To reverse surface normals:

Enter the Mesh module.

From the Object field in the context bar, select Part and select an orphan mesh part from the list of parts. This tool is available only for working on an orphan mesh part.

From the main menu bar, select MeshEdit.

ABAQUS/CAE displays the Edit Mesh dialog box.

Tip:  You can also display the Edit Mesh dialog box using the tool, located at the bottom of the Mesh module toolbox.

In the dialog box, do the following:

In the Category field, select Element.

From the Method list, select Flip Normal.

Click OK.

ABAQUS/CAE displays the part using the shaded render style. The front of each element is colored brown, and the back of each element is colored purple.

Use one of the following methods to select the shell elements whose normals you want to reverse:

Selecting individual elements

1. From the menu in the prompt area, select Individually.

2. Select an element whose normal you want to flip.

3. [Shift]+Click additional elements to add them to your selection.

4. If necessary, [Ctrl]+Click selected elements to unselect them.

5. When you have finished selecting elements, click mouse button 2.

Specifying an existing element set

1. Click Sets on the right side of the prompt area.

   ABAQUS/CAE displays the Region Selection dialog box containing a list of element sets that you have created.

2. Select the set of elements that you want to edit, and click Continue.

Note:  The default selection method is based on the selection method you most recently employed. To revert to the other method, click Select in Viewport or Sets on the right side of the prompt area.

Selecting elements using the angle method

1. From the menu in the prompt area, select by angle.

2. Enter an angle (from 0° to 90°), and select an element face. ABAQUS/CAE selects every adjacent shell element from the selected face until the angle between the element faces is equal to or exceeds the angle that you entered. (See “Using the angle method to select multiple objects,” Section 6.2.3, for more information.)

3. After you use the by angle method, you can [Shift]+Click additional elements to add them to your selection or [Ctrl]+Click selected elements to remove them from your selection. (See “Combining selection techniques,” Section 6.2.4, for more information.)

4. When you have finished selecting elements, click mouse button 2.

Tip:  You can limit the types of objects that you can select in the viewport by clicking the selection options tool in the prompt area and then clicking the options of your choice in the dialog box that appears. For more information, see Chapter 6, “Selecting objects within the viewport.”

From the prompt area, select a method for reversing the surface normal:

Click Flip all to reverse the normal of all selected elements.

Click Select normal to change the normals of the selected elements so that they point in the same direction as the normal of a reference element that you specify.

If you chose Select normal in the previous step, do the following:

In the viewport, select the reference element.

In the prompt area, click OK.

ABAQUS/CAE changes the normals of the selected elements so that they point in the same direction as the reference element normal.

Tip:  If you make a mistake while reversing surface normals, click Undo in the Edit Mesh dialog box to undo the change. ABAQUS/CAE restores the original surface normals for the selected elements.

Repeat the previous steps as often as necessary to change additional surface normals.

Toggle Highlight conflicting edges in the prompt area to display or hide a yellow border between connecting elements that have conflicting normals.

Click mouse button 2 to exit the procedure.

ABAQUS/CAE reverts to the render style that was selected prior to starting the procedure to reverse the surface normals.