Deleting mesh-geometry associativity

You can delete the association between nodes, element edges, or elements and the underlying geometry by selecting MeshDelete Mesh Associativity from the main menu bar and choosing a vertex, edge, or face. If you delete the associativity between Abaqus/CAE geometry and the mesh, the affected mesh components become orphan mesh nodes and elements. This may be useful if you are working with a complex part and want to keep some portions of the mesh unchanged while changing the geometry in other areas.

See Also
Selecting objects within the viewport
Bottom-up meshing
Mesh-geometry association
Using the Mesh module toolbox
What can I do with the Edit Mesh toolset?
  1. Enter the Mesh module. Select Part from the Object field in the context bar, and select a part from the list.
  2. From the main menu bar, select MeshDelete Mesh Associativity.

    Abaqus/CAE displays prompts in the prompt area to guide you through the procedure.

    Tip: You can also click the tool in the Mesh module toolbox, or you can click the tool to display the Edit Mesh dialog box—the delete associativity method is located in the Mesh category within the dialog box. (For more information on the Mesh module toolbox, see Using the Mesh module toolbox.)

  3. Select one or more geometric entities—vertices, edges, faces, or entire regions—whose associativity you want to delete.

    You can use a combination of drag select, ShiftClick, and CtrlClick to select geometric entities. For more information, see Selecting objects within the current viewport.

    Note:

    To delete the association of a native mesh region and create an orphan mesh, you must select the entire region.

  4. If desired, you can toggle off Delete association from bounding entities in the prompt area.

    By default, when you delete the associativity of a region, Abaqus/CAE also deletes the association between nodes, element edges, and faces and the corresponding vertices, edges, and faces.

  5. When you have finished selecting geometric entities, click Done.

    Abaqus/CAE highlights the geometric entities in red and the associated mesh entities in yellow so you can confirm your selections.

  6. Click Yes to delete the mesh association or No to cancel your selections.
  7. Repeat Steps 3 through 6 to delete the associativity of other areas, or click the cancel button in the prompt area to end the procedure.