writeMesh (write mesh to inp, bdf, and msh files)

Write MATLAB 2D or 3D finite element mesh to popular mesh file formats (for software Abaqus, Nastran, COMSOL, Gmsh)

writeMesh is a MATLAB project for writing MATLAB finite element mesh to inp, bdf, and msh files. writeMesh is a part of Im2mesh package. Tested in MATLAB R2017b.

writeMesh supports mesh with single or multiple phases. Note that phase is also known as part, domain, or physical surface. In finite element modeling of composite materials, each phase in the mesh represents a distinct material component.

writeMesh woks for 2D mesh (triangular and quadrilateral); also works for 3D mesh (tetrahedral and hexahedral).

Mesh file formats

• inp file (Abaqus)
• bdf file (Nastran bulk data, compatible with COMSOL)
• msh file (Gmsh mesh file format)
• For other formats, you can import the generated msh file into software Gmsh and then export.

How to start

You could go through the README file and the examples.

Examples are live script mlx files (demo01.mlx ~ demo09.mlx). If you find some text in the mlx file is missing, read the html file instead. Examples are also available as html files in the folder "demo_html".

Examples:

• demo01 - Triangular mesh with single phase
• demo02 - Triangular mesh with multiple phases
• demo03 - Quadrilateral mesh
• demo04 - 2D Mesh with quadratic elements
• demo05 - Node sets at the boundary and interface when writing inp files
• demo06 - Select formats when writing inp files
• demo07 - Tetrahedral mesh
• demo08 - Hexahedral mesh
• demo09 - Set tolerance when searching boundary node set
• inp_example1 - Format #1 of inp file
• inp_example2 - Format #2 of inp file
• inp_example3 - Format #3 of inp file

Acknowledgments

Great thanks Dr. Yang Lu for providing valuable suggestions.