Wrong element node order when exporting meshes to Abaqus input files
Hello,
when exporting three-dimensional meshes from Gmsh to input files for Abaqus, the order of the nodes in the element connectivity lists is wrong and, thus, the volume of the elements will be negative. I only tested it for first-order hex elements (element type 5 / C3D8) but I'm pretty sure this bug is also relevant in case of other elements. Please have a look at the minimum example below. Maybe it is an easy fix for future releases.
Regards
This is what Gmsh generates:
*Heading
initialAbqInput.inp
*NODE
1, -0.5, -0.5, 0
2, 0.5, -0.5, 0
6, 0.5, -0.5, 0.3
5, -0.5, -0.5, 0.3
3, -0.5, 0.5, 0
4, 0.5, 0.5, 0
8, 0.5, 0.5, 0.3
7, -0.5, 0.5, 0.3
10, 0.5, -0.5, 0.6
9, -0.5, -0.5, 0.6
12, 0.5, 0.5, 0.6
11, -0.5, 0.5, 0.6
******* E L E M E N T S *************
*ELEMENT, type=C3D8, ELSET=Volume1
1, 1, 2, 6, 5, 3, 4, 8, 7
2, 5, 6, 10, 9, 7, 8, 12, 11
*ELSET,ELSET=VOLUME
1, 2,
This is what it should generate (different connectivity):
*Heading
initialAbqInput.inp
*NODE
1, -0.5, -0.5, 0
2, 0.5, -0.5, 0
6, 0.5, -0.5, 0.3
5, -0.5, -0.5, 0.3
3, -0.5, 0.5, 0
4, 0.5, 0.5, 0
8, 0.5, 0.5, 0.3
7, -0.5, 0.5, 0.3
10, 0.5, -0.5, 0.6
9, -0.5, -0.5, 0.6
12, 0.5, 0.5, 0.6
11, -0.5, 0.5, 0.6
******* E L E M E N T S *************
*ELEMENT, type=C3D8, ELSET=Volume1
1, 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 6, 8, 7
2, 5, 6, 8, 7, 9, 10, 12, 11
*ELSET,ELSET=VOLUME
1, 2,