The 3D Viewer displays your CAD geometry, generated mesh, cut planes and diagnostics. What is displayed is controlled by the Group List Window . The orientation of what is displayed is controlled by the Orientation Panel . How the items are displayed is controlled by the Display Panel . Each open configuration has a tab along the bottom of the 3D Viewer window. Clicking on a configuration's tab displays that configuration and makes that configuration the active configuration.
3D Viewer
Selecting Entities
In addition to moving the model you can select nodes, edges and surfaces in order to perform operations on them. To select an entity in the 3D viewer window, move the cursor over the entity and click the left mouse button. Information about the entity you have selected will appear at the bottom of the Ennova window. To select multiple entities, press and hold the control key while clicking on the left mouse button. You can also select several entities inside a rectangle by right clicking on the mouse and selecting "Rectangle Select". You can also select all of the visible entities by right clicking on the mouse and selecting "Select All Visible".
Sometimes it may be difficult to select the kind of entity you want. For instance, you may wish to select a node but the system selects an attached edge instead. To force the selection of a node, position the cursor over the node and press either the 'p' (point) or 'v' (vertex) or 'n' (node) keys on the keyboard. The 'p' 'v' and 'n' keys all have the same effect. To select an edge, press either 'e' (edge) or 'c' (curve). The 'e' and 'c' keys have the same effect.
Operations on entites
When you right click in the 3D Window you will get a context menu. That means that the items that appear in the menu depend on what you have selected. Some items appear for all entities.
Setting sizes
If you have selected an entity you can set the size on that entity. That means that when the mesh is generated the size of the mesh on that entity will not exceed the size you have specified. The size of the mesh might be smaller than the requested size if there is a small geometric feature nearby or if there is an entity nearby that has requested a smaller size.
Removing entities
You can remove an entity. To understand why you may want to remove an entity you need to understand what happens when an entity is present. For each node, any generated mesh must have a mesh vertex at that point. For each edge, the mesh must have a series of mesh edges along the geometric edge to represent it in a piecewise linear fashion. For each surface, any mesh generated must have a collection of shell elements (quads and triangles) that represent it. As the model has more entities, the number of vertices and elements in the mesh will increase and their size will decrease and, in general, their quality will decrease.
On the other hand, requiring the mesh to match the location of geometric entities may improve the fidelity of the mesh to the geometry. The fidelity of the mesh is how closely the shape of the mesh resembles the shape of the geometric object.
Removing a node
What happens when a node is removed depends on its connections to edges. If the node is not connected to any other edge then it is simply removed. If the node is connected to two edges and the edges are colinear at the node or nearly so then the node is removed and the two edges are merged to form a single edge. In any other case it is not possible to remove the node. Other edges must be deleted first.
Removing an edge
If an edge is not connected to any surfaces then it is simply removed. If an edge is connected to two surfaces and they are coplanar at the edge, or nearly so, then the two surfaces will be merged to form a single surface. One restriction is that the resulting merged surface must be meshable. If the edge is connected to only one surface or more than two surfaces it cannot be removed. The surfaces must be removed first.
Removing a surface
If you remove a surface it will be removed from any volume that it is attached to. If it was part of the boundary of a volume then that volume may no longer be meshable.
Removing a volume
If you remove a volume it only means that no volume mesh will be created there. The faces, edges and nodes will remain and will be meshed.
Hiding entities
Any selected item may be hidden. Ennova has two ways of hiding an item from the display. The first is to simply uncheck the group to which the entity belongs in the Group List Window. To see the entity again you simply re-check the group. The second method is that each individual entity can be "hidden". This is done my selecting the entity and selecting "Hide item(s)". To re-display the entity you must either select "Show Hidden Items" or use one of the methods that un-hides items based on their neighbors.
Select item group
After selecting an item, you can select the group to which the item belongs by selecting "Select Item Group" from the context menu. This will highlight the group in the Group List Window.
Copy to group
An entity can belong to more than one group. To place an item in more than one group, select the item and select "Copy to group" from the context menu. The system will prompt you for the name of the group. The name can be an existing group or a new group.
Move to group
To remove an item from a group and place it into a new group, select the item and select "Move to group" from the context menu. The system will prompt you for the name of the group. The name can be an existing group or a new group.
Create Density
Sometimes it is usefull to reqire that the size of the elements in a mesh in the bounding box of an entity be smaller than a requested size. This can be accomplished by selecting the entity and then selecting "Create Density" from the context menu. This will bring up a dialog box that will alow you to create the density.
Copy/Transform
To create copies of entities, select the Copy/Transform from the context menu. This will bring up a sub menu with the items "Duplicate-Translate", "Rotate", "Mirror" and "Scale". The entities and any lower dimension entities that are attached to them will be modified.
Operations only for nodes
Show attached edges
If you have selected a node, then you can have the system show (un-hide) the attached edges. Note that to see the edges the group that the edges belong to must be unchecked in the Group List Window. The names of the attached edges will appear at the bottom of the Ennova window. If the edges were not hidden the operation will have no effect (the names will still be printed).
Merge nodes
If you have selected two nodes then you can merge those nodes into a single node with this menu item. The single remaining node will be connected to all of the edges that the two existing nodes were connect to.
Create an edge between two nodes
If you have selected two nodes then you can create an edge between the two nodes. Initially this edge will not be connected to any surfaces and will be in the group ".free edges". However, if you use this edge to split a face, the edge will follow the shape of the underlying surface.
Operations only for edges
Create a face from a list of edges
If you have selected more than one edge you can create a face bounded by those edges. The resulting suface will be unprojected. That means there is no mathematical formulation for the location of the interior of the surface. A meshing algorithm will be run on a 2D projection of the boundary and 3rd coordinates will be interpolated.
Split edges at intersection
If you have selected two edges you can create a node at the intersection of the two edges. Both edges will be split at the new node. After the operation there will be four edges attached to the new node.
Join edges
documentation not finished.
Set Edge Mesh Parameters
If you have selected a single edge you can set the meshing parameters for that edge. The parameters available are the maximum size the number of nodes, and the spacing at either end of the edge and the growth ratios at either end of the edge.
Merge with adjacent edges
If you have selected an edge and that edge shares end points (end nodes) with another edge you can merge those two edges into a single edge. All of the faces that used the two existing edges will now use the new edge.
Create face single edges
If you have selected an edge that is connected to just one surface (it will be in the group ".single edges" and it will be red) you can ask the system to assemble a loop with other "single" (i.e. connected to just one surface) edges with the "Create face single edges" menu item. The system will then create a face with these edges as a boundary. The resulting suface will be unprojected. That means there is no mathematical formulation for the location of the interior of the surface. A meshing algorithm will be run on a 2D projection of the boundary and 3rd coordinates will be interpolated.
Create node at parameter value along edge
If you have selected a single edge you can create a node at a parameter value along that edge. The value should be between 0 and 1. The edge will be split at the created node, and the two new edges will terminate at the new node.
Create node at screen position along edge
If you have selected a single edge you can create a node on the edge near where the cursor is. As you move the cursor a graphical node will move along the edge at the position where the split will occur. When you press the left mouse button the edge will be split at the created node, and the two new edges will terminate at the new node.
Show attached faces
If you have selected a single edge you can show (un-hide) the attached faces. The names of the attached faces will appear at the bottom of the Ennova window. Note that the group that the faces belong to mush be checked in the Group List Window to see the faces. If the surfaces were not hidden the operation will have no effect (the names will still be printed).
Operations only for surfaces
Make faces periodic copies of one another
If you have selected two faces with the same number of edges you can make them periodic. This means that the mesh generated on one face will be a translation or rotation of the mesh generated on the other.
Cut a face out of another face
If you have selected two faces and one is larger than the other and the smaller one is contained in the larger, then you can cut the smaller face out of the larger face. This means that the larger face will have a hole in it where the smaller face is. The two faces will be attached by the boundary of the smaller face.
Merge two faces
If you have selected two faces that share the same boundary you can merge them together. This means that one face will be deleted and any volumes that referenced the deleted face will now reference the non-deleted face.
Set face mesh parameters
You can set the meshing parameters on a face. The available parameters are maximum size and mesh type.
Show bounding Edges
If you have selected a face you can un-blank the edges that bound that face. The names of the bounding edges are also printed in the information bar.
Show attached volumes
If you have selected a face you can display any volumes that are attached to that face. The names of the attached volumes are printed in the information bar.
Extrude
If you have selected a face you can create an extruded volume perpendicular to that face.
Operations only for Densities
Modify Density
If you have selected a density you can modify the properties of the density.
Operations between different entity types
Split edge at node
If you have selected an edge and a node you can split the edge at that node. That means that two edges will result sharing the selected node as a common endpoint.
Create node projection of node onto edge
If you have selected a node and an edge you can create a node on the edge closest to the selected node. The edge will be split at the new node.
Split face at edge
If you have selected a face and one or more edges you can split the face at those edges. The edges must either for a chain from one side of the face to another or they must for a closed loop inside the face. The face will be split into two faces. The two new faces will be joined along the selected edges.
Create node at the intersection of edge and face
If you have selected a face and an edge you can create a new node where the edge intersect the face. The edge will be split at the new node. The face will be unchanged.
Create node at the projection of a node onto a face
If you have selected a face and a node you can create a new node at the point on the face closest to the selected node. The new node will not be connected to any edge or face.
