Element Cleanup Panel

Location: 2D page

Element Cleanup Process

By default, all associated geometry will be utilized as part of the cleanup process, if any exists. If this is not desired, you must disassociate the FE from the geometry.

The cleanup process is automated, but the panel includes many options to affect how it behaves and the types of problems it will attempt to clean up.

Panel Options

Option	Action
anchor nodes	Select anchor nodes to preserve during the clean-up process.
consider only affected elems	Use only failed elements during the clean-up process.
Divide quads into trias (Quality Correction tab)	Specify if quads are allowed to split into trias to correct warpage.
elems	Select elements to perform clean-up.
elems failing QI check	Limit other options by examining whether or not the resulting elements would fail your QI criteria. For example, using tria reduction with this option activated might result in fewer trias being removed, but better overall mesh quality.
Feature angle (Quality Correction tab)	Define the feature and vertex angle used for auto generating 1D features, when required.
feature edges	Select feature edges (node paths) to preserve during the clean-up process.
keep connectivity with 1D/3D	2D element edges that are shared with 1D/3D element edges before cleanup should be preserved during cleanup.
Move across free edges <= (Quality Correction tab)	Define the allowable node movement for nodes on free edges to correct minimum size.
Move across non-manifold edges <= (Quality Correction tab)	Define the allowable node movement for nodes on non-manifold edges to correct minimum size.
Move across shared edges <= (Quality Correction tab)	Define the allowable node movement for nodes on shared edges to correct minimum size.
Offset from surfaces <= (Quality Correction tab)	Define the allowable node movement normal to surfaces to correct warpage.
reduce tria elems	Attempt to combine trias into quads. If you also enable elems failing QI check, the tria reduction will be tempered by the constraints on the resulting quads.
use adjacent elem layers	Define the number of adjacent layers to include for failed elements. Note: Only available when consider only affected elems is enabled.

Command Buttons

Button	Action
edit criteria	Open the Criteria File Editor, from which you can define the quality index (QI) mesh criteria.
edit parameters	Open the Parameters File Editor, from which you can define the parameters that determine how far nodes can move away from edges or normal to the surface. The following parameters are explicitly considered: Move across shared edges, max dist Move across free edges, max dist Offset nodes from surfs, max dist Divide quads into trias Feature angle during element cleanup Folding angle Note: Associativity is not maintained after nodes are moved away from the geometry, therefore performing element clean-up consecutively may return different results.
cleanup	Perform the cleanup on the selected elements, using the currently specified settings.
reject	Revert the most recent cleanup operation, provided that you have not left the panel in the meantime.
review	Isolate the elements that adhere to the settings defined in the panel, Criteria File Editor, and Parameters File Editor.
return	Exit the panel.