Mesh Controls

Mesh controls enable you to customize the mesh density. However, you can usually run your simulation to completion without changing the mesh.

This page discusses:

See Also
The Finite Element Method
Adjusting the Mesh Specifications
Generating the Mesh and Controlling Its Display

You can adjust the mesh controls to achieve the following goals in your simulation:

  • Improved performance by implementing a coarser mesh globally.
  • Improved results by implementing a finer mesh for a part or body.
  • Improved results around holes and other areas of interest in the model.

Element Size Control

You can specify the exact size of the elements in a part. The element size is then used to calculate the absolute and proportional sag values to determine the mesh refinement around features.

Mesh Refinement Around Features

You can specify the minimum number of elements in the mesh around the holes or other features in your model. A higher number yields smaller element and better results around holes and curves. You can define one global value for this setting and then specify a different density for a specific part.

Note: If your element size is relatively large compared to some holes in your model, the mesher might create fewer elements around those holes than the minimum number you specify.

The example below illustrates the new and improved algorithm. The specified element size in both models below is the same. Also, in both cases, the EPH was set to 12. However, in this case, only the new algorithm, B., honors the user request.