Selection Method

By using the default "Manual" setting here, you will be able to manually add clusters by selecting edges or faces from the graphics view. The selected edges or faces will be divided into clusters depending on the connectivity and the Minimum Angle specified. The Automatic Selection method may be used to let Ansys DesignModeler search for clusters that can be merged in the model. If you opt for Automatic Selection method, additional properties show up in the Details View that help you control the automatic search. With the Manual Selection method, if any of the selected edges or faces are not part of any valid clusters, they are shown in a separate section in the Details View titled "Edges Not Merged" or "Faces Not Merged". In both Automatic and Manual modes, the valid clusters are shown under the "Merge Clusters" section in the Details View.

Minimum Angle

The value specified for this property is used to determine sets of edges or faces that can be merged. If the minimum angle between the edges or faces of a cluster is less than the Minimum Angle specified, that cluster will not be merged. For edge merge, Minimum Angle should be positive and less than or equal to 180 degrees. For face merge, Minimum Angle should be greater than or equal to 90 degrees and less than or equal to 180 degrees. Two connected edges will be merged, only if the angle between them at the common vertex is greater than or equal to the "Minimum Angle". Similarly two connected faces will be merged only if the minimum angle between them at the common edges is greater than or equal to the "Minimum Angle".

Preserve Named Selection Boundary

When the property is set to yes, it ensures that named selection boundaries are not altered. For example, mergeable faces that belong to the same named selection will merge together, but mergeable faces belonging to different named selections will not merge.

Merge Boundary Edges

By setting this to Yes, you can merge the boundary edges of the merged face clusters. The boundary edges are clustered as described in the "Merging Edges" section. The "Minimum Angle" specified by you is considered here also to determine the edge clusters.

Targets to Search

You can choose which targets to search for the Automatic Selection method using this property. The default value is Visible Bodies. The other choices available are All Bodies, Selected Bodies and Selected Faces. If you choose Selected Bodies an additional Bodies property is displayed that allows you to select the Bodies to Search. If you choose Selected Faces, a new property, Faces, shows up so that faces can be selected to search for clusters.

Find Clusters Now

This property will always display No as its value. When you set it to Yes, search for clusters starts at that time. When the search is completed, this value is automatically set back to No, and the clusters found will be displayed in the Details View. If there are clusters already present in selection, the options shown for this property are No, Yes – Replace Existing Clusters, and Yes – Preserve Existing Clusters.

The clusters identified for merging are displayed at the end of the Details View. In the case of face merge, the face clusters identified by the search are highlighted with different colors in the graphics view.