Mesh control refers to specifying different element sizes at different regions in the model. A smaller element size in a region improves the accuracy of results in that region. You can specify mesh control at vertices, edges, faces, components, and beams.
To access the Mesh Control PropertyManager, right-click the Mesh icon and select Apply Mesh Control.
Selected Entities
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Faces, Edges, Vertices, Reference Points, Components for Mesh Control |
Select the geometric entities to which you want to apply mesh controls. |
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Beams |
Available for beams only. Select the beams or trusses to which you want to apply mesh controls.
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Use per part size |
Select to define mesh size based on individual part size automatically computed by the program.
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Mesh Density
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Mesh Factor. |
Use a slider to change the global element size and tolerance. The leftmost position (Coarse) sets the global element size to twice the default. The rightmost position (Fine) sets the global element size to half the default. |
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Reset |
Resets the slider to the default settings.
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Mesh Parameters
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Use same element size |
Instructs the mesher to uniformly mesh selected components with the element size specified in the Element Size box. This option is available only when defining mesh controls for components.
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Number of elements |
Available for beams only. Sets the total number of elements for the selected beams.
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Units |
Specifies units for element size. |
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Element Size |
Sets the element size on selected geometric entities.
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Ratio |
Sets the ratio of the element size in one layer to the element size in the preceding layer.
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Symbol Settings
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Edit Color |
Click this button to change the color of mesh control symbols.
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Symbol Size |
Use the spin arrows to control the size of the mesh control symbols.
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Show Preview |
Turns on/off the display of the mesh control symbols on selected entities.
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- Assuming that the element size used for meshing an entity is (e), the average element size in layers radiating from the entity will be: e, e*r, e*r2, e*r3, ...., e*rn.
- If the calculated average element size of a layer exceeds (E), where (E) is the Global Size, the program uses (E) instead.
- The mesh radiates from vertices to edges, from edges to faces, from faces to components, and from a component to connected components.