Gasket Meshing

Gasket elements are used to model components with a very thin thickness, with their main purpose being to act as a sealing between structural components.

Gasket elements have a different node order compared to first or second order hex and penta elements. Gasket elements have nodes on their top and bottom face, and no mid-side nodes along their thickness.


Figure 1. Node Order for Gasket Elements of Type GK3D18
Restriction:

Gasket elements are only supported in the Abaqus solver interface, and you can only create gasket elements of type GK3D18 and GK3D13 with the Gasket Elements tool.

Create Gasket Elements

  1. From the menu bar, click Mesh > Create > 3D Elements > Gasket Elements.
    The Create Special Elements dialog opens.
  2. Select Create Mesh.
  3. Use the Source selector to select the face of the 3D volume.
  4. Use the Target selector to select target face of the 3D volume.
  5. In the Element Size field, enter the average element size to make elements.
  6. In the Number of Layers field, enter the number of elements (layers) to create between source and target layer.
  7. For Destination Comp, choose where newly created elements are organized.
    • Choose New Component to organize elements in a new component.
    • Choose Current Component to organize elements in the current, active component.
    • Choose Elems to Surf Component to organize elements in the component to which the surface belongs.
  8. For Assign Property & Material, choose a method for assigning properties to newly created elements.
    • Choose New Property to assign a new property.
    • Choose Existing Property to select an existing property.
  9. Click Apply.
  10. Click OK to close the dialog.
Tip: Highlight the nodes of the newly created gasket elements by clicking Review.


Figure 2. Original Geometry


Figure 3. Mesh with Gasket Elements


Figure 4. Gasket Elements with Review Enabled

Update Gasket Elements

  1. From the menu bar, click Mesh > Create > 3D Elements > Gasket Elements.
    The Create Special Elements dialog opens.
  2. Select Update Elements.
  3. Use the Source selector to select the face of the 3D volume.
  4. For Element Type, select an element type.
  5. Click Apply.
  6. Click OK to close the dialog.
Tip:

Highlight the nodes of the newly created gasket elements by clicking Review.