Smoothing external nodes

Select MeshEdit from the main menu bar to smooth the positions of nodes on the surfaces of parts or assemblies. The node smoothing operation can improve transitions in mesh density or otherwise improve local mesh quality without remeshing the region or manually repositioning nodes. You can use node smoothing to improve the mesh on a surface before using it as the source of a bottom-up mesh or a swept mesh.

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What can I do with the Edit Mesh toolset?

Context:

Abaqus/CAE applies a Laplacian smoothing algorithm at each node that you select. The selected nodes are repositioned to equalize their distance from adjoining nodes, creating a smoother surface mesh.

You can select only external nodes of parts or assemblies for smoothing. Boundary nodes are not repositioned by the smoothing operation.

  1. Enter the Mesh module, and do one of the following:

    • From the Object field in the context bar, select Assembly.

    • From the Object field in the context bar, select Part, and select a part from the list.

  2. From the main menu bar, select MeshEdit.

    Abaqus/CAE displays the Edit Mesh dialog box.

    Tip: You can also display the Edit Mesh dialog box using the tool, located at the bottom of the Mesh module toolbox.

  3. In the dialog box, do the following:

    1. In the Category field, select Node.
    2. From the Method list, select Smooth.

    Abaqus/CAE displays the existing nodes. In hidden and shaded mode only the visible nodes are displayed.

  4. Select the nodes to be smoothed.

    You can ShiftClick on individual nodes to add them to your selection, or CtrlClick on selected nodes to remove them from your selection.

    Tip: You can use the Selection toolbar to change the picking behavior. For more information, see Selecting objects within the viewport.”

    If you would rather select from a list of existing node sets, do the following:

    1. Click Sets on the right side of the prompt area.

      Abaqus/CAE displays the Region Selection dialog box containing a list of node sets that you have created.

    2. Select the set of nodes, and click Continue.

    Note:

    The default selection method is based on the selection method you most recently employed. To revert to the other method, click Select in Viewport or Sets on the right side of the prompt area.

  5. In the prompt area, click Done.

    Abaqus/CAE smooths the position of the selected nodes.

    Tip: If you want to restore the nodes to their previous positions, click Undo in the Edit Mesh dialog box to undo the smoothing.

  6. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 as often as necessary to smooth additional nodes.

    You can apply smoothing to the same node multiple times. After a few iterations, a node will no longer be moved by the smoothing algorithm unless other surrounding nodes are moved.

  7. When you have finished adjusting nodes, click the cancel button in the prompt area to exit the procedure.