At times you may want to simulate geometry items that are present on the build plate but that are not being 3D-printed. These items may include clamps, bolts, measuring devices, instrumentation, etc. They may influence the heat dissipation and/or distortion of the part being built so they need to be included in the simulation.

Use the Ansys-defined named selection NONBUILD_ELEMENTS to identify this geometry. (For MAPDL users, use an element component CM,NONBUILD_ELEMENTS,ELEM). This Ansys-defined component name signals to the application that those elements should not be part of the build process. That is, they will be present the entire simulation and will not be "birthed" at melting temperature in a layer-by-layer fashion.