Question:
What type of FE data can I export?
Applies to:
- Exporting to Simulation software
Answer:
FE Volume Mesh (Linear & Quadratic)
FE Surface Mesh (Linear & Quadratic)
FE Lattice Mesh (Linear)
FE Lattice Mesh (Quadratic)
Material Properties
Connectors
Loading Boundary Conditions
Thermal Boundary Conditions
FE Volume Mesh (Linear & Quadratic) |
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| Abaqus (.inp) | ANSYS (.cdb) | Nastran (.bdf) | LS-Dyna (.k) | Universal (.unv) | Patran (.pat) | Fluent (.msh) | |
| FE Volume Mesh | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| FE Volume Mesh + Node set | X | X | X | X | |||
| FE Volume Mesh + Edge set | |||||||
| FE Volume Mesh + Face set | X | ||||||
| FE Volume Mesh + Element set | X | X | X | X | X | ||
FE Surface Mesh (Linear & Quadratic) |
|||||||
| Abaqus (.inp) | ANSYS (.cdb) | Nastran (.bdf) | LS-Dyna (.k) | Universal (.unv) | Patran (.pat) | Fluent (.msh) | |
| FE Surface Mesh | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
| FE Surface Mesh + Node set | X | X | X | X | |||
| FE Surface Mesh + Edge set | |||||||
| FE Surface Mesh + Face set | X | ||||||
| FE Surface Mesh + Element set | X | X | X | X | X | ||
FE Lattice Mesh (Linear) |
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| Abaqus (.inp) | ANSYS (.cdb) | Nastran (.bdf) | LS-Dyna (.k) | Universal (.unv) | Patran (.pat) | Fluent (.msh) | |
| FE Lattice Mesh | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| FE Lattice Mesh + Node set | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| FE Lattice Mesh + Edge set | |||||||
| FE Lattice Mesh + Element set | X | X | X | X | X | ||
FE Lattice Mesh (Quadratic) |
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| Abaqus (.inp) | ANSYS (.cdb) | Nastran (.bdf) | LS-Dyna (.k) | Universal (.unv) | Patran (.pat) | Fluent (.msh) | |
| FE Lattice Mesh | X | X | X | X | |||
| FE Lattice Mesh + Node set | X | X | X | X | |||
| FE Lattice Mesh + Edge set | |||||||
| FE Lattice Mesh + Element set | X | X | X | X | |||
Material Properties |
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| Abaqus (.inp) | ANSYS (.cdb) | Nastran (.bdf) | LS-Dyna (.k) | Universal (.unv) | Patran (.pat) | Fluent (.msh) | |
| Isotropic Elastic Property | X | X | X | X | |||
| Isotropic Thermal Property | X | X | X | ||||
| Isotropic Thermal Expansion Property | X | X | X | ||||
| Orthotropic Elastic Property | X | X | |||||
| Orthotropic Thermal Property | X | X | |||||
| Orthotropic Thermal Expansion Property | |||||||
| Density | X | X | X | X | |||
| Beam Thickness | X | X | |||||
| Shell Thickness | X | X | X | X | |||
| Multiple Attributes | X | X | X | X | |||
Connectors |
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| Abaqus (.inp) | ANSYS (.cdb) | Nastran (.bdf) | LS-Dyna (.k) | Universal (.unv) | Patran (.pat) | Fluent (.msh) | |
| Solid - Solid | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Solid - Shell | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Solid - Beam | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Shell - Solid | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Shell - Shell | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Shell - Beam | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Beam - Solid | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Beam - Shell | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Beam - Beam | X | X | X | X | X | ||
*If you want to export BC with Ansys Fluent, check out this article
Loading Boundary Conditions |
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| Abaqus (.inp) | ANSYS (.cdb) | Nastran (.bdf) | LS-Dyna (.k) | Universal (.unv) | Patran (.pat) | Fluent (.msh) | |
| Force (Solid Nodes) | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Force (Solid Edges) | |||||||
| Force (Solid Faces) | X | X | X | ||||
| Force (Shell Nodes) | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Force (Shell Edges) | |||||||
| Force (Shell Faces) | X | X | X | ||||
| Force (Beam Nodes) | X | X | X | X | |||
| Force (Beam Edges) | |||||||
| Pressure (Solid Faces) | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Pressure (Shell Faces) | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Remote Force | X | X | X | ||||
| Remote Moment | X | X | X | X | |||
| Displacement Restraint | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Acceleration Load | X | X | |||||
Thermal Boundary Conditions |
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| Abaqus (.inp) | ANSYS (.cdb) | Nastran (.bdf) | LS-Dyna (.k) | Universal (.unv) | Patran (.pat) | Fluent (.msh) | |
| Temperature Restraint | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Heat Flux | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Heat Generation | X | X | X | ||||
| Radiation Boundary Load | X | ||||||
| Convection Boundary Load | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Initial Temperature | |||||||
| Applied Temperature | |||||||
A Note on Sets:
The FE Sets (e.g., FE Boundary and FE Region) created in nTop can be made of up nodes, elements, edges, or faces, but only certain target formats support all of these. In general, the Abaqus .inp format is very robust and well-supported and even works well when translated into other tools including ANSYS Workbench using the "External Model" system. If applicable, this format is generally recommended when communicating FE data for mechanical applications.
*You can only export one FE Mesh at a time when exporting it with FE Sets.