines of the surface generated by Tosca Structure.smooth; this usually leads to better surface quality in problematic places (and sometimes is required in order to prevent the self-intersections) but leads to uneven distribution of element sizes. The safer option is to switch it on.
    • Freeze SPC Nodes: Freezes the nodes with applied single point constraints.

  3. To open the MESH PARAMETERS dialog, select BATCH_RECONSTRUCT > Parameters.

    The dialog contains the advanced surface reconstruction parameters. For most applications, the default values suffice.

  4. Set the element type for your resulting surface mesh (tria, quad or mixed) on Shell Mesh tab.

    Important: It is not recommended to use QUAD since it does not work for the majority of models.

  5. Define the element length used by the reconstruct function in the Target Length section. You can:

    • Set a required value for the element length as shown in the following figure
    • Maintain the existing average element length with average option
    • Maintain the existing local length with local option
    • Impose no guideline with free option.



    Tip: Information about other settings can be found in the tool tips of the corresponding fields.

  6. To start the reconstruction of the entire model surface, select BATCH_RECONSTRUCT > Update.

  7. OR if it is needed to modify only a part of the surface, select MANUAL_RECONSTRUCT > Edit.

    SHELL MASH PARAMETERS dialog is opened.

  8. Use Update command and select the desired shell elements.

  9. Select the selection confirmed by clicking the middle mouse button.

  10. Select or deselect the edges of the feature lines (if needed) and click the middle mouse button again.

    The selected region is reconstructed and a preview window appears.

  11. Confirm the modification and repeat the process with other regions or press "Escape" key (or click the middle mouse button once more) if finished.

  12. In order to undo the surface modifications made by BATCH_RECONSTRUCT or MANUAL_RECONSTRUCT, and, if needed, to repeat it with different settings, the most simple way is to repeat Tosca Structure.smooth run: Select RUN_SMOOTH > Change in order to remove the results of Tosca Structure.smooth and to reload the initial model. Then, run Tosca Structure.smooth again using Update command.