Gmsh

Gmsh is a portable piece of software which features a built-in CAD engine and post-processing tool, enabling you to generate 3D mesh. It comes packed with a few handy tools for advanced users.

No installation necessary

As there is no setup pack involved, you can drop the program files in any part of the hard disk and just click the executable to launch Gmsh. There is also the option to save it to a removable storage unit, like a USB flash disk, in order to run it on any PC effortlessly and without any other installers.
What's more, the utility does not modify Windows registry settings or create additional files on the disk without permission, thus leaving it clean after removal.

Clear-cut interface and intuitive options

The interface is user-friendly, based on a classical-looking window split into two panels, for activating modules and for viewing the generated 3D mesh, respectively.

Rich plethora of options for creating and saving 3D mesh files

The modules are split into three major categories: geometry, mesh and solver. Therefore, you can use elementary entities (e.g. add, translate, rotate, scale), physical groups (coherence, reload, edit file), define one, two and three dimensions, as well as run GetDP to solve elements.
The project can be saved with the GEO file extension. It is possible to merge multiple mesh files, watch patterns, use Gmsh remotely on another computer, as well as save the model options. Numerous plugins are supported and can be used to enhance 3D meshes with crack, curl, bubble, streamline, skin, triangulation, transformation, and other types of effects.

Evaluation and conclusion

The tool does not put a strain on computer performance, since it runs on low CPU and RAM. It has a good response time to commands and works smoothly, without causing Windows to hang, crash or pop up error messages.
All in all, Gmsh is a resourceful piece of software for creating, designing and generating 3D mesh files, backed by rich configuration settings.