Running MTEX2Gmsh on macOS Ventura 13.3.1

[Colin-Williams94843]

Hello!

I am trying to run your toolbox on a Mac. When prompted to identify the executable file for gmsh, I am unable to do so, because the Mac version of gmsh does not use a .exe file.

Are you aware of a workaround to use your toolbox on a Mac?

Thank you,

Colin

[DorianDepriester]

Hello Colin, Thank you for reporting me this issue. Does the new version of MTEX2Gmsh (see commit 31084f47ae513ecf3d0501eecdd226e5d553333f) fix it?

[DorianDepriester]

It seems that it is a Matlab -related issue: https://fr.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/98052-why-am-i-unable-to-select-a-file-when-i-use-the-uigetfile-function-and-filter-on-in-matlab-7-0

Which Matlab version do you use?

[Colin-Williams94843]

I have tried 2018a, 2022a and currently 2022b. I have succeeded in using a Windows computer running matlab 2022a, so I think I will continue to use that machine instead.

By the way - is there any way to create a purely 2D model with your tools? I see the current output is 3D with a thickness of 1 element, but did not see a 2D option in the documentation.

Thank you very much for your help.

[DorianDepriester]

You have to use triangular (G.mesh(...,'ElementType','Tri')) or quadrangular (G.mesh(...,'ElementType','Quad')) elements in this case. See https://doriandepriester.github.io/MTEX2Gmsh/html/meshing.html#13

[Colin-Williams94843]

Thank you very much for your responses. I clearly missed this in the documentation upon a second read-through.

I do have an additional question regarding the 2D mesh. In 3D, the "gradient" command is working perfectly and successfully meshing in ABAQUS when I create and upload the .inp file. However, when I use any of the available 2D element options along with the gradient command, the gradient effect is overlooked when the mesh is created. All elements are the same size. I also have tried creating the command using the GUI, and see the same result.

The command I used most recently is as follows for the object "G":

mesh(G,'sample.msh','ElementType','Tri','ElementSize',1,'gradient',0.5)

I see this same effect (no gradient) for 'Quad' and 'QuadOnly' 2D options as well. When I upload the .inp file from any 2D mesh into ABAQUS, I then get errors (negative or zero element area) when I check the mesh quality. This is interesting because as I said, things work very well in 3D with all other parameters held equal.

Do you also experience this result when combining the gradient and 2D elements? I would be happy to share the EBSD data I am experimenting with.

Thank you again for your responses.

[DorianDepriester]

I actually only work on 3D, that's why I missed this issue. I will try to investigate this ASAP!

[DorianDepriester]

Hello @Colin-Williams94843 , I have just fixed your problem concerning the gradient option in 2D. For the record, I have opened and fixed a new issue (#18). Nevertheless, I still have troubles when using the 'QuadOnly' elementType with gradient option in 2D. I am working on this.

[DorianDepriester]

Also note that if you intend to perform FE simulations in Abaqus, taking into account the 3D orientations (given by the Euler angles for instance), you will necessary work in 3D, hence the 3D meshing by default. This also applies for other FE codes, like PRISMS-Plasticity and Zebulon (AFAIK).