NEVADA module information

The NEVADA module converts a NEVADA input deck into an equivalent I-deas Universal file.

To invoke the NEVADA to I-deas Universal file translator through the TMG Executive Menu, you are prompted for NEVADA input file name.

  • TMG universal output file name
  • NEVADA translation control parameters

Use one of the following translation control parameters:

  • -nomask—Specifying this parameter will cause the translator to skip NEVADA mask surfaces. The default is to translate NEVADA mask surfaces to the I-deas Universal file.
  • -nodiv—By default, the NEVADA translator will subdivide any NEVADA surface into multiple TMG elements, including NEVADA TRIANGLE and QUADRILATERAL surfaces. This process is required in order to guarantee reasonable aspect ratios for the resulting CAE software elements. However, specifying this parameter will deactivate the NEVADA translator subdivision parameter for NEVADA TRIANGLE and QUADRILATERAL surfaces only.
  • -oneelem—Specifying this parameter will deactivate the NEVADA translator subdivision parameter for all NEVADA surfaces, consequently, each NEVADA surface will be translated as a single TMG element. Use of this parameter should be avoided.

The NEVADA surface properties block is converted into an equivalent TMG material. The following NEVADA properties are supported:

  • Solar absorptance
  • IR emittance
  • Solar specularity
  • Solar transmittance

The NEVADA surface description block is converted into equivalent TMG nodes, elements and groups. Each NEVADA surface is meshed individually into multiple TMG finite elements. The number of finite elements created is dependent on the surface type. As a general rule, the resulting finite elements are created in such a way as to limit element distortion.

The following NEVADA surface types are currently supported:

  • Triangle
  • Quadrilateral
  • Ellipse
  • Sphere
  • Cylinder
  • Cone
  • Paraboloid
  • Box
  • Polygon
  • Offset paraboloid

NEVADA surface normals are translated as follows:

  • NEVADA surface normal “IN” translated to an equivalent TMG element.
  • NEVADA surface normal “OUT” translated to a TMG element with reversed node connectivity.
  • NEVADA surface normal “BOTH” translated to an equivalent TMG element along with a corresponding reverse node definition.

In general, since a NEVADA surface will be composed of multiple TMG elements, there will not be a one-to-one correspondence between the NEVADA surface node number and the TMG element label. The TMG labels are generated in sequential order beginning at 1. However, in order to allow the NEVADA user easy access to the original NEVADA surfaces once inside CAE software, two (2) groups are created for each NEVADA surface generated; the first is named after the NEVADA surface name and the second after the NEVADA surface node number.

The concept of mask nodes is not recognized by TMG, however, the NEVADA translator will read in both NEVADA ordinary and mask nodes. The corresponding TMG elements will be of a different color, depending whether or not they correspond to ordinary nodes (green) or mask nodes (yellow). This color distinction between the TMG elements allows easy modification of the TMG model.

The NEVADA intermediate coordinate system (ICS) block is also supported and will support any number of nested ICS definitions.