Issues with TETRA14 elements

ParaView Support
1

When attempting to create slices from exodus files using TETRA14 elements, all we see is the outline of the slice, e.g. it’s as if the parent mesh is a surface mesh instead of a volumetric one. There is no problem with TETRA4 or TETRA10 elements. The attached exodus file demonstrates the issue which we’ve tested in ParaView 5.12 and 5.13.3.

dummy.e (1.4 MB)

2

VTK does not currently support a 14-node tetrahedron (though the IOSS library does). VTK supports a 15-node tetrahedron. Presumably the difference is a body-centered node.

Also, I see larger issues when loading the data you attached into ParaView 6.x:

  • VTK’s IOSS-based reader does not create any cells at all from the file.
  • loading the plugin for the legacy Exodus-based reader creates cells but appears to mistreat the connectivity data (see image).

bad-tetrahedra
bad-tetrahedra3355×1859 368 KB

3

Should VTK raise an error when it attempts to parse an unsupported element like this?

4

Thanks for the quick response @dcthomp

5

Yes. It is hard to test that filters do things like this or we would have a chance of forcing readers to do so.