Merge Object FEBio

[lilianavitiello2003-hue]

A part of the assignment for my project on FEBio (student version), require to create a calcified plaque into an artery. As far as the geometry is concerned, I should create a cylinder and a smaller concentric cylinder that represents the rigid plaque. In theory, I should first generate the mesh for each block and then join them using Merge Objects.
The question is: how can I achieve convergence while making sure that the meshes are correct in both parts and that they have been properly merged using the command? How do I adjust the meshes afterward—do I need to repeat the whole process again? I have never used the Merge Objects command before, but it was recommended to me, so I would like some further clarification about it if is possible.

[SteveMaas1978]

(I moved this question to Discussions because it doesn't seem to be describe an actual issue with the software.)

If one of the parts is going to be rigid, then I don't think you need to use the Merge Objects feature. This allows you to setup the model with original primitive geometries, which makes it easy to change the mesh later. For an interface between a rigid and deformable object, you typically don't need congruent surfaces and use the "rigid" boundary condition to tie the deformable part to the rigid part.

If you do want to merge the two parts, in FEBio Studio 3, you can merge most of the primitives without first meshing and converting them to editable meshes. This offers the same advantages, but the meshing algorithm for a merged primitive object offers fewer options.

As a last option, you can mesh the two parts separately. If the surface meshes are congruent between the two parts, you can convert both objects to editable meshes and then merge. If the surfaces are not congruent, merging will not really work, but you could use a tied-interface to tie the two parts together. Of course, once the two meshes are merged, you don't have a lot of options left to change the meshes afterwards.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you need any additional info on these different approaches.

Best,

Steve