Mesh Issues

Heart Valve

I’m working on a project involving the simulation of the aortic valve, specifically putting pressure on the leaflets, and I’m encountering persistent issues with mesh quality. The primary goals of my simulation include testing the following:

  • Mechanical strength
  • Flexibility
  • Durability
  • Deformation under pressure
  • Stress distribution
  • Shear resistance

Most of the mesh is fine other than around the leaflets and I am not sure what to do, I have tried fixing it but it hasn’t worked. I will provide the mesh logs below.


Perhaps, one suggestion would be to try to export your model to a different file format. STL files are not recommended (unless for LBM or PWC simulations). Check these other supported formats: CAD Preparation & Upload | Simulation Setup | SimScale

Thank you. I found this model online and it wasn’t made in any of those formats how can I make it one of the supported formats? Lastly is this likely why the mesh values are outside the normal range?

It may be that these extra faces are causing the mesh issues:


The meshing quality check seems points to some of them as well:

and

That appears to be the case. What would I do to remove them? Thank you.

Perhaps try to upload the .stl to OnShape and then to export it from there as a .step file.
.stl files is composed of triangular mesh geometry; .step files are better for curved designs

Hi @kilgore_802, thanks for posting on the forum and welcome to the SimScale Community :handshake:

@nelta’s comments are spot on from my perspective - we usually advise users not to work with STL files exactly due to the issues layed down by nelta. Since STL files are faceted, SimScale will run an operation called “automatic facet splitting”, where the platform will try to merge the little triangles which make up the model into a single surface.

Sometimes, this automatic facet splitting does not work as intended and unwanted little faces/edges remain (which seems to be the case for your analysis):

Unfortunately the solution to such an issue is not as straightforward, as this is an inherent limitation of working with STL files. The best solution would indeed be to try and remodel your CAD as a polysurface format (such as .STEP or Parasolid) using an external CAD tool (we use OnShape internally).

Cheers
Igor