Bottom-up meshing is a manual process that may be time consuming and require some trial and error to produce an acceptable mesh. Bottom-up meshing is intended for use primarily when you need hexahedral elements for an analysis and you cannot generate them using top-down meshing techniques. You can also use bottom-up meshing in cases where extensive partitioning would be required to create a high-quality top-down mesh. The following procedure includes the basic steps for creating a bottom-up mesh. Before you begin, you must assign the bottom-up meshing technique to the desired region if you have not done so already (for more information, see “Assigning mesh controls,” Section 17.17.1).
To create a bottom-up mesh:
From the main menu bar, select Mesh
Create Bottom-Up Mesh.
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. (For more information, see “Using the Mesh module toolbox,” Section 17.14.)
Select a region to which you have assigned the bottom-up meshing technique. Regions that you can select are colored light tan.
Abaqus/CAE opens the Create Bottom-Up Mesh dialog box.
Select one of the following meshing methods:
Sweep
Extrude
Revolve
For a description of each method, see “Bottom-up meshing methods,” Section 17.11.2.
If you previously selected bottom-up meshing parameters for the current region, you can click Fetch Last Selections to reuse your previous selections.
Abaqus/CAE saves your selections for the source side, connecting sides, target side, extrusion vector, and axis of revolution in the session until they are overwritten by new selections.
Note: If you add a partition to the model, you cannot reuse previously selected geometry; however, you can reuse mesh selections such as element faces and two-dimensional elements.
Click Select next to Source side; and select the region faces, element faces, or two-dimensional elements where you want the mesh to begin.
Tip: Use [Shift]+Click to select more than one face.
Abaqus/CAE colors your selection magenta.
When you have finished selecting the source side, click Done in the prompt area .
If you chose the Sweep method, you must select Connecting sides or a Target side or both to complete the mesh definition. Complete the following steps to make your selections:
Toggle on Connecting sides, and click Select to choose one or more sides that connect the source side to the end of the mesh. Connecting geometric sides must be four-sided. You can also select four-sided element faces or two-dimensional elements that form a regular grid pattern. For more information, see “Defining connecting sides for a bottom-up swept mesh,” Section 17.11.7.
Toggle on Target side, and click Select to choose a single face that Abaqus/CAE uses to end the swept mesh.
If you chose the Extrude method, click Select next to Vector to select two points from the viewport or enter coordinates in the prompt area to define the start and end points of the extrusion vector.
Abaqus/CAE displays a yellow arrow in the viewport to indicate the extrusion vector.
If you chose the Revolve method, you must specify an axis and an angle of revolution.
Click Select next to Axis to select two points from the viewport or enter coordinates in the prompt area to define the start and end points of the axis of revolution.
Abaqus/CAE displays a yellow arrow in the viewport to indicate the axis.
In the Angle field, enter the desired angle of revolution, in degrees, for the revolved mesh.
Where applicable, enter the Number of layers to define the number of element layers between the source side and the end of the bottom-up mesh.
Note: The Number of layers parameter is required for the Sweep method only if you specify a target side with no connecting sides. It is always required for the Extrude and Revolve methods.
The Undo field near the bottom of the Create Bottom-Up Mesh dialog box allows you to undo and redo bottom-up mesh changes, mesh-geometry associativity changes, and mesh edits. You can access the same functions in the Edit Mesh toolset. For more information, see “Undoing or redoing a change in the Edit Mesh toolset,” Section 61.9.
Click Apply in the Create Bottom-Up Mesh dialog box to generate the bottom-up mesh.
Repeat Steps 3 through 12 to create another bottom-up mesh in the same region, or click Cancel to end the procedure.
