### 1.5.5. Assembly

Meshes can be imported into Mechanical from multiple systems. It is possible to combine composite shell, composite solid, and non-layered shell and solid meshes to perform mixed analysis. Mechanical does not allow overlap of node/element number from multiple systems; therefore the import fails if the meshes from different systems are overlapping in node/element numbers. Meshes from upstream to downstream Mechanical Models are renumbered automatically to avoid any overlap. For every analysis system (mesh), you have the choice between automatic renumbering (default) and manual configuration. If automatic renumbering is disabled, you must ensure that the element/node numbering is unique for each mesh.

The Properties menu of the Mechanical Model allows you to turn automatic renumbering on or off and also to change the transfer type of ACP (Pre) systems from shell to solid.

To create a mixed assembly:

1. From the Analysis Systems panel, drag and drop an ACP (Pre) analysis system into the project schematic.

2. Drag and drop a supported Mechanical system into the project schematic and create a link from the ACP (Pre) Setup cell to the Mechanical Model cell.

3. Add other ACP (Pre) systems as needed.

4. Drag and drop a Mechanical Model component into the project schematic for the non-layered parts. Create a transfer link from the Model cell of the upstream system to the Model cell of any downstream systems.

5. Double-click the downstream Model cell to edit the model. For every upstream mesh, a Geometry, Imported Plies, and Named Selections folder are inserted in the tree view of Mechanical.

6. Perform all the steps to fully define and solve the Mechanical analysis system.

#### Limitations

A connection from an upstream ACP (Pre) Setup or Mechanical Model cell is only possible if the Engineering Data cell of the intended downstream Mechanical system is not modified. If the Engineering Data cell of the downstream system is modified by creating/modifying an existing material in the Engineering Data interface, a data transfer cannot be created.

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