A recommendation for a free meshing software and tutorials

[ran.sopher.perrydigma]

Dear all,

I am completely new to FEBio and I am now exploring its capabilities.
As as start, I want to export a model from SolidWorks to PreView. First I have to mesh the model, and following recommendations I found here, I have tried using gmsh for editing the stl. Could anybody please recommend intuitive tutorials for gmsh (or other recommended software)? Particularly I am interested in creating a volume mesh from the stl, which I have not yet succeeded doing.

Thanks
Ran

[maas]

Hi Ran,

For questions on GMesh, I think it is best to ask the GMesh community directly. From their website (http://geuz.org/gmsh/) it looks like they have a public mailing list for asking questions.

But PreView can read in STL files directly and create a volume mesh so you may not need GMesh. To volume mesh an STL:

1. read the STL file
2. Make sure the object is selected (if not, click on it)
3. Go to the mesh panel and find the Tetgen button.
4. Set the element size (or leave zero for default)
5. Press Apply.

That should do it. Give it a shot and let us know if that worked.

Cheers,

Steve

[ran.sopher.perrydigma]

Dear Steve,

Thank you very much for the response.
Unfortunately, every time I press the Tetgen button, Preview crashes. The geometry is not of great complexity.

Regards,
Ran

[maas]

Hi Ran,

Tetgen has a tendency to crash if there is an issue with the surface mesh. If you can send me STL file, I'd be happy to take a look at it.

Cheers,

Steve

[ran.sopher.perrydigma]

Thanks a lot!
What should I do in case I have an error message reading: "this object needs a valid TET4 mesh"?

Regards,
Ran

[maas]

Hi Ran,

I suspect you are trying use the Tetgen under the Element selection option. This tool is actually for tet-mesh refinement. You need to use the Tetgen option under the Object edit option (if element selection is active, just click the button again to go back to Object edit mode).

Cheers,

Steve

[kevinmattheusmoerman]

I have also implemented STL import and TetGen based meshing (and FEBio file creation) in MATLAB in the free and open source toolbox GIBBON (see here: http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentr...-on-for-matlab). See the demo's in the toolbox for help on meshing and FEBio input file creation.

Let me know if you are interested/need help on this,

Kevin