The programs in the Elmer software suite may be combined with many other tools. Particularly for the preprocessing better mesh generation tools are often needed. The interfacing to Elmer is done using the appropriate file formats or transforming the files by some auxiliary program.

Elmer templates for GiD

It is possible to use GiD as a pre processor and mesh generator for Elmer in 2d and 3d analysis:

• Copy the folder elmer.gid in GiD's problem type folder \GiD\Problemtypes. The folder contains all necessary templates and binaries for GiD to run under linux- and windows platforms. If your GiD runs under MacOS X 10.3, please download the package elmer_mac.gid.tar.gz instead.
• Tutorial 1: How to use GiD and export the mesh in elmer format in 2d
• Tutorial 2: How to use GiD and export the mesh in elmer format in 3d

Ansys to Elmer interface

There is a possibility to import meshes from Ansys to Elmer program. The conversion is done in two stages: in Ansys, a macro is used, and the resulting files are converted to Elmer by using ElmerGrid.

• Documentation of Ansys to Elmer interface.
• The newest Ansys APDL macro, elmer_au.mac (Jan 24, 2007)
• Older macro elmer_ch.mac (from 2001)
• Ansys start-up file, start56.ans

The newer macro includes saving of component name information. The older version, on the other hand, allows user to select which boundaries are exported to Elmer.

Other pre-processing formats

Interfaces from various other input formats (e.g. Comsol Multiphysics, Fidap, Gmsh, triangle, UNV) are additionally provided by the ElmerGrid utility. Please refer to the ElmerGrid Manual for complete list and details.

Other post-processing formats

The native postprocessing format of ElmerSolver is only understood by ElmerPost. However, there is an auxiliary utility, ResultOutputSolve, that may be used to save the results in other formats as well. Currently supported formats include vtk and vtu (understood by Paraview, Visit etc.), gid, gmsh, and opendx.