Local Surface Mesh Options

The global mesh intensity defines the standard mesh size to be used within the model. This can be amended for each FE surface within a model, to give greater control of the mesh size per FE surface. The option to mesh to the internal members of the FE surface can also be controlled under the Local Surface Mesh Options.

To select the Local Surface Mesh Options, go to Analysis>FE Surface Meshing>Local Surface Mesh Options. The layout of the screen is shown below.

Default Mesh size (m) - a default mesh size can be defined for the selected FE surface. This allows the mesh size for any particular FE surface to be set individually, allowing for alteration of the Global Mesh default mesh size.

Mesh to Internal Members - for each FE surface, the Mesh to Internal Members options can be customised. The options are:

                                        1. As Global - sets the FE mesh to internal options as per the Global option

                                        2. Yes (all) - sets the mesh for the selected FE surface to mesh to all internal members

                                        3. No - the mesh for the selected FE surface will not mesh to the internal members (except for external edges and members which have attached beams or restraint conditions which are                                         always meshed to)

                                        4. Selected - mesh to particular members within the selected FE surface.

Mesh to Internal Members and meshing errors

Where the meshing algorithm is unable to form a workable mesh layout, this can lead to analytic errors. Often this is reported at analysis time and may often be noted as an element with zero stiffness. This occurs where the shape of an element tends towards a triangular shape. One way to assist the mesh algorithm is to uses internal members to segregate the mesh into more regular shapes and set the local mesh to mesh to these internal members. By meshing to internal members, it can help the mesh to conform to a more regular internal pattern.