Setting element size

To control the length of elements in either a free or a mapped mesh, use the Element Size option on the meshing dialog boxes. This length is the approximate length of an element's edge.

Because the software takes into account the surrounding geometry as well as element quality issues, the actual length of element edges in your model may vary.

This figure shows how the software measures element length on 1D or beam elements (A), 2D or shell elements (B), and 3D or solid elements (C).

For a free mesh, the software averages element lengths along boundaries of adjacent surfaces to allow for a smooth transition between different element lengths, as shown below.

This figure shows how the software makes element length transitions between surfaces on two bodies.

Note:

In the meshing dialog boxes, you can use the Automatic Element Size option to have the software compute an estimated element length based on the selected geometry. See Understanding the Automatic Element Size calculation for more information.

Specifying minimum and maximum element size limits

When you create a 2D mesh, you can also specify Minimum Element Length and Maximum Element Length values in addition to a global Element Size.

• With the Minimum Element Length option, the software attempts to ensure that the mesh does not contain any elements that have an edge length smaller than the specified Small Feature Value.Note: The Minimum Element Length value must be greater than 70% of the specified global Element Size.

• With the Maximum Element Length option, the software tries to ensure that it does not generate an element with an edge longer than this value.Note: The Maximum Element Length value must be larger than 1.7 times the specified global Element Size.

Refining the global element size in select areas

If a mesh based on the global Element Size is not refined enough to sufficiently capture the details in your model, you can:

• Use the Surface Curvature Based Size Variation option in the 2D Mesh or 3D Tetrahedral Mesh dialog boxes to have the software vary the size of elements in areas where the surface or edge curvature is higher. For more information, see Understanding curvature-based size variation.

• Use the Mesh Control command to locally control the size of elements on selected edges or faces. For example, you can use the Size on Edge option in the Mesh Control dialog box to specify the exact element length to use on a particular edge. For more information, see Controlling local mesh density (Mesh Controls).

• Use the 2D Local Remesh command to selectively refine or coarsen the elements in a very specific region without regenerating the entire mesh. For more information, see Local refinement for 2D meshes.

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Setting element size, Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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