Mesh Generation

The following files are created from AcuConsole when a mesh is generated (Tools > Generate Mesh or

on toolbar) with the Launch AcuMeshSim option turned on, and with the Export ams file option turned on, or with previously exported files.

.arm
Description	AcuMeshSim output file containing metadata that defines mesh locations - used for GUI visualization in AcuConsole
Location	Same directory as .acs
Name	Same as <problem> name given by you - <problem>.arm
File type	ASCII

Once a mesh has been generated and the .acs file has been created, this file can be deleted.

.Meshsim.jou
Description	AcuMeshSim output file containing details of the meshing process. Not generally used except for identifying problems with the meshing process
Location	Same directory as .acs
Name	Same as <problem> name given by you - <problem>.Meshsim.jou
File type	ASCII

This file is only used for advanced troubleshooting of the meshing process. If your mesh has generated without problems, you can delete this file. You may be asked for the contents of this file when working with a support representative.

Meshsim.txt
Description	AcuMeshSim output file containing a summary of the meshing process - this information is displayed in AcuTail during the mesh generation
Location	Same directory as .acs
Name	<problem>.<ID> where <ID> is an ID generated by AcuMeshSim that usually reflects the number of times AcuMeshSim has been run for the particular problem
File type	ASCII

This file provides a summary of the meshing process. Once meshing is complete, it can be deleted if the summary information is not needed. During mesh generation, a directory, MESHSIM.DIR, is created. By default, the files in this directory will be ASCII files. You can change the preferences so that files created in this directory will be in binary format (File > Preferences > Export > Mesh file type).

.cnn
Description	AcuMeshSim output file containing connectivity of elements within a volume set
Location	\MESHSIM.DIR directory below the location of the .acs file
Name	<problem>.<volID>.<meshtype>.cnn, where <volID> is the volume ID, <meshtype> is the mesh type associated with the volume
File type	ASCII (default) or binary

Once a mesh has been generated and the .acs file has been created, this file can be deleted.

.crd
Description	AcuMeshSim output file containing coordinates of nodes within the model
Location	\MESHSIM.DIR directory below the location of the .acs file
Name	Same as <problem> name given by you
File type	ASCII (default) or binary

Once a mesh has been generated and the .acs file has been created, this file can be deleted.

.ebc
Description	AcuMeshSim output file containing identifiers for element collections associated with each surface set
Location	\MESHSIM.DIR directory below the location of the .acs file
Name	<problem>.<volID>.<volmeshtype>.<surfID>.<surfmeshtype>, where <volID> is the volume ID <meshtype> is the mesh type associated with the volume <surfID> is the surface ID <volmeshtype> is the mesh type associated with the volume <surfmeshtype> is the mesh type associated with the surface
File type	ASCII (default) or binary

Once a mesh has been generated and the .acs file has been created, this file can be deleted.

When you generate a mesh (Tools > Generate Mesh or on toolbar), by default AcuConsole first exports the mesh settings and then AcuMeshSim is run. In this process, files and a directories are created.

The mesh settings are contained within <problem>.ams, where <problem> is the problem name specified when you created the AcuConsole database. This file is used as input to AcuMeshSim and contains attributes defining the mesh settings globally, by volume set, by surface set, by edge set, by extrusion, and so forth.

Exporting the mesh settings also generates a directory associated with the CAD. The CAD.DIR directory is created at the same directory level as the .ams file. CAD.DIR contains a copy of the original geometry file that was imported into AcuConsole with the extension .x_t if an ASCII file was imported, or .x_b if a binary file was imported. CAD.DIR also contains a non-manifold CAD file with extension .smd.

AcuMeshSim generates two files that capture the outputs of the application; <problem>.<ID>.MeshSim.txt and meshsim.jou. The .MeshSim.txt file is automatically opened by AcuTail when AcuMeshSim is executed from AcuConsole, or it can be read manually with any text editor. The contents include information about the meshing process, node and element count, CPU time, and memory usage. Meshsim.jou contains additional details about the mesh process, and is useful for debugging when problems arise during the meshing process.

Once AcuMeshSim completes, additional files will be created within the specified mesh directory, with default name MESHSIM.DIR. MESHSIM.DIR contains the resulting mesh that was created by AcuMeshSim, stored in separate files to represent the different surface, volume, and other information that you requested. In addition to the files created in MESHSIM.DIR directory, a metadata file with default name <problem>.arm will be created in the specified directory. The .arm file points to the geometry file within CAD.DIR, and to the files contained within MESHSIM.DIR that contain the coordinate, connectivity, elemental boundary conditions, and nodal boundary conditions The .arm file is read by AcuConsole to import the contents of MESHSIM.DIR into the GUI for visualization and subsequent processing/storage.

Once you have successfully generated a mesh and saved the .acs file, you can safely delete the files generated during the meshing process and still have all of the information needed to generate a solution. If you need any of the files, they can be recreated by generating a mesh.