Create a 1-Element 3-D Spherical Polar Mesh
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Contents
Description
- In this example a 3-D spheroidal mesh is created in spherical polar coordinates using one trilinear Lagrange element.
- The nodal coordinates and element connectivities are read from tab-delimited spreadsheets.
An automated script that runs this tutorial is included in the Continuity installation: examples\mesh12\sphericalPolar.py. To run it, click File→Scripts→Read script→Python or session script. Note that you may not be able to see through the large outer sphere; however, you can temporarily hide that sphere from View→Show Open Mesh→element surfaces4→Properties tab→ click/unclick the Show/Hide button.
Start Continuity
- Launch the Continuity Client
On the About Continuity startup screen
leave the mesh checkbox checked under Use Modules:
Click OK to bring up the main window
Create coordinates and basis function
Select spherical polar in the Global Coordinates: pop-up menu
Click OK to submit Coordinate Form
Choose Lagrange Basis Function→3D→Linear-Linear-Linear
Click Add Linear-Linear-Linear
- Verify that the list of basis functions now contains:
- Linear-Linear-Linear Lagrange 3*3*3
- Linear-Linear Lagrange 3*3
Click OK to submit Basis Form
Read nodes and elements
Click Import/Export/Graph button to open Continuity Table Manager
Continuity Table Manager→File→Open...
Select tab-delimited nodes file (nodes.xls)
- You should now have nodes numbered 1-4
Click OK to submit Node Form
Click Import/Export/Graph button to open Continuity Table Manager
Continuity Table Manager→File→Open...
Select tab-delimited elements file (elems.xls)
Click OK to submit Element Form
Calculate and render mesh
Click on nodes1 in the list on the left
Click on the Properties tab
Change the Size field to 0.1 and hit Enter to make the nodes a little bit bigger
Click lines radio button
Click Render to display mesh wireframe
- The mesh should now look similar to the first screenshot, you might have to rotate the mesh to get the same view.
Click surfaces radio button
Click Render to display mesh surfaces
- The mesh should now look similar to the second screenshot.
Click surfaces radio button
Enter 1.0 for the Location field
Click Render to display mesh surfaces
Click on element surfaces4 in the list on the left
Click on the Properties tab
Drag the Opacity scale bar under to 50
- The mesh should now look similar to the third screenshot.
Pre-built model
This cont6 file contains all data and parameters for this problem: mesh6.cont6
Warning: Render Fields does not always work correctly with the DejaVu renderer on laptops. If this is the case, try using the OpenMesh renderer.