Several of the parameters in the Mesh Properties are saved when they are modified. Manual intervention is necessary when a previous setting is required.

Mesh Generation

Mesh generation is possible after a successful analytical design run. The mesh input data is first generated and this can be viewed. The mesh is then generated and this is also available to be visualized. All parts of the mesh with different materials and sources can be displayed with unique colors. The sources are also displayed. Use the Mesh2D menu item and Mesh toolbar to access the commands.

Mesh Density

The mesh density is controlled by two separate parameters. The first is the area of the triangle in a region where the density has been defined. The second is the number of boundary points that define the region. The area is controlled in the Mesh Generation page and manual entry is available as well as automatically setting the area via the Density pull down menu. The area of the triangles at different regions are computed based on the maximum motor dimension (OD is the case of inner rotating motors and rotor back iron diameter in case of outer rotating motors). Once the density is adjusted here, the appropriate input point density can be set from the 'Mesh Inputs' page. A pull down menu is available as well as manual entry. Some of the numerical values may be suitably changed internally in Samarium.

Addition of Points

The addition of internal Steiner points or points on input boundaries can be controlled using the check boxes available in the 'Mesh Generation' page. When a reusable mesh is chosen, Samarium automatically prevents addition of boundary points to ensure that different parts of the mesh can be stitched back together.

Mesh Quality

There may never be a reason to turn this option OFF. When checked, the mesh generator ensures that all triangles meet the minimum internal angle criterion. There may be violations depending on other settings but a constrained Delaunay triangulation will result.

Air Gap Layers

Samarium allows up to 10 air gap layers. However, lines are drawn only for the central air gap, while only points are placed for all other layers. When a reusable mesh is chosen Samarium automatically inserts a minimum of 1 air gap layer if none have been specified. With a reusable mesh, the air gap is stitched with all elements having identical shape. The images shown below illustrate this. The red region is the rotating part of the mesh, the blue region is the stationary part, and the grey region is the air gap.

Mesh generated with 'Reusable' switched OFF (unstructured air gap mesh)

Mesh generated with 'Reusable' switched ON  (structured air gap mesh)

The reusable mesh can be used in multi run FEA steps so that there is no change in the shape of air gap elements in each step. This is also controlled by the total angular displacement, the number of steps, and the number of points in the air gap and other adjustments may be required so that the elements actually do not change shape step to step.

Other Settings

Several other settings can be toggled on and off to see the effect on the mesh. The tool tips provide an indication of what exactly each parameter controls. Quadrilateral air gap mesh elements are under test and results from FEA cannot be saved. Use this with caution and low resolutions as the data is lost when Samarium is closed.