Solid Mesh - Hexahedral PropertyManager

To open the Solid Mesh - Hexahedral PropertyManager:

1. Create a Plastics study with the Solid analysis procedure.
2. In the PlasticsManager , right-click Solid Mesh , and for Mesh Type select Hexahedral . Proceed with one of the following actions:
   1. In the PlasticsManager , right-click Solid Mesh , and click Create Mesh .
   2. In the Plastics CommandManager, click Create Mesh .

Solid Mesh - Hexahedral

	Maximum Element Size	Specifies the maximum hexahedral element size (in mm or inches).
	Minimum Element Size	Specifies the minimum hexahedral element size (in mm or inches).
	Adaptively Refine Mold Domain Mesh	Applies adaptive refinement to coarsen the mesh for the mold domain. The default setting (this option is not active) creates a uniform, voxel-like mesh for the mold domain. The uniform mesh yields a more accurate solution, but increases the computational time.
	Create	Creates the mesh with the current settings and displays it in the graphics area. Click Create to view the mesh before you exit the PropertyManager. Create is activated when you modify the current mesh settings. It is not mandatory to click Create for the software to create a mesh. If you click OK to exit the PropertyManager without clicking Create, the software automatically creates a hexahedral mesh with the current settings.
	Refine	Refines the volume mesh locally. See Hexahedral Mesh - Assign Size.
	Section Clipping Settings	Once you create a solid mesh, the section clipping settings become available. Adjust the six sliders along the three global axes (X, Y, and Z) to create cross sections of the meshed part and then visualize internal elements. Use Reset to return the display to the default settings.

Hexahedral Mesh - Assign Size

This PropertyManager is activated when you click Refine (Solid Mesh - Hexahedral PropertyManager).

The software creates a triangular surface mesh as a preprocessing step followed by a hexahedral meshing based on this surface mesh rather than the part geometry. Refine locally the mesh by assigning a mesh size to specific surface mesh nodes. The volume mesh traces the refinement pattern in the selected region.

	Select Elements	Visible Selects only the nodes visible on the surface geometry. Through Selects the nodes on the surface geometry as well as the interior nodes through the part volume
	Hexahedral cell size	Specifies the target hexahedral element size inside the region that the selected nodes define.
	Selections	Specifies surface mesh nodes to define a region for mesh refinement.
	Assign	Assigns the specified hexahedral element size to the region that the selected nodes define.
	Delete	Deletes the highlighted nodes under Selections.

Solid Mesh Quality

	Solid Mesh Quality	Creates mesh quality plots. Select one of the following: Aspect Ratio Displays a mesh quality plot showing the aspect ratio for each element. By increasing the Minimum Value, you can isolate the bad quality elements. The aspect ratio is the ratio of the circumscribed circle over the inscribed circle of the element. EquiAngleSkew equiangle skew = θmax = largest angle of element θmin = smallest angle of element θe = 60º for tetrahedral elements, 90º for hexahedral elements. Displays a mesh quality plot showing the equiangle skew angle for each element. Twist A square face splits into two triangles. The angle of normal vectors from the two triangles is the angle of twist. Maximum Value Specifies the maximum value of the mesh quality parameter shown on the plot. Minimum Value Specifies the minimum value of the mesh quality parameter shown on the plot.
	Extract Surface Mesh	Extracts and saves the existing surface mesh data so you do not have to restart the process of creating a surface mesh.
	Auto Adapt Skin Hex	Captures edge curves more accurately by adding more hexahedral elements. The software removes elements that do not touch the curves.