Importing multiple .cdb mesh files

[pDevaraja]

Hi,

I am trying to import multiple .cdb files that contain mesh details of parts of an assembly.
How can I cdread without overwriting existing db, to combine the part files in a single 'db'.

Also, is gcgen the right option to create bonded contact for the imported parts.

Thank you.

[mikerife]

Hi @pDevaraja
By default the CDREAD command will offset any existing entity IDs upwards such that the incoming entities will 'fit' into the model. Have you tried multiple CDREAD and not found that to be the case?

Asking what is the "right" thing to do in FEA is usually a bad question since we don't know what your definition of "right" is...you may need behavior that other do not. And there is usually far more that 1-2 ways of doing X, whatever X is, and each way will have it's pro/con list. GCGEN is a way to do what you want, but not the only way. Is there something in the GCGEN help, or the general contact help section, that leads you to question whether it should be used in your model?

Mike

[pDevaraja]

Hi @mikerife,
Thank you very much for your response.
I have tried multiple CDREAD, but each time a new file is read the previous file seems to be overwritten. The eplot command plots the last file read by CDREAD.

CDREAD('db', File1) ----------For reference this is what I have been using.

I am sorry for the unclear question. I need bonded contact between the imported parts. I wanted to know if there was any command that can do it automatically without NSEL the contact nodes.

PS: My parts are shifted to the global coordinate axis before import, so they will form a assembly when imported. But I will have to define contact.

Thank you.

[mikerife]

Hi @pDevaraja where are the cdb files coming from? Can you supply two example cdb files from the same source for review? They don't need to be 'real' geometry, two cubes would work.

Mike