I am having a spot of difficulty doing a 2D axisymmetric analysis due to errors importing the files. When I attempt to import any STEP file, PrePoMax returns the error
The selected file does not contain 2D geometry in x-y plane.
even when it does have geometry in the x-y plane.
The manual has this to say about 2D and axisymmetric analyses
For 2D analyses, parts have to be imported as faces lying entirely in the XY plane. Moreover, for axisymmetric analyses, faces representing parts must lie to the right of the Y axis.
One reading of this is that the input files must contain inherently 2D geometry that satisfies these requirements, rather than a slice of a 3D model, as I had initially thought.
I do not know what importing 2D faces entails, as far as format and preparation. What is an example workflow for this type of problem?
I believe I have solved my own problem, so I will leave details here for anyone who runs into the same issue.
This turned out to be more of an Autodesk Fusion problem than anything else, but I did have some difficulty figuring out exactly what was meant by 2D geometry.
The input file must only contain 2D geometry, and only in the x-y plane. A file with 3D geometry that includes 2D faces in the x-y plane, such as a 3D model cut by the x-y plane will not work.
There doesn’t appear to be a way to export a STEP file from faces like there apparently is in Solidworks, so the solution I found was to Unstitch the bodies, and Remove all the faces that did not lie on the right hand side of the x-y plane, then export the resulting model as STEP.
Yes, only surfaces on the XY plane (with Z coordinate equal 0) are allowed. You can easily obtain them from any 3D model using FreeCAD - tools like subshapebiner and facebinder will help with that. Just make sure the surface lies on the right plane (you may have to use the Transform tool to correct it).
