FEM Mesh

Create a FE mesh
Finite element analysis is performed on a mesh composed of multiple triangular and quadrilateral finite elements.

There are different possibilities to set up a mesh in FreeCAD:
 * The Netgen tool (FEM MeshNetgenFromShape) from the graphical user interface or by Python scripting.
 * The Gmsh tool (FEM MeshGmshFromShape) from the graphical user interface of by Python scripting.
 * Manually creating the mesh through Python scripting.
 * Importing a mesh from another program. In particular, Netgen and Gmsh can be used by themselves outside of FreeCAD to mesh solid bodies like Step files.

The internal tools support meshing bodies created with the Part and PartDesign Workbenches, as well as simple copies of those solids.

Previously, Netgen was included with FreeCAD and could be used immediately. Now, both Netgen and Gmsh should be installed before they can be used by the FEM Workbench. Refer to FEM Install for installation instructions.

implemented

 * Gmsh
 * http://gmsh.info/
 * https://gitlab.onelab.info/gmsh/gmsh
 * Netgen
 * https://ngsolve.org/
 * https://github.com/NGSolve/netgen

of interest

 * ENigMA
 * https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=33048
 * https://github.com/bjaraujo/ENigMA
 * libMesh
 * https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=33621
 * http://libmesh.github.io/
 * https://github.com/libMesh/libmesh
 * Very active. C++ only
 * PythonOCC
 * http://www.pythonocc.org/
 * SnappyHexMesh
 * https://openfoamwiki.net/index.php/SnappyHexMesh
 * Tetgen
 * http://wias-berlin.de/software/tetgen/

FEM Mesh Elements in FreeCAD
FreeCAD supports various element types. There is an external blog link which explains about the differences and when to use which element type: https://www.comsol.com/blogs/meshing-your-geometry-various-element-types/


 * "ni" means the element type is not implemented in FreeCAD but the format would support it.
 * "-" means the format specification does not support this element type, thus FreeCAD can not support it.
 * "?" it is not known if the format supports this element type.

General
More informations about the FEM element types and their data structure inside FreeCAD can be find on FEM Element Types.

Creating a mesh with one Tet-10 Elements
If you want to have predefined element and node numbering:

Visual handling
Highlight some nodes on the view:

Postprocessing colors and displacement: Highlight some nodes on the view: