Exodus II File Specification

Exodus II Manual

The full Exodus II manual is available from the web.

Element Block Definition Examples

Multiple Element Blocks

Multiple element blocks are often used when generating a finite element mesh. For example, if the finite element model consists of a block which has a thin shell encasing the volume mesh, the following block commands would be used:

Block 100 Volume 1
Block 100 Element Type Hex8
Block 200 Surface 1 To 6
Block 200 Element Type Shell4
Block 200 Attribute 0.01
Mesh Volume 1
Export Genesis `block.g'

This sequence of commands defines two element blocks (100 and 200). Element block 100 is composed of 8-node hexahedral elements and element block 200 is composed of 4-node shell elements on the surface of the block. The "thickness" of the shell elements is 0.01. The finite element code which reads the Genesis file (block.g) would refer to these blocks using the element block IDs 100 and 200. Note that the second line and the fourth line of the example are not required since both commands represent the default element type for the respective element blocks.

Surface Mesh Only

If a mesh containing only the surface of the block is desired, the first two lines of the example would be omitted and the Mesh Volume 1 line would be changed to, for example

Mesh Surface 1 To 6.

Two-dimensional Mesh

CUBIT also provides the capability of writing two-dimensional Genesis databases similar to FASTQ. The user must first assign the appropriate surfaces in the model to an element block. Then a Quad* type element may be specified for the element block. For example

Block 1 Surface 1 To 4
Block 1 Element Type Quad4

In this case, it is important for users to note that a two-dimensional Genesis database will result. In writing a two-dimensional Genesis database, CUBIT ignores all z-coordinate data. Therefore, the user must ensure that the Element Block is assigned to a planar surface lying in a plane parallel to the x-y plane. Currently, the Quad* element types are the only supported two-dimensional elements. Two-dimensional shell elements will be added in the near future if required.