GP E Getting Started Auto Meshing

GETTING STARTED - AUTO MESHING
RM Bridge V8
V8i
July 2013
RM Bridge Professional Engineering Software for Bridges of all Types
RM Bridge
Getting Started - Auto Meshing
Content
1
General .............................................................................................................. 1-1

1.1
Composite cross section..................................................................................... 2-1

2.1
Create steel boundary of Part 1................................................................... 2-1
2.2
Create concrete boundary of Part 2............................................................. 2-4
2.3
Place boundary subdivision points to composite boundaries (Parts 1+2) ..... 2-5
2.4
Placing stiffeners........................................................................................ 2-6
2.5
Generate auto-elements .............................................................................. 2-9
2.6
Fine-tuning of the auto-mesh.................................................................... 2-10
Cross section with three voids .......................................................................... 3-19

3.1
Create outer boundary of Part 1 ................................................................ 3-19
3.2
Create holes ............................................................................................. 3-21
3.3
Create initial mesh ................................................................................... 3-22
3.4
Fine-tuning of the auto-mesh.................................................................... 3-22
3.5
Shear lags ................................................................................................ 3-25
Cross section defined by point-wise boundaries ............................................... 4-29

4.1
The Example (Tutorial) .............................................................................. 1-4
Create outer boundary of Part 1 ................................................................ 4-29
Useful informations ........................................................................................ 5-38

5.1
Meshing of cross section boundary where border contains curved lines .... 5-38
5.2
Referencing of auto-elements ................................................................... 5-41
5.3
Some of advantages against one-by-one element creation......................... 5-42
5.4
Element nodes along bridge axis .............................................................. 5-44
5.5
Unique intersections................................................................................. 5-44
5.6
Zero degree rule ....................................................................................... 5-45
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
General
1-1
Getting Started - Auto M e s h i n g
1 General
The following example will show creation of cross section elements using boundaries and
auto-meshing for a small bridge structure. All input steps are described in detail and we
invite you to follow the procedure as follows to get a feeling for the program use.
Definition:
1. Two new types of construction lines
Circle and circular arc.
2. Boundaries
Geometrical definition of the boundary, boundary line segments and subdivision
points.
3. Use of line-wise or point-wise defined boundaries
4. Auto-Mesh
Geometrical definition of auto-elements and their relation to boundaries.
5. Stiffeners and shear lags at the boundary
Their relation to boundary and elements.
Needed knowledge (basic knowledge is enough):
Project creation
How to create axis (and stations)
Part definition
Variable definition
Cross section definition
How to create construction lines
How to place stiffener at element
Element definition
Any border around elements of cross section is called Boundary.

The border around elements that define single part of the cross section is called Outer
boundary. All elements within outer boundary are called auto-elements and procedure for
their construction is called auto-meshing.
Border inside of outer boundary that does not contain any element is called Boundary hole.
Border of element edges inside of outer boundary that are not defining boundary hole is
called Boundary constraint.
Boundary constraint can be closed or opened (and is called Closed constraint inside of
outer boundary or Opened constraint inside of outer boundary respectively).
Boundary is defined by set of connected boundary line segments.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
General
1-2
Every boundary line segment contains begin point, end point and optionally additional
boundary line segment subdivision points. We will name begin and end point as subdivision
points too, the only difference is that they are read-only for the user.
There exist two different approaches how to define boundary:
Line-wise definition
o Boundary line segment is defined by construction line. Begin and end point
of line segment are defined by intersection of underlying construction line
and other two construction lines.
o Boundary line segment can be part of straight line, complete circle or part of
it, complete arc or part of it.
o Boundary line segment can be split into more line segments. Split point is
defined with intersection with given construction line.
Point-wise definition
o Boundary line segment and its begin and end point are defined by two construction lines intersections.
o Boundary line segment can be rounded with given radius.
o Boundary point can be rounded or cut-off with given radius.
Line-wise and point-wise boundaries can be used at same cross section.

Orientation of the boundary is not important for meshing (boundary hole does not need to
have opposite orientation than its outer boundary and closed constraint can have opposite
orientation than its outer boundary).
There are two new types of construction lines available for easier creation of cross section
with curved borders (they are useful only for line-wise defined boundaries since point-wise
boundaries accept radius as a parameter):
1. Circle with given radius where centre is defined by intersection of two construction
lines.
2. Arc with given radius where two bow points are defined by intersections between
two construction lines. Bow is generated from first to second point in clockwise direction if radius is positive. Bow contains two legs (extended bow lines to infinity)
that can be turned off.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
General
1-3
Icons for circle

creation icons.
and arc
creation can be found next to other construction line
Note:: If you are familiar with one-by-one

one
element creation, you probably know how to
change element edge to appear as curved edge. There is no way to change curvature of
auto-meshing
meshing generated elements, because their edges depend on border of the boundaries.
Instead use circle and arc construction lines for
f boundary creation (and auto--meshing).
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
General
1-4
1.1 The Example (Tutorial)

A composite cross section and its elements will be created:
We will also place one stiffener to steel part of the cross section.
Also cross section with three voids and its elements will be created:
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
General
1-5

We will also place two shear lags to the boundary.
Last example will be creation of cross section using point-wise boundary definition:
There are boundaries and auto-meshing icons available on top of preview window:
First row contains general line-wise boundary actions, second row general point-wise
boundary actions, third row deals with boundary subdivision points and fourth row contains
actions for element creation.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
Composite cross section

2-1
2 Composite cross section

First example shows how to create composite cross section (1+2=3) and their elements using line-wise boundaries and auto-meshing. Only few mouse clicks and parameters are
enough to get good mesh, but we will use more steps in this example just to show all possibilities that auto-meshing provides.
2.1 Create steel boundary of Part 1

Lesson 01
Some of the data is

already prepared, for
example needed construction lines.
Select
Composite
cross section. Construction lines are ready for
boundary creation.
Pick Outer boundary

icon.
Activate Part 1
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-2
Before you start with whole process for automatic generation of elements using boundaries, you should remember one difference to well-known approach where you created
elements one-by-one:
For elements made one-by-one: you had to select sequence of intersection points
between construction lines.
For line-wise boundary construction: select sequence of construction lines.

Click at construction
line CL_5 to start creating the outer boundary
for part 1.
Note to start by clicking the construction line inside the range of the boundary to be
drawn to get the proper direction of the circumference of the boundary lines describing
the cross-section. For the following boundary lines the program will show the direction
of the boundary line being drawn when moving the cursor over a construction line.
Move with the mouse
over construction line
CL_14 (in downwards
direction) and click the
mouse to add new
boundary line segment.
In this way the construction lines describing the circumference of the cross-section can
be selected one after another in consecutive order.
In this case we continue in clock-wise order as follows:
CL_10, CL_72, CL_8, CL_9, CL_12, CL_6, CL_11, CL_9, CL_7, CL_73, CL_10,
CL_13.
(Of course counter-clockwise circumference would also be possible).
Important: When you finish with the sequence, do not click at first construction line
CL_5 again. That would generate wrong boundary with duplicated CL_5 (boundary
would not be closed or would be closed wrong). Closing is done automatically by Modeler when you press ENTER (it connects boundary line segment at CL_13 with line segment at CL_5).
You can always UNDO the selection with pressing BACKSPACE key. Pressing ESC
key will cancel operation and delete the boundary.
If you see dotted boundary lines it means that boundary could be closed this way if you
would press ENTER key.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-3
Press ENTER key to

complete
boundary
creation. Dialog with
general boundary properties appears. You can
set different parameters
(part, boundary type,
boundary parent, shear
lag properties, color
etc.). After clicking at
Ok button boundary
is closed. Modeler
closes the boundary at
the point of intersection
between last and first
selected construction
line - you should see
closing lines as dotted
lines
before
you
pressed ENTER.
Boundary for part 1 is
created.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-4
2.2 Create concrete boundary of Part 2

Activate Part 2. We are
still in action to create
outer boundary...
Lesson 02
for part 2.
Now continue with selection of construction lines in following order:
CL_4, CL_32, CL_64, CL_5, CL_65, CL_21, CL_3.
Press ENTER key to complete boundary creation and press Ok button in next dialog.
Boundary for part 2 is
created.
You can see that boundary line segment at construction line CL_5 was split to three
boundary line segments. This is necessary because element edges of composite parts 1
and 2 will have to match.
Also boundary line segment at construction line CL_1 was split to three boundary line
segments. This may be useful if points at opposite sides of boundary should move parallel. In this way points of middle boundary line segment at CL_1 will move parallel to
points of middle boundary line segment at CL_5.
Split of entire boundary or boundary line segment can also be done by user. Just use
icons
for splitting. To undo the split ie. to merge two consecutive boundary
line segments that use common construction line, icon
Bentley Systems
can be used.
Austria
RM Bridge

2-5
2.3 Place boundary subdivision points to composite boundaries

(Parts 1+2)
If we would generate mesh at this moment, some thin triangles would be generated that are
not expected as elements. Therefore we need additional points at the boundary. You can
place points individually, globally over entire boundary with maximal given distance between them or with special approach that looks for opposite edges. For composite cross
sections, third method is very useful.
Lesson 03
Select icon for boundary subdivision. Then
select upper boundary
that defines Part 2.
Dialog for placement of

subdivision points appears. Keep current
selection and press
Ok.
The above method sends rays from every boundary line segment begin point in horizontal and vertical direction. Ray has
some range and width. If entire ray hits single boundary line
segment where no subdivision points already exist, it creates
subdivision point at intersection coordinates.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-6
We are still in action

for placing boundary
subdivision points. Just
click at lower steel
boundary of Part 1 and
press Ok in dialog. In
this case subdivision
points at coordinates (0.0275,
-0.3)
and
(0.0275, 0.3) were for
example created. Similar happened at lower
side of the boundary
(noted with green brush
in the picture here).
This special approach does not stop here. If new point is also
added to neighbouring boundary, the process is repeated there
too. In this particular example two additional points were created at boundary of Part 2 at coordinates (-0.0275, 0.0) and
(0.0275, 0.0).
2.4 Placing stiffeners

Stiffeners can be placed at the boundary. If elements are not generated yet, stiffener references the boundary. After auto-elements within boundary are created, stiffeners change the
reference to touched elements. If user deletes mesh elements, stiffener reference changes
back to the boundary.
Lesson 04
Select
stiffener
at
boundary line segment
icon from top list of
action icons. The icon
can be found under
normal stiffener icon
group.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-7
Proceed similar as
when placing normal
stiffener at normal
element. The only difference is that instead
of selecting element
edge, boundary line
segment has to be selected. Click at long
right vertical boundary
line segment of steel
part that is sitting at
construction line CL_8.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-8
line CL_67 that intersects the boundary.
Chose the side (for example click somewhere
below CL_67). Dialog
with stiffener parameters opens. Just confirm
and stiffener will be
placed.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-9
2.5 Generate auto-elements

We are now ready to mesh both boundaries.
Lesson 05
Select Create boundary
elements from top action
icons.
Select boundary of part
1.
Dialog with question

appears (only if first
time meshing of particular boundary is executed). We would like
to connect all points
directly without generating elements that
have nodes in interior
of the boundary. Therefore we say No. Elements should be visible
now.
Repeat the same procedure for part 2 too. We
are still in action to
mesh, therefore just
click at the boundary
and above dialog appears again. Mesh for
Part 2 boundary should
be visible after pressing
No.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-10
2.6 Fine-tuning of the auto-mesh

User may not completely agree with the mesh that was generated. There may be too large
elements, or he wants smaller elements at particular area because of detailed FEM calculation. There are many ways how to improve the quality of the mesh.
Lesson 06
Let us concentrate at
very small area on top
of the steel boundary of
Part 1. As you can see,
reference point was
already prepared at
intersection
between
construction lines CL_2
and CL_10.
If we select that reference point and click at
Edit icon on left side,
we get information in
separate dialog that
touched
elements
around
that
point
should be refined. Refinement is shown with
dotted lines within the
element.
Another way for refinement is to place set of subdivision points at particular boundary line
segment.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-11
both long vertical line
segments in middle of
steel boundary. We
would like to generate
4 points at line on left
and right sides. To do
this, click first at Subdivision points at line
segment icon.
Select long vertical line
segment of boundary of
Part 1.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-12
Dialog appears where
we can set range of the
points at line segment
and distance between
them. We declare 6
points. Ignore first and
last pivot point should
be checked on, because
every line segment already has a read-only
point at relative position 0.0 and 1.0, and we
do not want to generate
duplicates. Such input
will generate 4 new
points within line segment. Press Apply
button
and
points
should be placed and
boundary automatically
remeshed.
We can see that some thin triangles have been generated, because subdivision points at left long vertical line segment are
missing. There are two ways how to place them.
We can use same approach as above or do it
different way: Click at
icon Mirror subdivision points in boundary icon group. We will
mirror the points because orientation of
both line segments is
opposite (one is showing down and another
showing up). This is
the
only
situation
where user really cares
about orientation of the
boundaries.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-13
Select source line
segment where points
already exist and then
target line segment
where we want to override subdivision with
source points. After this
operation we get 6 elements with reasonable
size.
Easy tuning of the mesh can be done by individually (interactive) placing of subdivision
points. Subdivision points can be defined in three ways:
1. By relative distance from begin of the line segment (begin of line segment has value
0.0 and end has 1.0). To place point at middle of line segment, relative value 0.5 has
to be used. If we place multiple points at once (as explained in examples above),
such type of subdivision points is used. Relative value can be set by variable too as
it will be shown later.
2. By absolute distance from begin of line segment. Absolute value can be set by variable too as it will be shown later.
3. By construction line. Point is placed at intersection between boundary line segment
and given construction line.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-14
Lesson 07
upper boundary (Part
2). We would like to
have more elements in
middle in the way that
their width somehow
matches with width of
the steel.
Select
Subdivision
point defined by construction line.
Click sequentially at
four intersections between boundary of part
2 and construction lines
CL_7 and CL_8. After
every click boundary
and its neighbouring
boundaries
are
remeshed.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-15
Hint: To delete the
subdivision point (of
any type) during interactive placement of the
points, just hold left
SHIFT and click at
existing
subdivision
point. Remesh will be
executed immediately.
Another way to delete
the points interactively
is to chose Remove
subdivision point icon
and click at points.
Another way for modifying subdivision is doing it from boundary line segment edit dialog.
Lesson 08
top of lower boundary
(Part 1). We would like
to have more elements
in rounded area. Therefore select left curved
that sits at arc construction line CL_73.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-16
Click at Edit icon on
left side and Edit
boundary dialog will
open. It has three tab
pages. Line segment
page is selected because we selected line
segment only (not
complete boundary).
We can see that

rounded element is not
well approximated to
the
boundary
arc,
which is additional
reason to subdivide this
line segment with additional points. We can
easily add new point.
Just select any row in
the table of points and
press Copy icon. It
creates a copy of selected point at same
coordinates. The status
of newly created point
in last column of the
table is Overlap, because it overlaps with
another point. (Hint: we
could easy delete overlapped points using
Purge icon).
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-17
Select newly created
point in the list. Point is
also highlighted in preview window. Now
correct Relative parameter of the point to
0.4 in the dialog and
press ENTER key. You
will see that point in
preview window is
placed near middle of
the arc. Do not worry if
mesh was not recreated
with new point, because preview window
shows only temporary
data.
We would like to add
point to opposite arc
line segment too; therefore two icons are
available for switching
to next or previous line
segment. Just click next
until you move to opposite arc line segment.
You may be asked to
save your changes before moving.
Insert new point as explained before, but set
its relative value to 0.6.
(Hint: it is possible to
bind relative or absolute value with cross
section Variable).
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

2-18
The dialog contains
Ignore when meshing
checkbox for every
Unfortunately all overlapped line segments
are already purged
when
creating
the
mesh, but there may be
the reason where user
wants to say if particular line should not be
considered during mesh
generation.
Example
may be if particular line
segment of boundary
that defines shear lag is
intersecting or outside
of outer boundary.
Press Ok to save the
changes and to close
the dialog. If old mesh
was just deleted and not
remeshed, look for
mesh icon and remesh
the boundary again.
Composite cross section and its elements are now ready to use.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
Cross section with three voids

3-19
3 Cross section with three voids

Another line-wise boundary example will show how to:
create holes,
define shear lags,
set global subdivision points over entire boundary with given distance
create elements that have nodes in interior of the boundary,
3.1 Create outer boundary of Part 1
Lesson 09
Select
Slab3Voids
cross section. Construction lines are ready for
boundary creation.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

3-20
Pick Outer boundary

icon.
Activate Part 1
for part 1.
Move with the mouse

over construction line
CL_4 and click the
mouse to add new
Now continue with selection of construction lines in following order:

CL_60, CL_65, CL_43, CL_9, CL_42, CL_63, CL_59, CL_3.
If you see dotted boundary lines it means that boundary could be closed this way if you
would press ENTER key.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

3-21
Press ENTER key to
complete
boundary
creation.
General
boundary
properties
dialog appears. Activate Generate global
subdivision points and
correct maximal edge
length to 0.5m. After
clicking at Ok button
boundary is closed and
created. Many subdivision points were placed
at boundary line segments in the way that
distance between two
of them at same line
segment is not larger
than given length.
3.2 Create holes
Now select Boundary

as a hole icon on top.
Select outer boundary

to tell who will be the
parent of the hole.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

3-22
Click at the first circle
from left and press
ENTER key. Again
boundary creation dialog appears that suggests global points with
such maximal distance
that circle will contain
8 points. Confirm with
Ok.
We need two more
holes. We are still in
holes insertion action,
therefore just select
outer boundary to tell
who the parent of next
hole is and click at
middle circle. Press
ENTER key and Ok
in dialog. Repeat the
same way with circle
on right side. Our
boundary with three
holes is now ready to
be meshed.
3.3 Create initial mesh
Search for mesh icon

on top icons in boundary icon group and
generate the mesh.
When question for allowing element nodes
inside of boundary appears, say Yes.
3.4 Fine-tuning of the auto-mesh

User may be satisfied with generated mesh or not. It may happen that mesh is not symmetric if boundary is symmetric or he does not like to have triangular elements etc. He also
may expect lower number of elements in particular area of the boundary.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

3-23
If we look at our example, it is obvious that we do not need small elements at left and right
side of the cross section.
Lesson 10
Pick Delete subdivision point icon and
delete marked points.
We can see that it

would be nice to have
additional point at bottom middle of cross
section. Pick icon Add
subdivision point defined by construction
line and place new
point in middle bottom
of cross section. Alternative how to add such
point: select line segment and open edit
dialog. Add new point
to the list with exact
relative value 0.5.
There are also some
triangles on bottom left
and right side of the
boundary. Pick Add
subdivision point defined by relative distance and add two
points as shown here.
There are also some
triangles on top middle
of the boundary that we
do not want to have.
Pick Add subdivision
point defined by relative distance and add
two points as shown
here.
We may want fewer elements. Therefore advanced options are available to optimize the
mesh.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

3-24
Lesson 11
Select entire boundary
(do not select just single line segment).
Click Edit icon on

left side. Boundary edit
dialog appears. It is
same dialog as for
modifying
boundary
line segment, just another tab page is selected.
We can change here parameter for maximal distance between globally defined points or
turn them on or off. Remark: if you already deleted global point interactively, it will be
recreated if you press Subdivide button. All other points user inserts in advance interactively or in line segment tab page are not global and will not be deleted if user turns global
points off by unselecting above checkbox.
Right side of the dialog (next to preview plot window) contains some icons. You can for
example hide construction lines or show elements as filled polygons (may be useful if you
mesh boundary with holes).
Status at bottom of the dialog shows if meshing succeeded or if data is capable for meshing.
Left bottom side of dialog is there for advanced users that want to play with mesh optimization parameters. The only items the usual user will use are drop-down button for Meshing
presets and Minimize number of inside points. Minimizing inside points is used if we do
not want that element nodes will be created inside of boundary. There are presets prepared
for particular shape of the boundary (Long edges, Only quadrangles,... ). User can easily
switch between them and immediately see in preview if he gets expected mesh.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

3-25
Select Long edges
preset
and
press
Remesh button. This
preset tries to generate
longest possible edges
inside of boundary, but
still keeps good quality
of the elements. Press
Ok button to save the
changes.
We have to delete just

few subdivision points
to get very good mesh.
Pick Remove subdivision point icon and
remove points showed
here.
Such mesh is just one
of
many
different
meshes we can produce.
3.5 Shear lags

Shear lag properties are easy to add using boundaries. They just have to be defined as
closed constraint.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

3-26
Lesson 12
Select Boundary as
closed constraint icon
on top.

to tell who will be the
parent of the constraint.
line CL_67 on right
side of the cross section. You may be
prompted that current
boundary mesh will be
deleted if it exists. Confirm.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

3-27
Continue with clicking
at construction lines to
generate boundary as
shown here and press
ENTER key.
Boundary creation dialog with general properties appears. Set shear

lag property and confirm with Ok.
We need shear lag at

left side of the boundary too. Select again
outer boundary to tell
who is parent of the
constraint and generate
boundary as shown
here.
For this training example a variable shear_lag is already prepared and ready to use. Construction lines CL_66 and CL_67 should change shear lag area with above variable. Change
now shear_lag value to 1.0 to make shear lag area wider.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

3-28
Boundaries are now
ready to mesh. Pick
mesh icon and select
outer boundary to generate
mesh
autoelements.
Lesson 13
Bentley Systems
You can now play with

shear_lag value and see
how element nodes
could move through
stations.
Austria
RM Bridge
Cross section defined by point-wise boundaries

4-29
4 Cross section defined by point-wise boundaries

Next boundary example will show how to:
create boundaries point-wise,
move/add/delete boundary points
round/cut off corners and round edges,
add point-wise void hole with given radius,
add and round opened constraint.
4.1 Create outer boundary of Part 1
Lesson 14
Some things are already predefined, for

example necessary construction lines.
Select
PointWise
cross section. Construction lines are prepared
and ready for boundary
creation.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

4-30
Pick Outer boundary

icon from Point-wise
boundary row.
Activate Part 1
Click at intersection of
construction
lines
(CL_1, CL_3) to start
creating
the
outer
boundary for part 1.
Select intersection (CL_1, CL_4) and continue with selection sequence in clock-wise
order as follows (of course counter-clockwise circumference would also be possible):
(CL_4, CL_13), (CL_6, CL_14), (CL_8, CL_9), (CL_7, CL_9), (CL_5, CL_14), (CL_3,
CL_13).
If you see dotted boundary lines it means that boundary can be closed this way if you
press ENTER key or click on beginning intersection point.
To finish with boundary creation just click
again on beginning
intersection
point
(CL_1, CL_3) or press
ENTER.
Dialog with general
boundary
properties
opens. After clicking
OK boundary is
closed and defined.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

4-31
Some of the corners
can be rounded now.
Pick Set radius for
or boundary point
from
Point-wise
boundary row.
Set radius value to 1.0.

Select boundary corner
where (CL_5, CL_14)
intersect. Do the same
for (CL_6, CL_14).
Corners should be
rounded now.
Set radius value to 10.0

now and select bottom
edge of the cross section. Edge should be
rounded now. Radius
can be negative too,
depends if we want
rounding on the left or
right side of line (direction of boundary outline defines what is left
or right).
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

4-32
Corners can be rounded
or cut-off. To cut off
the top left corner of
the cross section, set
radius to -0.1 and click
at boundary corner.
Now set radius value to
0 and click at the corner point or corner line
and corner will have
the same look again.
Rounding can be removed also in different
way:
segment
of
rounded line has to be
selected and deleted.
Now select Boundary
as a hole icon.
Set value of radius in

the variable r1, select
outer boundary to specify parent of the hole
and click twice at intersection
of
lines
(CL_11, CL_10). Dialog for placing a
boundary hole will appear. Just click OK
and void hole with radius r1 should be visible.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

4-33
Click again at outer
boundary to specify
parent of next hole and
click twice at intersection (CL_2, CL_10)
and press OK in creation dialog. Repeat the
same procedure for
intersection
(CL_12,
CL_10).
There may be a need to
force meshing engine
to generate element
edges at particular,
wished areas. For this
reason constraints can
be created inside of
boundary.
Select
Boundary as opened
constraint.
to specify parent of the
constraint and click at
intersections (CL_11,
CL_13) and (CL_12,
CL_13). To finish with
creation of the constraint press ENTER
or click at end point
(CL_12, CL_13) of
constraint again. In
creation dialog just
press OK.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

4-34
We can also set radius
for the constraint. Pick
the Radius icon, set
radius value to -15.0
and select the constraint. It should be
rounded now.
There may be a need to

add additional points to
the boundary. Select
icon Insert boundary
point.
Now select boundary

line segment on the top
and click at intersection
(CL_2, CL_13). New
point is added. We are
still in the action to add
new points, therefore
we can simply continue
with sequence of selecting boundary line
segments and intersections.
To move the point to
another position Move
boundary point icon is
used. Just select newly
created point and move
it to the intersection
(CL_1, CL_2).
Note:
Subdivision
points cannot be moved
or deleted this way.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

4-35
To delete the newly
added point, use icon
Delete
boundary
point. Select the points
you want to delete. For
now
delete
lately
moved point at intersection (CL_1, CL_2).
Last step is to add additional

subdivision
points to the boundaries. For this we will
use icon Subdivide
entire boundary.
First we select outer

boundary and set subdivision maximal edge
length to 0.5.
Then select opened

constraint and set subdivision maximal edge
length to 0.6.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

4-36
Cross section boundaries are subdivided now

and ready for meshing.
Pick Create boundary

elements icon and
select outer boundary.
Question for allowing

element nodes inside of
boundary
appears.
Click
Yes.
You
should see the elements
now.
Lesson 15
Final situation.
There exists one feature regarding point-wise boundaries that may be practical to use.
For creation of point-wise boundary there is no need to create construction lines in advance (except of main axis). RM Bridge has special construction line of type Point by
relative coordinate which can be used for point-wise boundary construction.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge

4-37
If you click during
boundary
creation
somewhere where no
construction lines intersection exist, a dialog
for placing construction
line intersection appears. Here you can
correct the offset to
base lines (main axis)
or even set variables for
offset. After pressing
Ok new construction
line cross is created and
added.
Combination of mouse
clicking with one hand
and pressing ENTER to
close the dialog with
another hand and cross
section can be very
easy created.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
Useful informations
5-38
5 Useful informations
There might appear situations where some things are not working as expected or they are
not clear. We will try to explain such situations here.
5.1 Meshing of cross section boundary where border contains curved

lines
Imagine following boundary (not a real example, but well suitable for explanation of the
problem):
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
Useful informations
5-39
This boundary is defined by 3 straight lines and one arc. If we try to mesh this boundary,
we get following message:
The reason for error is that boundary you see is not same as raw polygon going to be
meshed. Raw data used for meshing is a sequence of connected points (polygon with
straight lines):
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
Useful informations
5-40
To avoid the error, at least one additional boundary subdivision point should be added to
the arc in the way that following raw polygon will be used for meshing:
Such boundary has no self-intersections and mesh can be generated. Finally auto-elements
are approximated to border of the boundary and we see following mesh:
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
Useful informations
5-41
5.2 Referencing of auto-elements

All elements of single outer boundary should be treated as a group, because all of them are
created together during remesh process. Even for simple operations (like adding single subdivision point) all old elements are deleted and new elements created. If you would place
additional information (reference points etc.) to any of the elements, the mesh could not be
deleted and new mesh generated. Therefore try to avoid referencing auto-elements from
any other objects in Modeler. Instead those objects should reference construction lines.
Of course referencing of auto-elements is possible, but you should do it only if you are
100% sure that you will not have to change (remesh) the elements.
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
Useful informations
5-42
5.3 Some of advantages against one

one-by-one
one element creation
There might be just few advantages using auto
auto-meshing instead of well-known
known approach
when elements are created one
one-by-one if we expect only few elements and use just straight
construction lines. But when part of cross section border is curved or more than 10 eleel
ments are expected, auto-meshing
meshing approach reduces number of nneeded
eeded construction lines
significantly.. Example is following cross section ma
made with one-by-one
one approach:
64 construction lines were used and you can imagine how time consuming approach it was
just to set their dependencies, create each element and then set radius for every curved el
element edge. Imagine what effort it costs if use
userr decides for doubled density of the elements.
All steps with this approach are usually not done in sequence. Normally user generates few
construction lines (sets dependencies), generates element and sets element curvatures, then
adds additional construction
on lines, generates some of elements, and so on.
When using auto-meshing
meshing approach, almost all construction lines are generated in first step.
That is easier, because user has to care just about cross section border points. Next step is to
generate a boundary. Placing of subdivision points is next step, where only few additional
construction lines may be needed. Last step is meshing and fine-tuning.
fine
Above example was made using auto
auto-meshing
meshing approach in much shorter time:
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
Useful informations
5-43
Another way (same example) how

ho to get auto-elements:
Number of needed construction lines was reduced from 64 to 28!
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
Useful informations
5-44
5.4 Element nodes along bridge axis

Cross section is recalculated at every station along axis. Location of element nodes should
change too in the way that mesh is always valid. If we concentrate at single boundary line
segment, following rule must be kept subdivision points should never switch positions
positions.
This may occur if for example one point is defined by construction line and another by rel
relative distance. Pointt with relative distance may change its position faster than another one
defined by construction line:
5.5 Unique intersections

There is no restriction about number of intersections between construction lines when crea
creating a line-wise boundary. One example is when jump from straight construction line to circi
cular construction line appears. User can decide which intersection will be used with mo
moving the mouse closer to the intersection:
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
Useful informations
5-45
5.6 Zero degree rule

There exists one limitation users have to be aware,
aware, but it will appear very rare in praxis. It
is limited to rounded parts of boundaries
boundaries:
If new subdivision point at such boundary line segment has to be defined by construction
line and two intersections with boundary line segment exist, then interse
intersections
ctions are counted
regarding angle in counter-clockwise
clockwise direction from zero degree point of complete circle
circle.
Modeler always decides for first counted intersection, even if user clicks with the mouse
near second intersection when choosing construction line (bellow picture concentrates at
boundary circle from above picture)
picture):
Bentley Systems
Austria
RM Bridge
Useful informations
5-46
If we move violet construction line down,, intersections are calculated again and always first
counted intersection is chosen. In following case right side of construction line was moved
mov
bellow zero angle point and therefore second intersection became first intersection and
subdivision point completely changed its location (concentrate on red marked point in fo
following pictures):
We suggest for such cases to use subdivision points ddefined

efined by relative or absolute distance
instead.
Bentley Systems
Austria

GP E Getting Started Auto Meshing

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

GP E Getting Started Auto Meshing

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

GETTING STARTED - AUTO MESHING

RM Bridge Professional Engineering Software for Bridges of all Types

General .............................................................................................................. 1-1

Composite cross section..................................................................................... 2-1

Create steel boundary of Part 1................................................................... 2-1

Create concrete boundary of Part 2............................................................. 2-4

Placing stiffeners........................................................................................ 2-6

Generate auto-elements .............................................................................. 2-9

Fine-tuning of the auto-mesh.................................................................... 2-10

Cross section with three voids .......................................................................... 3-19

Create outer boundary of Part 1 ................................................................ 3-19

Create holes ............................................................................................. 3-21

Create initial mesh ................................................................................... 3-22

Fine-tuning of the auto-mesh.................................................................... 3-22

Shear lags ................................................................................................ 3-25

Cross section defined by point-wise boundaries ............................................... 4-29

The Example (Tutorial) .............................................................................. 1-4

Create outer boundary of Part 1 ................................................................ 4-29

Useful informations ........................................................................................ 5-38

Referencing of auto-elements ................................................................... 5-41

Some of advantages against one-by-one element creation......................... 5-42

Element nodes along bridge axis .............................................................. 5-44

Unique intersections................................................................................. 5-44

Zero degree rule ....................................................................................... 5-45

Getting Started - Auto M e s h i n g

How to create axis (and stations)

Cross section definition

How to create construction lines

How to place stiffener at element

Any border around elements of cross section is called Boundary.

Getting Started - Auto M e s h i n g

Line-wise and point-wise boundaries can be used at same cross section.

Getting Started - Auto M e s h i n g

Icons for circle

creation can be found next to other construction line

Note:: If you are familiar with one-by-one

Getting Started - Auto M e s h i n g

1.1 The Example (Tutorial)

Getting Started - Auto M e s h i n g

Composite cross section

Getting Started - Auto M e s h i n g

2 Composite cross section

2.1 Create steel boundary of Part 1

Some of the data is

Pick Outer boundary

Composite cross section

Getting Started - Auto M e s h i n g

For line-wise boundary construction: select sequence of construction lines.

Composite cross section

Getting Started - Auto M e s h i n g

Press ENTER key to

Composite cross section

Getting Started - Auto M e s h i n g

2.2 Create concrete boundary of Part 2

line segments that use common construction line, icon

Composite cross section

Getting Started - Auto M e s h i n g

2.3 Place boundary subdivision points to composite boundaries

Dialog for placement of

Composite cross section

Getting Started - Auto M e s h i n g

We are still in action

2.4 Placing stiffeners

Composite cross section