The mesh for bodies with the reference frame S-ALE Domain is created within the solver. There are three methods to define the mesh parameters that are passed to the solver: the default method, the use of an S-ALE Mesh object, and the S-ALE Mesh Workflow. The S-ALE Mesh Workflow is the most comprehensive method, which supports the full range of meshing options available in the solver.
The default method takes the number of mesh elements created by the Mechanical meshing process and calculates the number of divisions along each coordinate axis needed to obtain a uniform rectilinear mesh.
Where:
N = Number of elements in the Mechanical mesh
(dx , dy, dz) = Length of the bounding box of the body along each of the coordinate axes
(nx, ny, nz ) = The number of divisions along each of the co-ordinate axes
An alternative method is to insert an S-ALE Mesh object under the Model branch. This object can be scoped to the S-ALE Domain body, and either the element size or the number of divisions along each co-ordinate axis can be defined directly. The object also provides a visual representation of the mesh on the exterior surface of the body.
The S-ALE Mesh Workflow supports the full range of meshing options available in the solver and loads the full mesh into Mechanical, allowing visualization at the pre-processing stage.
To add the workflow, right-click Model in the tree Outline and click . This action loads a predefined template with Steps and Outcomes under Mesh Workflows. The S-ALE Mesh Workflow performs the Steps using Controls and Outcomes to achieve the desired mesh for the S-ALE solver.
The S-ALE Mesh Workflow has the following Steps:
S-ALE Mesh - creates the mesh from a set of user-defined control points.
Build Topology - creates the topology from the mesh generated in the S-ALE Mesh step.
The S-ALE Mesh operation generates the S-ALE mesh from a set of control points and loads the mesh into Mechanical. The S-ALE Mesh operation has the following Mesh Workflow Controls:
Control Points
Allows you to define the control points for the S-ALE mesh. The input parameters capture the information used in the *ALE_STRUCTURED_MESH_CONTROL_POINTS card, as described in the LS-DYNA Keyword User's Manual Volume I.
Scope
This Outcome scopes the S-ALE domain of the S-ALE Mesh operation. When the mesh workflow is completed, the S-ALE domain is added to the geometry and the Reference Frame property is automatically set to S-ALE Domain.
