Selection filter library is a powerful tool enabling to create filters to be used on meshes. You can access to it from the Main Menu via Tools / Selection filter library.
Library file name shows the path and the file name where your filters will be stored. By clicking the Browse button you can load an existing filter library.
Names of filters lists the filters created or uploaded for the current study. You can Add or Delete filters.
In Filter name box you can specify the name for your filter. By default it is prefixed with the corresponding entity type.
Each filter can be applicable to Nodes, Edges, Faces or Volumes. You can combine many criteria in one filter, but they all must be of the same Entity type.
The Add button creates a new criterion at the end of the list of criteria. The Insert button creates a new criterion before the selected criterion. The Remove button deletes the selected criterion. The Clear button deletes all criteria.
Each Entity type has its specific list of criteria, however all filters have common syntax. For each criterion you should specify the Threshold Value and whether we search for the elements that should be More, Less or Equal to this Value. You can also reverse the sense of a criterion using Unary operator Not and you should specify logical relations between criteria using Binary operators Or and And.
Some criteria should have the additional parameter of Tolerance.
When we create a Standalone Group using filters (for this click Set Filters button in the Create Group menu), the menu for setting filters looks a bit differently. Toggling Insert filter in viewer checkbox enables to preview the group selected with your current filter in the viewer.
In the Source field you choose if the filter will be applied to the whole Mesh, the Initial Selection or the Current Group.
Copy from... button gives you a possibility to load an existing filter from Selection filter library and Add to... button gives you a possibility to save your current filter in the Library.
Note: If the button Apply and Close is disabled, there is no selected mesh in the Object Browser and the filter can not be created. You have to select the mesh and the button will be enabled.
Some criteria are applicable to all Entity types:
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Belong to Geom selects entities whose all nodes lie on the shape defined by Threshold Value. If the threshold shape is a sub-shape of the main shape of the mesh the algorithm works faster, if this is any other shape the algorithm works slower.
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Lying on Geom selects entities whose at least one node lies on the shape defined by the Threshold Value. If the hreshold shape is a sub-shape of the main shape of the mesh the algorithm works faster, if this is any other shape, the algorithm works slower.
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Range of IDs allows selection of entities with the specified IDs. Threshold Value can be, for example: "1,2,3,50-60,63,67,70-78"
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Color of Group allows selection of entities belonging to the Group with the color defined by the Threshold Value.
Some criteria are applicable to all Entity types, except for Nodes
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Linear allows selection of Linear or Quadratic elements (if Unary is set to "Not")
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Geometry type allows selection of elements by their geometric type defined by the Threshold Value. The list of available geometric types depends on the element entity type defined by the Threshold Value.
The following criteria are applicable to all Entity types except for Volumes:
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Belong to Plane selects entities whose all nodes belong to a specified plane within a given Tolerance.
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Belong to Cylinder selects entities whose all nodes belong to a specified cylinder within a given Tolerance.
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Belong to Surface selects entities whose all nodes belong to a specified arbitrary surface within a given Tolerance.
Additional criteria to select mesh Edges are the following:
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Free Borders selects free 1D mesh elements, i.e. edges belonging to one face only. See also a Free Borders quality control.
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Borders at Multi-Connections selects edges belonging to several faces. The number of faces should be more, less or equal (within a given Tolerance) to the predefined Threshold Value. See also a Borders at Multi-Connection quality control.
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Length selects edges with a value of length, which is more, less or equal (within a given Tolerance) to the predefined Threshold Value. See also a Length quality control.
Additional criteria to select mesh Faces are the following:
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Aspect ratio selects 2D mesh elements with an aspect ratio (see also an Aspect Ratio quality control), which is more, less or equal (within a given Tolerance) to the predefined Threshold Value.
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Warping selects quadrangles with warping angle (see also a Warping quality control), which is more, less or equal (within a given Tolerance) to the predefined Threshold Value.
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Minimum angle selects triangles and quadrangles with minimum angle (see also a Minimum angle quality control), which is more, less or equal (within a given Tolerance) to the predefined Threshold Value.
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Taper selects quadrangles cells with taper value (see also a Taper quality control), which is more, less or equal (within a given Tolerance) to the predefined Threshold Value.
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Skew selects triangles and quadrangles with skew value (see also a Skew quality control), which is more, less or equal (within a given Tolerance) to the predefined Threshold Value.
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Area selects triangles and quadrangles with a value of area (see also an Area quality control), which is more, less or equal (within a given Tolerance) to the predefined Threshold Value.
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Free edges selects 2D mesh elements consisting of edges belonging to one element of mesh only. See also a Free Edges quality control.
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Free faces selects 3D mesh elements wich belong to less than two volumes.
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Borders at Multi-Connections 2D selects cells consisting of edges belonging to several elements of mesh. The number of mesh elements should be more, less or equal (within a given Tolerance) to the predefined Threshold Value. See also a Borders at Multi-Connection 2D quality control.
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Length 2D selects triangles and quadrangles combining of the edges with a value of length, which is more, less or equal (within a given Tolerance) to the predefined Threshold Value. See also a Length 2D quality control.
Additional criteria to select mesh Volumes are the following:
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Aspect ratio 3D selects 3D mesh elements with an aspect ratio (see also an Aspect Ratio 3D quality control), which is more, less or equal (within a given Tolerance) to the predefined Threshold Value.
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Volume selects 3D mesh elements with a value of volume (see also a Volume quality control), which is more, less or equal (within a given Tolerance) to the predefined Threshold Value.
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Bad oriented volume selects mesh volumes, which are incorrectly oriented from the point of view of MED convention.