step2gmsh

step2gmsh is a collection of python scripts to generate MFEM compatible meshes from step files using calls to gmsh mesher.

The main usage is to generate 2D finite element method (FEM) meshes which can be used to solve electrostatic/magnetostatic problems.

Installation

Install requirements with

    python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage

Launch from command line as

    python src/step2gmsh.py <-i path_to_step_file>

The tested input step files have been generated with FreeCAD. The geometrical entities within the step file must be separated in layers. The operations which are performed of the different layers depend on their name.

• A layer named Conductor_N with N being an integer represents a perfect conductor. Conductor_0 is a special case of which represents the ground and defines the global domain. For layers named Conductor_N with N different to zero their areas will be substracted from the computational domain and removed.
• Layers named as Dielectric_N are used to identify regions which will have a material assigned.
• Open and semi-open problems can be defined using a single layer called OpenRegion.

Below is shown an example of a closed case with 6 conductors and 5 dielectrics, the external boundary corresponds to Conductor_0. The case is modeled with FreeCAD and can be found in the testData/five_wires folder together with the exported as a step file. The resulting mesh after applying step2gmsh is shown below.

License and copyright

step2gmsh is licensed under GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 2, its copyright belongs to the University of Granada.

Acknowledgments

This project is funded by the following grants:

• HECATE - Hybrid ElectriC regional Aircraft distribution TEchnologies. HE-HORIZON-JU-Clean-Aviation-2022-01. European Union.
• ESAMA - Métodos numéricos avanzados para el análisis de materiales eléctricos y magnéticos en aplicaciones aerospaciales. PID2022-137495OB-C31. Spain.