Meshing After a Project Import

The following page helps you understand the impacts of the Lightweight and Heavyweight imports on the meshing.

After a Lightweight Import

When you import CAD files (CATIA, IGES, STEP), they are imported in Lightweight by default. That means, the files are loaded with a lighter level of detail of data than a full load (Heavyweight), which reduces the import time.

After importing a project in Lightweight, the geometries can appear incorrect in the 3D view, especially on curved faces/surfaces. The possible incorrect visualization of the geometries does not impact the simulation results.

Indeed, when using the Preview Meshing option, you can see that the meshing shape that will be used in the simulation can be different from the imported lightweight geometries.

Why? Because the meshing is not done using the lightweight geometries but the heavyweight geometries. During the initialization of a simulation, the lightweight geometries are converted to heavyweight geometries and the SpaceClaim meshing is applied to the heavyweight geometries.

Figure 1. Example - CATProduct containing a MOS and imported in Lightweight


After an Heavyweight Import

After importing a project in Heavyweight, the geometries appear correct in the 3D view.

During the initialization of a simulation, the meshing is applied using the heavyweight geometries.

The import is longer than a lightweight import, but the meshing is applied faster, and the visualization of the geometry in the 3D view is accurate.

Figure 2. Example - CATProduct containing a MOS and imported in Heavyweight


Difference

A difference exists between a meshing applied after a lightweight import and a heavyweight import.

Indeed, the lightweight import algorithm and the heavyweight import algorithm are different. As a consequence, the meshing applied can slightly differ, even if the same meshing values are defined.