Shrinking Elements

You can shrink the visualization of 1D, 2D and 3D elements. Shrinking elements allows you to better visualize meshes containing mixed 1D, 2D and 3D finite elements and to better distinguish elements of different dimensions (2D elements bounded by 1D elements, 3D elements bounded by 2D elements).

Before you begin: A mesh must be created in the finite element model representation.
See Also
About Mesh Visualization
  1. To shrink the element visualization of one mesh, right-click it in the tree, and select Element Shrink. To shrink the element visualization of all the meshes in a finite element model representation, click Element Shrink in the Display section of the action bar or right-click Nodes and Elements, and select Element Shrink.
    The Shrink Elements dialog box appears.
  2. Use the sliders to set the shrink coefficients for 1D, 2D, and 3D elements.
    Elements are shrunk dynamically as you move the sliders.

    Example of a shrink coefficient equal to 1 (no shrinking):

    Example of shrinking for 3D elements:

  3. Click OK.

    Important: Shrink coefficients are initialized with the values set in the Graphics tab of the simulation settings. For more information, see Graphics in the Native Apps Preferences Guide.