Solids & 3D Meshing

Shrink Wrap

Shrink wrap meshing is a method to create a simplified mesh of a complex model when
high-precision models are not necessary. This is often the case for power train components
during crash analysis. The model's size, mass, and general shape remains, but the surface
features and details are simplified, which can result in faster analysis computation. You can
determine the level of detail retained by determining the mesh size to use, among other
options. Shrink wrap functionality was added to HyperMesh in the 9.0 release but has had
its capabilities greatly expanded in the later versions. The key additions are:
Both solids and surfaces are valid as input to the shrink wrap it is no longer
necessary to mesh the model beforehand.
Shrink Wrap meshing has been improved for loose and tight algorithms by improving
the mesh flow and uniformity of the resulting mesh.
Feature recognition for tight wrap is automatic; no need to manually define features.
New generate solid mesh option has been introduced to provide a hexa only voxel
output. A jacobian parameter is definable to control the quality of the hexa mesh.
New mesh orientation option is available to control the resulting shell/solid mesh
which will be orientated to either the global or user defined local system.

Panel Options and Settings

The Shrink Wrap function can be accessed through the pull-down menu through
Mesh > Create > Shrink Wrap Mesh and the panel shown below will open.

Shrink wraps can be generated using two algorithms: Loose or Tight. These determine how
closely the resulting mesh adheres to the details of the underlying model, and are best
suited to different use cases which will vary for any given use.
Loose Shrink Wrap - generate a loose-fitting shrink wrap mesh that generally
conforms to the model.
Tight Shrink Wrap - generate a tight-fitting mesh that adheres closely to the
underlying model, capturing as many features as possible.
The panel options for both Loose and Tight are the same and are as follows:
Comps Selection of the comps, elems, surfs or solids used to create the shrink
wrap mesh.

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.

 element size= - Sets the desired target element size for the shrink wrap mesh.
generate solid mesh - If selected, HyperMesh creates a solid hexa mesh under the
2d shell mesh.
mesh orientation - Switch to choose element orientation with the global system or
previously created local system.

Proprietary Information of Altair Engineering, Inc.