# Need volumetric mesh from Slicer

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/need-volumetric-mesh-from-slicer/13623>\
**Category:** Support\
**Tags:** segmentation\
**Created:** [September 22, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/need-volumetric-mesh-from-slicer/13623 "2020-09-22T16:50:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![masud407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@masud407](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/masud407)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/need-volumetric-mesh-from-slicer/13623/1 "2020-09-22T16:50:46Z")

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Hello,  
I have segmented a spine CT scan data using slicer. I need to import it in to the finite element software (ANSYS or Abaqus). I need to have meshing file for this. The file I get from segmentation using slicer is in STL format which is not eligible for meshing. I tried to follow this forum:

> [@Convert a surface mesh to a volumetric mesh in 3D Slicer](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/convert-a-surface-mesh-to-a-volumetric-mesh-in-3d-slicer/1416):
>
> Hello everyone, When I use 3D SLICER, I only have a surface mesh in here. But, I want to do this file in a Finite Element Sofware, I need a volumetric mesh. Can you tell me how to convert a surface mesh to a volumetric mesh in 3DSLICER? Thank you so much, Van Sy,

I used Cleaver 2.4 to generate the volumetric mesh. However, after the mesh, I was not able to save the file other than nrrd or obj format. What should I need to do to save the volumetric mesh file in step/iges/stl format? Please help

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**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/need-volumetric-mesh-from-slicer/13623/2 "2020-09-22T18:19:45Z")

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You can create volumetric mesh using SegmentMesher module and save it as .vtk or .vtu format. You can then use mesh converters, such as [meshio](https://github.com/nschloe/meshio) to convert to other formats, such as .inp that Abaqus can import.

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**Author:** ![masud407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@masud407](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/masud407)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/need-volumetric-mesh-from-slicer/13623/3 "2020-09-23T16:20:55Z")

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Hello Mr. Andras,

Thanks for your suggestion. I got the inp format. Do you know what other formats can meshio convert?

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**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/need-volumetric-mesh-from-slicer/13623/4 "2020-09-23T17:11:26Z")

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See list of supported formats in its documentation: [https://github.com/nschloe/meshio](https://github.com/nschloe/meshio)

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**Author:** ![masud407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@masud407](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/masud407)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/need-volumetric-mesh-from-slicer/13623/5 "2020-09-24T16:33:52Z")

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Hello Lasso,

I got the volumetric mesh using meshio. Do you know if I can edit the mesh file (refining the mesh) obtained from meshio using other software hypermesh? I tried to refine the mesh in abaqus. However, as I inserted a mesh file (obtained from meshio) to the abaqus, Abaqus doesn’t permit me to edit/refine the mesh anymore.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/need-volumetric-mesh-from-slicer/13623/6 "2020-09-24T18:27:19Z")

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I don’t know what third-party software are available to remesh existing meshes, but there should be a number of them.

You can also change meshing parameters in Slicer to adjust the mesh resolution. You can easily specify global parameters using command-line switches (that dynamically adjust mesh resolution based on the complexity of the mesh geometry). Cleaver also allows specifying a sizing field, which should allow specifying regions where you want to have higher or lower resolution than the default.

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**Author:** ![Abdulrahman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Abdulrahman](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Abdulrahman)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/need-volumetric-mesh-from-slicer/13623/7 "2020-10-12T04:51:02Z")

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Hi,  
stl files work with 3-matics software