In order to use STEP or IGES files from external CAD programs (SolidEdge, Inventor, etc.) in GMSH, the following steps are required:
model.stp
, as a first step, an empty *.GEO file (e. g. model.geo
) has to be created in the same directory. Within the GEO file, one single command for opening the step file has to be typed:Merge "model.stp";
model.geo
can now be opened in GMSH. In order to have a proper mesh size for all points of the geometry, go into the “Mesh” menu and select Mesh–>Define–>Element size at points. Type a proper value (e. g. 20 mm) into the number field and press return. Afterwards, you should select every point of the model with the mouse1) and finally press “e”.model.geo
file, GMSH has added a line likeCharacteristic Length{<point numbers>} = 20;