**extension

Description

This command extends planar (2D or 3D shell/face) geometries into 3D. One can use either an element set or a face set which is already defined.

Note

For extensions which are between two element sets, care must be taken to properly define the sets. Order of domain selection is critical here. The figure here shows the proper order for ruled mesh definition in Zmaster. Select the edge segments in the sense of the arrow paths when taking the same view to your mesh extension.

Syntax

**extension \(~\,\) *elset eset1 | ALL_ELSET \(~\,\) *elset2 eset2 \(~\,\) *new_elset new_elset \(~\,\) *distance dist \(~\,\) *num num \(~\,\) *prog prog \(~\,\) *dir dir-vec \(~\,\) *flipit \(~\,\) *reduced \(~\,\) *invert_fasets \(~\,\) *remove_initial_nsets \(~\,\) *create_faset \(~\,\) *liset_names liset1 liset2 … \(~\,\) *elset_names elset1 elset2 …

*elset eset1

¹Available in version 8.2 or newer

defines the element set or faset which will be extended. There is no limitation on the type of elements or faces contained on the face. Mixed order is not allowed however. The option ALL_ELSET extends each elset of the mesh ^{1 1}Available in version 8.2 or newer. If no elset is specified, the elset ALL_ELEMENT is taken.

*elset2 eset2

This optional command makes the extension between two mesh/face sets as given. Note that the mesh topology must be exactly the same. This command is most useful with the mapped mesh domains available in Zmaster. The degenerate case of 2 edges being the same (so the extended mesh forms a wedge) is handled. Do not use *distance with this option. This option is disabled when the first elset name is ALL_ELSET.

*new_elset new-elset

This optional command gives the elset name for the created elements instead of being the same as the input name. This is disabled when the input elset name is ALL_ELSET.

*distance

This command is used to define the extension distance, dist (real). Do not use it when the extension is between two meshes.

*num

This command takes an integer value for num in order to define the number of elements which will be created in the cross section.

*prog

Geometric progression of the extension.

*dir

The direction along which to extend. This direction is specified in vector form and does not need to be normalized. The default is (0. 0. 1.) .

*flipit

Used when the created elements are inverted.

*reduced

Create reduced integration elements.

*invert_fasets

In order to properly calculate the normals (and other properties) of a face set, the nodes in each element need to be ordered in a certain manner within the faset. This is very important for applying correctly many types of boundary conditions. After extension, the nodes in the newly created faset have the same order as in the parent faset, which implies that the normal points in the same direction, which may not always be the desired direction. This option allows the order within a faset to be inverted, so that the direction of the normal of the newly created faset is reversed as well.

*remove_initial_nsets

Initial nsets are also extended and the suffix “-ext” is added to these new nsets names. This option allows to remove initial nsets and keep extended one with the initial names.

*create_faset

The two facing sides of the extended mesh are created and named face.1 and face.2.

*liset_names

Create the “extended” version of the given lisets. They will be suffixed with -ext.

*elset_names

Create the “extended” version of the given elsets. They will be suffixed with -ext.

Example

The following example shows the use of extensions in different directions, and making use of the 3d plane meshing in Zmaster.

**extension
 *elset R1
 *dir (0. 1. 0.)
 *distance -2.0
 *num 10
**extension
 *elset R2
 *dir (0. 1. 0.)
 *distance -2.0
 *num 10
**extension
 *elset R3
 *dir (0. 1. 0.)
 *distance -2.0
 *num 10
**sweep
 *elset A0
 *angle 90.0
 *num 4