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I want to see tetrahedron volumes generated from STL meshes in ParaView (5.5.2).

From a given STL (simple cube, for example), I can generate a volume mesh using gmsh, and export it as .vtk UnstructuredGrid.

When I open it with notepad, I can inspect that its properly generated, with all the surface and volume elements and their types (5,10).

However, when opening this file in ParaView, I can see the surface, but when I do Representation->Volume, there is just nothing there, it does not seem to load the volumetric data, only the surface data.

The information seems to suggest that the number of loaded cells is correct (matches surface+volume cells in vtk).

How can I see the volumetric tetrahedrons inside my mesh? Ideally I'd like to clip my mesh to be able to see inside.

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to scicomp.SE. Can you confirm, do you actually have a data set in your vtk file for volume rendering to colour by? I don't believe the default "Solid Color" option works for volume rendering. $\endgroup$
    – origimbo
    Aug 22, 2018 at 17:48
  • $\begingroup$ @origimbo I don't but I can make one. Im pretty new to this, can I add per-element information to the vtk file format? Would that then in theory let me see the insides? $\endgroup$
    – Ander Biguri
    Aug 22, 2018 at 21:24
  • $\begingroup$ You can certainly edit the file to add point or cell data (in vtk terminology) however, you can easily do this inside paraview using the calculator filter. In fact re-reading your question I get the impression that what you actually want is a use of the clip filter, with the 'crinkle cut' option checked. $\endgroup$
    – origimbo
    Aug 22, 2018 at 21:55
  • $\begingroup$ @origimbo that is exactly it. Care to write an answer with crickle cut? $\endgroup$
    – Ander Biguri
    Aug 23, 2018 at 9:40

2 Answers 2

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For volume rendering in ParaView your vtk file should contain a scalar, vector, or tensor data array. Otherwise, it does not show anything to you. You can create a test data array by going to Filters -> Calculator. Then you should see something in your volume rendering.

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What I want to do can be done by adding cell information to the VTK file, or in ParaView by using

Filter->Clip with the "crinkle cut" activated.

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