Meshing Options

Meshing options are essential factors in determining the quality of the mesh and the results. Results based on different mesh settings must converge if an adequately small element size is used. Meshing options apply to models with solid and shell mesh elements but not to those with beams.

Setting the color for plotting the bottom faces of shell elements helps you align shell elements properly.

Option Description
Mesh quality Set to Draft or High. For linear static studies, you can assign both Draft and High quality solid elements in a single mesh definition.

A draft quality mesh does not have midside nodes. Use a draft quality mesh for a quick evaluation and in solid models where bending effects are small. Use a high-quality mesh in most cases, especially for models with curved geometry.
Standard mesher Uses the Voronoi-Delaunay meshing scheme for subsequent meshing operations.
Curvature-based mesher Creates more elements in higher-curvature areas automatically, without the need for mesh control. Supports multi-threaded meshing for assembly and multi-body part documents.
Blended curvature-based mesher Automatically adapts the element size to the local curvature of the geometry to create a smooth mesh pattern.

There are cases where the Blended curvature-based mesher can overcome mesh failure, generating a solid mesh with higher-quality elements (lower Jacobian and Aspect ratios) than the Standard or the Curvature-based meshers.

Supports multicore processing for SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional and SOLIDWORKS Simulation Premium licenses.

The Blended curvature-based mesher is the default mesher when you create new Simulation studies.
Jacobian points When Mesh quality is High, sets the number of points to be used by verifying the distortion level of high-order tetrahedral elements.
For high-order shells, the Jacobian ratio check uses 6 points located at the nodes.
Automatic transition

Automatically applies mesh controls to small features, details, holes, and fillets.

Clear Automatic transition before meshing large models with many small features and details to avoid generating a very large number of elements unnecessarily.
Automatic trials for solids Instructs the mesher to automatically retry meshing the model using a smaller global element size. You control the maximum number of trials allowed and the ratio by which the global element size and tolerance are reduced each time.
Remesh failed parts with incompatible mesh

Simulation remeshes the solid parts that have failed to mesh without the enforcement of common nodes at their touching boundaries.

Setting the Meshing Options

You define meshing options for new studies in the Default Options - Mesh dialog box.

To set default meshing options for new studies:

  1. Click Simulation > Options > Default Options > Mesh.
  2. Specify the desired settings.
  3. Click OK.
To modify the meshing options for an active study, right-click Mesh (Simulation study tree) and click Create Mesh. Under Mesh Parameters and Advanced, specify the desired settings.

Hybrid Mesh Definition

For Linear Static studies, you can assign both draft and high-quality solid elements to coexist in a single mesh definition.

You can select which solid bodies to mesh with high-quality mesh or draft-quality mesh. The simulation runs with a hybrid mesh definition that has draft and high-quality tetrahedral elements. The hybrid mesh is available only for linear static studies with solid bodies.

  • To assign a draft quality mesh to a solid body:

    Right-click the body in a Simulation static study, and click Apply Draft Quality Mesh

  • To assign a high-quality mesh to a solid body:

    Right-click the body, and click Apply High Quality Mesh .

  • To assign a draft or high-quality mesh to all solid bodies in a study:

    Right-click the Parts folder , and click Apply Draft Quality Mesh to All , or Apply High Quality Mesh to All .

The image shows an assembly with draft and high-quality mesh assignments.

Results from Linear Static studies with hybrid meshes are valid as input for dependent study types such as Fatigue, Pressure Vessel, Design, and Submodeling studies.