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FEM Preferences

Introduction

The preferences for the FEM Workbench can be found in the Preferences Editor. In the menu select Edit → Preferences... and then FEM. This group is only available if the FEM Workbench has been loaded in the current FreeCAD session.

There are seven pages: General, Gmsh, CalculiX, Elmer, Mystran, Z88 and Netgen. All pages apart from the first control how FEM interacts with external meshers and solvers.

The currently supported external solvers are:

  • [CalculiX](wiki-test2.php?gitpage=FEM_SolverCalculixCxxtools)
  • [Elmer](wiki-test2.php?gitpage=FEM_SolverElmer)
  • [Mystran](wiki-test2.php?gitpage=FEM_SolverMystran)
  • [Z88](wiki-test2.php?gitpage=FEM_SolverZ88)

General

On this page you can specify the following:

+++ | Name | Description | +========================================================================================+===========================================================================================================================+ | | In what directory the mesh and solver files should be stored | | Working directory | | | | | +++ | | If there are several meshes they will be grouped | | Create mesh groups for analysis reference shapes (highly experimental) | | | | | +++ | | Existing Result objects will be kept, otherwise overwritten by a new solver run | | Keep results on calculation re-run | | | | | +++ | | If checked, the Show result dialog is opened with the last used dialog settings | | Restore result dialog settings | | | | | +++ | | The constraints will be hidden in the model view when the Show result dialog is opened | | Hide analysis features when opening result dialog | | | | | +++ | | Default solver to be added when adding an Analysis container. ((v0.21) ) | | Default solver | | | | | +++

Gmsh

On this page you can specify the following:

+++ | Name | Description | +====================================================+=======================================================================================================================+ | | If checked, FreeCAD will look for the binary of Gmsh in known (usual) directories | | Search in known binary directories | | | | | +++ | | The path to the binary of Gmsh | | Gmsh binary path | | | | | +++ | | Log verbosity level: Silent, Errors, Warnings, Direct, Information, Status or Debug. (v1.1) | | Log verbosity | | | | | +++

CalculiX

On this page you can specify the following:

+++ | Name | Description | +===========================================================+=====================================================================================================================================================================================+ | | If checked, FreeCAD will look for the binary of CalculiX in known (usual) directories | | Search in known binary directories | | | | | +++ | | The path to the binary of CalculiX | | ccx binary path | | | | | +++ | | If checked, a built-in *.inp file editor with syntax highlighting is used when editing CalculiX input decks. | | Use internal editor for *.inp files* | | | | | +++ | | The path to the external \.inp file editor. | | External editor | | | | | +++ | | If checked, multiple *.inp files are written and the main input deck uses the *INCLUDE keywords to reference the other ones. If unchecked, a single large *.inp file is written. | | Split writing of *.inp | | | | | +++ | | Default analysis type: Static, Frequency, Thermomech, Check Mesh or Buckling. | | Type | | | | | +++ | | Number of physical processor cores to use for parallel computing. | | Number of CPU's to use | | | | | +++ | | Default matrix solver: Default, PaStiX, Pardiso, Spooles equation solver, Iterative Scaling or Cholesky iterative solver. | | Matrix solver | | | | | +++ | | If checked, geometric nonlinearity is included by default. | | Non-linear geometry | | | | | +++ | | If checked, uses non-default solver controls (not recommended in most cases). | | Time incrementation control parameter | | | | | +++ | | Maximum number of increments within an analysis step. | | Maximum number of iterations | | | | | +++ | | Initial time increment size (can be changed by the solver if automatic incrementation is used). | | Time Initial Step | | | | | +++ | | Total simulated time. | | Time End | | | | | +++ | | Minimum allowable time increment size. | | Time Minimum Step | | | | | +++ | | Maximum allowable time increment size. | | Time Maximum Step | | | | | +++ | | If checked, results for 1D and 2D elements are displayed using 3D representation by default. | | Beam, shell element 3D output format | | | | | +++ | | If checked, thermomechanical analyses are of steady-state type by default. | | Analysis type (transient or steady state) | | | | | +++ | | Default number of requested eigenmodes in frequency analyses. | | Eigenmode number | | | | | +++ | | Default upper limit of evaluated eigenfrequencies in frequency analyses. | | High frequency limit | | | | | +++ | | Default lower limit of evaluated eigenfrequencies in frequency analyses. | | Low frequency limit** | | | | | +++

Elmer

On this page you can specify the following:

+++ | Name | Description | +=================================================================+===============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================+ | | If checked, FreeCAD will look for the binary of the grid writer utility of the Elmer in known (usual) directories | | ElmerGrid: Search in known binary directories | | | | | +++ | | The path to the binary of the grid writer utility of the Elmer | | ElmerGrid binary path | | | | | +++ | | If checked, FreeCAD will look for the solver binary of Elmer in known (usual) directories | | ElmerSolver: Search in known binary directories | | | | | +++ | | The path to the solver binary of Elmer | | ElmerSolver binary path | | | | | +++ | | The number of CPU cores that will be used to perform the solving. Important: Elmer divides the mesh into portions. The number of portions is equal to the number of CPU cores used. This can result in side-effects: | | CPU cores to be used | | | | - Depending on your mesh a smaller number of CPU cores can run faster than using more cores. | | | - In some cases using e.g. 12 cores does not converge while 8 cores will work fine. The reason is that at some point the mesh portions become too small. | | | | | | So it is often necessary to adjust the number of cores, depending on the mesh. | | | | | | Known limitation: For some simulation types you first need to install Elmer modules to enable multi-threading. Check the Elmer report for info about this. A typical case is that for direct solving one has to install the MUMPS module. | +++ | | The mesh volume regions processed by each CPU core will be merged to make the volume boundaries invisible. | | Filter results | | | | | +++ | | If checked, binary results format is used. Otherwise, ASCII format is used. Binary format may cause lack of results due to a bug. (v1.1) | | Use binary format | | | | | +++ | | If checked, the index of geometric entities is saved in the results. (v1.1) | | Save geometry IDs | | | | | +++

Mystran

On this page you can specify the following:

+++ | Name | Description | +====================================================+==========================================================================================================================+ | | If checked, FreeCAD will look for the binary of the Mystran in known (usual) directories | | Search in known binary directories | | | | | +++ | | The path to the binary of the Mystran | | Mystran binary path | | | | | +++ | | | | Write comments to input file | | | | | +++

Z88

On this page you can specify the following:

+++ | Name | Description | +====================================================+===========================================================================================================================================================================================================================+ | | If checked, FreeCAD will look for the binary named z88r of the Z88 solver in known (usual) directories | | Search in known binary directories | | | | | +++ | | The path to the binary named z88r of the Z88 solver | | z88r binary path | | | | | +++ | | The solver method used by the Z88 solver for new simulations. | | Solver method | | | | | +++ | | This is relevant when the solver method Simple Cholesky is used. After starting the solver, it might tell you that you need to increase the MAXGS value. In this case increase the max places and re-run the solver. | | Max places in stiffness matrix | | | | | +++ | | This is relevant when one of the iterative solver methods is used. After starting the solver, it might tell you that you need to increase the MAXKOI value. In this case increase the max places and re-run the solver. | | Max places in coincidence vector | | | | | +++

Netgen

On this page you can specify the following:

+++ | Name | Description | +===============================+=========================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================+ | | If checked, the legacy Netgen implementation is used by FreeCAD FEM. This might be needed for users (mostly with older and Windows computers) who can\'t install the Netgen Python bindings necessary for the new implementation. ((v1.0) ) | | Legacy Netgen | | | | | +++

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⏵ documentation index > Preferences > FEM > FEM Preferences

This page is retrieved from https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD-documentation/blob/main/wiki/FEM_Preferences.md

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