Editing the Mesh

The user can edit the mesh on the top view of the model by drawing new elements, moving nodes, and deleting nodes or elements. It is possible to create an entire mesh in this fashion although doing so can be time-consuming for large meshes.

To draw a new element, the user first selects Mesh|Draw Elements or clicks the Draw elements button . The user then clicks on the top view of the model to start creating elements. Either a new or existing node will be added to the element at the location where the user clicked on the top view. The user continues this process until all the desired elements have been created. The new nodes and elements will not be finalized until the user selects Mesh|Draw Elements or clicks the Draw elements button again. Up until the point where the new nodes and elements have been finalized, the user can undo adding a node to an element by clicking the Escape key on the keyboard. After that, the user can undo creating all the nodes and elements just finalized but can not undo adding individual nodes to new elements. Up until the point where the new nodes and elements have been finalized, the new elements are drawn with dashed lines so they can be distinguished from the finalized elements. ModelMuse will not prevent the user from drawing elements are concave or that overlap with other elements. It is the users responsibility to ensure that the mesh is valid.

To delete or move a node or element, the user first selects Mesh|Move or Delete Nodes or Elements or clicks the Move or delete nodes of elements button . Then the user clicks on a node or element to select it. To select multiple nodes and/or elements, the user holds down the Shift key when clicking on nodes or elements. To delete the selected nodes and elements, the user presses the Delete key on the keyboard. To move the selected nodes or elements, drags with the mouse to move them to the desired location. The user can also double click nodes or elements to display the Node Location dialog box which can be used to specify node locations numerically.