Surface object

The Surface object stores surfaces selected from the assembly. A surface is comprised of geometric or discrete entities but not both. An instance of a Surface object is available from the surface member of the Assembly object.

This page discusses:

Access

import part
mdb.models[name].parts[name].allInternalSurfaces[name]
mdb.models[name].parts[name].allSurfaces[name]
mdb.models[name].parts[name].surfaces[name]
import assembly
mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.allInstances[name].surfaces[name]
mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.allInternalSurfaces[name]
mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.allSurfaces[name]
mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.instances[name].surfaces[name]
mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.modelInstances[i].surfaces[name]
mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.surfaces[name]

Surface(...)

This method creates a surface from a sequence of objects in a model database. The surface will apply to the sides specified by the arguments.For example,

surface=mdb.models['Model-1'].parts['Part-1'].Surface(side1Faces=side1Faces, name='Surf-1')

Path

mdb.models[name].parts[name].Surface

mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.Surface

Required arguments

On three-dimensional solid faces, you can use the following arguments:

  • side1Faces

  • side2Faces

On three-dimensional shell faces, you can use the following arguments:

  • side1Faces

  • side2Faces

  • side12Faces

On three-dimensional wire edges, you can use the following arguments:

  • end1Edges

  • end2Edges

  • circumEdges

On three-dimensional or two-dimensional or axisymmetric edges, you can use the following arguments:

  • side1Edges

  • side2Edges

On two-dimensional or axisymmetric shell elements, you can use the following arguments:

  • face1Elements

  • face2Elements

  • face3Elements

  • face4Elements

On solid elements, you can use the following arguments:

  • face1Elements

  • face2Elements

  • face3Elements

  • face4Elements

  • face5Elements

  • face6Elements

On three-dimensional shell elements, you can use the following arguments:

  • side1Elements

  • side2Elements

  • side12Elements

On three-dimensional wire elements, you can use the following arguments:

  • end1Elements

  • end2Elements

  • circumElements

On two-dimensional or axisymmetric wire elements, you can use the following arguments:

  • side1Elements

  • side2Elements

name

A String specifying the repository key. The default value is an empty string.

Optional arguments

side1Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to SIDE1 of element). The default value is None.

side2Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to SIDE2 of element). The default value is None.

side12Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to both SIDE1 and SIDE2 of element). The default value is None.

end1Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to END1 of element). The default value is None.

end2Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to END2 of element). The default value is None.

circumElements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to circumference of element). The default value is None.

face1Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to FACE1 of element) or MeshFace objects. The default value is None.

face2Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to FACE2 of element) or MeshFace objects. The default value is None.

face3Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to FACE3 of element) or MeshFace objects. The default value is None.

face4Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to FACE4 of element) or MeshFace objects. The default value is None.

face5Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to FACE5 of element) or MeshFace objects. The default value is None.

face6Elements

A sequence of MeshElement objects (surface applies to FACE6 of element) or MeshFace objects. The default value is None.

side1Faces

A sequence of Face objects (surface applies to SIDE1 of face). The default value is None.

side2Faces

A sequence of Face objects (surface applies to SIDE2 of face). The default value is None.

side12Faces

A sequence of Face objects (surface applies to both SIDE1 and SIDE2 of face). The default value is None.

side1Edges

A sequence of Edge objects (surface applies to SIDE1 of edge). The default value is None.

side2Edges

A sequence of Edge objects (surface applies to SIDE2 of edge). The default value is None.

end1Edges

A sequence of Edge objects (surface applies to END1 of edge). The default value is None.

end2Edges

A sequence of Edge objects (surface applies to END2 of edge). The default value is None.

circumEdges

A sequence of Edge objects (surface applies circumferentially to edge). The default value is None.

Return value

A Surface object.

Exceptions

InvalidNameError.

Surface(...)

This method copies a surface from an existing surface.

Path

mdb.models[name].parts[name].Surface

mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.Surface

Required arguments

name

A String specifying the name of the surface.

objectToCopy

A Surface object to be copied.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

A Surface object.

Exceptions

InvalidNameError.

SurfaceByBoolean(...)

This method creates a surface by performing a boolean operation on two or more input surfaces.

Path

mdb.models[name].parts[name].SurfaceByBoolean

mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.SurfaceByBoolean

Required arguments

name

A String specifying the repository key.

surfaces

A sequence of Surface objects.

Optional arguments

operation

A SymbolicConstant specifying the boolean operation to perform. Possible values are UNION, INTERSECTION, andDIFFERENCE. The default value is UNION. Note that if DIFFERENCE is specified, the order of the given input surfaces is important; All surfaces specified after the first one are subtracted from the first one.

Return value

A Surface object.

Exceptions

InvalidNameError.

SurfaceFromElsets(...)

This method creates a surface from a sequence of element sets in a model database.

Path

mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.SurfaceFromElsets

Required arguments

name

A String specifying the repository key.

elementSetSeq

A sequence of element sets. For example, 

elementSetSeq=((elset1, S1),(elset2, S2))

where elset1=mdb.models[name].rootAssembly.sets['Clutch'] and S1 and S2 indicate the side of the element set.

Optional arguments

None.

Return value

A Surface object.

Exceptions

InvalidNameError.

Members

The Surface object can have the following members:

edges

An EdgeArray object.

faces

A FaceArray object.

elements

A MeshElementArray object.

nodes

A MeshNodeArray object.

sides

A tuple of SymbolicConstants specifying the sides; for example, (SIDE1, SIDE2).

instances

A tuple of Ints specifying the instances. This member is not applicable for a Surface object on an output database.