Checking Your Model

This section describes how you can check the consistency and completeness of your model at any time during your session. The following topics are covered:

Checking the Consistency of an Analysis Case

You can perform consistency checks on your model at any time during your session to determine whether any problems exist in the model specification before you submit a job for analysis. Consistency checks can be used, for example, to identify features with invalid supports or geometries without corresponding mesh parts. Consistency checks cannot be used to determine whether your analysis will run successfully. Consistency checks do not use a solver license.

This task shows you how to perform consistency checks on your model.

  1. Click the Consistency Check icon .

    The Consistency Check dialog box appears with the results of the consistency checks for the current analysis case. The four columns of the Consistency Check dialog box display the following:

    Feature Name

    The Feature Name column displays the name of the objects set in the specification tree that corresponds to a particular feature.

    Feature Type

    The Feature Type column displays the type of object.

    Message

    The Message column displays the consistency check message.

    Severity

    The Severity column tells you the type of message that is displayed. The severity can be one of the following:

    Information

    Informational messages about optional features missing from your model; for example, No loads found.

    Warning

    Messages warning that your model could be inconsistent; for example, No boundary conditions found.

    Error

    Messages indicating problems in your model definition that will likely cause your analysis to fail, often related to references to nonexistent features; for example, No property found.

  2. In general, you must correct any error messages before submitting your analysis. In addition, you should investigate any warning and information messages to determine whether corrective action is needed or whether such messages can be ignored safely.

    In some cases you may choose to run an analysis without correcting the consistency check errors that are generated. For example, you could decide to omit a mesh part for a geometric part in the model that you do not need to analyze, which would result in a consistency check error that could be safely ignored.

  3. Click Close to close the Consistency Check dialog box.

Checking the Consistency of a CATIA V5 Model

You can check your CATIA V5 model at any time during your session to determine whether any problems exist in the model specification. Use the Model Checker icon to check whether your CATIA V5 model is consistent. You can use the model checker Complete Property function to copy properties within the model and to complete items that are missing or inconsistent. The model checking tool is documented in more detail in the CATIA V5 Generative Structural Analysis User's Guide.