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Geometry & Mesh Exercise (Salome) ​

This hands-on exercise helps you verify your understanding of geometry creation, group assignment, and meshing in Salome. You’ll create a simple cantilever beam model, define physical groups (fixed and loaded faces), generate a structured mesh, and share screenshots of each stage.

Time: 25–30 minutes Deliverables: 4–5 screenshots (geometry, groups, mesh, Object Browser, and 3D view)

Step 1 — Launch Salome and create a new geometry ​

  • Open Salome and switch to the SHAPER module.

  • Create a New Part from the toolbar or via Part → Create Part.

  • Inside this part, click Primitives → Box.

  • In the Box dialog, set dimensions for your cantilever beam:

    X Length = 1.0 m
Y Length = 0.1 m
Z Length = 0.1 m

    Keep the origin (0, 0, 0) as default and click Apply and Close.

You should now see a 3D block in the viewer — this represents your cantilever beam. Tip: Rotate with the middle mouse button, zoom with the scroll wheel, and pan with right-click.

Screenshot A: Beam geometry visible in the 3D viewer with the Object Browser open on the left.

Step 2 — Assign physical groups (fixed, forced, and material) ​

  • Go to Features → Group.

  • In the Group dialog:

    • Choose the Surface selection icon (third button).
    • Select the free end of the beam and name it forced.
    • Click “✓+” to create another group, select the opposite face, and name it fixed.
    • For the full solid, switch to the Volume selection icon and name it material_1.

You now have three groups:

  • fixed → clamped face
  • forced → loaded face
  • material_1 → the beam’s solid body

These groups will serve as region identifiers when exporting the mesh to FEniCS.

Screenshot B: Object Browser showing all three groups under the geometry tree (fixed, forced, material_1).

Step 3 — Switch to the Mesh module and create a 3D mesh ​

  • Change the module at the top to Mesh.

  • Click Create Mesh and select your beam geometry as the Main Shape.

  • Choose 3D meshing → Tetrahedral (NETGEN 3D).

  • Set your parameters:

    • Min size: 0.01
    • Max size: 0.05
    • Fineness: Moderate

Click Apply and Close.

Then right-click on the mesh name and choose Compute to generate it. Rotate the view to confirm that the beam volume is filled with mesh elements.

Screenshot C: 3D mesh displayed in the viewer (beam with visible tetrahedral elements).

Step 4 — Inspect mesh quality and structure ​

  • Right-click your mesh → Information → Check total element count and distribution.
  • Verify smooth transitions, no open gaps, and proper connectivity near the faces.
  • If needed, adjust element size for better resolution and recompute.

Screenshot D: Mesh information panel or zoomed-in section showing uniform mesh refinement.

Step 5 — (Optional) Export the mesh for FEniCS ​

If you want to verify compatibility:

  1. Right-click the mesh → Export → MED file.
  2. Save as cantilever_beam.med.
  3. Confirm the file exists in your working directory.

Screenshot E (optional): Export dialog or saved .med file path in the file browser.

What to Submit ​

  • A: 3D geometry view of the cantilever beam (Object Browser visible)
  • B: Screenshot showing physical groups (fixed, forced, material_1)
  • C: 3D mesh displayed in viewer
  • D: Mesh quality / information window
  • E (optional): MED export confirmation

Acceptance checklist (pass/fail) ​

  • Cantilever beam geometry created correctly.
  • At least three groups defined: fixed, forced, material_1.
  • Mesh generated with visible tetrahedral structure.
  • Mesh quality checked (no gaps, reasonable element size).
  • (Optional) Mesh exported to .med format successfully.

This exercise verifies that you can independently move from geometry creation to meshing — a key pre-processing skill in any simulation workflow.