Meshing Help

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Release 12.1
November 2009
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Table of Contents
Meshing Capabilities in ANSYS Workbench ............................................................................................... 1
Meshing Overview ................................................................................................................................. 1
Meshing Implementation in ANSYS Workbench ...................................................................................... 3
Types of Meshing ................................................................................................................................... 3
Meshing by Algorithm ...................................................................................................................... 3
Meshing by Element Shape ............................................................................................................... 5
Conformal Meshing Between Parts ......................................................................................................... 6
The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench ......................................................................................... 9
Basic Meshing Application Workflows ..................................................................................................... 9
Overview of the Meshing Process in ANSYS Workbench ..................................................................... 9
Overview of the Meshing Process for CFD/Fluids Analyses ............................................................... 10
Combining CFD/Fluids Meshing and Structural Meshing ................................................................. 11
Strategies for CFD/Fluids Meshing in ANSYS Workbench ........................................................................ 13
Accessing Meshing Functionality .......................................................................................................... 14
Overview of the Meshing Application Interface ..................................................................................... 15
Determination of Physics, Analysis, and Solver Settings .......................................................................... 17
Working with Legacy Mesh Data ........................................................................................................... 18
Exporting Meshes ................................................................................................................................. 19
Mesh Application File Export ........................................................................................................... 20
FLUENT Mesh Export ...................................................................................................................... 20
Classes of Zone Types in ANSYS FLUENT .................................................................................... 22
Standard Naming Conventions for Naming Named Selections ................................................... 24
Zone Type Assignment ............................................................................................................. 26
Example of ANSYS FLUENT Workflow in ANSYS Workbench ........................................................ 29
POLYFLOW Export .......................................................................................................................... 33
CGNS Export ................................................................................................................................... 34
ICEM CFD Export ............................................................................................................................ 34
Exporting Faceted Geometry to TGrid ............................................................................................. 42
ANSYS Workbench and Mechanical APDL Application Meshing Differences ........................................... 45
Mesh Controls Overview ........................................................................................................................... 47
Global and Local Mesh Controls ............................................................................................................ 47
Understanding the Influence of the Advanced Size Function ................................................................. 47
Global Mesh Controls ............................................................................................................................... 51
Defaults Group ..................................................................................................................................... 51
Physics Preference .......................................................................................................................... 51
Solver Preference ............................................................................................................................ 52
Relevance ....................................................................................................................................... 53
Sizing Group ......................................................................................................................................... 53
Use Advanced Size Function ........................................................................................................... 53
Curvature Size Function ............................................................................................................ 55
Proximity Size Function ............................................................................................................. 55
Fixed Size Function ................................................................................................................... 56
Specifying Size Function Options .............................................................................................. 56
Curvature Normal Angle ..................................................................................................... 57
Proximity Accuracy ............................................................................................................. 57
Num Cells Across Gap ......................................................................................................... 57
Min Size ............................................................................................................................. 58
Max Face Size ..................................................................................................................... 58
Max Tet Size ........................................................................................................................ 58
Growth Rate ....................................................................................................................... 58
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iii

Meshing Help
Relevance Center ............................................................................................................................ 58
Element Size ................................................................................................................................... 58
Initial Size Seed ............................................................................................................................... 58
Smoothing ..................................................................................................................................... 59
Transition ....................................................................................................................................... 59
Span Angle Center .......................................................................................................................... 60
Minimum Edge Length ................................................................................................................... 60
Inflation Group ..................................................................................................................................... 60
Use Automatic Tet Inflation ............................................................................................................. 62
None ........................................................................................................................................ 62
Program Controlled .................................................................................................................. 62
All Faces in Chosen Named Selection ........................................................................................ 63
Inflation Option .............................................................................................................................. 63
Transition Ratio .............................................................................................................................. 64
Maximum Layers ............................................................................................................................ 65
Growth Rate ................................................................................................................................... 65
Number of Layers ........................................................................................................................... 65
Maximum Thickness ....................................................................................................................... 65
First Layer Height ............................................................................................................................ 66
Inflation Algorithm ......................................................................................................................... 66
View Advanced Options .................................................................................................................. 68
Collision Avoidance .................................................................................................................. 68
Fix First Layer ...................................................................................................................... 72
Gap Factor .......................................................................................................................... 72
Maximum Height over Base ...................................................................................................... 72
Growth Rate Type ..................................................................................................................... 73
Maximum Angle ....................................................................................................................... 73
Fillet Ratio ................................................................................................................................ 74
Use Post Smoothing ................................................................................................................. 75
Smoothing Iterations ................................................................................................................ 75
Advanced Group .................................................................................................................................. 75
Shape Checking .............................................................................................................................. 75
Element Midside Nodes .................................................................................................................. 77
Straight Sided Elements .................................................................................................................. 78
Number of Retries ........................................................................................................................... 78
Rigid Body Behavior ........................................................................................................................ 79
Mesh Morphing .............................................................................................................................. 79
Pinch Group ......................................................................................................................................... 79
Pinch Control Automation .............................................................................................................. 81
Pinch Control Options ............................................................................................................... 83
Defining Pinch Controls Manually ................................................................................................... 85
Defining Pinch Control Automation ................................................................................................ 85
Usage Information for Pinch Controls .............................................................................................. 85
Statistics Group .................................................................................................................................... 87
Nodes ............................................................................................................................................ 87
Elements ........................................................................................................................................ 87
Mesh Metric ................................................................................................................................... 87
Element Quality ........................................................................................................................ 93
Aspect Ratio Calculation for Triangles ........................................................................................ 93
Aspect Ratio Calculation for Quadrilaterals ............................................................................... 94
Jacobian Ratio .......................................................................................................................... 95
Warping Factor ........................................................................................................................ 97

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Meshing Help
Parallel Deviation .................................................................................................................... 100
Maximum Corner Angle ......................................................................................................... 101
Skewness ............................................................................................................................... 101
Local Mesh Controls ................................................................................................................................ 105
Method Control .................................................................................................................................. 106
Method Controls and Element Midside Nodes Settings .................................................................. 106
Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies .................................................................................. 108
Automatic Method Control ..................................................................................................... 108
Tetrahedrons Method Control ................................................................................................. 109
Patch Conforming Algorithm for Tetrahedrons Method Control ......................................... 109
Patch Independent Algorithm for Tetrahedrons Method Control ........................................ 109
Hex Dominant Method Control ............................................................................................... 123
Sweep Method Control ........................................................................................................... 124
MultiZone Method Control ..................................................................................................... 126
CFX-Mesh Method Control ...................................................................................................... 130
Setting the Method Control for Surface Bodies .............................................................................. 132
Sizing Control ..................................................................................................................................... 134
Using the Local Sizing Control ....................................................................................................... 135
Defining Local Mesh Sizing on a Body ..................................................................................... 135
Defining Local Mesh Sizing on a Face ...................................................................................... 136
Defining Local Mesh Sizing on an Edge ................................................................................... 136
Defining Local Mesh Sizing on a Vertex .................................................................................... 136
Descriptions of Local Sizing Control Options ............................................................................ 137
Notes on Element Sizing ............................................................................................................... 141
Contact Sizing Control ........................................................................................................................ 143
Refinement Control ............................................................................................................................ 143
Mapped Face Meshing Control ............................................................................................................ 144
Setting Basic Mapped Face Meshing Controls ................................................................................ 145
Understanding Advanced Mapped Face Meshing Controls ............................................................ 145
Restrictions Related to Vertex Types ........................................................................................ 146
Restrictions Related to Edge Mesh Intervals ............................................................................. 147
Selecting Faces and Vertices .................................................................................................... 147
Effect of Vertex Type on Face Meshes ....................................................................................... 149
Setting Advanced Mapped Face Meshing Controls .................................................................. 151
Notes on the Mapped Face Meshing Control ................................................................................. 152
Match Control ..................................................................................................................................... 153
Cyclic Match Control ..................................................................................................................... 154
Arbitrary Match Control ................................................................................................................ 155
Pinch Control ...................................................................................................................................... 157
Defining Pinch Controls Locally ..................................................................................................... 157
Inflation Control ................................................................................................................................. 158
Gap Tool ............................................................................................................................................. 159
Meshing Options .................................................................................................................................... 163
Accessing the Options Dialog Box ....................................................................................................... 163
Meshing Options on the Options Dialog Box ....................................................................................... 163
Specialized Meshing ............................................................................................................................... 167
Mesh Sweeping .................................................................................................................................. 167
Thin Model Sweeping ................................................................................................................... 171
MultiZone Meshing ............................................................................................................................. 184
MultiZone Overview ..................................................................................................................... 185
Support for Defined Edge and Face Sizings .............................................................................. 185
MultiZone Algorithms ................................................................................................................... 186
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Meshing Help
Using MultiZone ........................................................................................................................... 188
MultiZone Source Face Selection Tips ...................................................................................... 190
MultiZone Source Face Imprinting Guidelines .......................................................................... 191
Internal Loops .................................................................................................................. 191
Boundary Loops ............................................................................................................... 192
Multiple Internal Loops ..................................................................................................... 192
Internal Cutout Loops ....................................................................................................... 193
Parallel Loops ................................................................................................................... 195
Intersecting Loops ............................................................................................................ 196
Using Virtual Topology to Handle Fillets in MultiZone Problems ............................................... 197
MultiZone Limitations ................................................................................................................... 197
Inflation Controls ................................................................................................................................ 198
Mesh Refinement ............................................................................................................................... 204
Mixed Order Meshing ......................................................................................................................... 204
Air Gap Meshing ................................................................................................................................. 204
Contact Meshing ................................................................................................................................ 205
Winding Body Meshing ....................................................................................................................... 205
Wire Body Meshing ............................................................................................................................. 205
Pyramid Transitions ............................................................................................................................. 205
Match Meshing and the Symmetry Folder ........................................................................................... 205
Rigid Body Meshing ............................................................................................................................ 205
Thin Solid Meshing ............................................................................................................................. 208
Gasket Element Meshing .................................................................................................................... 208
CAD Instance Meshing ........................................................................................................................ 210
Meshing and Hard Entities .................................................................................................................. 211
Baffle Meshing .................................................................................................................................... 213
Mesh Control Interaction Tables ............................................................................................................. 217
Interactions Between Mesh Methods ................................................................................................... 217
Interactions Between Mesh Methods and Mesh Controls ..................................................................... 218
Miscellaneous Meshing Tools ................................................................................................................. 221
Generation of Contact Elements .......................................................................................................... 221
Renaming Mesh Control Tool .............................................................................................................. 221
Mesh Numbering ................................................................................................................................ 221
Meshing Ease of Use Features ................................................................................................................ 223
Updating the Mesh Cell State .............................................................................................................. 223
Generating Mesh ................................................................................................................................ 224
Previewing Surface Mesh .................................................................................................................... 225
Exporting a Previewed Surface Mesh in FLUENT Format ................................................................. 226
Showing Sweepable Bodies ................................................................................................................ 226
Showing Geometry in Overlapping Named Selections ......................................................................... 226
Showing Program Controlled Inflation Surfaces ................................................................................... 227
Previewing Inflation ............................................................................................................................ 227
Exporting a Previewed Inflation Mesh in FLUENT Format ............................................................... 228
Showing Problematic Geometry .......................................................................................................... 228
Previewing Source and Target Mesh .................................................................................................... 229
Inspecting Large Meshes Using Named Selections ............................................................................... 229
Virtual Topology ..................................................................................................................................... 231
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 231
Virtual Cell Creation ............................................................................................................................ 231
Named Selections and Regions for CFX Applications ............................................................................ 235
Meshing Application Tutorials ................................................................................................................ 237
Index ........................................................................................................................................................ 239

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Meshing Capabilities in ANSYS Workbench

The following topics are discussed in this section.
Meshing Overview
Meshing Implementation in ANSYS Workbench
Types of Meshing
Conformal Meshing Between Parts

Meshing Overview
Philosophy
The goal of meshing in ANSYS Workbench is to provide robust, easy to use meshing tools that will simplify
the mesh generation process. These tools have the benefit of being highly automated along with having a
moderate to high degree of user control.

Physics Based Meshing

When the Meshing application is launched (that is, edited) from the ANSYS Workbench Project Schematic,
the physics preference will be set based on the type of system being edited. For analysis systems, the appropriate physics is used. For a Mechanical Model system, the Mechanical physics preference is used. For a
Mesh system, the physics preference defined in Tools> Options> Meshing> Default Physics Preference
is used.
Upon startup of the Meshing application from a Mesh system, you will see the Meshing Options panel
shown below. This panel allows you to quickly and easily set your meshing preferences based on the physics
you are preparing to solve. If you remove the panel after startup, you can display the panel again by clicking
the Options button from the Mesh toolbar.

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Meshing Capabilities in ANSYS Workbench

The first option the panel allows you to set is your Physics Preference. This corresponds to the Physics
Preference value in the Details View of the Mesh folder. Setting the meshing defaults to a specified physics
preference sets options in the Mesh folder such as Relevance Center, midside node behavior, shape
checking, and other meshing behaviors.

Note
The Physics Preference is selectable from the Meshing Options panel only if the Meshing application is launched from a Mesh component system or a Mechanical Model component system.
If the Meshing application is launched from an analysis system (whether it be via the Model cell
in a non-Fluid Flow analysis system or the Mesh cell in a Fluid Flow analysis system), you must
use the Details View of the Mesh folder to change the Physics Preference. See Determination
of Physics, Analysis, and Solver Settings (p. 17) for more information.
Setting the Physics Preference option also sets the preferred Mesh Method option for the specified physics.
All of the meshing methods can be used for any physics type, however we have found that some of our
meshers are more suitable for certain physics types than others. The preferred ANSYS Workbench Mesh
Methods are listed below grouped by physics preference.

Note
Changing the Mesh Method in the Meshing Options panel changes the default mesh method
for all future analyses, regardless of analysis type.

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Meshing by Algorithm
Presented below are the ANSYS Workbench meshing capabilities, arranged according to the physics type
involved in your analysis.

Mechanical: The preferred meshers for mechanical analysis are the patch conforming meshers (Patch
Conforming Tetrahedrons and Sweeping) for solid bodies and any of the surface body meshers.

Electromagnetics: The preferred meshers for electromagnetic analysis are the patch conforming
meshers and/or the patch independent meshers (Patch Independent Tetrahedrons and MultiZone).

CFD: The preferred meshers for CFD analysis are the patch conforming meshers and/or the patch independent meshers. The CFX-Mesh method has been superseded by the patch conforming tet method
and is no longer recommended. See CFX-Mesh and Method Control (p. 106) for further details.

Explicit Dynamics: The preferred meshers for explicit dynamics on solid bodies are the patch independent
meshers, the default sweep method, and the patch conforming mesher with Virtual Topologies. The
preferred meshers for explicit dynamics on surface bodies are the uniform quad/quad-tri meshers or
the quad dominant mesher when used with size controls and Virtual Topologies. See the Method Control (p. 106) section for further details.

Meshing Implementation in ANSYS Workbench

The meshing capabilities are available within the following ANSYS Workbench applications. Access to a
particular application is determined by your license level.

The Mechanical application - Recommended if you plan to stay within the Mechanical application to
continue your work (preparing and solving a simulation). Also, if you are planning to perform a FluidStructure Interaction problem with CFX, and desire to use a single project to manage your ANSYS
Workbench data, you should use the Mechanical application to perform your fluid meshing. This is most
conveniently done in a separate model branch from the structural meshing and structural simulation.

The Meshing application - Recommended if you plan to use the mesh to perform physics simulations
in ANSYS CFX or ANSYS FLUENT. If you wish to use a mesh created in the Meshing application for a
solver supported in the Mechanical application, you can replace the Mesh system with a Mechanical
Model system. See Replacing a Mesh System with a Mechanical Model System (p. 15).

Note
In the 12.1 release, ANSYS AUTODYN runs inside the Mechanical application. The recommendation
is to use an Explicit Dynamics (ANSYS) analysis system, in which meshing comes as part of that
system. As an alternative, you can also use this system to prepare a model for the traditional
ANSYS AUTODYN application (AUTODYN component system). For simple ANSYS AUTODYN
models, you can use the meshing tools within the traditional ANSYS AUTODYN application
(AUTODYN component system).

Types of Meshing
The following types of meshing are discussed in this section.
Meshing by Algorithm
Meshing by Element Shape

Meshing by Algorithm
This section describes types of meshing in terms of two meshing algorithms: patch conforming and patch
independent
.
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Meshing Capabilities in ANSYS Workbench

Patch Conforming
What is patch conforming meshing?
Patch conforming meshing is a meshing technique in which all faces and their boundaries (edges and vertices)
[patches] within a very small tolerance are respected for a given part. Mesh based defeaturing is used to
overcome difficulties with small features and dirty geometry. Virtual Topology can lift restrictions on the
patches, however the mesher must still respect the boundaries of the Virtual Cells.
Patch conforming meshing is invariant to loads, boundary conditions, Named Selections, results or any
scoped object. That is, when you change the scope of an object, you will not have to re-mesh.
Mesh Refinement is supported with all of the patch conforming meshers.
Applications
You can implement patch conforming meshing using settings related to any of the following mesh control
options. See the Method Control (p. 106) section for further details.
Solid Bodies:

Patch Conforming Tetra

General Sweeping

Thin Sweeping

Hex Dominant

Surface Bodies:

Quad Dominant

All Triangles

Patch Independent
What is patch independent meshing?
Patch independent meshing is a meshing technique in which the faces and their boundaries (edges and
vertices) [patches] are not necessarily respected unless there is a load, boundary condition, or other object
scoped to the faces or edges or vertices (topology). Patch independent meshing is useful when gross defeaturing is needed in the model or when a very uniformly sized mesh is needed. Virtual Topology can still be
used with patch independent meshing, however the boundaries of the Virtual Cells may not be respected
unless a scoped object exists on the Virtual Cells.
The unique set of faces (edges) and their boundary edges (vertices) consisting of all entities with contacts,
Named Selections, loads, boundary conditions, or results; spot welds; sheet bodies with differing material
definitions; or surface bodies with differing thicknesses will be created and protected by the mesher. The
boundaries at protected topology will not be crossed.
Patch independent meshing is dependent on loads, boundary conditions, Named Selections, results on any
scoped object. You should therefore define all of your scoping dependencies prior to meshing. If you change
a scoping after meshing, you will need to re-mesh.
Mesh refinement is not supported with patch independent meshing.

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Triangle Meshing
Applications
You can implement patch independent meshing using settings related to any of the following mesh control
options. See the Method Control (p. 106) section for further details.
Solid Bodies:

Patch Independent Tetra

MultiZone

Surface Bodies:

Uniform Quad/Tri

Uniform Quad

Note
With the exception of sheet bodies with differing material definitions, the topologies listed above
as protected are also applicable to the MultiZone mesh method.

Meshing by Element Shape

This section describes types of meshing in terms of element shapes. Applicable mesh control options are
presented for each element shape shown below. See the Method Control (p. 106) section for further details.

Tet Meshing

Patch Conforming Mesher

Patch Independent Mesher

CFX-Mesh

Hex Meshing

Swept Mesher

Hex Dominant Mesher

Thin Solid Mesher

Quad Meshing

Quad Dominant

Uniform Quad/Tri

Uniform Quad

Triangle Meshing

All Triangles

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Meshing Capabilities in ANSYS Workbench

Conformal Meshing Between Parts

When meshing in ANSYS Workbench, interfaces between parts are managed in a variety of ways. The first
is through a concept referred to as multibody parts. The following applies when meshing in ANSYS
Workbench:

Parts are groups or collections of bodies. Parts can include multiple bodies and are then referred to as
multibody parts. If your geometry contains multiple parts then each part will be meshed with separate
meshes with no connection between them, even if they apparently share faces.

You can convert a geometry which has multiple parts into one with a single part by using the Form
New Part functionality in the DesignModeler application. Simply select all of the bodies and then select
Tools > Form New Part. If you have an external geometry file that has multiple parts that you wish to
mesh with one mesh, then you will have to import it into the DesignModeler application first and perform
this operation, rather than importing it directly into the Meshing application.

By default, every time you create a new solid body in the DesignModeler application, it is placed in a
new part. To create a single mesh, you will have to follow the instructions in the previous point to place
them in the same part after creation.

Multiple solid bodies within a single part will be meshed with conformal mesh provided that they have
topology that is shared with another of the bodies in that part. For a face to be shared in this way, it
is not sufficient for two bodies to contain a coincident face; the underlying representation of the geometry
must also recognize it as being shared. Normally, geometry imported from external CAD packages (not
the DesignModeler application) does not satisfy this condition and so separate meshes will be created
for each part/body. However, if you have used Form New Part in the DesignModeler application to
create the part, then the underlying geometry representation will include the necessary information on
shared faces when faces are conformal (i.e., the bodies touch).

The Shared Topology tool within the DesignModeler application can be used to identify conformal
faces/edges, along with defining whether nodes should be conformal (same node shared between two
bodies), or coincident (separate nodes for separate bodies, but the locations could be identical).

Non-conformal Meshing
For parts/bodies that are not within a multibody part, the Auto Detect Contact on Attach setting, which
is available in the Options dialog box under the Mechanical application's Connections category, defines
contact interfaces between parts. These contact regions can be used for mesh sizing, and/or are used by
the Mechanical APDL solvers to define the behavior between the parts. For structural solvers please see the
description of connections in the Mechanical help. For CFD solvers, these contact regions are used differently
for the ANSYS FLUENT and ANSYS CFX solvers.
These contact regions are not automatically resolved in ANSYS FLUENT. For ANSYS FLUENT to resolve them
directly as interfaces, you must explicitly define the contact regions as Named Selections using the INTERFACE
zone type. Refer to FLUENT Mesh Export (p. 20) for more information about defining Named Selections in
the Meshing application for export to ANSYS FLUENT mesh format.
These contact regions are used in ANSYS CFX as General Grid Interface (GGI) definitions. For details, refer to
the documentation available under the Help menu within CFX.

Note
For related information, refer to Assemblies, Parts, and Bodies in the Mechanical help.

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Comparing Effects of Mesh Methods on Different Types of Parts

Note
To get duplicated nodes at the interface between parts, use the Non-conformal Meshing approach,
then use match mesh controls to make the duplicated nodes match. To get a common interface
for the two parts, use the Imprints method to create Shared Topology for the part.

Comparing Effects of Mesh Methods on Different Types of Parts

Certain characteristics of meshes differ depending on whether an assembly of parts, a multibody part, or a
multibody part with imprint is being meshed:

Assembly of partsMesh of one part has no relation to mesh of other part unless there is contact sizing,
and in this case the mesh is still not conformal.

Multibody partMesh at the interface between two bodies is conformal (same nodes). Since the nodes
are common, no contact is defined.

Multibody part with imprint (non-matched)Common faces between two bodies are imprinted. Mesh
does not have to be conformal, but it often is by default since the boundaries of the two faces are
similar. Contact is automatically created between these faces.

Multibody part with imprint (matched)Common faces between two bodies are imprinted. Mesh is
matched between the common faces. Contact is automatically created between these faces.

The following table compares various mesh methods and their effects when meshing these types of parts:
Mesh
Method

Assembly
of Parts

Multibody Part

Multibody Part with Imprint (Non-matched)

Multibody Part with Imprint (Matched)

Patch
Conforming

Each part is
meshed
separately.

Multibody part is
meshed at the same
time to ensure conformal mesh.

Multibody part is meshed

at the same time, but mesh
does not need to be conformal because the faces
are meshed separately.

Multibody part is meshed

at the same time. Mesh is
matched where match
controls are defined.

General
Sweep

Each part is
meshed
separately.

Multibody part is
meshed at the same
time to ensure conformal mesh.

Multibody part is meshed

at the same time, but mesh
does not need to be conformal because the faces
are meshed separately.

Multibody part is meshed

at the same time. Mesh is
matched where match
controls are defined.

Thin
Sweep

Each part is
meshed
separately.

Multibody part is
meshed at the same
time to ensure conformal mesh.

Multibody part is meshed

at the same time, but mesh
does not need to be conformal because the faces
are meshed separately.

Multibody part is meshed

at the same time. Mesh is
matched where match
controls are defined.

Hex
Dominant

Each part is
meshed
separately.

Multibody part is
meshed at the same
time to ensure conformal mesh.

Multibody part is meshed

at the same time, but mesh
does not need to be conformal because the faces
are meshed separately.

Does not support match

control. Users can attempt
matching through mapped
face control on common
face or face sizings, but
there is no guarantee that
the mesh will be matched.

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Meshing Capabilities in ANSYS Workbench

Mesh
Method

Assembly
of Parts

Multibody Part

Multibody Part with Imprint (Non-matched)

Multibody Part with Imprint (Matched)

Patch
Independent

Each part is
meshed
separately.

Multibody part is
meshed at the same
time to ensure conformal mesh. All bodies must be meshed
with the patch independent method.

Multibody part is meshed

at the same time, but mesh
is not conformal if the
Match Mesh Where Possible control is set to No.

Multibody part is meshed

at the same time, but mesh
is conformal if the Match
Mesh Where Possible
control is set to Yes.

MultiZone

Each part is
meshed
separately.

Multibody part is
meshed at the same
time to ensure conformal mesh. All bodies must be meshed
with the MultiZone
method.

Multibody part is meshed

at the same time. Mesh will
generally be conformal, but
it is not forced. Faces are
meshed separately.

Does not support match

control. Users can attempt
matching through mapped
face control on common
face or face sizings, but
there is no guarantee that
the mesh will be matched.

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

The Meshing application is a separate ANSYS Workbench application. The Meshing application is data-integrated with ANSYS Workbench, meaning that although the interface remains separate, the data from the
application communicates with the native ANSYS Workbench data. The following topics are addressed in
this section:
Basic Meshing Application Workflows
Strategies for CFD/Fluids Meshing in ANSYS Workbench
Accessing Meshing Functionality
Overview of the Meshing Application Interface
Determination of Physics, Analysis, and Solver Settings
Working with Legacy Mesh Data
Exporting Meshes
ANSYS Workbench and Mechanical APDL Application Meshing Differences

Basic Meshing Application Workflows

The following sections describe several basic workflows for using the Meshing application in ANSYS Workbench:
Overview of the Meshing Process in ANSYS Workbench
Overview of the Meshing Process for CFD/Fluids Analyses
Combining CFD/Fluids Meshing and Structural Meshing

Overview of the Meshing Process in ANSYS Workbench

The following steps provide the basic workflow for using the Meshing application as part of an ANSYS
Workbench analysis (non-Fluid Flow). Refer to the ANSYS Workbench help for detailed information about
working in ANSYS Workbench.
1.

Select the appropriate template in the Toolbox, such as Static Structural (ANSYS). Double-click the
template in the Toolbox, or drag it onto the Project Schematic.

2.

If necessary, define appropriate engineering data for your analysis. Right-click the Engineering Data
cell, and select Edit, or double-click the Engineering Data cell. The Engineering Data workspace appears,
where you can add or edit material data as necessary.

3.

Attach geometry to your system or build new geometry in the DesignModeler application. Right-click
the Geometry cell and select Import Geometry... to attach an existing model or select New Geometry....
to launch the DesignModeler application.

4.

Access the Meshing application functionality. Right-click the Model cell and choose Edit. This step will
launch the Mechanical application.

5.

Once you are in the Mechanical application, you can move between its components by highlighting
the corresponding object in the Tree as needed. Click on the Mesh object in the Tree to access
Meshing application functionality and apply mesh controls.

6.

Define loads and boundary conditions. Right-click the Setup cell and select Edit. The appropriate application for your selected analysis type will open (such as the Mechanical application). Set up your
analysis using that application's tools and features.
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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

7.

You can solve your analysis by issuing an Update, either from the data-integrated application you're
using to set up your analysis, or from the ANSYS Workbench GUI.

8.

Review your analysis results.

Note
You should save your data periodically (File> Save Project). The data will be saved as a .wbpj
file. Refer to the ANSYS Workbench help for more information about project file management in
Workbench.
For more information:

For information about using the Meshing application to import or export mesh files, refer to Working
with Legacy Mesh Data (p. 18) and Exporting Meshes (p. 19).

Fluids users of the DesignModeler, Meshing, and CFX applications should refer to "Named Selections and
Regions for CFX Applications" (p. 235) for important information about region definitions.

Fluids users of the DesignModeler, Meshing, and ANSYS FLUENT applications should refer to FLUENT
Mesh Export (p. 20) for important information about Named Selection support.

Overview of the Meshing Process for CFD/Fluids Analyses

This section describes the basic process for using the Meshing application to create a mesh as part of an
ANSYS Workbench CFD/fluids analysis. Refer to Strategies for CFD/Fluids Meshing in ANSYS Workbench (p. 13)
for information about different CFD/Fluids meshing strategies. Refer to the ANSYS Workbench help for detailed
information about working in ANSYS Workbench. There are four basic steps to creating a mesh:

Create Geometry
You can create geometry for the Meshing application from scratch in ANSYS Workbench DesignModeler
application, or import it from an external CAD file. The Meshing application requires you to construct solid
bodies (not surface bodies) to define the region for the 3D mesh (for 2D simulations a sheet body can be
used). A separate body must be created for each region of interest in the fluids simulation; for example, a
region in which you want the fluids solver to solve for heat transfer only must be created as a separate body.
Multiple bodies are created in the DesignModeler application by using the Freeze command; see Freeze in
the DesignModeler help for details.
It is best practice to explicitly identify any fluid regions in the model as fluids rather than solids.
For new users or new models it is often useful to first generate a default mesh, evaluate it, and then apply
the controls described in Define Mesh Attributes (p. 11) as appropriate to improve various mesh characteristics.

Define Named Selections

During the fluids simulation setup, you will need to define boundary conditions where you can apply specific
physics. For example, you may need to define where the fluid enters the geometry or where it exits. Although
it may be possible to select the faces that correspond to a particular boundary condition inside the solver
application, it is rather easier to make this selection ahead of time in either the CAD connection, the
DesignModeler application, or the Meshing application. In addition, it is much better to define the location
of periodic boundaries before the mesh is generated to allow the nodes of the surface mesh to match on
the two sides of the periodic boundary, which in turn allows for a more accurate fluids solution. You can
define the locations of boundaries by defining Named Selections, which can assist you in the following ways:

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Combining CFD/Fluids Meshing and Structural Meshing

You can use Named Selections to easily hide the outside boundary in an external flow problem.

You can assign Named Selections to all faces in a model except walls, and Program Controlled inflation
will automatically select all walls in the model to be inflation boundaries.

For more information:

Fluids users of the DesignModeler, Meshing, and CFX applications should refer to "Named Selections and
Regions for CFX Applications" (p. 235).

Fluids users of the DesignModeler, Meshing, and ANSYS FLUENT applications should refer to FLUENT
Mesh Export (p. 20).

Define Mesh Attributes

The mesh generation process in the Meshing application is fully automatic. However, you have considerable
control over how the mesh elements are distributed. To ensure that you get the best fluids solution possible
with your available computing resources, you can dictate the background element size, type of mesh to
generate, and where and how the mesh should be refined. In general, setting up the length scale field for
your mesh is a three-step process, as outlined below:

Assign a suitable set of global mesh controls.

Override the default mesh type by inserting a different mesh method.

Override the global sizing or other controls locally on bodies, faces, edges, or vertices and the regions
close to them by scoping local mesh controls.

Generate Mesh
When you are ready to compute the mesh, you can do so by using either the Update feature or the Generate
Mesh feature. Either feature computes the entire mesh. The surface mesh and the volume mesh are generated
at one time. The mesh for all parts/bodies is also generated at one time. For help in understanding the difference between the Update and Generate Mesh features, see Updating the Mesh Cell State (p. 223).
For information on how to generate the mesh for selected parts only, refer to Generating Mesh (p. 224). The
Previewing Surface Mesh (p. 225) and Previewing Inflation (p. 227) features are also available if you do not want
to generate the entire mesh at one time.
Once the mesh is generated, you can view it by selecting the Mesh object in the Tree Outline. You can
define Section Planes to visualize the mesh characteristics, and you can use the Mesh Metric feature to view
the worst quality element based on the quality criterion for a selected mesh metric.

Note
Fluids users should refer to Generation of Contact Elements (p. 221) for recommendations for defining
contact for fluids analyses.

Combining CFD/Fluids Meshing and Structural Meshing

In some applications, a CFD/fluids mesh and a structural mesh are required within the same workflow. For
these one-way coupling applications, the loading, solving, and postprocessing of the fluids meshed part(s)
later occur in a Fluid Flow analysis system, while the loading, solving, and postprocessing of the structurally
meshed part(s) later occur in a Structural analysis system. The best approach for this kind of application is
to break the model into separate parts rather than use a continuous multibody part.
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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

The following approach is recommended for these applications:
1.

Attach the model to a Geometry (DesignModeler) system and use the Explode Part feature to create
independent parts within the model.

2.

Link a Fluid Flow analysis system and a Structural analysis system to the Geometry system. The geometries may be shared or not, depending on whether defeaturing needs to be done to one or the
other system. Dedicate the Fluid Flow analysis system to meshing the appropriate fluid domain for
the fluids application. Suppress the structural part(s) in the model. Dedicate the Structural analysis
system to meshing the appropriate structural part(s). Suppress the fluid part(s) in this model.

In this case, only the respective parts are meshed. The mesh of the Fluid Flow analysis system is shown
below on the left, and the mesh of the Structural analysis system is shown on the right.

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Tetra Dominant Meshing - Patch Independent Tetra/Prism Meshing

Note
You can set up the workflow schematic in different ways depending on various factors, including variations in the Fluid/Structural model, persistence, the desired multiphysics simulation, and so on.

Note
The coupling of the solvers is also handled from the Project Schematic. For details, refer to
the discussion about creating and linking a second system in the Workbench help.

Note
For geometry persistence, both models will require updating when changing CAD parameters.

Strategies for CFD/Fluids Meshing in ANSYS Workbench

ANSYS Workbench offers four strategies for CFD/Fluids meshing. For each strategy, certain defaults are in
place to target the particular needs of an analysis. The strategies and circumstances in which each of them
are appropriate are described below.

Tetra Dominant Meshing - Patch Conforming Tetra/Prism Meshing

The first strategy is to use conformal tetra/prism meshing plus the default Sweep method. This strategy is
recommended for models involving moderately clean CAD (for example, native CAD, Parasolid, ACIS, and
so on) for which you desire a tetra/hybrid dominant mesh.
Although the Patch Conforming Tetra mesh method is fully automated, it interacts with additional mesh
controls and capabilities as necessary, including:

Advanced tetra and inflation layer technology

Pinch controls for removing small features at the mesh level (offered as an alternative to Virtual Topologies, which work at the geometry level)

Advanced Size Function controls for providing greater control over mesh distribution

Conformal swept regions

Body of influence (BOI) for setting one body as a size source for another body

Tetra Dominant Meshing - Patch Independent Tetra/Prism Meshing

An alternative for those desiring a tetra dominant mesh is Patch Independent Tetra/Prism meshing. This
approach is best for "dirty CAD"CAD models with many surface patches (for example, IGES, CATIA V4, and
so on) and in cases with large numbers of slivers/small edges/sharp corners. It includes support for post inflation, as well as CAD simplification built-in to the tetra mesher.

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

Mapped Hex Meshing - All Hex Swept Meshing

This mapped hex approach (which includes both general Sweep and thin Sweep) is recommended for clean
CAD. It supports single source to single target volumes, and may require you to perform manual geometry
decomposition.
Benefits of this approach include:

Support for Advanced Size Function controls

Compatibility with Patch Conforming Tetra meshing

Support for swept inflation

Mapped and Free Meshing - MultiZone Meshing

Best for moderately clean CAD, the MultiZone strategy for meshing provides multi-level sweep with automatic decomposition of geometry into mapped (structured) and free (unstructured) regions. When defining
the MultiZone mesh method, you can specify a Mapped Mesh Type and a Free Mesh Type that will be
used to fill structured and unstructured regions respectively. Depending on your settings and specific
model, the mesh may contain a mixture of hex/prism/tetra elements.
The MultiZone mesh method and the Sweep mesh method described above operate similarly; however,
MultiZone has capabilities that make it more suitable for a class of problems for which the Sweep method
would not work without extensive geometry decomposition.
Additional benefits of this approach include:

Support for 3D inflation

Ability to selectively ignore small features

Accessing Meshing Functionality

You can access Meshing application functionality from the Model/Mesh cell in an analysis system, or from
the Mesh cell in a Mesh component system. Before using the steps provided in this section, you should be
familiar with the concepts of analysis systems and component systems in ANSYS Workbench.

Accessing Meshing Functionality from an Analysis System

The Model cell (Mesh cell in Fluid Flow analysis systems) allows you to access a meshing application or share
a mesh with another system. Model corresponds to the contents of the Model branch within the Mechanical
application and allows you to perform physics-based meshing capabilities, such as spot welds, contact, etc.
Mesh contains just node coordinates and mesh connectivity.
To launch the Meshing application from a Model cell in an analysis system (non-Fluid Flow):
1.

From the Analysis Systems group of the ANSYS Workbench Toolbox, either double-click or drag an
analysis system onto the Project Schematic. As a result, a template for that type of analysis system
appears in the Project Schematic.

2.

In the analysis system, right-click on the Geometry cell and choose New Geometry to create geometry
within the DesignModeler application, or choose Import Geometry to attach existing geometry.

3.

Right-click the Model cell and choose Edit. This step will launch the Mechanical application. From the
Mechanical application, you can access the Meshing application controls by clicking on the Mesh object
in the Tree Outline.

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Overview of the Meshing Application Interface

To access meshing from a Mesh cell in a Fluid Flow analysis system:
1.

From the Analysis Systems group of the ANSYS Workbench Toolbox, either double-click or drag a
Fluid Flow analysis system onto the Project Schematic. As a result, a template for that type of analysis
system appears in the Project Schematic.

2.

In the analysis system, right-click on the Geometry cell and choose New Geometry to create geometry
within the DesignModeler application, or choose Import Geometry to attach existing geometry.

3.

Right-click the Mesh cell and choose Edit. This step will launch the appropriate mesh application
(Meshing application, CFX-Mesh, etc.).

Accessing Meshing Functionality from a Mesh Component System

To launch the Meshing application from a Mesh component system:
1.

From the Component Systems group of the ANSYS Workbench Toolbox, either double-click or drag a
Mesh component system onto the Project Schematic. As a result, a template of a Mesh system appears
in the Project Schematic.

2.

In the Mesh system, right-click on the Geometry cell and choose New Geometry to create geometry
within the DesignModeler application, or choose Import Geometry to attach existing geometry.

3.

Right-click the Mesh cell and choose Edit. This step will launch the appropriate mesh application
(Meshing application, CFX-Mesh, etc.).

Replacing a Mesh System with a Mechanical Model System

You can replace a Mesh component system with a Mechanical Model component system. This system can
then be shared with any analysis system. For details, refer to the description of Mechanical Model systems
in the ANSYS Workbench help.

Overview of the Meshing Application Interface

The intuitive Meshing application interface, which is shown in Figure : Meshing Application Interface (p. 16),
facilitates your use of all meshing controls and settings.

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

Figure: Meshing Application Interface

The functional elements of the interface are described in the following table.

Note
The linked topics in the table contain supplemental information describing items in the Mechanical application interface. Not all of the items described are available in the Meshing application
interface.
Window Component

Description

Main Menu

This menu includes the basic menus such as File and Edit.

Standard Toolbar

This toolbar contains commonly used application commands.

Graphics Toolbar

This toolbar contains commands that control pointer mode or cause an action
in the graphics browser.

Context Toolbar

This toolbar contains task-specific commands that change depending on

where you are in the Tree Outline.

Unit Conversion Toolbar

Not visible by default.This toolbar allows you to convert units for various
properties.

Named Selection Toolbar

Not visible by default.This toolbar contains options to manage Named Selections similar to how they are managed in the Mechanical application.

Tree Outline

Outline view of the project. Always visible. Location in the outline sets the
context for other controls. Provides access to object's context menus. Allows
renaming of objects. Establishes what details display in the Details View.

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Determination of Physics, Analysis, and Solver Settings

Window Component

Description

Details View

The Details View corresponds to the Outline selection. Displays a details window on the lower left panel which contains details about each object in the
Outline.

Geometry Window (also

sometimes called the Graphics window)

Displays and manipulates the visual representation of the object selected

in the Outline. This window displays:

3D Geometry

2D/3D Graph

Spreadsheet

HTML Pages

Note
The Geometry window may include splitter bars for dividing
views.
Reference Help

Opens an objects reference help page for the highlighted object.These are
the same pages that are available in the Mechanical application.

Tabs

The document tabs that are visible on the lower right portion of the window.

Status Bar

Brief in-context tip. Selection feedback.

Splitter Bar

Application window has up to 3 splitter bars.

Determination of Physics, Analysis, and Solver Settings

Most systems in ANSYS Workbench are defined by three primary attributes: physics type, analysis type, and
solver type. The method you use to launch the Meshing application functionality determines how default
physics, analysis, and/or solver settings are defined:

Mesh systems, which are a type of component system, are unfiltered (physics, analysis, and solver). If
you launch the Meshing application from a Mesh component system, your preferences will be set to
the defaults you previously defined within the Meshing application. You can change the default
Physics Preference directly from the Meshing Options panel. See Meshing Overview (p. 1) for more
information.

If you launch the Meshing application from an analysis system (whether it be via the Model cell in a
non-Fluid Flow analysis system or the Mesh cell in a Fluid Flow analysis system), your Physics, Analysis,
and Solver settings will be set according to the selected type of analysis system. To change the Physics
Preference, you must use the Details View of the Mesh folder.

Note
To view the physics, analysis, and solver types that are defined for an analysis system, right-click
the Model cell (non-Fluid Flow analyses) or Mesh cell (Fluid Flow analyses) and select Properties.
This step will open the Properties window, where you can view the attributes. For example, for
an Electric (ANSYS) system, the Properties window will show that Physics is Electric, Analysis is
Steady-State Electric Conduction, and Solver is ANSYS Mechanical.

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

Note
Mechanical Model systems, which are a type of component system, are unfiltered (physics and
solver). For details, refer to the discussion of Mechanical Model systems in the ANSYS Workbench
help.
For more information:

For a list of analysis systems available in ANSYS Workbench and basic steps for building each type of
system, refer to the discussion of analysis systems in the ANSYS Workbench help.

For details about the various types of non-Fluid Flow analyses and how to perform them, refer to the
discussion of analysis types in the Mechanical help.

For details about Fluid Flow analyses and how to perform them, refer to the documentation available
under the Help menu within CFX or ANSYS FLUENT.

Working with Legacy Mesh Data

You can import legacy mesh files using the following methods. The method that is best for you depends
on the type of file that you want to import and how you intend to use it:

Choose File> Import from the ANSYS Workbench Menu bar or click the Import button on the ANSYS
Workbench Toolbar to read legacy ANSYS Workbench mesh data

Right-click the Mesh cell and choose Import Mesh File to import a read-only mesh for downstream
use

Use the FE Modeler system to read a legacy mesh input file for reuse as a mesh or geometry for other
ANSYS Workbench systems

Importing Using File> Import or the Import Button

If you choose File> Import or click the Import button from ANSYS Workbench, you can import mesh files
that have an extension of .cmdb or .meshdat. Doing so creates a Mesh system in the ANSYS Workbench
Project Schematic. When the Mesh cell is edited, the mesh will open in the Meshing application where you
can edit it.
For more information about reading a simulation/mesh database (.dsdb/.cmdb) from previous ANSYS versions,
please refer to the discussion of importing legacy databases in the ANSYS Workbench help.

Note
ANSYS Workbench version 12.1 does not support *.cmdb files from Release 10 that contain CFXMesh data. To import these files, import them into Release 11, save as a Release 11 file, and then
import into Release 12.1.

Importing Read-only Meshes for Downstream Application Use

You can right-click a Mesh cell and choose Import Mesh File to browse to a mesh file that you want to
import, provided the file is of one of the following types:

ANSYS CFX mesh file with extension .gtm or .cfx

ANSYS ICEM CFD mesh file with extension .cfx, cfx5, or .msh

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Exporting Meshes

ANSYS FLUENT mesh file with extension .cas or .msh

ANSYS POLYFLOW mesh file with extension .poly, .neu, or .msh

Note
When you use this method, in the strictest sense you are not importing the mesh file. That is,
you will not be able to edit the file in the Meshing application using this method. Rather, you
are making the mesh available for downstream systems. To be able to edit these types of files in
the Meshing application, you must import the mesh into the FE Modeler application, and then
into another system. Refer to Importing Legacy Meshes for Edit Using FE Modeler (p. 19).
The Import Mesh File method is enabled when:

No geometry is associated with the Geometry cell.

No generated mesh is associated with the Mesh cell. (Imported meshes do not disable the Import Mesh
File menu item.)

No incoming connections are associated with the Geometry cell or Mesh cell.

No outgoing connections are associated with the Geometry cell.

No outgoing connections from the Mesh cell are connected to the FE Modeler, Mechanical APDL, or
ANSYS AUTODYN applications.

When you import the mesh to the Mesh cell:

The Geometry cell is deleted.

The title of the cell changes from Mesh to Imported Mesh.

The state of the Mesh cell is Up to Date.

No incoming connections are allowed.

Outgoing connections can be established with a Mechanical APDL, ANSYS AUTODYN, ANSYS CFX, ANSYS
FLUENT, ANSYS POLYFLOW, or FE Modeler system.

The Geometry cell in the target system is deleted.

Using the reset command (right-clicking on the Imported Mesh cell and choosing Reset) deletes the
imported mesh.

Importing Legacy Meshes for Edit Using FE Modeler

You can import a legacy mesh for the purposes of editing it in the Meshing application, but the mesh must
come from an FE Modeler system. This is necessary because before it can be imported into the Meshing
application to edit, the mesh must be associated with a geometry. The FE Modeler application allows you
to import a mesh and create a geometry that will be associated with that mesh. For more information, please
see the FE Modeler help.
After you use an FE Modeler system to import a mesh and create a geometry from it, you must connect an
analysis system, Mechanical Model system, or Mesh system to the FE Modeler system. When this follow-on
system is edited, the mesh will open in the Meshing application.

Exporting Meshes
A mesh generated by the Meshing application can be exported into the following file formats:
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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

Meshing File format (*.meshdat), suitable for import into ANSYS Workbench

ANSYS FLUENT mesh format (*.msh), suitable for import into ANSYS FLUENT or TGrid

POLYFLOW format (*.poly), suitable for import into POLYFLOW

CGNS format (*.cgns), suitable for import into a CGNS-compatible application

ICEM CFD format (*.prj), suitable for import into ANSYS ICEM CFD

TGrid format (*.tgf ), suitable for import into TGrid

To export a mesh:
1.

Generate the mesh.

2.

Select File> Export from the main menu.

3.

In the Save As dialog box, choose a directory and specify a file name for the file. Then choose a file
type from the Save as type drop-down menu and click Save.

Note
When the same entity is a member of more than one Named Selection, those Named Selections
are said to be overlapping. If you are exporting a mesh into the ANSYS FLUENT, POLYFLOW,
CGNS, ICEM CFD, or TGrid format and overlapping Named Selections are detected, the export
will fail and you must resolve the overlapping Named Selections before proceeding. For details,
see Showing Geometry in Overlapping Named Selections (p. 226).
For details, refer to:
Mesh Application File Export
FLUENT Mesh Export
POLYFLOW Export
CGNS Export
ICEM CFD Export
Exporting Faceted Geometry to TGrid

Mesh Application File Export

When you export a mesh file to Meshing File format (File> Export from the Meshing application main menu,
then Save as type Meshing File), a file with the extension .meshdat is created. The exported file can be
imported as a legacy file into ANSYS Workbench by either selecting File >Import from the Menu bar or
clicking the Import button on the Toolbar, and then selecting an Importable Mesh File. This will create a
Mesh System in the ANSYS Workbench Project Schematic.

FLUENT Mesh Export

When you export a mesh file to ANSYS FLUENT mesh format (File> Export from the Meshing application
main menu, then Save as type FLUENT Input Files), a mesh file with the extension .msh is created. The
exported mesh file is suitable for import into another product such as ANSYS FLUENT, or into TGrid outside
of ANSYS Workbench.
If the mesh file you export contains quadratic elements, all midside nodes will be dropped during export;
that is, all element types will be exported as linear element types for ANSYS FLUENT.

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FLUENT Mesh Export

An orientation check/correction will be performed for 3D geometry models exported as 2D mesh such that
all 2D cells will have the same orientation. You do not need to manually correct the orientation of the geometry face(s).
When the mesh file is exported to ANSYS FLUENT mesh format, the material properties of the bodies/parts
in the model must be translated to proper continuum zone types for use in ANSYS FLUENT. To provide this
information to ANSYS FLUENT, the following logic is used:
1.

If Physics Preference (p. 51) is set to CFD and you do not use any of the methods described in steps 2
through 4 below to explicitly assign a body/part to be either solid or fluid (such that all zones would
be exported as SOLID), all zones are exported to ANSYS FLUENT mesh format as FLUID zones by default.

Note
An exception to the above involves models that include an enclosure. If you used the Enclosure feature in the DesignModeler application, the enclosure body will be assigned a
continuum zone type of FLUID by default.
2.

For models created/edited in the DesignModeler application, a Fluid/Solid material property can be
assigned to a solid body or a multibody part (if the multibody part contains at least one solid body).
This material property assignment appears under Details of Body in the Details View of the DesignModeler application. When exported to ANSYS FLUENT mesh format, a body/part with a material
property of Solid will be assigned a continuum zone type of SOLID and a body/part with a material
property of Fluid will be assigned a continuum zone type of FLUID. This assignment, based on Fluid/Solid material property, overrides the default behavior described in step 1.
For multibody parts, you can change the material property for all bodies in one operation in the
DesignModeler application by modifying the Fluid/Solid property for the multibody part and the
modification will propagate to any solid bodies in the part. Similarly, you can modify the Fluid/Solid
property for a solid body that belongs to a multibody part, and the Fluid/Solid property for the
multibody part will be modified accordingly.

Note
Refer to Figure : Multibody Part Containing All Fluid Bodies in the DesignModeler Application (p. 30) for an example that illustrates where to set the Fluid/Solid material property.
3.

Regardless of whether the model was created/edited in the DesignModeler application, body/part
names are considered next. If a body/part name contains the string fluid (case-insensitive), the continuum zone type of FLUID is assigned to it upon export to ANSYS FLUENT mesh format. This assignment,
based on body/part name, overrides any assignments that were made based on the default behavior
described in step 1 or on the Fluid/Solid setting in step 2.

4.

Finally, Named Selections are considered. Named Selections can be defined for parts in either the
DesignModeler application or the Meshing application. To ensure that a Named Selection is assigned
the correct continuum zone type of SOLID or FLUID, the name of the Named Selection must include
the string solid or fluid as appropriate (case-insensitive). This assignment overrides any assignments
that were made based on the default behavior described in step 1, the Fluid/Solid setting in step 2,
or body/part names in step 3. Detailed guidelines for naming Named Selections are provided so that
if you choose to use Named Selections, you can ensure that ANSYS FLUENT zone types are assigned
correctly and predictably (for both continuum zone types and boundary zone types) in the exported
ANSYS FLUENT mesh file.
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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

Note
If there are multiple continuum zones or boundary zones of the same type in the DesignModeler application or the Meshing application, each zone name in the exported ANSYS
FLUENT mesh file will contain the necessary prefix and an arbitrary number will be appended
to the name to make it unique. Refer to Example of ANSYS FLUENT Workflow in ANSYS
Workbench (p. 29) for an example that illustrates multiple zones of the same type.

Note
When Named Selections defined in the DesignModeler application are required in the
Meshing application, you must set the appropriate geometry import options to ensure the
Named Selections will be transferred properly. Refer to Importing DesignModeler Named Selections into the Meshing Application (p. 235) for details.

For more information, refer to:

Classes of Zone Types in ANSYS FLUENT
Standard Naming Conventions for Naming Named Selections
Zone Type Assignment
Example of ANSYS FLUENT Workflow in ANSYS Workbench

Note
For additional information about importing files into ANSYS FLUENT or TGrid, refer to the documentation available under the Help menu within the respective product.

Classes of Zone Types in ANSYS FLUENT

Zone type specifications in ANSYS FLUENT define the physical and operational characteristics of the model
at its boundaries and within specific regions of its domain. There are two classes of zone type specifications:

Boundary zone types (sometimes called face zones)

Continuum zone types (sometimes called cell zones)

Boundary zone type specifications, such as WALL or INLET_VENT, define the characteristics of the model at
its external or internal boundaries. Boundary zones are collections of faces in 3D, and collections of edges
in 2D. By default, a boundary zone of type WALL is created for the boundary of each body in the geometry
during export to ANSYS FLUENT mesh format. Continuum zone type specifications, such as FLUID or SOLID,
define the characteristics of the model within specified regions of its domain. By default, a continuum zone
is created for each body in the geometry during export to ANSYS FLUENT mesh format. (By default, continuum
zone types will be assigned as described in FLUENT Mesh Export (p. 20).)
If you do not want the default zone type assignments to be used, you can override them by defining Named
Selections and naming them according to the conventions provided. Named Selections allow for user-defined
boundary zones and continuum zones as follows:
1.

All faces belonging to the same body in a Named Selection are placed into a single boundary zone.

2.

All bodies belonging to the same part in a Named Selection are placed into a single continuum zone.

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The Effect of Zone Type Specifications

The following sections further describe boundary zone type and continuum zone type specifications and illustrate their purposes in the definition of an example computational model involving simple geometry.
For details on how zones are named and how zone types are assigned during export, refer to Zone Type
Assignment (p. 26).
For an example that illustrates the basic workflow for using ANSYS Workbench to create a model in the
DesignModeler application, mesh it in the Meshing application, and export the mesh to ANSYS FLUENT,
refer to Example of ANSYS FLUENT Workflow in ANSYS Workbench (p. 29). In the example, Named Selections
are defined in the Meshing application and the correct ANSYS FLUENT zone names/types are assigned in
the exported FLUENT mesh file based on those definitions.

Comparing and Contrasting Boundary Zone Types and Continuum Zone Types
Boundary zone type specifications define the physical and operational characteristics of the model at those
topological entities that represent model boundaries. For example, if an INFLOW boundary zone type is assigned to a face entity that is part of three-dimensional model, the model is defined such that material flows
into the model domain through the specified face. Likewise, if a SYMMETRY boundary zone type is assigned
to an edge entity that is part of a two-dimensional model, the model is defined such that flow, temperature,
and pressure gradients are identically zero along the specified edge. As a result, physical conditions in the
regions immediately adjacent to either side of the edge are identical to each other.
Continuum zone type specifications define the physical characteristics of the model within specified regions
of its domain. For example, if a FLUID continuum zone type is assigned to a body entity, the model is defined
such that equations of momentum, continuity, and species transport apply at mesh nodes or cells that exist
within the body. Conversely, if a SOLID continuum zone type is assigned to a body entity, only the energy
and species transport equations (without convection) apply at the mesh nodes or cells that exist within the
body.
Generally speaking, entities are assigned to zone type classes in ANSYS FLUENT as shown in the following
table:
Model Dimension

Entity

Zone Type Class

3D

Body

Continuum

Face

Boundary

Face

Continuum

Edge

Boundary

2D

The Effect of Zone Type Specifications

As an example of the effect of zone type specifications on the specification of a computational model, consider
the geometry shown in Figure : Boundary Zone Type and Continuum Zone Type Specifications in ANSYS FLUENT (p. 24), which consists of a single volume in the shape of a straight, elliptical cylinder. The geometry
includes one body, three faces, two edges, and two vertices.

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

Figure: Boundary Zone Type and Continuum Zone Type Specifications in ANSYS FLUENT

The geometry shown in Figure : Boundary Zone Type and Continuum Zone Type Specifications in ANSYS FLUENT (p. 24) can be used to model many different types of transport problems, including fluid flow through
a straight, elliptical pipe and heat conduction through a solid, elliptical rod. The following table shows the
zone type specifications associated with the fluid flow problem using the geometry shown in Figure : Boundary
Zone Type and Continuum Zone Type Specifications in ANSYS FLUENT (p. 24).
Entity

Zone Class

Zone Type

face.1

Boundary

WALL

face.2

Boundary

INFLOW

face.3

Boundary

OUTFLOW

body.1

Continuum

FLUID

The following table shows the zone type specifications associated with the heat conduction problem using
the geometry shown in Figure : Boundary Zone Type and Continuum Zone Type Specifications in ANSYS FLUENT (p. 24).
Entity

Zone Class

Zone Type

face.1

Boundary

WALL

body.1

Continuum

SOLID

Note
For additional information about boundary (face) zones and continuum (cell) zones in ANSYS
FLUENT, refer to the documentation available under the Help menu within ANSYS FLUENT.

Standard Naming Conventions for Naming Named Selections

If you want to override the default zone type assignments (described in FLUENT Mesh Export (p. 20)) by using
Named Selections, naming conventions have been provided for you to follow. Use these conventions when
defining Named Selections in either the DesignModeler application or the Meshing application. By following

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The Effect of Zone Type Specifications

these naming conventions consistently, you can ensure that ANSYS FLUENT zone types will be assigned
correctly and predictably in the exported ANSYS FLUENT file.
When naming Named Selections, it is best practice to specify the appropriate name from the list below exactly
as shown (case-insensitive). In cases where the name shown below contains an underscore character, a hyphen
is also acceptable (for example, both EXHAUST_FAN and EXHAUST-FAN will work). (Note, however, that although
the Meshing application allows both hyphens and underscore characters to be used when defining Named
Selections, the DesignModeler application allows only underscore characters.)
The name of each Named Selection is filtered upon export such that only allowable characters remain. Allowable characters include all alphanumeric characters as well as the following special characters:
` ! $ % ^ & * _ + - = :< > .? /
All other characters, including spaces, are invalid. If an invalid character is used, it is replaced by an underscore
(_) upon export.
In addition, the export process does allow for partial matches and special abbreviations, which are described
in Zone Type Assignment (p. 26).
AXIS
DEAD
EXHAUST_FAN
FAN
FLUID
INLET_VENT
INTAKE_FAN
INTERFACE
INTERIOR
MASS_FLOW_INLET
OUTFLOW
OUTLET_VENT
PERIODIC
POROUS_JUMP
PRESSURE_FAR_FIELD
PRESSURE_INLET
PRESSURE_OUTLET
RADIATOR
RECIRCULATION_INLET
RECIRCULATION_OUTLET
SOLID
SYMMETRY
THIN
VELOCITY_INLET
WALL

Note
For details about the boundary (face) zone and continuum (cell) zone types in ANSYS FLUENT,
refer to the documentation available under the Help menu within ANSYS FLUENT.

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

Zone Type Assignment

This section describes zone naming and the zone type assignment process.

Zone Naming
By default, zones are named after the part and body from which they are derived. For example, part part
and body solid body will result in a zone name of part-solid_body. When the zone name is created:

Any invalid characters (such as the space in solid body) are replaced by an underscore character
(solid_body).

Names that begin with a digit are prefixed by zone.

If the part name and the body name are identical, only the body name is used to create the zone name.
The same rule applies to single body parts.

If a zone was created for a Named Selection (as described in Classes of Zone Types in ANSYS FLUENT (p. 22)),
the name of the zone is set to the name of the Named Selection.
In cases where the zone naming process could lead to conflicting zone names (for example, in a situation
where the potential exists for a zone name that is already in use to be used to name a new zone), one of
the following approaches is used:

If the zone type is not similar to the zone name in question, the zone type will be prefixed to the zone
name to make it unique. For example, an existing continuum zone named fluid and a new boundary
zone named fluid (with zone type WALL) will result in the boundary zone being renamed wall-fluid.

If the zone type is similar to the zone name in question, a unique integer will be suffixed to the zone
name, preceded by a period character (.). For example, an existing continuum zone named fluid and
a second continuum zone named fluid (with zone type FLUID) will result in the second continuum
zone being renamed fluid.1. Subsequent continuum zones named fluid (with zone type FLUID) will
be renamed fluid.2, fluid.3, and so on.

Zone Type Assignment Process

The zone type is derived from the zone name. To assign zone types, the string comparison operations detailed
below are performed during the export process. These string comparison operations, which correspond to
the naming conventions described in Standard Naming Conventions for Naming Named Selections (p. 24), are
applied in the order in which they are listed below (that is, at first an exact match is tested, after that a
partial match is tested, etc.) and are always case-insensitive. For example, fluid, Fluid, FLUid, and FluID are
all exact matches for the 'FLUID' string comparison and result in a zone type of FLUID being assigned.
When the search operation begins, it will start by searching the first portion (or sub-string) of the string and
if no match is found, it will search for a match anywhere in the string. For example, if a Named Selection
with the name wall_inlet_flange is defined, it will be exported as zone type WALL. The 'inlet' portion of the
name will have no effect on zone type assignment.
Once they are exported, names are all lowercase. The single quotation marks that are shown enclosing the
strings below are not considered during the string comparison operations.
1.

Exact matches are checked:

'AXIS'
'DEAD'
'EXHAUST_FAN'
'FAN'
'FLUID'

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Zone Type Assignment Process

'INLET_VENT'
'INTAKE_FAN'
'INTERFACE'
'INTERIOR'
'MASS_FLOW_INLET'
'OUTFLOW'
'OUTLET_VENT'
'PERIODIC'
'POROUS_JUMP'
'PRESSURE_FAR_FIELD'
'PRESSURE_INLET'
'PRESSURE_OUTLET'
'RADIATOR'
'RECIRCULATION_INLET'
'RECIRCULATION_OUTLET'
'SOLID'
'SYMMETRY'
'THIN'
'VELOCITY_INLET'
'WALL'

2.

Partial matches are considered only if an exact match was not found in step 1:
'AXIS'
'DEAD'
{'EXHAUST' && 'FAN'}
'FAN'
'FLUID'
{'INLET' && 'VENT'}
{'INTAKE' && 'FAN'}
'INTERFACE'
'INTERIOR'
{'MASS' && 'FLOW' && 'INLET'}
'OUTFLOW'
{'OUTLET' && 'VENT'}
'PERIODIC'
{'POROUS' && 'JUMP'}
{'PRESSURE' && 'FAR' && 'FIELD'}
{'PRESSURE' && 'INLET'}
{'PRESSURE' && 'OUTLET'}
'RADIATOR'
{'RECIRCULATION' && 'INLET'}
{'RECIRCULATION' && 'OUTLET'}
'SOLID'
'SYMMETRY'
{'VELOCITY' && 'INLET'}

3.

String comparisons to the special abbreviations listed in the table below are performed if no match
was found in step 1 or step 2. If an exact match to one of the strings listed in the table is found, the
corresponding zone type is assigned:
When a match for this string is found...

This zone type is assigned...

'CNDBY'

INTERFACE

'EXFAN'

EXHAUST FAN

'IFACE'

INTERFACE

'IN'

PRESSURE INLET

'INFAN'

INTAKE FAN

'INTER'

INTERFACE

'IVENT'

INLET VENT

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

When a match for this string is found...
'MASFI'

MASS FLOW INLET

'OUT'

PRESSURE OUTLET

'OVENT'

OUTLET VENT

'PER'

PERIODIC

'PFAR'

PRESSURE FAR FIELD

'POR'

FLUID

'PORJ'

POROUS JUMP

'PRESF'

PRESSURE FAR FIELD

'PRESI'

PRESSURE INLET

'PRESO'

PRESSURE OUTLET

'PRESS'

PRESSURE FAR FIELD

'RAD'

RADIATOR

'RINLT'

RECIRCULATION INLET

'ROUT'

RECIRCULATION OUTLET

'SLIDE'

INTERFACE

'SYM'

SYMMETRY

'SYMET'

SYMMETRY

'VELF'

VELOCITY INLET

'VELI'

4.

This zone type is assigned...

VELOCITY INLET

Partial matches are considered if no match was found in steps 1, 2, or 3. If a partial match to one of
the strings listed in the following table is found, the corresponding zone type is assigned:
When a match for this string is found...
'EXHAUST'

VELOCITY INLET

'OUTLET'

PRESSURE OUTLET

'THIN'

THIN

'WALL'

28

EXHAUST FAN

'INLET'

5.

This zone type is assigned...

WALL

If none of the string comparisons described in steps 1, 2, 3, or 4 result in a match, default zone types
are assigned as follows:

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Special Cases

Bodies (that is, continuum or cell zones) are assigned zone types as described in FLUENT Mesh Export (p. 20) (first, the Fluid/Solid material property setting is considered; next, body/part name;
and finally Named Selections).

Boundaries of bodies (that is, boundary or face zones) are assigned zone type WALL.

Special Cases
Be aware of the following special cases related to zone type assignment:

If Physics Preference (p. 51) is set to CFD and no other zone assignment has been explicitly defined, all
zones are exported as FLUID zones. See FLUENT Mesh Export (p. 20) for more information.

If the model includes an enclosure from the DesignModeler application, the enclosure body is assigned
a continuum zone type of FLUID by default.

A boundary zone type of INTERIOR is assigned automatically between two FLUID zones (sharing a
common boundary) at the time of mesh export. For this reason, you are not required to explicitly define
an INTERIOR zone in such cases.

A boundary zone type of WALL is assigned automatically between a FLUID zone and a SOLID zone at
the time of mesh export. For this reason, you are not required to explicitly define a WALL zone in such
cases. ANSYS FLUENT will automatically generate an additional WALL SHADOW zone when reading the
mesh file.

Due to a limitation concerning the definition of rotational/translational periodicity in ANSYS Workbench,

the boundary zone type PERIODIC is always replaced by the boundary zone type WALL during the mesh
export process. (However, the zone name is kept.) The suggested workaround is to manually redefine
periodic boundary conditions in ANSYS FLUENT. For details, refer to the documentation available under
the Help menu within ANSYS FLUENT.

Example of ANSYS FLUENT Workflow in ANSYS Workbench

This example illustrates the basic workflow you can follow to create a multibody part in the DesignModeler
application, mesh the model in the Meshing application, and export the mesh to ANSYS FLUENT. In the example, the bodies are renamed in the DesignModeler application, and Named Selections are defined in the
Meshing application. Based on these definitions, ANSYS FLUENT zone names/types are assigned correctly
and predictably (for both continuum and boundary zones) in the exported FLUENT mesh file.
First, the model is imported into the DesignModeler application. The model consists of nine solid bodies
after import. In the DesignModeler application, a multibody part is formed, the bodies are renamed, and all
bodies are assigned a material property of fluid. (See FLUENT Mesh Export (p. 20) for more information about
the Fluid/Solid material property in the DesignModeler application.) Shared Topology is also used in this
example. Refer to Figure : Multibody Part Containing All Fluid Bodies in the DesignModeler Application (p. 30).

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

Figure: Multibody Part Containing All Fluid Bodies in the DesignModeler Application

Next, the model is edited in the Meshing application. The patch conforming mesh method is applied with
inflation, and Named Selections are defined for boundary zones. Virtual Topology is also used in this example
to provide geometry cleanup. Refer to Figure : Named Selections Defined in Meshing Application (p. 31).

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Special Cases

Figure: Named Selections Defined in Meshing Application

Finally, the model is edited in ANSYS FLUENT. As shown in Figure : Boundary Zone Names and Types Transferred
to ANSYS FLUENT (p. 32), the boundary zone names and types are transferred as expected.

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

Figure: Boundary Zone Names and Types Transferred to ANSYS FLUENT

Similarly, continuum (or cell) zone names and types (in this case, all fluid) are transferred as expected. Refer
to Figure : Continuum Zone Names and Types Transferred to ANSYS FLUENT (p. 33).

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POLYFLOW Export

Figure: Continuum Zone Names and Types Transferred to ANSYS FLUENT

POLYFLOW Export
When you export a mesh file to POLYFLOW format (File> Export from the Meshing application main menu,
then Save as type POLYFLOW Input Files), a Patran-based mesh file with the extension .poly is created.
The exported mesh file is suitable for import into POLYFLOW.
Named Selections are not supported in the Patran-based format, so any Named Selections that were defined
will not appear in the POLYFLOW mesh. Instead, the information from the Named Selections will be mapped
into Material IDs for bodies and Load IDs for faces.
Element types that are supported in the exported POLYFLOW mesh are listed in the table below. Only linear
meshes are supported for POLYFLOW export.
Dimension

Supported Element Type

3D

8node hexahedral
4node tetrahedral
5node pyramid
6node wedge

2D

3node triangle
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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

Dimension

Supported Element Type

4node quadrilateral

Note
As an alternative, you can transfer a mesh from a Mesh system into a downstream POLYFLOW
system.

CGNS Export
When you export a mesh file to CGNS format (File> Export from the Meshing application main menu, then
Save as type CGNS Input Files), a CGNS mesh file with the extension .cgns is created. The exported mesh
file is suitable for import into a CGNS-compatible application.
Named Selections are supported in the CGNS file.
Element types that are supported in the exported CGNS mesh are listed in the table below. Only linear
meshes are supported for CGNS export.
Dimension

Supported Element Type

3D

8node hexahedral
4node tetrahedral
5node pyramid
6node wedge

2D

3node triangle
4node quadrilateral

ICEM CFD Export

When you export from the Meshing application to ANSYS ICEM CFD format (File> Export from the Meshing
application main menu, then Save as type ICEM CFD Input Files), an ANSYS ICEM CFD project file with the
extension .prj, along with a geometry file (*.tin) and/or mesh file (*.uns) will be written. This export functionality is designed such that consistent results are obtained between this export and the Workbench Readers
option in ANSYS ICEM CFD.
ANSYS ICEM CFD part names that appear in the exported files are derived from the ANSYS Workbench
geometry part and body names. In the case of a single body part, only the body name is used.

Note
The concept of a part in ANSYS Workbench and a part in ANSYS ICEM CFD is not the same. For
information about parts in ANSYS Workbench, refer to Conformal Meshing Between Parts (p. 6)
in the Meshing application help and Assemblies, Parts, and Bodies in the Mechanical help. For
information about parts in ANSYS ICEM CFD, refer to the documentation available under the Help
menu within ANSYS ICEM CFD.
Anytime you plan to export from the Meshing application to ANSYS ICEM CFD format, it is best practice to
define the desired part and body names for your model in the DesignModeler application prior to meshing
the model in the Meshing application. This is recommended because the ANSYS ICEM CFD part names will
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Rules Followed By the Export Process

be derived from the part and body names that are defined for the model when you initially open the model
in the Meshing application; the export process will ignore any renaming that occurs in the Meshing application.

Note
As an alternative to the export process described here, you can save your ANSYS Workbench files
(*.mechdat or *.meshdat) and use the Workbench Readers option to load the files into ANSYS
ICEM CFD (as long as ANSYS Workbench and ANSYS ICEM CFD are installed on the same machine).
(Legacy formats such as *.dsdb and *.cmdb are also supported.) Any defined Named Selections
will be imported into ANSYS ICEM CFD as subsets and if they overlap, it will not result in a failure.
In cases where there is overlap, you can clean up the subsets in ANSYS ICEM CFD and then convert
them into parts. For details about handling imported ANSYS Workbench files in ANSYS ICEM CFD,
refer to the documentation available under the Help menu within ANSYS ICEM CFD.

Rules Followed By the Export Process

When exporting to ANSYS ICEM CFD format, these rules are followed:

Note
The series of examples that follows this list illustrates many of the rules listed here.

To achieve unique ANSYS ICEM CFD part names in the ANSYS ICEM CFD format files, a unique integer
is suffixed to all ANSYS Workbench part/body names.

A single body part in ANSYS Workbench will appear as <part_name>_<part_index> in the ANSYS ICEM
CFD format files.

A multibody part in ANSYS Workbench will appear as <part_name>_<part_index>/<body_name>_<body_index> in the ANSYS ICEM CFD format files. The / character denotes hierarchy.

Bodies that are in a multibody part in ANSYS Workbench are put into an ANSYS ICEM CFD assembly.
The structuring in the ANSYS ICEM CFD format files reflects the part/body structure present in ANSYS
Workbench.

As long as they are not contained in Named Selections, faces that are shared between bodies in the
same multibody part in ANSYS Workbench are put into separate ANSYS ICEM CFD parts. This type of
shared face is named according to the bodies having the face in common, with the body names separated
by the # character.

Entities that are contained in a Named Selection are put into a separate ANSYS ICEM CFD part.

Note
For the export to work properly, an entity can be contained in only one Named Selection. If
an entity is contained in more than one Named Selection, the export fails.

For each body, an ANSYS ICEM CFD Material Point is created and put into the corresponding ANSYS
ICEM CFD part. The names of Material Points have the suffix _MATPOINT.

If a mesh has been generated, it is exported along with the geometry. In such cases, these additional
rules are followed:

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

As long as they are not contained in a Named Selection, node/line/surface mesh cells are associated
with the corresponding geometry part/body in ANSYS ICEM CFD.

As long as they are not contained in a Named Selection, volume mesh cells are associated with the
Material Point part.

Mesh cells that are associated with geometry entities that are contained in a Named Selection are
associated with the ANSYS ICEM CFD part that corresponds to that Named Selection.

The first example is a model consisting of four separate single body parts in ANSYS Workbench. The single
body parts are named fluid1, fluid2, fluid3, and fluid4. The table below shows the geometry in ANSYS
Workbench and the corresponding part names that will appear in ANSYS ICEM CFD:
This geometry in ANSYS Workbench...

Results in these part names in ANSYS ICEM

CFD...

A model consisting of four separate single body parts

named:
fluid1

FLUID1_1

fluid2

FLUID2_2

fluid3

FLUID3_3

fluid4

FLUID4_4

The figure below shows the model after it was meshed in the Meshing application:

Figure: Meshed Model (Four Separate Workbench Parts) Ready for Export to ANSYS ICEM CFD

Next, the model was exported from the Meshing application to ANSYS ICEM CFD format. In the figure below,
the corresponding .prj file has been opened in ANSYS ICEM CFD. Notice the names that are assigned to the
various entities in the ANSYS ICEM CFD format file:

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Rules Followed By the Export Process

Each body/part name has been suffixed with a unique integer to distinguish it from similarly named
bodies/parts. (Note that in this example, part_name is equal to body_name.)

Each single body part in ANSYS Workbench appears as <part_name>_<part_index> in the ANSYS ICEM
CFD format files. For example, the part named fluid1 in ANSYS Workbench has a part name of FLUID1_1
in ANSYS ICEM CFD, which appears as FLUID1_1_1 in the ANSYS ICEM CFD format files after the
part_index is added.

For each body in the ANSYS Workbench file (Fluid1, Fluid2, Fluid3, Fluid4), a Material Point has been
assigned (FLUID1_1_1_MATPOINT, FLUID2_2_1_MATPOINT, FLUID3_3_1_MATPOINT, FLUID4_4_1_MATPOINT).

Figure: Opening the .prj File (Four Separate Workbench Parts) in ANSYS ICEM CFD

The second example is a model consisting of one multibody part in ANSYS Workbench. The multibody part,
which is named Part 4, contains four bodies named fluid1, fluid2, fluid3, and fluid4. The table below shows
the geometry in ANSYS Workbench and the corresponding part names that will appear in ANSYS ICEM CFD:
This geometry in ANSYS Workbench...

Results in these part names in ANSYS ICEM CFD (the

/ character denotes hierarchy)...

A model consisting of one multibody part named

Part 4, containing four bodies named:
fluid1

PART_4_1/FLUID1_3

fluid2

PART_4_1/FLUID2_2

fluid3

PART_4_1/FLUID3_1

fluid4

PART_4_1/FLUID4_4

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

Figure: Meshed Model (One Multibody Workbench Part) Ready for Export to ANSYS ICEM CFD

Next, the model was exported from the Meshing application to ANSYS ICEM CFD format. In the figure below,
the corresponding .prj file has been opened in ANSYS ICEM CFD. Notice the names that are assigned to the
various entities in the ANSYS ICEM CFD format file:

Each body/part name has been suffixed with a unique integer to distinguish it from similarly named
bodies/parts.

Each multibody part in ANSYS Workbench appears as <part_name>_<part_index>/<body_name>_<body_index> in the ANSYS ICEM CFD format files. For example, the fluid1 body in Part 4 in ANSYS Workbench
has a part name of PART_4_1/FLUID1_3 in the ANSYS ICEM CFD format files.

The bodies that are in the multibody part in the ANSYS Workbench file (fluid1, fluid2, fluid3, and fluid4)
have been put into an ANSYS ICEM CFD assembly named Part_4.

The faces that are shared between the various pairs of bodies have been named FLUID2_2#FLUID1_3,
FLUID3_1#FLUID2_2, and FLUID3_1#FLUID4_4.

For each body in the ANSYS Workbench file (fluid1, fluid2, fluid3, fluid4), a Material Point has been assigned (FLUID1_3_MATPOINT, FLUID2_2_MATPOINT, FLUID3_1_MATPOINT, FLUID4_4_MATPOINT).

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Rules Followed By the Export Process

Figure: Opening the .prj File (One Multibody Workbench Part) in ANSYS ICEM CFD

The third (and final) example involves a model for which four Named Selections are defined in the DesignModeler application. The model is meshed in the Meshing application, exported to ANSYS ICEM CFD format,
and opened in ANSYS ICEM CFD.
The first figure shows the model after it was meshed in the Meshing application.

Figure: Meshed Model (with Named Selections) Ready for Export to ANSYS ICEM CFD

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

The next four figures show the entit(ies) in the model that are contained in each of the four Named Selections.
In the figure below, the Fluid1_Fluid2 Named Selection is highlighted.

Figure: Fluid1_Fluid2 Named Selection

In the figure below, the InterfaceSolidFluid2 Named Selection is highlighted.

Figure: InterfaceSolidFluid2 Named Selection

In the figure below, the SharedEdge Named Selection is highlighted.

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Rules Followed By the Export Process

Figure: SharedEdge Named Selection

In the figure below, the SharedVertices Named Selection is highlighted.

Figure: SharedVertices Named Selection

Next, the model was exported from the Meshing application to ANSYS ICEM CFD format. In the figure below,
the corresponding .prj file has been opened in ANSYS ICEM CFD. Notice the names that are assigned to the
various entities in the ANSYS ICEM CFD format file:

Each body/part name has been suffixed with a unique integer to distinguish it from similarly named
bodies/parts.

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

The bodies that are in the multibody part in the ANSYS Workbench file (Solid, Fluid1, and Fluid2) have
been put into an ANSYS ICEM CFD assembly named Part_1.

The face that is shared between SOLID_1 and FLUID1_2 has been named SOLID_1#FLUID1_2.

Because Fluid1_Fluid2, InterfaceSolidFluid2, SharedEdge, and SharedVertices are all Named Selections
in the ANSYS Workbench file, each of them has been put into a separate ANSYS ICEM CFD part.

For each body in the ANSYS Workbench file (Solid, Fluid1, Fluid2, Solid), a Material Point has been assigned (SOLID_1_MATPOINT, FLUID1_2_MATPOINT, FLUID2_3_MATPOINT, and SOLID_2_1_MATPOINT).

Figure: Opening the .prj File (with Named Selections) in ANSYS ICEM CFD

Note
For additional information, refer to the documentation available under the Help menu within
ANSYS ICEM CFD.

Exporting Faceted Geometry to TGrid

You can use the Meshing application to export faceted geometry for use in TGrid:
1.

Generate the mesh.

2.

Select File> Export from the main menu.

3.

In the Save As dialog box, choose a directory and specify a file name for the file. Then choose TGrid
Faceted Geometry File from the Save as type drop-down menu and click Save.

As a result, a file with the extension .tgf is created. The exported file can be imported into TGrid, where you
can use such features as the TGrid wrapper utility.

Note
The .tgf file has the same format as a .msh file and will be recognized as a "Mesh File" when read
into TGrid 5.2 (File/Read/Mesh... menu item).
Upon export, a TGrid zone is created for each body that was present in the Meshing application (i.e., one
zone per body). To achieve unique TGrid zone names in the TGrid format file, these zones are named geobody:#-$PART_NAME:$BODY_NAME, where:

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Exporting Faceted Geometry to TGrid

# is a unique integer

$PART_NAME is the name of the part

$BODY_NAME is the name of the body

If $PART_NAME and $BODY_NAME are the same, the name appears only once in the exported zone name.
In addition, only part and body names that were imported into the Meshing application are used in the exported zone name. For example, names that were initially defined in the DesignModeler application or initially
appeared in the Tree Outline when a CAD file was loaded directly into the Meshing application will be used.
Any subsequent renaming that occurs in the Meshing application will not be taken into account in the exported zone names.
If any Named Selections are defined, the export is handled as follows:

A TGrid face zone is created for each Named Selection that contains at least one face (i.e., one zone for
all faces in the Named Selection). To achieve unique TGrid face zone names in the TGrid format file,
these face zones are named ns:#-$NAME, where:

# is a unique integer
$NAME is the name of the Named Selection

A TGrid edge zone is created for each Named Selection that contains at least one edge (i.e., one zone
for all edges in the Named Selection). To achieve unique TGrid edge zone names in the TGrid format
file, these edge zones are named ns:#-$NAME, where:

# is a unique integer

$NAME is the name of the Named Selection

Note
If a Named Selection contains both faces and edges, two zones are created. The name of the face
zone will contain the suffix -faces, and the name of the edge zone will contain the suffix -edges.
Keep the following information in mind when exporting to TGrid:

The quality of the exported facets is derived from the CAD system. You can use the Facet Quality option
(Tools > Options > DesignModeler > Graphics > Facet Quality) to control the quality of the exported
facets (the higher the setting, the higher the quality). However, be aware that higher settings create
large numbers of facets, which can slow down the Meshing application.

The part, body, and Named Selection names that were present in the Meshing application are exported
in all lowercase characters for use in the corresponding TGrid zone names.

Vertices (regardless of whether they are contained in a Named Selection) are ignored.

The zone type of each TGrid face zone is always GEOMETRY, and the zone type of each edge zone is
always INTERIOR-EDGE.

The name of each Named Selection is filtered upon export such that only allowable characters remain
in the name of the TGrid zone. Allowable characters include all alphanumeric characters as well as the
following special characters:
` ! $ % ^ & * _ + - = :< > .? /
All other characters, including spaces, are invalid. If an invalid character is used, it is replaced by a hyphen
(-) upon export.

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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

When the same entity is a member of more than one Named Selection, those Named Selections are
said to be overlapping. If you are exporting a mesh into the TGrid, ANSYS FLUENT, POLYFLOW, CGNS,
or ICEM CFD format and overlapping Named Selections are detected, the export will fail and you must
resolve the overlapping Named Selections before proceeding. For details, see Showing Geometry in
Overlapping Named Selections (p. 226).

The figures below illustrate the process of exporting a mesh from the Meshing application to TGrid. Figure : Part, Body, and Named Selection Names Defined in the Meshing Application (p. 44) shows the model in
the Meshing application. The geometry consists of a multibody part named AeroValve, and the three bodies
that AeroValve contains are named Outletbody, Valve, and Inletbody. Notice that three Named Selections
have been defined and are highlighted in the Geometry window: Inlet, Outlet, and Valve_opening.

Figure: Part, Body, and Named Selection Names Defined in the Meshing Application

After the model is meshed, the mesh is exported as described above. Figure : Zone Names Transferred to
TGrid (p. 45) shows TGrid's Surface Retriangulation panel and graphics display window after the exported
.tgf file is imported into TGrid. Notice the names that are assigned to the various entities in the TGrid format
file:

Each zone name includes a unique integer to distinguish it from similarly named zones.

For each body in the Meshing application, a TGrid zone was created. The zone name for each body
follows the geo-body:#-$PART_NAME:$BODY_NAME naming convention. For example, the Outletbody
body in the AeroValve multibody part was given a zone name of geo-body:1-aerovalve:outletbody in
the TGrid format file.

For each Named Selection that contains at least one face in the Meshing application (in this case, Inlet
and Outlet), a TGrid face zone was created. The zone name for each face zone follows the ns:#-$NAME
naming convention. For example, the Inlet Named Selection was given a face zone name of ns:1355inlet in the TGrid format file.

Similarly, for each Named Selection that contains at least one edge in the Meshing application (in this
case, Valve_opening), a TGrid edge zone was created. The zone name for each edge zone follows the

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ANSYS Workbench and Mechanical APDL Application Meshing Differences

ns:#-$NAME naming convention. In this case, the Valve_opening Named Selection was given an edge
zone name of ns:1357-valve_opening in the TGrid format file.

Figure: Zone Names Transferred to TGrid

ANSYS Workbench and Mechanical APDL Application Meshing Differences

While the corresponding meshing algorithms originated from the meshing capabilities present in the
Mechanical APDL application, over time these algorithms have diverged from those in the PREP7 meshing.
The divergence was due to the different focus of early versions of the Mechanical application (then known
as DesignSpace), which was previously concerned with linear elastic materials, linear modal, linear buckling,
and steady-state heat transfer analyses. The ANSYS Workbench and its Meshing application are now being
transitioned to support a full general-purpose, finite element code that supports all levels of multiphysics
disciplines. The Shape Checking option found in the Advanced meshing control allows you to set the level
of shape checking the ANSYS Workbench will perform in generating the mesh. This does not mean that
elements generated by the default value of the Shape Checking control's Standard setting cannot be used
to solve other idealizations. However, it does mean the default setting of the Shape Checking control will
produce meshes for the ANSYS Workbench that easily pass the requirements necessary to fulfill the original
DesignSpace product mission.
The default shape checking acceptance criterion that is used by the ANSYS Workbench was produced by
an extensive and thorough study that correlated different element shape metrics to the quality of the solution
achieved with a distorted mesh. The ANSYS Workbench shape parameters included many that PREP7
meshing uses in the shape-checking (SHPP command) portion of the meshing code. The study concluded
that the Mechanical APDL application, which supports many different types of element formulations (such
as p-elements), must enforce stricter shape parameter values than the ANSYS Workbench, which only needed
to support the solid and shell elements for the aforementioned analyses. One particular shape metric predicted
whether the quality of the element would affect the numerical solution time and again. This metric was the
calculation of the Jacobian ratio at the integration points of the element. At a certain level of the Jacobian
ratio, we determined that the element solution would degrade and give results that would produce an unRelease 12.1 - 2009 SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
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The Meshing Application in ANSYS Workbench

acceptable result. While many other shape metrics are used for the generation of the mesh in the ANSYS
Workbench, the Jacobian ratio is the primary metric used to determine the acceptability of the mesh.
When elements are imported into the ANSYS environment, the shape checking command is turned off. This
is done for two reasons:
1.

The elements have already undergone extensive shape checking in the Workbench product.

2.

As stated previously, the ANSYS environment requires different and much more conservative criteria
for a few element shapes and a few idealizations. However, in the vast majority of cases the metrics
used in the ANSYS Workbench are valid.

The major difference is that the Mechanical APDL application requires that the Jacobian ratio be valid at the
corner nodes of the elements (this is to support the p-element technology). The Aggressive setting of the
Shape Checking control will check the Jacobian ratios at the nodes.
The ANSYS Workbench's quality acceptance plan includes solving hundreds of problems where the numerical solution is known. The solution produced by the ANSYS Workbench is compared to the analytical or
test solution of the model. Besides these engineering tests, the meshing process is tested against over a
thousand user models. These models are set up to seek out errors related to element distortion.
We feel that the current ANSYS Workbench shape metric will produce results that are minimally affected by
errors due to element distortions for linear static, modal, and transient analysis. It is suggested that the
Shape Checking control's Aggressive setting be used if the mesh is intended for large deformation or
material nonlinear analysis inside the ANSYS environment.

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Mesh Controls Overview

When in the Mechanical application, your part or multibody part is automatically meshed at solve time. The
default element size is determined based on the size of the bounding box, which is the smallest box that
the part or assembly will fit in (for details, see the description of Initial Size Seed), as well as the proximity
of other topologies, body curvature, and the complexity of the feature. If necessary, the fineness of the mesh
is adjusted up to four times (eight times for an assembly) to achieve a successful mesh using the assembly's
bounding box first, then the part's bounding box in the second pass.
You can also create the mesh before solving. To do this, select Mesh from the Tree Outline and right-click
your mouse. From the context menu, choose Generate Mesh. You should keep in mind, that if you create
a mesh using the Patch Independent mesher, then change boundary conditions, the meshing will need to
be redone and the time spent in meshing will be wasted.
In addition, mesh controls are available to assist you in fine tuning the mesh to your analysis. These controls
are described in the sections that follow.
Mesh control overview topics include:
Global and Local Mesh Controls
Understanding the Influence of the Advanced Size Function

Global and Local Mesh Controls

If you want more control over the mesh, you can get it by using mesh control tools. Both global mesh
controls and local mesh controls are available. Global mesh controls are located in the Details View when
the Mesh object is selected in the Tree Outline. To access the local mesh control tools, highlight the Mesh
object, then either click the right mouse button and choose Insert> {<choose a mesh control tool>}, or
choose a mesh control from the Mesh Control context toolbar.
In general, in cases where a numeric value can be specified for an option but a value of 0 would not make
sense within the context of the option, specifying 0 resets the option to its default. For example, the Curvature
Normal Angle option accepts a value from 0 to 180, but since 0 does not make sense within its context,
specifying 0 resets Curvature Normal Angle to its default. On the other hand, setting Number of Retries
to -1 resets the option to its default because 0 is a valid value for Number of Retries.

Understanding the Influence of the Advanced Size Function

An important aspect of meshing in Workbench is the size function. The size function that the mesher uses
is determined by the setting of the Advanced Size Function feature. The Advanced Size Function feature
and the mesh method being used (see Use Advanced Size Function), which is available as a global mesh
control in the Sizing group, provides greater control over how the mesh size is distributed on a face or
within a body. Turning on the Advanced Size Function provides much more accurate sizing information to
the mesher.

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Mesh Controls Overview

Meshing with the Advanced Size Function Off

When the Use Advanced Size Function control is off, the mesher uses the value of the element size property
to determine a starting point for the mesh size. The value of the element size property can be automatically
computed by the mesher (Default; refer to the description of the bounding box) or user-defined. When
meshing begins, edges are meshed with this size initially, and then they are refined for curvature and 2D
proximity. Next, mesh-based defeaturing and pinch control execution occurs. The final edge mesh is then
passed into a least-squares fit size function, which guides face and volume meshing.

Meshing with the Advanced Size Function On

When the Advanced Size Function is on, the following factors contribute to the final mesh distribution obtained by the mesher:

The value of the Min Size (p. 58) option

The value of the Max Face Size (p. 58) option

The value of the Max Tet Size (p. 58) option

The value of the Growth Rate (p. 58) option

The size source, which can be any of the following:

Edge and face curvature, based on the normal angle variation between adjacent mesh elements in
2D (edge) or 3D (face)

Edge and face proximity, based on the number of element layers created between a gap between
edges in 2D or between faces in 3D

Local element sizing on selected edges, faces, or bodies

Sphere of influence scoped to a selected body or vertex (sphere of influence cannot be scoped to
an edge or face when the Advanced Size Function is on)

Body of influence scoped to a selected body

Influence of a swept body

An advanced size function is computed when meshing begins. The mesher examines the size sources and,
based on the smallest size obtained at the location of the sources, the distance to each source, and the
growth rate, the smallest size at each point is selected and stored in a background grid. The mesher uses
the sizes from the background grid to generate a mesh. The background grid is refined automatically to
provide size distribution to the mesher.

Note
The influences of scoped local element sizing, sphere of influence scoped to a body, body of influence scoped to a body, and existing meshes are always active when the Use Advanced Size
Function control is on. In contrast, you have explicit control over whether you want to activate
the influences of curvature, proximity, both, or neither (fixed).

Note
The advanced size function works within parts, but not across parts.

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Changes to the Details View When the Advanced Size Function Is On

Note
When the advanced size function is on, the Pinch feature takes 90% of the value of Min Size and
uses it as its Pinch Tolerance by default. This differs from the tolerance used by the default meshbased defeaturing, which is 50% of the value of Min Size.

Overriding Advanced Size Function Minimum and Maximum Sizes

One of the most important parameters related to the advanced size function is minimum size (Min Size (p. 58)
control). Setting a value for Min Size that is too small may lead to an unnecessarily fine mesh and longer
meshing time. On the other hand, setting a value that is too large may mean that important features are
not captured by the mesh. You should also be concerned about setting a minimum size that is smaller than
the geometry tolerances or defeaturing tolerances as the mesher could refine the mesh smaller than
holes/gaps in the geometry, thereby making it difficult for meshing to be successful.
Although Min Size is set to a certain value, a smaller sized mesh may be obtained locally if:

A Hard scoped size (on an edge, face, or body) has been assigned that is smaller than Min Size

A body of influence or sphere of influence has been assigned, and the assigned size is smaller than Min
Size

In the two cases above, the size function will automatically reduce Min Size locally to ensure that the size
transition between the scoped entity and the surrounding mesh follows the prescribed size function Growth
Rate (p. 58).
However, you should also be aware of the following cases, in which the size function will NOT reduce the
Min Size locally:

A case involving a geometric feature (edge, face) that is smaller than the Min Size (when Pinch is not
activated)

A case involving a swept mesh in a multibody part, where the boundary of the swept mesh is smaller
than the Min Size due to a reduction of cross-sectional size in the swept region

For the case involving small geometric features, you must either remove the small features or assign scoped
sizes to them to ensure a smooth size transition. For the case involving a swept mesh in a multibody part,
you must add additional sizing controls to ensure a smooth size transition between swept regions where a
cross-sectional reduction results in a mesh size that is smaller than the Min Size.
Similarly, you can scope a Hard size that is larger than the values that are specified by the Advanced Size
Function's Max Face Size (p. 58) and Max Tet Size (p. 58) parameters, as long as the size function produces
a smooth size transition away from the scoped entity.

Changes to the Details View When the Advanced Size Function Is On

The Details View changes when the Use Advanced Size Function control is on. Additional controls appear
that are dependent on the selected setting. In addition, the Element Size control is no longer exposed and
is replaced by the Min Size, Max Face Size, and Max Tet Size controls. These controls are used by the
Advanced Size Function independent of the Element Size.
Similar to the Element Size control, the value of the Max Face Size control can be input by the user or
automatically computed by the mesher (Default; refer to the description of the bounding box). Furthermore,
if you specified a value for Element Size before setting the Use Advanced Size Function control to on,
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Mesh Controls Overview

that size value will be carried over to the Max Face Size control field (where you can modify it if desired).
Similarly, the Max Face Size control and Element Size control will share the same Default value.

Controls Exposed When the Advanced Size Function Is On

For information about the individual controls that are exposed in the Details View when Advanced Size
Function is on, see Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53).

Using the Advanced Size Function with Specialized Meshing

Keep the following information in mind when using the Advanced Size Function with specialized meshing:

There are certain situations in which using the Advanced Size Function is highly recommended. For
example, for models involving 2D inflation or inflation on a swept body, a smoother transition of elements
growing away from the boundary cap is obtained when the Advanced Size Function is on. This is due
to the injection of the boundary cap information into the background grid. (Note that for 2D inflation,
this effect is applicable only to quadrilateral meshes. The Advanced Size Function does not support 2D
inflation for triangular meshes.)

If you are using the Advanced Size Function with sweeping for a CFD problem and poor quality elements
are generated in the swept mesh, adding a local hard edge sizing control to the swept region is the
recommended approach to prevent the poor quality elements. However in some cases, particularly
those in which proximity is not needed, you can use an alternative approach:

Using Local mesh sizing controls, scope a body sizing control to the tet body and set the value of
Curvature Normal Angle to 18.

In the Global mesh sizing controls, set the value of Curvature Normal Angle to 90.

(Optionally) in the Global mesh sizing controls, set the value of Relevance Center to Medium to
obtain a finer mesh in the swept region.

In models with swept regions, the Advanced Size Function will affect the mesh gradation in the swept
region. You can override this effect by specifying any bias value (including a value of 1) in the Details
View when defining the Sweep method.

Usage Notes for the Advanced Size Function

Keep the following additional information in mind when using the Advanced Size Function:

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When the Advanced Size Function is on, Hard edge size information is injected into the background
grid during the meshing process. Transitions between Hard edges (or any edge to which Bias
Type/Bias Factor has been applied) and adjacent edges and face meshes may be abrupt. Edges with
Hard edge sizing or bias will also override the Max Face Size and Max Tet Size properties.

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Global Mesh Controls

Global mesh controls are located in the Details View when the Mesh object is selected in the Tree Outline.
Global settings are categorized into the following groups and are available through drop-down menus:
Defaults Group
Sizing Group
Inflation Group
Advanced Group
Pinch Group
Statistics Group

Note
The CFX-Mesh Method control ignores all other mesh controls described in the Meshing application help. The CFX-Mesh method has been superseded by the Patch Conforming tet method,
and is no longer recommended. Refer to CFX-Mesh Method Control for more information.

Defaults Group
The Defaults group allows you to control these options:
Physics Preference
Solver Preference
Relevance

Physics Preference
The Physics Preference option allows you to establish how Workbench will perform meshing based on the
physics of the analysis type that you specify. Available options are: Mechanical, Electromagnetic, CFD, and
Explicit. The value of the Physics Preference option sets the default for various meshing controls, as detailed
in the following table.

Note
The solver options for the Mechanical Physics Preference appear within the Mechanical application only, and only under certain circumstances. See Solver Preference (p. 52) for more information.

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Global Mesh Controls

Physics Preference
Mechanical

CFD

ANSYS
Mechanical Solver

ANSYS Rigid Dynamics

Solver

Electromagnetic

Relevance
Center

Coarse

Coarse

Medium

Coarse

Coarse

Coarse

Medium

Element Size

Default

Default

Default

Default

Default

Default

Default

Initial Size
Seed

Active Assembly

Active Assembly

Active
Assembly

Active Assembly

Active Assembly

Active Assembly

Active
Assembly

Smoothing

Medium

Medium

Medium

Medium

Medium

Medium

High

Transition

Fast

Fast

Fast

Slow

Slow

Slow

Slow

Span Angle
Center

Coarse

Coarse

Coarse

Fine

Fine

Fine

Coarse

Use Advanced
Size Function

Off

Off

Off

On:
Curvature

On:
Curvature

On:
Curvature

Off

Transition Ratio

0.272

0.272

0.272

0.77

0.272

0.272

0.272

Inflation Algorithm

Pre

Pre

Pre

Pre

Pre

Pre

Pre

Collision
Avoidance

Stair Stepping

Stair
Stepping

Stair
Stepping

Stair Stepping

Layer
Compression

Stair
Stepping

Stair
Stepping

Shape Checking

Standard
Mechanical

Standard
Mechanical

Electromagnetics

CFD

CFD

CFD

Explicit

Element Midside Nodes

Program
Controlled

Dropped
(Readonly)

Kept

Dropped

Dropped

Dropped

Dropped

Straight Sided
Elements

No

N/A

Yes

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Number of Retries

Rigid Body Behavior

Dimensionally Reduced

Dimensionally
Reduced

Dimensionally
Reduced

Dimensionally
Reduced

Dimensionally
Reduced

Dimensionally
Reduced

Full
Mesh

Parameter

CFX Solver

Fluent
Solver

POLYFLOW
Solver

Explicit

Refer to the Meshing Overview (p. 1) section for further details about physics based meshing.

Solver Preference
Choosing CFD as your Physics Preference causes a Solver Preference option to appear in the Details View
of the Mesh folder. The value of Solver Preference can be CFX, Fluent, or POLYFLOW. Based on the value,
the Meshing application sets certain defaults that will result in a mesh that is more favorable to the CFX,

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Use Advanced Size Function

Fluent, or POLYFLOW solver, respectively. Controls with defaults that are affected by the Solver Preference
setting include:

Collision Avoidance

Transition Ratio

Within the Mechanical application only, choosing Mechanical as your Physics Preference also causes a
Solver Preference option to appear, providing the analysis system is a Transient Structural (ANSYS) or
Transient Structural (MBD) system during the initial geometry attach. In such cases, Solver Preference can
be set to either ANSYS Mechanical or ANSYS Rigid Dynamics. Controls with defaults that are affected by
the Solver Preference setting include:

Element Midside Nodes

Other differences (such as what happens when you insert a Method control) are dependent on the behavior
of the geometry bodies and the Rigid Body Behavior setting. See Rigid Body Meshing (p. 205) for more information.
Refer to Physics Preference (p. 51) for more information about defaults that are set based on Physics Preference and Solver Preference.

Relevance
The Relevance option allows you to control the fineness of the mesh for the entire model.
To indicate a preference toward high speed (-100) or high accuracy (+100) solutions, use the slider located
in the Details View next to the header details, Relevance. To see the slider, click the Relevance value. This
number is used in the report to document the relevance setting. The finer the mesh, the more accurate the
result. A coarse mesh is less accurate. Keep in mind, however, a finer mesh uses more elements, more time,
and ultimately, more system resources.

Sizing Group
The Sizing group allows you to control these options:
Use Advanced Size Function
Relevance Center
Element Size
Initial Size Seed
Smoothing
Transition
Span Angle Center
Minimum Edge Length

Use Advanced Size Function

The Use Advanced Size Function option provides greater control over sizing functions. Advanced size
functions control the following properties:

Angles between normals for adjacent mesh elements (curvature-type size functions)

Number of mesh elements employed in the gaps between two geometric entities (proximity-type size
function)

Gradation between minimum and maximum sizes based on a specified growth rate (all size functions)

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Global Mesh Controls

Options for Use Advanced Size Function are Off, On: Proximity and Curvature, On: Proximity, On:
Curvature and On: Fixed. The default is Off, unless Physics Preference (p. 51) is set to CFD, in which case
the default is On: Curvature. The option you choose determines which refinement mechanisms are activated
in the Advanced Size Function, as described in the following sections.
Controls that are common to all types of advanced size function include Min Size, Max Face Size, Max Tet
Size, and Growth Rate. The Min Size represents the global minimum allowable element size. The Max Face
Size and Max Tet Size specifications represent, respectively, the global maximum allowable size of the
elements created by the free surface meshers of the supported methods and the maximum allowable size
tet elements. The Growth Rate represents the increase in element edge length with each succeeding layer
of elements from the edge or face. For example, a growth rate of 1.2 results in a 20% increase in element
edge length with each succeeding layer of elements.
Advanced Size Function options are applicable to the following mesh methods:
Volume Meshing:

General Sweep (Surface mesh only)

Thin Sweep (Surface mesh only)

Hex Dominant (Surface mesh only)

Patch Conforming Tetrahedron

Patch Independent Tetrahedron

Note
The Advanced Size Function controls are passed to the Patch Independent Tetrahedron method.
That is, the Patch Independent Tetrahedron method does not use the same Advanced Size
Function algorithms; rather, this method interprets the controls and uses internal algorithms to
respect the user settings.

Note
The General Sweep, Thin Sweep, and Hex Dominant mesh methods use the Advanced Size
Function in the creation of the surface mesh, but the volume mesh does not use them.
Surface Meshing:

Quad Dominant

All Triangles

Note
For an overview of how using the Advanced Size Function influences mesh distribution, refer to
Understanding the Influence of the Advanced Size Function (p. 47).
Advanced Size Function topics include:
Curvature Size Function
Proximity Size Function
Fixed Size Function
Specifying Size Function Options
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Use Advanced Size Function

Curvature Size Function

The curvature size function examines curvature on edges and faces and computes element sizes on these
entities such that the size will not violate the maximum size or the curvature normal angle, which are either
automatically computed by the mesher or defined by the user.
The curvature size function is defined by the following properties:

Curvature Normal Angle

Min Size

Max Face Size

Max Tet Size

Growth Rate

The Curvature Normal Angle is the maximum allowable angle that one element edge is allowed to span.
The other controls are common to all types of advanced size functions.
For information about valid ranges and defaults for the size function controls discussed in this section, see
Specifying Size Function Options (p. 56).

Proximity Size Function

The proximity size function allows you to specify the minimum number of element layers created in regions
that constitute gaps in the model. For the purposes of specifying a proximity size function, a gap is
defined in one of two ways:

The internal volumetric region between two faces

The area between two opposing boundary edges of a face

The proximity size function is defined by the following properties:

Proximity Accuracy

Num Cells Across Gap

Min Size

Max Face Size

Max Tet Size

Growth Rate

Proximity Accuracy controls the accuracy level of proximity size function calculations that are performed
between pairs of facets. The Num Cells Across Gap is the number of layers of elements to be generated in
the gaps. The other controls are common to all types of advanced size functions.

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Note
The proximity size function does not recognize the proximity between certain entities in cases
involving voids in a model. For example, the proximity between a vertex and an edge on a face
in 2D (below left) is ignored if the triangle is a void in the rectangle. Similarly, the proximity
between a vertex or edge and a face in 3D (below right) is ignored if the prism and the block are
voids in a larger domain. The two-headed arrows in the figure indicate the areas where proximity
is ignored. (If these bodies were grouped into multibody parts, the proximity between the entities
would be respected.)

Figure: Proximity Size Function Limitation

For information about valid ranges and defaults for the size function controls discussed in this section, see
Specifying Size Function Options (p. 56).

Fixed Size Function

The fixed size function does not refine the mesh based on curvature or proximity. Rather, you specify minimum and maximum sizes and gradation is provided between sizes based on a specified growth rate.
The fixed size function is defined by the following properties:

Min Size

Max Face Size

Max Tet Size

Growth Rate

All of these controls are common to all types of advanced size functions.
With the fixed size function, you must use size controls to control mesh sizes locally, as opposed to the
curvature and proximity size functions, which refine the sizes locally based on curvature and proximity of
features in the geometry.

Specifying Size Function Options

The value of the Use Advanced Size Function control (Off, On: Proximity and Curvature, On: Proximity,
On: Curvature, or On: Fixed) determines which size function options are available in the Details View. The

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Use Advanced Size Function

default is Off, unless Physics Preference (p. 51) is set to CFD, in which case the default is On: Curvature. The
following options are available:
Curvature Normal Angle
Proximity Accuracy
Num Cells Across Gap
Min Size
Max Face Size
Max Tet Size
Growth Rate

Curvature Normal Angle

Curvature Normal Angle is the maximum allowable angle that one element edge is allowed to span.
Available only when Use Advanced Size Function is set to either On: Proximity and Curvature or On:
Curvature. You can specify a value from 0 to 180 degrees or accept the default. (A value of 0 resets the
option to its default.) The default is calculated based on the values of the Relevance (p. 53) and Span Angle
Center (p. 60) options.

Proximity Accuracy
Proximity Accuracy allows you to control the accuracy level of proximity size function calculations that are
performed between pairs of facets. For each pair, the proximity algorithm begins with a base facet from
which it determines a search range. The search range is determined by calculating Max Face Size (p. 58) *
Num Cells Across Gap (p. 57) * Proximity Accuracy. The logic behind the search algorithm is that proximity
does not need to be detected beyond Max Face Size (p. 58) * Num Cells Across Gap (p. 57) since elements
with sizes of Max Face Size will be used in such regions. The Proximity Accuracy value acts as a controller.
The Proximity Accuracy control is available only when Use Advanced Size Function is set to either On:
Proximity and Curvature or On: Proximity. You can specify a value from 0 (faster, less accurate) to 1 (slower,
more accurate). The default is 0.5.

Num Cells Across Gap

Num Cells Across Gap is the minimum number of layers of elements to be generated in the gaps. Available
only when Use Advanced Size Function is set to either On: Proximity and Curvature or On: Proximity.
You can specify a value from 1 to 100 or accept the default. The default is calculated based on the value of
the Relevance (p. 53) option. If Relevance is 0, the default of Num Cells Across Gap is 3.
Keep the following information in mind:

The value of Num Cells Across Gap is an estimate; it may not be exactly satisfied in every gap. When
using Mapped Face Meshing or sweeping, interval assignment may change the number of divisions
(i.e., elements or cells) in a gap.

In cases involving Patch Conforming tetra meshing and Swept meshing, the proximity size function
drives the surface mesh size distribution as follows. The value of Num Cells Across Gap is applicable
to both 3D proximity (i.e., the number of 3D elements/cells between two faces in a body) and 2D
proximity (i.e., the number of 2D elements/cells between two edges on a face), and the global Growth
Rate value is automatically taken into account in the gap. However, the 3D proximity size function affects
only the surface mesh in the gap, and assumes the volume mesh will use the global settings. Hence, if
you define local mesh sizing on a body and specify local Element Size or local Growth Rate settings
that differ drastically from the global Advanced Size Function settings (or if inflation is specified), the
final number of cells across a 3D gap may deviate from the specified Num Cells Across Gap value.

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When Method is set to Automatic, the proximity calculation in swept bodies may result in an underrefined mesh. You can use inflation layers or a scoped fixed size at such locations to produce a sufficient
number of elements/cells.

Min Size
Min Size is the minimum size that the size function will return to the mesher. Some element sizes may be
smaller than this based on local feature sizes or other geometric anomalies. Available when Use Advanced
Size Function is on. Specify a value greater than 0 or accept the default.
Refer to Overriding Advanced Size Function Minimum and Maximum Sizes (p. 49) for related information.

Max Face Size

Max Face Size is the maximum size that the size function will return to the surface mesher. Element faces
may be larger than this size based on hard edge sizes or floating point arithmetic. Available when Use Advanced Size Function is on. Specify a value greater than 0 or accept the default. The default is calculated
based on the value of the Relevance (p. 53) option and the diagonal of the bounding box specified by the
Initial Size Seed (p. 58) control (applicable to Full Assembly and Active Assembly options only).
Refer to Overriding Advanced Size Function Minimum and Maximum Sizes (p. 49) for related information.

Max Tet Size

In cases where you want a larger element size in the interior of a volume than the size that is defined as
the maximum for the surface mesh, you can use the Max Tet Size option to define an upper limit for the
elements as the mesh transitions into the volume. Max Tet Size is the global maximum tet size. Available
when Use Advanced Size Function is on. Specify a value greater than 0 or accept the default.
Refer to Overriding Advanced Size Function Minimum and Maximum Sizes (p. 49) for related information.

Growth Rate
Growth Rate represents the increase in element edge length with each succeeding layer of elements. For
example, a growth rate of 1.2 results in a 20% increase in element edge length with each succeeding layer
of elements. Available when Use Advanced Size Function is on. Specify a value from 1 to 5 or accept the
default. The default is calculated based on the values of the Relevance (p. 53) and Transition (p. 59) options.

Relevance Center
Relevance Center sets the gauge of the Relevance slider control in the Default group. Options are Coarse,
Medium, and Fine. The default value can be set automatically according to the Physics Preference setting
as described above under the Default Group.

Element Size
Element Size allows you to specify the element size used for the entire model. This size will be used for all
edge, face, and body meshing. This option does not appear when Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is on.

Initial Size Seed

Initial Size Seed allows you to control the initial seeding of the mesh size for each part.

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Transition

Active Assembly (default) bases the initial seeding on the diagonal of the bounding box that encloses
only parts that are unsuppressed (active parts). With this choice, the mesh could change as you suppress
and unsuppress parts because the bounding box grows and shrinks.

Full Assembly bases the initial seeding on the diagonal of the bounding box that encloses all assembly
parts regardless of the number of suppressed parts. As a result, the mesh never changes due to part
suppression.

Part bases the initial seeding on the diagonal of the bounding box that encloses each particular individual part as it is meshed. The mesh never changes due to part suppression. This option typically leads
to a finer mesh and is recommended for situations where the fineness of an individual part mesh is
important relative to the overall size of the part in the assembly. This option is not valid when Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is on.

Note
For information on how suppressing and unsuppressing bodies can affect a mesh, refer to Generating Mesh (p. 224).

Smoothing
Smoothing attempts to improve element quality by moving locations of nodes with respect to surrounding
nodes and elements. The Low, Medium, or High option controls the number of smoothing iterations along
with the threshold metric where the mesher will start smoothing.
In cases in which Smoothing is set to High and the following conditions are met, additional smoothing
using the Equilateral-Volume-Based Skewness (p. 103) (skewness) metric is done:

Shape Checking (p. 75) is set to CFD.

Worst skewness is above 0.9.

The body is being meshed with the Patch Conforming Tetra mesh method (either by default or by
scoping).

Either of the following is true for the body being meshed:

Pre inflation is being used.

The body is in a multibody part, and a combination of Patch Conforming Tetra and Sweep mesh
methods is being used.

In such cases, the additional smoothing attempt will be performed automatically to improve element quality
by moving interior nodes that are connected to all elements with a skewness above 0.9 in the bodies being
meshed with the Patch Conforming Tetra mesh method. If the mesh is over-constrained (for example, if
some element(s) are attached to multiple vertices, which will limit the amount the element(s) can be improved), it is possible that some elements may still have skewness values worse than 0.9.

Transition
Transition affects the rate at which adjacent elements will grow. Slow produces smooth transitions while
Fast produces more abrupt transitions.

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Span Angle Center

Span Angle Center sets the goal for curvature based refinement. The mesh will subdivide in curved regions
until the individual elements span this angle. The following choices are available:

Coarse - 91o to 60o

Medium - 75o to 24o

Fine - 36o to 12o

Minimum Edge Length

Minimum Edge Length provides a read-only indication of the smallest edge length in the model.

Inflation Group
Inflation is useful for CFD boundary layer resolution, electromagnetic air gap resolution or resolving high
stress concentrations for structures. Inflation is supported for the following mesh methods:
Volume Meshing:

Patch Conforming

Patch Independent

Sweep

Note
Inflation is supported for the sweep mesh method only when the Src/Trg Selection option
is set to either Manual Source or Manual Source and Target.

MultiZone

Surface Meshing:

Quad Dominant

All Triangles

Figure : Inflation into Volume Mesh Methods (p. 61) illustrates inflation into the patch conforming, patch independent, sweep, and MultiZone mesh methods respectively.

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Defining Local Inflation Controls

Figure: Inflation into Volume Mesh Methods

Defining Global Inflation Controls

The Inflation group of global mesh controls appears in the Details View when the Mesh object is selected
in the Tree Outline. The options in the Inflation group provide global control over all inflation boundaries.
In most cases, the controls in the Inflation group apply to both 3D and 2D inflation. Additional information
that is specific to 2D inflation is noted where applicable.
Basic options include:
Use Automatic Tet Inflation
Inflation Option
Transition Ratio
Maximum Layers
Growth Rate
Number of Layers
Maximum Thickness
First Layer Height
Inflation Algorithm
View Advanced Options

Note
Values that you set here will be populated to the local (scoped) inflation mesh controls. If you
subsequently make changes to the local inflation settings, the local settings will override the
global inflation control values that you set here.

Defining Local Inflation Controls

Alternatively, you can use local inflation mesh controls to apply inflation to specific boundaries. The settings
of the local inflation controls will override global inflation control settings. For details, refer to Inflation
Control (p. 158).
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Inflation and Mesh Method Controls

For steps to follow to assign inflation depending on the selected mesh method, refer to Inflation Controls (p. 198). For general information on applying inflation controls in combination with the various mesh
method controls, refer to "Mesh Control Interaction Tables" (p. 217).

Use Automatic Tet Inflation

You can set the Use Automatic Tet Inflation control so that inflation boundaries are selected automatically
depending on whether or not they are members of Named Selections groups. The following options are
available:
None
Program Controlled
All Faces in Chosen Named Selection
Keep the following information in mind when using inflation:

Automatic inflation is supported only for 3D inflation on volume models. It is not supported for 2D inflation on shell models. You cannot select Program Controlled (p. 62) or All Faces in Chosen Named Selection (p. 63) for the Use Automatic Tet Inflation option to mesh a 2D model. To apply 2D inflation on
a shell model, use local inflation mesh controls instead.

In the following scenarios, using inflation results in automatic suppression of the refinement control:

When automatic inflation (either Program Controlled (p. 62) or All Faces in Chosen Named Selection (p. 63)) is used with refinement in the same model
When local inflation is used with refinement in the same body or in the same part

Using a mixture of local inflation and automatic inflation within the same part is not recommended.
When you mix local and automatic inflation, the local inflation settings will be used for the bodies to
which they are applied. The automatic inflation settings will create inflation only on those bodies that
do not have local inflation applied to them. The automatic inflation settings will ignore all bodies and
all attached faces to which local inflation settings are applied.

None
If you select None, inflation boundaries are not selected globally. Instead, the inflation boundaries that you
identify using the local inflation mesh controls are used. This is the default.

Program Controlled
If you select Program Controlled, all faces in the model are selected to be inflation boundaries, except for
the following:

Faces in Named Selection(s)

Note
By default, faces in Named Selections are not selected to be inflation boundaries when Use
Automatic Tet Inflation is set to Program Controlled. However, you can select specific
Named Selections to be included in Program Controlled inflation. For details, see the discussion of Named Selections and Program Controlled inflation in the Mechanical help.

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Faces in Contact region(s)

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Inflation Option

Faces in Symmetry definition

Faces that belong to a part/body that has a mesh method defined on it that does not support 3D inflation
definitions (i.e., mesh method is set to Sweep or Hex Dominant)

Faces in sheet bodies

Faces on bodies that have manual inflation controls

With Program Controlled automatic inflation, the mesher inflates in the following manner:

For single body parts, the face will always inflate into the body.

For multibody parts with a mix of fluid and solid parts:

Faces on fluid region will inflate into fluid region; solid region will not be inflated.
Faces on parts of the same material will not be inflated.

For parts of the same material, shared faces will not be inflated.

The manner in which inflation is applied depends on values that you enter for the following options:

Inflation Option (p. 63)

Inflation Algorithm (p. 66)

View Advanced Options (p. 68)

Note
If you select Program Controlled as the value for the Use Automatic Tet Inflation (p. 62) control,
you can view the surfaces that have been selected for inflation by using the Show Program
Controlled Inflation Surfaces option.

Note
Program Controlled inflation is only supported for 3D models.

All Faces in Chosen Named Selection

If you select All Faces in Chosen Named Selection, a Named Selection field is displayed to let you scope
inflation to the Named Selection. The manner in which inflation is applied to the Named Selections group
depends on values that you enter for the following options:

Inflation Option (p. 63)

Inflation Algorithm (p. 66)

View Advanced Options (p. 68)

Inflation Option
The Inflation Option settings determine the heights of the inflation layers. The following options are available:

Smooth Transition - This is the default. The Smooth Transition option uses the local tetrahedral element
size to compute each local initial height and total height so that the rate of volume change is smooth.
Each triangle that is being inflated will have an initial height that is computed with respect to its area,

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averaged at the nodes. This means that for a uniform mesh, the initial heights will be roughly the same,
while for a varying mesh, the initial heights will vary.
Increasing the value of the Growth Rate control reduces the total height of the inflation layer. The total
height approaches an asymptotic value with respect to the number of inflation layers.
For details about the additional controls that appear when Smooth Transition is selected, refer to the
descriptions of the Transition Ratio (p. 64), Maximum Layers (p. 65), and Growth Rate (p. 65) controls.

Note
The Smooth Transition option is not supported for the MultiZone mesh method. Total
Thickness is the default for MultiZone.

Total Thickness - The Total Thickness option creates constant inflation layers using the values of the
Number of Layers and Growth Rate controls to obtain a total thickness as defined by the value of the
Maximum Thickness control. Unlike inflation with the Smooth Transition option, with the Total
Thickness option the thickness of the first inflation layer and each following layer is constant.
For details about the additional controls that appear when Total Thickness is selected, refer to the
descriptions of the Number of Layers (p. 65), Growth Rate (p. 65), and Maximum Thickness (p. 65) controls.

First Layer Thickness - The First Layer Thickness option creates constant inflation layers using the
values of the First Layer Height, Maximum Layers, and Growth Rate controls to generate the inflation
mesh. Unlike inflation with the Smooth Transition option, with the First Layer Thickness option the
thickness of the first inflation layer and each following layer is constant.
For details about the additional controls that appear when First Layer Thickness is selected, refer to
the descriptions of the First Layer Height (p. 66), Maximum Layers (p. 65), and Growth Rate (p. 65) controls.

Transition Ratio
In basic terms, the Transition Ratio control determines the rate at which adjacent elements grow. It is the
volume-based size change between the last layer of elements in the inflation layer and the first elements
in the tetrahedron region. The value of Transition Ratio is an ideal value and should produce accurate size
change for inflation from a planar boundary. However, be aware that areas of strong curvature will introduce
an inaccuracy into the size change. If proximity detection is activated, elements in proximity and elements
with prism aspect ratios meeting the value defined by the Maximum Height over Base (p. 72) control will
ignore this transition ratio.
The Transition Ratio control is applicable only when Inflation Option (p. 63) is Smooth Transition. Valid
values for Transition Ratio are from 0 to 1. When physics preference is set to CFD and solver preference is
set to CFX, the default for Transition Ratio is 0.77. For all other physics preferences, including CFD when
Solver Preference is set to either Fluent or POLYFLOW, the default is 0.272.
The reason for this difference is because the Fluent and POLYFLOW solvers use a cell-centered scheme for
transition ratio. In a cell-centered scheme, the fluid flow variables are allocated at the center of the computational cell, and the mesh-element is the same as the solver-element. In contrast, the CFX solver uses a
vertex-centered scheme. In a vertex-centered scheme, the fluid flow variables are stored at the cell vertex,
and the solver-element is a dual of the mesh-element. This means that the vertex of the mesh-element is
the center of the solver-element. The difference between the two schemes is illustrated in the figure below.

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Maximum Thickness

Maximum Layers
The Maximum Layers control determines the maximum number of inflation layers to be created in the
mesh. Valid values are from 1 to 1000. The default is 5 for solid bodies and 2 for surface bodies.
The Maximum Layers control is applicable only when Inflation Option (p. 63) is Smooth Transition or First
Layer Thickness.

Growth Rate
The Growth Rate control determines the relative thickness of adjacent inflation layers. As you move away
from the face to which the inflation control is applied, each successive layer is approximately one growth
rate factor thicker than the previous one. Valid values are from 0.1 to 5.0. The default is 1.2.
The Growth Rate control is applicable for all Inflation Option (p. 63) settings: Smooth Transition, First
Layer Thickness, and Total Thickness.

Number of Layers
The Number of Layers control determines the actual number of inflation layers in the mesh, except in places
where layers are removed locally for reasons of improving mesh quality (for example, in areas where inflation
layers would otherwise collide with each other). Valid values are from 1 to 1000. The default is 5 for solid
bodies and 2 for surface bodies.
The Number of Layers control is applicable only when Inflation Option (p. 63) is Total Thickness.

Maximum Thickness
The Maximum Thickness control determines the desired thickness of the inflation layer. You must enter a
value for this control, and it must be greater than 0.
The Maximum Thickness control is applicable only when Inflation Option (p. 63) is Total Thickness.
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First Layer Height

The First Layer Height control determines the height of the first inflation layer. This first inflation layer
consists of a single layer of prism elements that is formed against the faces of the inflation boundary. You
must enter a value for this control, and it must be greater than 0.
The First Layer Height control is applicable only when Inflation Option (p. 63) is First Layer Thickness.

Inflation Algorithm
The Inflation Algorithm control determines which inflation algorithm will be used. Options for Inflation
Algorithm are Pre and Post and are dependent upon the selected mesh method. The following table shows
which inflation algorithms are applicable to each mesh method.
Mesh Method

Inflation Algorithm
Pre

Post

Other

Patch Conforming Tetrahedrons

Yes, 3D

Yes, 3D

N/A

Patch Independent Tetrahedrons

N/A

Yes, 3D

N/A

Hex Dominant

N/A

N/A

N/A

Sweep

Yes, 2D. Occurs in the following manner: 1) source face is

meshed with triangles, 2) inflation occurs on tri surface
mesh, and 3) source is swept.
Intervals on source and target are fixed.

N/A

N/A

MultiZone

N/A

N/A

O-grid (algorithm specific to

MultiZone)

Quad Dominant

Yes, 2D

N/A

N/A

All Triangles

Yes, 2D

N/A

N/A

Pre
When Pre is selected, the surface mesh will be inflated first, and then the rest of the volume mesh will be
generated. This is the default for all physics types.
Keep the following information in mind:

Inflation Algorithm must be set to Pre for the Previewing Inflation (p. 227) feature to work.

Hard points are not supported and may be ignored for 3D Pre inflation.

Hard edges are not supported and may be ignored for Pre inflation.

In some cases in which Pre inflation is used, an additional smoothing attempt will be performed automatically. Refer to Smoothing (p. 59) for details.

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Pre Inflation and Different Numbers of Layers on Adjacent Faces

Match controls on faces are supported with Pre inflation, regardless of whether inflation is set to Program
Controlled or has been set through any global or local inflation definition. In contrast, match controls
on edges are not supported with Pre inflation. Match controls (both faces and edges) are not supported
with Post inflation. For all these non-supported cases, ANSYS Workbench automatically suppresses/disables
the Match Control feature.

Pre Inflation and Different Numbers of Layers on Adjacent Faces

The Pre Inflation Algorithm does not support the definition of different numbers of inflation layers on
adjacent faces. For example, Figure : Different Numbers of Layers Are Respected (p. 67) shows a case in which
different numbers of inflation layers have been specified on two faces. Since the faces are not connected,
the different numbers of layers are respected.

Figure: Different Numbers of Layers Are Respected

Now assume that the Inflation controls shown in Figure : Portion of Project Tree (p. 67) define four inflation
layers for the Inflation control, five inflation layers for the Inflation 2 control, and two inflation layers for
the Inflation 3 control, and that the controls are defined on adjacent faces.

Figure: Portion of Project Tree

In this case, although different numbers of inflation layers were defined, a two-layer (fewest number of layers
defined) inflation mesh is generated as shown in Figure : Different Numbers of Layers Are Not Respected (p. 68).

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Figure: Different Numbers of Layers Are Not Respected

Post
When Post is selected, a post processing technique that works after the tetrahedral mesh is generated is
used. A benefit of this option is that the tetrahedral mesh does not have to be generated each time the inflation options are changed.
Keep the following information in mind:

Match controls on faces are supported with Pre inflation, regardless of whether inflation is set to Program
Controlled or has been set through any global or local inflation definition. In contrast, match controls
on edges are not supported with Pre inflation. Match controls (both faces and edges) are not supported
with Post inflation. For all these non-supported cases, ANSYS Workbench automatically suppresses/disables
the Match Control feature.

Post inflation is not supported when there is a mixture of tetrahedron and non-tetrahedron mesh
methods applied to the bodies in a multibody part. If you want to apply Post inflation to a multibody
part, all bodies in the part must have a tetrahedron mesh method applied to them.

View Advanced Options

The View Advanced Options control determines whether advanced inflation options appear in the Details
View. Choices are No (default) and Yes. When this control is set to Yes, the following options are available:
Collision Avoidance
Maximum Height over Base
Growth Rate Type
Maximum Angle
Fillet Ratio
Use Post Smoothing
Smoothing Iterations

Note
In addition to viewing and/or modifying the advanced inflation options in the Details View, you
can view and/or modify them by using the Options dialog box.

Collision Avoidance
The Collision Avoidance control determines the approach that is to be taken in areas of proximity to avoid
collisions that may occur from marching inflated surface meshes from opposite sides into each other.

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View Advanced Options

For 2D inflation, the Collision Avoidance control detects geometry limitations in faces that would otherwise
cause inflation mesh to overlap or cross face boundaries, or result in a space that is so small that it leads to
bad quality mesh for the remaining region of inflation mesh. When Collision Avoidance is set to Layer
Compression or Stair Stepping, the value of the Gap Factor (p. 72) control, along with the local mesh size,
will determine how much space will be adequate for the remaining region of inflation mesh.

Note
The option that you choose for Collision Avoidance is used only in areas of proximity. In areas
of proximity, if the option is set to Layer Compression, layer compression is performed; if it is
set to Stair Stepping, stair stepping is performed; if it is set to None, no collision checking is
performed. However, in all other problematic scenarios (for example, invalid normals, quality
failure, bad surface mesh, and so on), local stair stepping is performed regardless of which option
you choose.

Note
When Collision Avoidance is set to Layer Compression and local stair stepping occurs after
compression, poor quality pyramids may be introduced into the mesh. Because of this possibility,
a warning message will appear whenever stair stepping occurs after compression. The message
will not identify the location of the stair stepping. However, the location of the stair stepping
with added pyramids often coincides with the location of the worst quality element (specifically,
when considering the Skewness metric). For this reason, using the Meshing application's Mesh
Metric feature to locate the worst quality element (based on Skewness) is also likely to locate
the pyramids.
The following options are available:

None - The None option does not check for layer collisions. Selecting this option speeds up inflation
layer computation time; however, it can result in an invalid mesh and mesh failures as a result. For these
reasons, this option is not recommended.
For 2D inflation, if a collision/proximity limitation is detected during layer creation, creation of inflation
layers stops with the previous layer. (Inflation stops completely; contrast with Stair Stepping below.)

Layer Compression - The Layer Compression option compresses inflation layers in areas of collision.
In these areas, the defined heights and ratios are reduced to ensure the same number of layers
throughout the entire inflation region. Generally, this option is best for avoiding the creation of pyramids
in the mesh. Layer Compression is the default only when the Physics Preference is set to CFD and
the Solver Preference is set to Fluent; otherwise, the default is Stair Stepping.
For 2D inflation, if a collision/proximity limitation is detected during layer creation, inflation heights will
shrink locally. If Fix First Layer (p. 72) is set to Yes, the First Layer Height (p. 66) will not be scaled.
For details about the additional controls that appear when Layer Compression is selected, refer to the
descriptions of the Fix First Layer (p. 72) and Gap Factor (p. 72) controls.

Stair Stepping - Rather than compressing the prism layers, with Stair Stepping the prism layers are
stair stepped in the proximity region to avoid collision and to maintain the gap defined by Gap
Factor (p. 72). The Stair Stepping approach to inflation growth locally reduces inflation layers to avoid
collisions, as well as bad quality elements in sharp or tight corners. The term stair stepping refers to
the steps created between one layer and the next. Using this approach, special logic is used to fill the
steps with pyramid and tetrahedron elements for prism steps, or prism, pyramid, and tetrahedron eleRelease 12.1 - 2009 SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
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Global Mesh Controls

ments for hex steps. This special logic helps the mesher obtain a high-quality transition to the tetrahedral
mesh. Stair Stepping is the default, unless the Physics Preference is set to CFD and the Solver Preference is set to Fluent, in which case the default is Layer Compression.
For 2D inflation, if a collision/proximity limitation is detected during layer creation, creation of inflation
layers stops locally. (Contrast with None above.)
An additional control, for Gap Factor, appears when Stair Stepping is selected.
The figures below illustrate how the Layer Compression and Stair Stepping options differ.

Figure: Layer Compression Option (Full Mesh View)

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View Advanced Options

Figure: Layer Compression Option (Detail View)

Figure: Stair Stepping Option (Full Mesh View)

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Global Mesh Controls

Figure: Stair Stepping Option (Detail View)

Fix First Layer

The Fix First Layer control determines whether the heights or ratios of the first inflation layer will be modified to avoid collision. Valid values are Yes and No. The default is No. This option will not allow the value
that is set for the First Layer Height (p. 66) control to be changed.
The Fix First Layer control is applicable only when Collision Avoidance (p. 68) is Layer Compression.

Gap Factor
The Gap Factor control allows maintenance of the gap between intersecting prisms. Valid values are from
0 to 2. The default is 0.5. A value of 1 means a gap equal to the ideal tet cell height based on base face
size in proximity to each other is maintained.
The Gap Factor control is applicable only when Collision Avoidance (p. 68) is Layer Compression or Stair
Stepping.

Maximum Height over Base

The Maximum Height over Base control sets the maximum allowable prism aspect ratio (that is, the ratio
of height over base of the base triangle). When the prism aspect ratio reaches this value, the height of the
prisms stops growing. That is, new prisms continue to form, but the heights of the prisms will not increase.
Valid values are from 0.1 to 5. The default is 1.0.

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View Advanced Options

For 2D inflation, the Maximum Height over Base control helps to maintain a good size ratio. Once the inflation height is greater than the local mesh size multiplied by the value of Maximum Height over Base,
the inflation height stops growing. New layers continue to form, but the heights of the inflation layers will
not increase. New layers that form will be equal to the inflation base size multiplied by the value of Maximum
Height over Base.

Growth Rate Type

The Growth Rate Type control determines the height of the inflation layers given the initial height and
height ratio. The following options are available:

Geometric - This is the default. With this option, the prism height of a particular layer is defined by
h*r(n-1), where h = initial height, r = height ratio, and n = layer number. The total height at layer n is:
h(1rn)/(1r).

Exponential - With this option, the prism height of a particular layer is defined by h*e(n-1)p, where h =
initial height, p = exponent, and n = layer number.

Linear - With this option, the prism height of a particular layer is defined by h(1+(n-1)(r-1)), where h =
initial height, r = height ratio, and n = layer number. The total height at layer n is: nh((n-1)(r-1)+2)/2.

Maximum Angle
The Maximum Angle control determines prism layer growth around angles and when prisms will adhere
(project) to adjacent surfaces/walls. If the inflated mesh involves extruding from one surface and not its
neighbor, and the angle between the two surfaces is less than the specified value, the prisms (sides) will
adhere (project) to the adjacent wall. Valid values are from 90 to 180 (degrees). Typically, a value between
120 and 180 is desirable. The default is 140. Refer to the figures below for examples of maximum angle.
For 2D inflation, the Maximum Angle control determines whether an edge that is adjacent to an inflation
edge can be imprinted with inflation mesh. If the angle between the two edges is smaller than the value of
Maximum Angle, the inflation mesh will be imprinted on the adjacent edge. On the other hand, if the angle
between the two edges is larger than the value of Maximum Angle, the inflation mesh will not be imprinted
on the adjacent edge.
In Figure : Maximum Angle = 140 (p. 73), the angle between the planes is 158.2 (21.8) degrees. Since the
maximum angle is less than the angle between the walls, the prism layers are capped with pyramids.

Figure: Maximum Angle = 140

In Figure : Maximum Angle = 180 (p. 74), the maximum angle exceeds the separation angle between the
surfaces, so the prism remains attached to the adjacent surface.

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Global Mesh Controls

Figure: Maximum Angle = 180

Fillet Ratio
The Fillet Ratio control determines whether a fillet proportional to the total height of a prism element will
be created when a prism element is generated in the corner zone of a tetrahedral mesh. Creating a fillet
proportional to the total height of the prism makes it possible to control the smoothness of the prism layer.
Valid values are from 0 to 1 (decimal values are allowed). A value of 0 means no fillets. The default is 1.
Refer to the figures below for examples of fillet ratio.

Note
For meshing corners with angles less than 60 degrees, there may not be space for a fillet.

Figure: Fillet Ratio = 0.0

In the figure below, the radius of the inner prism fillet is 0.5 times the height of the total prism thickness.

Figure: Fillet Ratio = 0.5

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Shape Checking

Figure: Fillet Ratio = 1.0

Use Post Smoothing

The Use Post Smoothing control determines whether post-inflation smoothing will be performed.
Smoothing attempts to improve element quality by moving the locations of nodes with respect to surrounding
nodes and elements. Valid values are Yes and No. The default is Yes. When this control is set to Yes, the
Smoothing Iterations (p. 75) control appears in the Details View.

Smoothing Iterations
The Smoothing Iterations control determines the number of post-inflation smoothing iterations that will
be performed to improve the mesh. Valid values are from 1 to 20. The default is 5.
The Smoothing Iterations control is applicable only when Use Post Smoothing (p. 75) is Yes.

Advanced Group
The Advanced group allows you to control these options:
Shape Checking
Element Midside Nodes
Straight Sided Elements
Number of Retries
Rigid Body Behavior
Mesh Morphing

Shape Checking
The following options are available for shape checking:

Standard Mechanical - Uses the default Workbench shape checking criterion. This criterion has proven
to be effective for linear, modal, stress and thermal problems. A unitless metric is used comparing
volume to edge3 for solid elements and area to edge length2 for shell elements. Jacobian ratio is also
used. If the Jacobian ratio is less than 0 or greater than the limit, then the metric is -1.0 and will cause
shape failure. Jacobian ratio is computed at integration points. This is the default when Physics Preference is set to Mechanical.

Aggressive Mechanical - Uses a shape checking criterion based on Jacobian ratio at nodes with a
tighter limit on both Jacobian ratio and Workbench metric. This is much more restrictive than the
Workbench criterion used in the Standard option. This will usually produce more elements, longer
meshing times, and possibly mesh failures. This option is recommended if the mesh is intended for
large deformation or material nonlinear analysis.

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Global Mesh Controls

Electromagnetics - Uses a shape checking criterion based on element volume, face warping, and face
angle. This option is recommended for all electromagnetic simulations, and it is the default when
Physics Preference is set to Electromagnetic.

CFD - Uses a shape checking criterion based on aspect ratio, element volume, and face angle. This option
is recommended for all CFD simulations, and it is the default when Physics Preference is set to CFD.

Note
When Physics Preference is set to CFD, the patch conforming tet meshing algorithm uses
skewness as the quality criteria. For all other values of Physics Preference, the patch conforming tet meshing algorithm uses element quality as the quality criteria.

Explicit - Uses a shape checking criterion based on Jacobian ratio and element volume. This option is
recommended for all explicit dynamics simulations, and it is the default when Physics Preference is
set to Explicit.

For automatic meshing, shape checking ensures a quality mesh based on specific error limits. The following
table presents the shape checking limit criterion for each option. If the results of any test are outside of the
limits shown, the mesh will fail. For example, a Jacobian ratio greater than 40 computed at element nodal
points will cause a mesh failure when using the Aggressive option.
Criterion

Standard Mechanical

Aggressive
Mechanical

Electromagnetics

CFD

Jacobian Ratio

> 40 for 3-D and > 10

for 2-D; computed at
element integration
points

> 40 for both

3-D and 2-D;
computed at
element nodal
points

Quality metric
not used

Quality metric
not used

> 1000 computed at element nodal

points

Aspect Ratio

Quality metric not

used

Quality metric
not used

Quality metric
not used

Quality metric
not used;
however
warning message issued
when Aspect
Ratio > 1000

Quality metric
not used

<0

<0

< 10-30

<0

<0

Face Warping

Quality metric not

used

Quality metric
not used

> 0.4

Quality metric
not used

Quality metric
not used

Face Angle

Quality metric not

used

Quality metric
not used

> 150

> 179 or < 1

Quality metric
not used

< 0.75, for one dimensional elements

< 0.85, for

one dimensional elements

Quality metric
not used

Quality metric
not used

Quality metric
not used

Element
Volume

Workbench
Shape Metric

< 0.01, for two dimensional elements

< 10-4, for three dimensional elements

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Explicit

Kept
Criterion

Standard Mechanical

Aggressive
Mechanical

Electromagnetics

CFD

Explicit

sional elements
< 0.2, for
three dimensional elements

Element Midside Nodes

The global Element Midside Nodes option allows you to control whether meshes are to be created with
midside nodes (quadratic elements) or without midside nodes (linear elements). Reducing the number of
midside nodes reduces the number of degrees of freedom. Choices for the global Element Midside Nodes
option include Program Controlled, Dropped, and Kept.
Examples are presented below. The heavy vertical line in each graphic represents the body boundary.

Program Controlled
Program Controlled is the default. For surface bodies and beam models, Program Controlled is identical
to the Dropped option described below. For solid bodies and 2-D models, Program Controlled is identical
to the Kept option described below.

Dropped
The Dropped option removes midside nodes on all elements. Examples shown below are for a solid body.

Kept
The Kept option retains midside nodes on elements created in the part or body. All elements will have
midside nodes.

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Global Mesh Controls

Note
Both linear and quadratic elements are supported for 2D axisymmetric models. This includes
support for 2D linear and quadratic inflation layers on axisymmetric parts. You must set Element
Midside Nodes to Dropped to obtain linear elements in such cases.

Note
Both linear and quadratic elements are supported for 2D shell and line models. This includes
support for 2D linear and quadratic inflation layers on shell models. In addition, the Element
Midside Nodes setting is respected by mesh refinement, including models for which adaptivity
refinement is performed.

Note
When setting the Method control to a scoped body, you can change the setting of the Element
Midside Nodes option to control whether meshes are to be created on the scoped body with
midside nodes or without midside nodes. You do this by using the Element Midside Nodes
setting under Definition in the Details View. This setting will override the setting of the global
Element Midside Nodes option described here. This is true for all mesh methods except CFXMesh for solid bodies and Uniform Quad and Uniform Quad/Tri for surface bodies. When the CFXMesh, Uniform Quad, or Uniform Quad/Tri mesh methods are scoped to a body, the Element
Midside Nodes option for the scoped body is set to Dropped and is read-only. See Method
Controls and Element Midside Nodes Settings (p. 106) for additional information.

Straight Sided Elements

The Straight Sided Elements option (which is displayed when solids are present in the model or if the
model includes an enclosure from the DesignModeler) application, specifies meshing to straight edge elements
when set to Yes. You must set this option to Yes for Electromagnetic simulations.

Number of Retries
The Number of Retries option specifies the number of times the mesher will try to re-mesh if meshing fails
due to poor mesh quality. The mesher will increase the fineness of the mesh with each retry in an effort to
obtain a good mesh. It is possible that the mesh will contain more elements than you intended. If this is
not acceptable, you should lower the number of retries.
The range for Number of Retries is from 0 to 4. The default is 4 unless the Physics Preference is set to
CFD, in which case the default is 0. If you change the default Number of Retries, subsequent changes made
to the Physics Preference will not change the Number of Retries value.
Setting the value to -1 reads the value set on the Options dialog box described below and uses it as the
default number of retries. If the Advanced Size Function is on, the Number of Retries option is read-only
and is set to 0.
This control is also available in the Options dialog box, which you can access by selecting Tools> Options
from the main menu.

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Pinch Group

Rigid Body Behavior

The Rigid Body Behavior option determines whether a full mesh is generated for a rigid body, rather than
a surface contact mesh. Rigid Body Behavior is applicable to all body types. Valid values for Rigid Body
Behavior are Dimensionally Reduced (generate surface contact mesh only) and Full Mesh (generate full
mesh). The default is Dimensionally Reduced unless the Physics Preference is set to Explicit. For more
information, refer to Rigid Body Meshing (p. 205).

Mesh Morphing
When the Mesh Morphing feature is Enabled, you can specify that a morphed mesh is produced following
a geometry change rather than re-meshing the geometry.
For this feature to operate properly, you cannot make any topological changes when you modify/deform
the geometry. In other words, the deformed geometry must have the same number of parts, bodies, faces,
edges, and/or vertices as your original geometry and also the same connectivity between these geometric
entities. The Mesh Morphing feature updates changes in nodes' coordinates, but it is not designed to accommodate severely deformed geometries. If the topology is changed, or if any other severe deformations
occur when the Mesh Morphing feature is enabled, a warning message is produced that indicates that a
morph is not possible because of the modifications. However, in this instance, a complete re-mesh is automatically performed.
If the geometry consists of multiple parts, Mesh Morphing will not operate unless all of the parts are already
meshed.
If you have enabled Mesh Morphing, you will also need to re-mesh manually whenever you change the
properties of the mesh in the Details View or when you add/remove/modify the mesh controls objects. These
changes will otherwise not be reflected in the mesh.

Pinch Group
The Pinch feature lets you remove small features (such as short edges and narrow regions) at the mesh level
in order to generate better quality elements around those features. The Pinch feature provides an alternative
to Virtual Topology, which works at the geometry level. The two features work in conjunction with one another to simplify meshing constraints due to small features in a model that would otherwise make it difficult
to obtain a satisfactory mesh.
When Pinch controls are defined, the small features in the model that meet the criteria established by the
controls will be pinched out, thereby removing the features from the mesh. You can instruct the Meshing
application to automatically create pinch controls based on settings that you specify or, you can manually
designate vertices and edges to be pinched. Pinch controls can be applied to shell and solid models.
The Pinch feature is supported for the following mesh methods:
Volume Meshing:

Patch Conforming

Thin Solid Sweeping

Hex Dominant Meshing

Surface Meshing:

Quad Dominant
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Global Mesh Controls

All Triangles

Pinch topics include:

Pinch Control Automation
Defining Pinch Controls Manually
Defining Pinch Control Automation
Usage Information for Pinch Controls

Examples of a Mesh With and Without Pinch

The figures below illustrate the effect of meshing with pinch controls. The first figure shows where the pinch
controls have been defined in the model. The second and third figures show the meshes that are generated
without the pinch controls and with the pinch controls, respectively.

Figure: Locations of Pinch Controls

Figure: Mesh Generated Without Pinch Controls

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Understanding the Automatic Pinch Control Algorithm

Figure: Mesh Generated With Pinch Controls

Pinch and Mesh Method Controls

For general information on applying pinch controls in combination with the various mesh method controls,
refer to "Mesh Control Interaction Tables" (p. 217).

Pinch Control Automation

The Pinch group of global mesh controls appears in the Details View when the Mesh object is selected in
the Tree Outline. By setting options in the Pinch group, you can instruct the Meshing application to automatically generate pinch controls. The Meshing application can generate the pinch controls based off of
shell thickness (for surface models only), or by identifying small features in the model that fall within a tolerance you specify. Basic options include:

Use Sheet Thickness (p. 83)

Pinch Tolerance (p. 83)

Generate on Refresh (p. 84)

Understanding the Automatic Pinch Control Algorithm

The Meshing application uses four major criteria for generating automatic pinch controls. These criteria (in
order of importance) include:
1.

Capture geometry of sheet bodies.

2.

Edges adjacent to flat surfaces are masters.

3.

Cluster masters together so that they are adjacent to one another.

4.

All things being equal, longer edges are masters.

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Global Mesh Controls

Note
The master geometry is the entity that retains the profile of the original geometry. The slave
geometry is the entity that changes in order to move towards the master geometry. Depending
on the tolerance, the pinch control will pinch out the entire slave entity or only a portion of the
slave entity into the master.

Note
The automatic pinch control algorithm supports only one master for each pinch control.

Note
Once the automatic pinch control algorithm has paired two edges to use as a master and a slave
in an automatic pinch control, the algorithm cannot use either of those same two edges as
master or slave in any other automatic pinch control. For example, in the geometry shown in
Figure : Automatic Pinch Control for Edges on Left; Manual Pinch Control Required for Edges on
Right (p. 82), an automatic pinch control has been created for the annotated slave (red) edges
and the master (blue) edge on the left side of the model. However, a pinch control will not be
created automatically for the very similar configuration of edges on the right side of the model.
For the Meshing application to be able to generate the mesh shown in Figure : Mesh Generated
with Automatic Pinch Control and Manual Pinch Control on Similar Geometry (p. 83), a manual pinch
control had to be created for the edges on the right.

Figure: Automatic Pinch Control for Edges on Left; Manual Pinch Control Required for Edges
on Right

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Pinch Tolerance

Figure: Mesh Generated with Automatic Pinch Control and Manual Pinch Control on Similar
Geometry

Pinch Control Options

Basic options for defining pinch controls include:

Use Sheet Thickness

The Use Sheet Thickness control determines whether automatic pinch controls will be based on the shell
thickness of the model, rather than on a specified pinch tolerance. When the sheet thickness method of
automatic pinch control is used, the pinch algorithm uses a pinch tolerance equal to 1/2 of the shell thickness.
Valid values are Yes and No. The default is No.

Note
The Use Sheet Thickness control is available only for sheet (i.e., surface) models. If your model
contains a combination of surface and solid bodies, the Use Sheet Thickness control is available
only if all solid bodies are suppressed.

Note
You cannot use the sheet thickness method of automatic pinch control for a surface model that
has no thickness defined or has a 0 (zero) thickness.

Pinch Tolerance
The Pinch Tolerance control allows you to specify a tolerance for the Meshing application to use when it
generates automatic pinch controls. Vertex-vertex pinch controls will be created on any edge with a length
less than the specified tolerance, and edge-edge pinch controls will be created on any face for which two
edges are within proximity according to the specified tolerance. For the Meshing application to automate

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Global Mesh Controls

pinch control, you must specify a value for Pinch Tolerance unless Use Sheet Thickness is set to Yes.
Specify a value greater than 0.0.

Note
The value that you specify for Pinch Tolerance should be smaller than the mesh size around the
region in which the pinch control is being applied. For example, if an Edge Sizing control has
been placed on an edge, a Pinch Tolerance value that is greater than that edge sizing may cause
the mesher to fail.

Note
In general, the value that you specify for Pinch Tolerance should be greater than the value that
appears in the Sizing > Minimum Edge Length field. Exceptions to this guideline include models
without seam edges, such as elliptical prism, cylinder, and sphere models.

Note
Do not specify an overly high value for the Pinch Tolerance control. The Pinch feature allows
the mesher to mesh over geometry features as if they were not there, and a tolerance that is set
too high can cause inverted elements.

Note
When the advanced size function is on, the Pinch feature takes 90% of the value of Min Size and
uses it as its Pinch Tolerance by default. This differs from the tolerance used by the default meshbased defeaturing, which is 50% of the value of Min Size.

Generate on Refresh
The Generate on Refresh control determines whether pinch controls will be regenerated following a change
made to the geometry (such as a change made via a DesignModeler application operation such as a merge,
connect, etc.). If Generate on Refresh is set to Yes and you change the geometry, all pinch controls that
were created automatically will be deleted and recreated based on the new geometry. If Generate on Refresh
is set to No and you update the geometry, all pinch controls related to the changed part will appear in the
Tree Outline but will be flagged as undefined.
Valid values are Yes and No. The default is No.

Note
Only Automatic pinch controls are regenerated. That is, if a pinch control has a Scope Method
of Manual (either because it was created manually or because you made a change to an Automatic pinch control), the pinch control will never be regenerated on refresh. See Usage Information
for Pinch Controls (p. 85) for information about the effect of making changes to Manual pinch
controls.

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Usage Information for Pinch Controls

Defining Pinch Controls Manually

As an alternative to defining pinch control automation, you can use local controls to pinch scoped vertices
or edges. For details, refer to Pinch Control (p. 157).

Defining Pinch Control Automation

The following sections provide the steps for defining pinch control automation. Pinch can be automated
based on either shell thickness or a user-defined tolerance.

Defining Pinch Control Automation Based on Shell Thickness

This section describes the steps for defining pinch control automation based on shell thickness. This procedure
applies to sheet (i.e., surface) models only.

To define pinch control automation based on shell thickness:

1.

In the Details View of the Mesh folder, expand the Pinch group of controls.

2.

Set Use Sheet Thickness to Yes.

Notice that the value of the Pinch Tolerance control changes to Based on Sheet Thickness and is
grayed out.

3.

Change the value of the Generate on Refresh control if desired.

4.

Right-click on the Mesh folder and select Create Pinch Controls from the context menu.
A pinch control object is automatically inserted into the Tree for each region containing features that
meet the criteria established by the pinch control settings. To display details about an individual pinch
control, highlight it in the Tree and information about it appears in the Details View. For information
about making changes to this information, refer to Pinch Control (p. 157).

Defining Pinch Control Automation Based on a Specified Pinch Tolerance

This section describes the steps for defining pinch control automation based on a tolerance that you specify.

To define pinch control automation based on pinch tolerance:

1.

In the Details View of the Mesh folder, expand the Pinch group of controls.

2.

Specify a value for Pinch Tolerance.

3.

Change the value of the Generate on Refresh control if desired.

4.

Right-click on the Mesh folder and select Create Pinch Controls from the context menu.
A pinch control object is automatically inserted into the Tree for each region containing features that
meet the criteria established by the pinch control settings. To display details about an individual pinch
control, highlight it in the Tree and information about it appears in the Details View. For information
about making changes to this information, refer to Pinch Control (p. 157)

Usage Information for Pinch Controls

Keep the following information in mind when using the Pinch feature:

When pinch controls are defined, defeaturing occurs when the mesh is generated.
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Global Mesh Controls

The Pinch feature works on vertices and edges only; faces and bodies cannot be pinched.

Using the same master in more than one pinch control is not supported. If multiple pinch controls use
the same master, the pinch control that appears lowest in the Tree is honored.

If there are hard size constraints on a master, the pinch control will be skipped completely. If there are
hard size constraints on slaves, only the slaves with the constraints will be skipped. In either case, a
warning message will be issued.

If your model contains multibody parts and you want pinch controls to operate on selected parts/bodies
only, you must first suppress the parts/bodies that you do not want the pinch controls to apply to. Then
follow the steps outlined in Defining Pinch Control Automation (p. 85).

If the geometry fails to mesh correctly due to the pinched features, an error message is generated and
a Named Selections > Problematic Geometry object appears in the Tree. Select this object to view
the surfaces that did not mesh correctly.

When a face contains an internal loop with a pinch control and the edges of the loop become a single
internal edge due to pinching, the surface mesher may completely ignore the single edge (that is,
the surface mesher may mesh over the edge). The reason that this may occur is that a pinch control
never changes the topology of a model. When a surface mesher collects all boundary edge meshes
before performing surface meshing, it considers the newly created single edge to be a regular edge
rather than a hard edge, which most users would expect. As a result, all edge meshes along the single
edge may be ignored.

After pinch controls are generated:

If you highlight a pinch control in the Tree, its name appears in the Geometry window along with
the current time. In addition, the pinch region is flagged in the geometry. For more information,
see the descriptions of Master Geometry and Slave Geometry pinch controls in Pinch Control (p. 157).

You can make changes to pinch controls that were generated automatically. To do so, in the Mesh
folder, highlight the Pinch object that you want to change. As a result, the Details of the pinch appear
in the Details View, where you can change its Scope and Definition. Making changes to the pinch
causes the value of the Scope Method control to change from Automatic to Manual. For details
about defining pinch controls manually, see Pinch Control (p. 157).

If a pinch control has a pinch tolerance defined for it that falls below one or more Hard scoped size
controls, a warning will be issued. The warning will suggest that you either modify the pinch tolerance
or remove any pinch control(s) in close proximity to the Hard size control(s) in question; otherwise,
surface meshing may fail.

There is no guarantee that features will be preserved when using pinch controls. For this reason, it is
best practice to check the mesh where pinch controls have been defined close to features. If a problem
exists in the mesh, flipping the master and slave entities will be sufficient to solve the problem in many
cases.

Pinch controls can be used for models involving multiple complications in one location (such as slivers,
sharp angles, and short edges within the same pinch tolerance) as well as for models containing isolated
problem spots. However, when used in combination with the Advanced Size Function, pinch controls
are best used for isolated problems. For example, refer to the meshes in the figure below, which show
the results of applying pinch controls in combination with the Advanced Size Function. For the mesh
on the left, a Pinch Tolerance of 3e-3 and a Min Size of 6.e-3 was specified. For the mesh on the right,
a Pinch Tolerance of 3e-3 and a Min Size of 4.e-3 was specified. Neither is acceptable due to the
presence of high aspect ratio triangles in the mesh. In such cases, the use of Virtual Topology or defeaturing within the DesignModeler application is recommended as an alternative to pinch.

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Mesh Metric

Figure: Pinch Not Recommended for Models with Multiple Complications when the
Advanced Size Function is On

Statistics Group
The Statistics group lets you view and request information about these options:
Nodes
Elements
Mesh Metric

Nodes
The Nodes option provides a read-only indication of the number of nodes in the meshed model. If the
model contains multiple parts or bodies, you can view the number of nodes in an individual part or body
by highlighting it under the Geometry object in the Tree Outline.

Elements
The Elements option provides a read-only indication of the number of elements in the meshed model. If
the model contains multiple parts or bodies, you can view the number of elements in an individual part or
body by highlighting it under the Geometry object in the Tree Outline.

Mesh Metric
The Mesh Metric option allows you to view mesh metric information and thereby evaluate the mesh quality.
Once you have generated a mesh, you can choose to view information about any of the following mesh
metrics: Element Quality, Aspect Ratio, Jacobian Ratio, Warping Factor, Parallel Deviation, Maximum
Corner Angle, and Skewness. Selecting None turns off mesh metric viewing.
When you select a mesh metric, its Min, Max, Average, and Standard Deviation values are reported in the
Details View, and a bar graph is displayed under the Geometry window. The graph is labeled with colorcoded bars for each element shape represented in the model's mesh, and can be manipulated to view specific mesh statistics of interest.

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Note
If the model contains multiple parts or bodies, you can view the mesh metric information for an
individual part or body. To do so, return to the Tree Outline. Under the Geometry object, click
on the specific part or body of interest. In response, the Nodes, Elements, Min, Max, Average,
and Standard Deviation values for the selected metric and part/body are reported in the Details
View. (The graph is not available at the part/body level.)

Accessing Mesh Metric Information

To access mesh metric information:
1.

Generate the mesh. You can view mesh metric information for any mesh that was successfully generated
using Generate Mesh, Preview Surface Mesh, or Preview Inflation.

2.

Click on the Mesh object in the Tree Outline.

3.

In the Details View, expand the Statistics folder.

By default, the total number of Nodes and Elements in the meshed model is reported in the Details
View.

4.

For the Mesh Metric control, select the metric of interest from the drop-down menu.
By default, the Min, Max, Average, and Standard Deviation values for the selected metric are reported
in the Details View. In addition, a bar graph is displayed under the Geometry window.

Viewing Advanced Mesh Statistics

When you select a mesh metric, a bar graph is displayed as shown in Figure : Mesh Metrics Bar Graph (p. 89).
For this illustration, the Element Quality mesh metric was selected in the Details View, so the bar graph
displays the minimum to maximum Element Quality values over the entire mesh.

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Viewing Advanced Mesh Statistics

Figure: Mesh Metrics Bar Graph

In Figure : Mesh Metrics Bar Graph (p. 89), the X-axis represents the value of the selected mesh metric. Using
the Y-Axis Option setting described in Using the Bar Graph Controls (p. 92), you control whether the Y-axis
represents the number of elements within a particular quality factor range (the default), or the percentage
of the total volume represented by the elements within a particular quality factor range. In Figure : Mesh
Metrics Bar Graph (p. 89), the Y-axis represents the number of elements. The alternative would be for the Yaxis to represent the percentage of the total volume. Keep in mind that a model could have a large number
of poorly shaped elements that are confined to a small local area. The total volume of these elements might
not be significant compared to the volume of the entire model. As a result, the bar corresponding to this
low quality factor may not be significant. The Mesh Metric option displays the selected mesh metric without
qualifying the elements for acceptability.
Additional characteristics of the bar graph include:

The graph is displayed only when a mesh metric is selected. If you set Mesh Metric to None, the graph
is not displayed. Alternatively, you can click the Metric Graph button on the toolbar to hide/show the
graph.

Resuming a model retains the last-saved state of the graph.

Clicking the Controls button accesses the graph controls described in Using the Bar Graph Controls (p. 92).

The location of an individual bar along the X-axis is the mid-point of the range of metric values covered
by that bar.

Clicking an individual bar on the graph (or in the column of white space above the bar) changes the
view in the Geometry window. The geometry becomes transparent and only those elements meeting
the criteria values corresponding to the selected bar are displayed, as shown in Figure : Geometry View
After Selecting an Individual Bar (p. 90). (The option to click in the column above the bar is helpful if the
graph contains very short bars that are difficult to click.)

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Global Mesh Controls

Figure: Geometry View After Selecting an Individual Bar

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If you click and hold the cursor on an individual bar or column, you see a tooltip showing the metric
value associated with the bar, along with either a number of elements or the percent of total volume
represented by the elements (depending on the Y-Axis Option setting). For example, in Figure : Clicking
and Holding on an Individual Bar (p. 91), 0.176 is the mid-point of the range of metric values covered
by the selected bar, and there are 10 elements with values that fall within that range. The 10 elements
are displayed in the Geometry window.

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Viewing Advanced Mesh Statistics

Figure: Clicking and Holding on an Individual Bar

To select multiple bars, hold the CTRL key and click all desired bars. All elements corresponding to all
selected bars are displayed in the Geometry window.

To return the Geometry window to the full mesh view (no transparency; all elements are displayed),
click on empty white space on the graph. Empty white space does not include the column of white space
above a bar, as clicking in this area selects the bar and displays only those elements associated with it.

If you click in a column for which there are 0 elements, all that is displayed in the Geometry window
is the transparent geometry.

The graph can be filtered based on element types. See Using the Bar Graph Controls (p. 92) for more
information.

The graph respects slice planes and hiding of bodies in the Geometry window. For example, if you hide
a body and then click an individual bar to view the elements corresponding to the selected bar, elements

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Global Mesh Controls

in the hidden body are not displayed in the Geometry window, even if they meet the criteria that the
bar represents.

To zoom the graph, hold the ALT key and use your mouse to define a selection box on the graph (i.e.,
click on the graph and drag the mouse downward and to the right to define the area to zoom; then
release the mouse button). To reset the graph to its initial view, hold the ALT key, click on the graph
and drag the mouse downward and to the left; then release the mouse button.

The values of the X-axis and Y-axis labels on the graph correspond to the visible ranges, rather than to
global values. For example, the value 198 in Figure : Clicking and Holding on an Individual Bar (p. 91) is
the maximum end of the range for the Y-axis, based on the current content of the graph. If you zoom
the graph or define a new range of values to display as described in Using the Bar Graph Controls (p. 92),
the values of the X-axis and Y-axis labels change accordingly along with the content of the graph.

Using the Bar Graph Controls

When you click the Controls button on the graph, the graph is replaced by the controls page as shown in
Figure : Bar Graph Controls Page (p. 92). Clicking the X button applies any changes on the controls page and
returns you to the graph.

Figure: Bar Graph Controls Page

From the controls page shown in Figure : Bar Graph Controls Page (p. 92), you can set the following values:

Y-Axis Option - Determines what the heights of the bars represent. Options include Number of Elements
and Percent of Volume/Area. The default is Number of Elements.

Number of Bars - Determines the number of bars to include in the graph. You can enter any whole
number greater than or equal to 0. The default is 10. When you click Update Y-Axis, the Min and/or
Max values for the Y-Axis are recomputed so that the graph and the Y-Axis values on the controls
page reflect the new number of bars.

Range - Defines a range for the selected metric to display only those elements that fall within the
specified range.

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X-Axis - Specify a Min and/or Max value. To locate and estimate the number of worst elements in
the mesh, adjust the Min and Max values to the lower or upper end of the quality criterion (dependRelease 12.1 - 2009 SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
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Calculation Details
ing on metric) and click Update Y-Axis. (Determining the distribution and location of all the bad
elements at one time is helpful in cases where you may need to re-import your model into the
DesignModeler application to remove the corresponding problematic geometry.) Click Reset to return
to the X-Axis defaults. (Note: Negative values are acceptable.)

Y-Axis - Specify a Min and/or Max value. By lowering the Max value, you can clip the Y-axis for
easier visualization of small bars, especially as they relate to different element types. Click Reset to
return to the Y-Axis defaults.

List of element types - Determines which element types to include in the graph. Element types that do
not appear in the mesh are read-only on the controls page. Select the element types that you want to
include in the graph, or click Select All to include all available element types in the graph. By default,
all available element types are selected.

Calculation Details
For information about the calculations that are performed for each metric, refer to:
Element Quality
Aspect Ratio Calculation for Triangles
Aspect Ratio Calculation for Quadrilaterals
Jacobian Ratio
Warping Factor
Parallel Deviation
Maximum Corner Angle
Skewness

Element Quality
A quality factor is computed for each element of a model (excluding line and point elements). The Element
Quality option provides a composite quality metric that ranges between 0 and 1. This metric is based on
the ratio of the volume to the edge length for a given element. A value of 1 indicates a perfect cube or
square while a value of 0 indicates that the element has a zero or negative volume.

Aspect Ratio Calculation for Triangles

The aspect ratio for a triangle is computed in the following manner, using only the corner nodes of the
element (Figure : Triangle Aspect Ratio Calculation (p. 94)):

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Figure: Triangle Aspect Ratio Calculation

Basic
Rectangle

Triangle

Midpoint

I
Midpoint

1.

A line is constructed from one node of the element to the midpoint of the opposite edge, and another
through the midpoints of the other 2 edges. In general, these lines are not perpendicular to each
other or to any of the element edges.

2.

Rectangles are constructed centered about each of these 2 lines, with edges passing through the element edge midpoints and the triangle apex.

3.

These constructions are repeated using each of the other 2 corners as the apex.

4.

The aspect ratio of the triangle is the ratio of the longer side to the shorter side of whichever of the
6 rectangles is most stretched, divided by the square root of 3.

The best possible triangle aspect ratio, for an equilateral triangle, is 1. A triangle having an aspect ratio of
20 is shown in Figure : Aspect Ratios for Triangles (p. 94).

Figure: Aspect Ratios for Triangles

20

Aspect Ratio Calculation for Quadrilaterals

The aspect ratio for a quadrilateral is computed by the following steps, using only the corner nodes of the
element (Figure : Quadrilateral Aspect Ratio Calculation (p. 95)):

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Jacobian Ratio Calculation

Figure: Quadrilateral Aspect Ratio Calculation

Rectangle
through
midpoints
Quadrilateral
I

K
0

Midpoint

K
0

J I

1.

If the element is not flat, the nodes are projected onto a plane passing through the average of the
corner locations and perpendicular to the average of the corner normals. The remaining steps are
performed on these projected locations.

2.

Two lines are constructed that bisect the opposing pairs of element edges and which meet at the
element center. In general, these lines are not perpendicular to each other or to any of the element
edges.

3.

Rectangles are constructed centered about each of the 2 lines, with edges passing through the element
edge midpoints. The aspect ratio of the quadrilateral is the ratio of a longer side to a shorter side of
whichever rectangle is most stretched.

4.

The best possible quadrilateral aspect ratio, for a square, is one. A quadrilateral having an aspect ratio
of 20 is shown in Figure : Aspect Ratios for Quadrilaterals (p. 95).

Figure: Aspect Ratios for Quadrilaterals

20

Jacobian Ratio
Jacobian ratio is computed and tested for all elements except triangles and tetrahedra that (a) are linear
(have no midside nodes) or (b) have perfectly centered midside nodes. A high ratio indicates that the mapping
between element space and real space is becoming computationally unreliable.

Jacobian Ratio Calculation

An element's Jacobian ratio is computed by the following steps, using the full set of nodes for the element:
1.

At each sampling location listed in the table below, the determinant of the Jacobian matrix is computed
and called RJ. RJ at a given point represents the magnitude of the mapping function between element

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Global Mesh Controls

natural coordinates and real space. In an ideally-shaped element, RJ is relatively constant over the
element, and does not change sign.
Element Shape

RJ Sampling Locations

10-node tetrahedra

Integration points

5-node or 13-node
pyramids

base corner nodes and near apex node (apex RJ factored so that a pyramid
having all edges the same length will produce a Jacobian ratio of 1)

8-node quadrilaterals

corner nodes and centroid

20-node bricks

all nodes and centroid

all other elements

corner nodes

2.

The Jacobian ratio of the element is the ratio of the maximum to the minimum sampled value of RJ.
If the maximum and minimum have opposite signs, the Jacobian ratio is arbitrarily assigned to be 100 (and the element is clearly unacceptable).

3.

If the element is a midside-node tetrahedron, an additional RJ is computed for a fictitious straightsided tetrahedron connected to the 4 corner nodes. If that RJ differs in sign from any nodal RJ (an extremely rare occurrence), the Jacobian ratio is arbitrarily assigned to be -100.

4.

If the element is a line element having a midside node, the Jacobian matrix is not square (because the
mapping is from one natural coordinate to 2-D or 3-D space) and has no determinant. For this case,
a vector calculation is used to compute a number which behaves like a Jacobian ratio. This calculation
has the effect of limiting the arc spanned by a single element to about 106.

A triangle or tetrahedron has a Jacobian ratio of 1 if each midside node, if any, is positioned at the average
of the corresponding corner node locations. This is true no matter how otherwise distorted the element
may be. Hence, this calculation is skipped entirely for such elements. Moving a midside node away from the
edge midpoint position will increase the Jacobian ratio. Eventually, even very slight further movement will
break the element (Figure : Jacobian Ratios for Triangles (p. 96)). We describe this as breaking the element
because it suddenly changes from acceptable to unacceptable- broken
.

Figure: Jacobian Ratios for Triangles

30

1000

Any rectangle or rectangular parallelepiped having no midside nodes, or having midside nodes at the midpoints of its edges, has a Jacobian ratio of 1. Moving midside nodes toward or away from each other can
increase the Jacobian ratio. Eventually, even very slight further movement will break the element (Figure : Jacobian Ratios for Quadrilaterals (p. 97)).

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Warping Factor Calculation for Quadrilateral Shell Elements

Figure: Jacobian Ratios for Quadrilaterals

30

100

A quadrilateral or brick has a Jacobian ratio of 1 if (a) its opposing faces are all parallel to each other, and
(b) each midside node, if any, is positioned at the average of the corresponding corner node locations. As
a corner node moves near the center, the Jacobian ratio climbs. Eventually, any further movement will break
the element (Figure : Jacobian Ratios for Quadrilaterals (p. 97)).

Figure: Jacobian Ratios for Quadrilaterals

30

1000

Warping Factor
Warping factor is computed and tested for some quadrilateral shell elements, and the quadrilateral faces of
bricks, wedges, and pyramids. A high factor may indicate a condition the underlying element formulation
cannot handle well, or may simply hint at a mesh generation flaw.

Warping Factor Calculation for Quadrilateral Shell Elements

A quadrilateral element's warping factor is computed from its corner node positions and other available
data by the following steps:

Note
When computing the warping factor for a quadrilateral shell element, the Meshing application
assumes 0 thickness for the shell. In contrast, the defined shell thickness is included when the FE
Modeler application computes the warping factor. Because of this difference in computation, the
warping factor value reported by the Mesh Metric control in the Meshing application and the
warping factor value reported by the FE Modeler Mesh Metrics tool will differ.
1.

An average element normal is computed as the vector (cross) product of the 2 diagonals (Figure : Shell
Average Normal Calculation (p. 98)).

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Global Mesh Controls

Figure: Shell Average Normal Calculation

2.

The projected area of the element is computed on a plane through the average normal (the dotted
outline on Figure 4-19: Shell Element Projected onto a Plane).

3.

The difference in height of the ends of an element edge is computed, parallel to the average normal.
In Figure : Shell Element Projected onto a Plane (p. 98), this distance is 2h. Because of the way the average
normal is constructed, h is the same at all four corners. For a flat quadrilateral, the distance is zero.

Figure: Shell Element Projected onto a Plane

4.

The area warping factor ( Fa ) for the element is computed as the edge height difference divided by
the square root of the projected area.

5.

For all shells except those in the membrane stiffness only group, if the thickness is available, the
thickness warping factor is computed as the edge height difference divided by the average element
thickness. This could be substantially higher than the area warping factor computed in 4 (above).

6.

The warping factor tested against warning and error limits (and reported in warning and error messages)
is the larger of the area factor and, if available, the thickness factor.

7.

The best possible quadrilateral warping factor, for a flat quadrilateral, is zero.

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Warping Factor Calculation for 3-D Solid Elements

8.

The warning and error limits for SHELL63 quadrilaterals in a large deflection analysis are much tighter
than if these same elements are used with small deflection theory, so existing SHELL63 elements are
retested any time the nonlinear geometry key is changed. However, in a large deflection analysis it is
possible for warping to develop after deformation, causing impairment of nonlinear convergence
and/or degradation of results. Element shapes are not retested during an analysis.

Figure : Quadrilateral Shell Having Warping Factor (p. 99) shows a warped element plotted on top of a flat
one. Only the right-hand node of the upper element is moved. The element is a unit square, with a real
constant thickness of 0.1.
When the upper element is warped by a factor of 0.01, it cannot be visibly distinguished from the underlying
flat one.
When the upper element is warped by a factor of 0.04, it just begins to visibly separate from the flat one.

Figure: Quadrilateral Shell Having Warping Factor

0.0

0.1

0.01

1.0

0.04

5.0

Warping of 0.1 is visible given the flat reference, but seems trivial. However, it is well beyond the error limit
for a membrane shell or a SHELL63 in a large deflection environment. Warping of 1.0 is visually unappealing.
This is the error limit for most shells.
Warping beyond 1.0 would appear to be obviously unacceptable. However, SHELL181 permits even this
much distortion. Furthermore, the warping factor calculation seems to peak at about 7.0. Moving the node
further off the original plane, even by much larger distances than shown here, does not further increase the
warping factor for this geometry. Users are cautioned that manually increasing the error limit beyond its
default of 5.0 for these elements could mean no real limit on element distortion.

Warping Factor Calculation for 3-D Solid Elements

The warping factor for a 3-D solid element face is computed as though the 4 nodes make up a quadrilateral
shell element with no real constant thickness available, using the square root of the projected area of the
face as described in 4 (above).
The warping factor for the element is the largest of the warping factors computed for the 6 quadrilateral
faces of a brick, 3 quadrilateral faces of a wedge, or 1 quadrilateral face of a pyramid. Any brick element
having all flat faces has a warping factor of zero (Figure : Warping Factor for Bricks (p. 100)).

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Global Mesh Controls

Figure: Warping Factor for Bricks

0.0

approximately 0.2

approximately 0.4

Twisting the top face of a unit cube by 22.5 and 45 relative to the base produces warping factors of about
0.2 and 0.4, respectively.

Parallel Deviation
Parallel deviation is computed using the following steps:
1.

Ignoring midside nodes, unit vectors are constructed in 3-D space along each element edge, adjusted
for consistent direction, as demonstrated in Figure : Parallel Deviation Unit Vectors (p. 100).

Figure: Parallel Deviation Unit Vectors

2.

For each pair of opposite edges, the dot product of the unit vectors is computed, then the angle (in
degrees) whose cosine is that dot product. The parallel deviation is the larger of these 2 angles. (In
the illustration above, the dot product of the 2 horizontal unit vectors is 1, and acos (1) = 0. The dot
product of the 2 vertical vectors is 0.342, and acos (0.342) = 70. Therefore, this element's parallel deviation is 70.)

3.

The best possible deviation, for a flat rectangle, is 0. Figure Figure : Parallel Deviations for Quadrilaterals (p. 100) shows quadrilaterals having deviations of 0, 70, 100, 150, and 170.

Figure: Parallel Deviations for Quadrilaterals

0
150

100

100

70
170

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Maximum Corner Angle Calculation

Maximum Corner Angle

Maximum corner angle is computed and tested for all except Emag or FLOTRAN elements. Some in the finite
element community have reported that large angles (approaching 180) degrade element performance,
while small angles don't.

Maximum Corner Angle Calculation

The maximum angle between adjacent edges is computed using corner node positions in 3-D space. (Midside
nodes, if any, are ignored.) The best possible triangle maximum angle, for an equilateral triangle, is 60.
Figure : Maximum Corner Angles for Triangles (p. 101) shows a triangle having a maximum corner angle of 165.
The best possible quadrilateral maximum angle, for a flat rectangle, is 90. Figure : Maximum Corner Angles
for Quadrilaterals (p. 101) shows quadrilaterals having maximum corner angles of 90, 140 and 180.

Figure: Maximum Corner Angles for Triangles

60

165

Figure: Maximum Corner Angles for Quadrilaterals

90

140

180

Skewness
Skewness is one of the primary quality measures for a mesh. Skewness determines how close to ideal (i.e.,
equilateral or equiangular) a face or cell is (see Figure : Ideal and Skewed Triangles and Quadrilaterals (p. 102)).

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Figure: Ideal and Skewed Triangles and Quadrilaterals

The following table lists the range of skewness values and the corresponding cell quality.
Value of Skewness

Cell Quality

degenerate

0.9 <1

bad (sliver)

0.75 0.9

poor

0.5 0.75

fair

0.25 0.5

good

>0 0.25

excellent

equilateral

According to the definition of skewness, a value of 0 indicates an equilateral cell (best) and a value of 1 indicates a completely degenerate cell (worst). Degenerate cells (slivers) are characterized by nodes that are
nearly coplanar (collinear in 2D).
Highly skewed faces and cells are unacceptable because the equations being solved assume that the cells
are relatively equilateral/equiangular.
Two methods for measuring skewness are:

Based on the equilateral volume (applies only to triangles and tetrahedra).

Based on the deviation from a normalized equilateral angle. This method applies to all cell and face
shapes, e.g., pyramids and prisms.

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Normalized Equiangular Skewness

Equilateral-Volume-Based Skewness
In the equilateral volume deviation method, skewness is defined as
Optimal Cell Size - Cell Size
Skewness =
Optimal Cell Size
where, the optimal cell size is the size of an equilateral cell with the same circumradius.
Quality grids have a skewness value of approximately 0.1 for 2D and 0.4 for 3D. The table above provides a
general guide to the relationship between cell skewness and quality.
In 2D, all cells should be good or better. The presence of cells that are fair or worse indicates poor boundary
node placement. You should try to improve your boundary mesh as much as possible, because the quality
of the overall mesh can be no better than that of the boundary mesh.
In 3D, most cells should be good or better, but a small percentage will generally be in the fair range and
there are usually even a few poor cells.

Note
The Equilateral-Volume-Based Skewness quality metric applies to any mesh element that includes
a triangular face. For triangular and tetrahedral elements, all faces of which are strictly triangular,
the Equilateral-Volume-Based Skewness metric applies directly. For wedge or pyramidal elements,
which include combinations of triangular and quadrilateral faces, the Meshing application computes
both Equilateral-Volume-Based Skewness metrics (for the triangular faces) and Normalized
Equiangular Skewness metrics (for the quadrilateral faces and 3-D element, itself ) and reports the
maximum computed metric as the element skewness. As a result, Equilateral-Volume-Based
Skewness metrics reported for meshes that contain wedge and/or pyramidal elements may include
skewness values attributable to Normalized Equiangular Skewness computations.

Normalized Equiangular Skewness

In the normalized angle deviation method, skewness is defined (in general) as
max e e min
max
,

e
180 e

where
max = largest angle in the face or cell
min = smallest angle in the face or cell
e = angle for an equiangular face/cell (e.g., 60 for a triangle, 90 for a square)
For a pyramid, the cell skewness will be the maximum skewness computed for any face. An ideal pyramid
(skewness = 0) is one in which the 4 triangular faces are equilateral (and equiangular) and the quadrilateral
base face is a square. The guidelines in the table above apply to the normalized equiangular skewness as
well.

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Local Mesh Controls

Local mesh controls are available when you highlight a Mesh object in the tree and choose a tool from
either the Mesh Control drop-down menu, or from first choosing Insert in the context menu (displayed
from a right mouse click on a Mesh object). You can specify the scoping of the tool in the tool's Details
View under Method to either a Geometry Selection or to a Named Selection.

Note
Be aware of the following items regarding mesh control tools:

For most mesh controls, the latest control that you add on a particular geometry overrides
any prior controls that you already have added on that geometry. For example, if you apply
a Sizing control setting of 0.5 to faces A,B,C then apply a setting of 1.0 to face B, faces A and
C will retain the 0.5 setting, but the setting for face B will be 1.0. This is also useful when
you want to force sweep many bodies of a multibody part and only tet mesh one or specify
special sweeping parameters on one. For example, you can select all 1000 parts and then
override one or 10 part(s) instead of picking 999 (990) and then selecting one (10).
Exceptions include the Uniform Quad, Uniform Quad/Tri, MultiZone, CFX-Mesh, and All Tetrahedrons - Patch Independent controls. For information about how these controls interact
with other controls, refer to "Mesh Control Interaction Tables" (p. 217), Interactions Between
Mesh Methods (p. 217), and Interactions Between Mesh Methods and Mesh Controls (p. 218).

If you suppress a mesh control tool, the Suppress symbol appears ("x" adjacent to the name
of the tool) and Suppressed is set to Yes in the Details View of the tool. Situations can occur
when you do not suppress a mesh control tool, and the Suppress symbol appears adjacent
to the tool but Suppressed is set to No in the Details View of the tool. In these situations,
refer to the mesh control's Active read-only field for the reason why the tool is suppressed.
Examples are a control applied to a uniform surface body mesh (not supported), a control
scoped to suppressed geometry, or a Contact Sizing control scoped to a suppressed Contact
Region.

The following local mesh controls are available:

Method Control
Sizing Control
Contact Sizing Control
Refinement Control
Mapped Face Meshing Control
Match Control
Pinch Control
Inflation Control
Gap Tool

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Local Mesh Controls

Method Control
The Method control is valid only for a body. The default value selects meshing methods that provide a
successful automated mesh. By default, the application attempts to use auto sweeping for solid models and
quadrilateral element generation for surface body models. If a model is not sweepable, the Patch Conforming
mesher under Tetrahedrons is used. You can change these defaults using the Meshing Options panel.
To set the values for the Method control, click Mesh on the Tree Outline, and right-click to view the menu.
Select Insert> Method. You can also click Mesh on the Tree Outline, and select the Mesh Control button
on the Context Toolbar. Select Method.
In the Details View, you can set Method based on whether you want to apply the method to a solid body
or a surface body. For more information, refer to:
Method Controls and Element Midside Nodes Settings
Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies
Setting the Method Control for Surface Bodies

Method Controls and Element Midside Nodes Settings

When setting the Method control to a scoped body, you can control whether meshes are to be created on
the scoped body with midside nodes or without midside nodes by using the Element Midside Nodes setting
under Definition in the Details View. When setting the Element Midside Nodes option for a scoped body,
choices include Use Global Setting, Dropped, and Kept.
If you select Use Global Setting, Element Midside Nodes will be handled as dictated by the global Element
Midside Nodes option. The remaining choicesDropped and Kepthave the same descriptions as their
counterparts under the global Element Midside Nodes option. Setting Element Midside Nodes to Dropped
or Kept for a scoped body will override the setting of the global Element Midside Nodes option.

Mixed Order Meshing

Mixed order meshing is supported across bodies for the following mesh methods:

Patch Conforming Tetra

General Sweep

Thin Sweep

Hex Dominant

Quad Dominant

Triangles

This means that when scoping one of these mesh methods to bodies in a multibody part, you can set the
Element Midside Nodes option to Kept (resulting in higher order elements) for some bodies and to Dropped
(resulting in lower order elements) for others. In such cases, all of the elements in a lower order body that
are adjacent to a higher order body will be higher order elements, thereby creating one layer of quadratic
elements at the interface face. These elements will be higher order at the interface face but with dropped
midside nodes where adjacent to the linear elements in the mesh.
The figures below illustrate an example of mixed order meshing. To obtain the mesh shown in Figure : Mixed
Order Meshing of a Multibody Part (p. 107), the global Element Midside Nodes option was set to Kept, resulting
in a mesh of quadratic tet elements for the topmost body. The sweep method was applied to the remaining
bodies, with the Element Midside Nodes option set to Dropped on the Sweep Method control. This resulted

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Mixed Order Meshing

in a mesh of primarily linear hex/wedge elements for the swept bodies, with the hex/wedge elements that
are attached to the common interface being mixed order (see Figure : Mixed Order Elements (p. 108)).

Figure: Mixed Order Meshing of a Multibody Part

Figure : Mixed Order Elements (p. 108) shows the mixed order hex/wedge elements that are attached to
quadratic pyramid elements at the interface. On the Mesh Metrics bar graph, mixed order elements are
displayed as quadratic element types.

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Figure: Mixed Order Elements

A mix of higher order and lower order elements within a part is not supported for the Patch Independent
Tetra, MultiZone, CFX-Mesh, Uniform Quad, and Uniform Quad/Tri mesh methods . If you scope the Patch
Independent Tetra or MultiZone Method control to any body in a multibody part and also set the Element
Midside Nodes option for the scoped body, all bodies within the part will have that same Element Midside
Nodes setting. For example, if you scope a Method control with Dropped midside nodes to a body in a
multibody part and then insert a Method control for another body in the multibody part, the Element
Midside Nodes option for the second and any subsequent bodies will automatically be set to the same
value specified for the first body (in this case, Dropped). Thus, all bodies within the part will have Dropped
midside nodes. If you scope the CFX-Mesh, Uniform Quad, or Uniform Quad/Tri mesh methods to a body in
a multibody part, the Element Midside Nodes option for the scoped body is set to Dropped and is readonly.

Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies

The options described below are available for solid bodies.
Automatic Method Control
Tetrahedrons Method Control
Hex Dominant Method Control
Sweep Method Control
MultiZone Method Control
CFX-Mesh Method Control

Automatic Method Control

If you select the Automatic Method control (default), the body will be swept if possible. Otherwise, the
Patch Conforming mesher under Tetrahedrons is used.

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Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies

Tetrahedrons Method Control

Tetrahedrons, where an all tetrahedral mesh is created. An Algorithm setting is displayed allowing you to
choose how the tetrahedral mesh is created based on your choice of one of the following options:
Patch Conforming Algorithm for Tetrahedrons Method Control
Patch Independent Algorithm for Tetrahedrons Method Control

Patch Conforming Algorithm for Tetrahedrons Method Control

The Patch Conforming Tetra mesh method is a Delaunay tetra mesher with an advancing-front point insertion
technique used for mesh refinement. The Patch Conforming Tetra mesh method provides:

Support for 3D inflation

Built-in pyramid layer for conformal quad-tet transition

Built-in growth and smoothness control. The mesher will try to create a smooth size variation based on
the specified growth factor.

Keep the following information in mind when using the Patch Conforming Tetra mesh method:

For problematic geometry given by the Patch Conforming Tetra mesher or regions that self intersect,
you can possibly remedy the problem by adding an extremely large face sizing control in the region of
the self intersection. However, best practice would be to remove the problematic geometry in the
DesignModeler application or your CAD system.

When Patch Conforming Tetra meshing (with Physics Preference of CFD) fails due to lack of available
memory, an error message will be issued. However, this error message will not identify insufficient
memory as the cause. Because meshing will stop before the memory limit is reached, you may not notice
any unusual behavior.

The Patch Conforming Tetra meshing algorithm uses skewness as the quality criteria when Physics
Preference is set to CFD. For all other values of Physics Preference, the Patch Conforming Tetra
meshing algorithm uses element quality as the quality criteria.

The Patch Conforming Tetra method is used whenever the Shape Checking control is set to CFD.

For information about the Element Midside Nodes option, refer to Method Controls and Element Midside
Nodes Settings (p. 106).

Patch Independent Algorithm for Tetrahedrons Method Control

The Patch Independent mesh method for tetrahedrons is based on the following spatial subdivision algorithm:
This algorithm ensures refinement of the mesh where necessary, but maintains larger elements where possible,
allowing for faster computation. Once the "root" tetrahedron, which encloses the entire geometry, has been
initialized, the Patch Independent mesher subdivides the root tetrahedron until all element size requirements
(that is, the prescribed local mesh sizes) are met.
At each subdivision step, the edge length of the tetrahedron (=size) is divided by 2. This means that the
prescribed sizes should all differ by factors that are an integer power of 2. The size of the root tetra is set
to the smallest given size multiplied by 2n. All other prescribed sizes are approximated by subdividing the
root tetra. Refer to the series of figures below, which illustrate the process that is followed by the Patch Independent tetra mesher.

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Local Mesh Controls

Figure: Geometry Input to Patch Independent Tetra Mesher

At this point, the Patch Independent tetra mesher balances the mesh so that elements sharing an edge or
face do not differ in size by more than a factor of 2.

Figure: Full Tetrahedron Enclosing the Geometry

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Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies

Figure: Full Tetrahedron Enclosing the Geometry in Wire Frame Mode

Figure: Cross-Section of the Tetrahedron

After this is done, the Patch Independent tetra mesher makes the mesh conformal; that is, it guarantees that
each pair of adjacent elements will share an entire face. The mesh does not yet match the given geometry,
so the mesher next rounds the nodes of the mesh to the prescribed points, prescribed curves, or model
surfaces. The Patch Independent tetra mesher then "cuts away" all of the mesh, which cannot be reached
by a user-defined material point without intersection of a surface.

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Local Mesh Controls

Figure: Mesh After Capture of Surfaces and Separation of Useful Volume

Figure: Final Mesh Before Smoothing

Finally, the mesh is smoothed by moving nodes, merging nodes, swapping edges and in some cases, deleting
bad elements.

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Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies

Figure: Final Mesh After Smoothing

The Patch Independent mesh method includes the following settings:

Element Midside Nodes - Refer to Method Controls and Element Midside Nodes Settings (p. 106).

Defined By - Choices are Max Element Size and Approx Number of Elements.

Max Element Size - The size of the initial element subdivision. The default value depends on whether
Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is on or off:

If Advanced Size Function is on, the default value of Max Element Size is inherited from the global
Max Tet Size value.

If Advanced Size Function is off, the default value of Max Element Size is inherited from the global
Element Size value.

In either case, you can change the value if you want to apply a specific value locally. In such cases, the
maximum size comes from the larger value of the global controls (that is, Max Tet Size or Element
Size, as described above) OR, the largest scoped body size that Patch Independent is also scoped to. If
a local body size is defined and it is larger than the global maximum size, the maximum size is adjusted
accordingly and the original maximum size is applied to all surfaces that do not have local sizes explicitly
defined for them. For example, if Patch Independent is defined on two bodies, and the setup is as follows:

Global Max Tet Size = 5

Local body size scoped to Body1 = 8

No local body size is scoped to Body2

The Patch Independent maximum size will be 8, and the global Max Tet Size of 5 will be used for the
sizing of Body2.

Approx Number of Elements - Prescribes an approximate number of elements for the mesh. The default
is 5.0E+05. Specifying a prescribed number of elements for the Patch Independent method is applicable
only if the method is being applied to a single part.

Define Defeaturing Tolerance - Filters in/out edges based on size and angle. If set to Yes, a Defeaturing Tolerance field appears where you enter a numerical value. There are several basic cases, including
the following:

Two approximately parallel spaced edges (fillet or chamfer) closer than the tolerance, as shown below.

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Local Mesh Controls

If the face (fillet or chamfer) between spans by more than 15 degrees, one edge is kept and the
other is dropped. Nodes will only line up along one edge. If the face between spans by less than
15 degrees, both edges may be dropped and Patch Independent mesh will walk over this feature
without capturing it explicitly.
If the tolerance is less than the fillet/chamfer size, and the deflection is greater than 15 degrees,
both edges are kept.

A small hole with a diameter smaller than the tolerance as shown below.

No edges are dropped. You should defeature manually in this case.

Figure: Example (a) Showing Base Geometry

Figures (b) through (f ) below show examples of the Patch Independent Tetrahedron mesher under the
conditions noted.

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Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies

Figure: Example (b) Min Size Limit (Described Below) Set to 1

Figure: Example (c) Min Size Limit (Described Below) Set to 0.5

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Figure: Example (d) Defeaturing Tolerance Set to 1

Figure: Example (e) Defeaturing Tolerance Set to 1 and Midside Nodes Dropped

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Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies

Figure: Example (f) Defeaturing Tolerance Set to 1 and Min Size Limit Set to 0.5

Curvature and Proximity Refinement and Min Size Limit - When Curvature and Proximity Refinement
is set to Yes, the mesh is automatically refined based on geometry curvature and proximity. This will
result in larger elements on flat planar faces and smaller elements in areas of high curvature or within
small gaps. In addition, a Min Size Limit field is displayed, in which you enter a numerical value. (The
default of Curvature and Proximity Refinement is Yes, unless Physics Preference is set to Explicit,
in which case the default is No.)
Curvature or proximity based refinement will subdivide the elements until this Min Size Limit is reached.
However, projection to geometry and smoothing may push the size even smaller for some elements.
The Min Size Limit prevents curvature or proximity based refinement from generating elements that
are too small. The default value of Min Size Limit depends on whether Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53)
is on or off:

If Advanced Size Function is on, the default value of Min Size Limit is inherited from the global Min
Size control. You can change the value if you want to apply a specific value locally.

If Advanced Size Function is off, you must specify a value for Min Size Limit.

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Local Mesh Controls

Num Cells Across Gap - (Displayed only when Curvature and Proximity Refinement is set to Yes.)
The number of cells desired in narrow gaps. This sets the goal for the proximity based refinement. The
mesh will subdivide in tight regions toward this goal, but the refinement is limited by the Min Size
Limit. It will not override this limit. The default value depends on whether Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is on or off:

If Advanced Size Function is on, the default value of Num Cells Across Gap is inherited from the
global Num Cells Across Gap value.

If Advanced Size Function is off, the default value of Num Cells Across Gap is 3.

In either case, you can change the value if you want to apply a specific value locally.

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Curvature Normal Angle - (Displayed only when Curvature and Proximity Refinement is set to Yes.)
Sets the goal for the curvature based refinement. The mesh will subdivide in curved regions until the
individual elements span this angle. This refinement is also limited by the Min Size Limit. You can
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Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies

specify a value from 0 to 180. The default value depends on whether Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53)
is on or off:

If Advanced Size Function is on, the default value of Curvature Normal Angle is inherited from the
global Curvature Normal Angle value.

If Advanced Size Function is off, the default value of Curvature Normal Angle will be computed
based on the values of the Relevance (p. 53) and Span Angle Center (p. 60) global options.

In either case, you can change the value if you want to apply a specific value locally.

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Figure: Example (a) Showing Base Geometry

Figure: Example (b) Default Patch Independent Tetrahedron Mesher

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Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies

Figure: Example (c) Patch Independent Tetrahedron Mesher with Min Size Limit Set to
Capture Curvature

Minimum Edge Length - Read-only indication of the smallest edge length in the part.

Match Mesh Where Possible - The Match Mesh Where Possible control is applicable to contact
definitions between faces. Options are Yes and No. The default is Yes. If contact is defined by a single
face that topologically belongs to two different bodies, setting this option to Yes has no effect. However,
if there are independent faces on the two bodies, setting this option to Yes causes the Patch Independent
mesh method to create nodes on both sides of the contact. The nodes are not connected but have
identical coordinates.

Notes on Element Size Settings for the Patch Independent Mesher

Keep these notes in mind when using the Patch Independent mesher:

If you are specifying element sizes with the Patch Independent mesher, you may notice that some element
edge lengths are less than the size that you have entered. For example, if your element size is 1, the
resulting elements in a uniform tetrahedron mesh will have tetrahedron with edges of length 31/2/2
and edges of length 1. A single tetrahedron in this mesh will have two edges of length 1 and four edges
of length 31/2/2. Two of the three dimensions of the bounding box of this tetrahedron will have length
of 1 while the other dimension will have the length of 0.5. This correlates to an element size of 1.

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Figure: Element Edge Lengths Smaller Than Specified Element Size

If you are using Curvature and Proximity Refinement, you may notice that your elements are always
less than the maximum size specified. Element growth rates with this mesher are always based on
powers of 2. For instance if your minimum size limit is set to 1 and your maximum element size limit
is set to 5, and you have curvature in your model that warrants curvature based mesh refinement down
to the minimum element size, you will see that the largest elements are not size 5 but size 4. This
happens because in order to maintain elements at the minimum size limit, the initial tetrahedron must
be some power of 2 larger than the minimum element size, which in this example case is 1.

Small features of Named Selections will be checked in comparison to element size settings prior to
meshing. If the minimum element size seems to be too big to capture the essential features of the
geometry, a warning will be issued if small entities could cause the mesher to fail.

Only fast and slow Transition rates are applicable for defining the growth rate into a volume when
using the Patch Independent mesh method. You cannot apply a growth rate to a volume by using the
Growth Rate control.

Unlike general mesh sizing, which permits you to specify body sizing to define the volume mesh size
of selected bodies, there can be only one common volume seed size for a single Patch Independent
meshing process. With the Patch Independent mesh method, body sizing applies to the body surfaces
only.

Notes on Scoping for the Patch Independent Mesher

The Patch Independent mesh method operates at the part level. Because of this if one or more bodies of a
multibody part are selected or a Named Selection containing one or more bodies of a multibody part is selected, all bodies of the multibody part are automatically selected. This creates a limitation, in that you
cannot have conformal mesh between bodies meshed with the Patch Independent mesh method and any
other mesh method.
Notes on Virtual Topologies and the Patch Independent Mesher
Virtual topologies may affect the success of meshing with the Patch Independent tetra mesh method. Because
virtual topologies are often a coarse approximation of the original faces or edges, the resulting small inaccuracies (gaps and overlaps) may cause the Patch Independent tetra mesher to miss some parts of the
boundary of the virtual topology. As a result, the mesher may not accurately model the respected topology
and may fail.

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Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies

Since in general, the Patch Independent tetra mesh method does not require the use of virtual topologies
to clean up the geometry, you can remove some of the problematic virtual topology and use Named Selections
for boundary conditions instead, as appropriate.

Hex Dominant Method Control

Hex Dominant1, where a free hex dominant mesh is created. If you are interested in a hex mesh, this option
is recommended for bodies that cannot be swept. To preview any bodies that can be swept, click Mesh on
the Tree Outline and right-click the mouse. Select Show Sweepable Bodies to display bodies that fulfill the
requirements of a sweepable body (other than axis sweeping).
The Hex Dominant mesh method includes the following settings:

Element Midside Nodes - Refer to Method Controls and Element Midside Nodes Settings (p. 106).

Free Face Mesh Type - Determines the shape of the elements used to fill the body. Allows you to
choose Quad/Tri or All Quad. The default is Quad/Tri.

Hex dominant meshing adds the most value under the following conditions:

Meshing bodies with large amounts of interior volume.

Meshing bodies that transition from sweepable bodies in a body that has been decomposed for
sweeping. However, it is better to use Body/Face Sizing to obtain more uniform face meshing, which
leads to more hexes by volume.

Hex dominant meshing adds little value under the following conditions:

Meshing thin complicated bodies (like a cellular phone case). The number of elements may actually increase compared to a tetrahedron mesh since the element size must be much smaller for this class of
body when using hex dominant meshing to create well shaped hexes.

A body is sweepable or can easily be decomposed to multiple sweepable bodies. The quality of a swept
mesh is usually superior to that of a hex dominant mesh.

Models where fast transition of the mesh can result in poor solution accuracy (e.g. CFD models). The
Hex dominant approach can have very fast transitions at the core of the volume.

Mesh Matching for cyclic symmetry is not supported for hex dominant meshing.
Workbench assists you in determining if hex dominant meshing is applicable to your situation. When you
apply the Hex Dominant option on a body or group of bodies, Workbench calculates the normalized volume
to surface area ratio. If it detects a ratio less than 2, Control Message appears in a highlighted row under
Definition in the Details View. If you click Yes, Click To Display, a warning message states that a low percentage of hex elements or poorly shaped hex elements may result. Suggestions are included for alternative
meshing schemes.
The normalized volume to surface area ratio is defined by the following expression:
(Volume of body/(Surface area of body)3/2)/factor
where factor, the ratio for a unit sphere = (4/3 )/(4 )3/2

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Note
Adaptive refinement starting from a hex dominant mesh will result in re-meshing of the structure
with tetrahedrons.

Sweep Method Control

Sweep1, where a swept mesh is forced on sweepable bodies (including axis-sweepable bodies, which are
not displayed when you choose Show Sweepable Bodies). The mesher will fail if a swept mesh cannot be
generated on a body with a Sweep Method control.
Use the Sweep option for any of the following situations:

A swept mesh is required.

You want a swept mesh on a model that revolves around an axis where the source and target faces
share topology.

When you choose the Sweep option, the Details View expands to include additional settings, many of which
are unique to this option. For basic usage that involves obtaining a swept mesh, the procedure is to apply
a Method Control to one or more bodies, set Method to Sweep, and accept the default values of the
various settings.
For advanced or specialized usage such as meshing thin models or axis sweeping, adjust the settings as
needed. The following is a description of each of these settings.

Element Midside Nodes - Refer to Method Controls and Element Midside Nodes Settings (p. 106).

Src/Trg Selection - Defines the source and target selection type according to the following choices:

Note
The Sweep mesh method does not support the Manual Source, Manual Source and Target,
or Manual Thin settings for Src/Trg Selection if Sweep is applied to more than one part,
even if you suppress all of the other parts.

Manual Source - You select the source and the program determines the target. This choice is useful
when there are multiple source target pairs and you want to specify the source in order to get the
correct bias through the sweep direction. Another application is when your cross section is changing
and the mesh quality would be better when sweeping from one side vs. another. An Element Option
setting is included for choosing Solid or Gasket elements.

Manual Source and Target - The sweeper will revolve the mesh around common edges/vertices.
This choice is useful when you want to sweep a body where the source and target faces share vertices
and/or edges. An Element Option setting is included for choosing Solid or Gasket elements.

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Automatic - The program determines the best source and target for the body.

Automatic Thin - This choice is for thin models such as gaskets and thin sheet metal parts, or any
application where you want one hex or wedge through the thickness, in preparation for using the
Mechanical APDL application's SOLSH190 element. (See the description for this element in the Element
Reference within the Mechanical APDL help.) For this choice, the face with the largest face area is
selected as the master source and the algorithm determines the rest of the source faces. For multibody
parts, only one division through the thickness is possible. For single body parts, you can define
multiple elements through the thickness using the Sweep Num Divs control. Biasing is not available.
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Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies

An Element Option setting is included that instructs the solver to use the Solid Shell element
where possible, or to always use a Solid element.
Manual Thin - The same restrictions apply as described above for Automatic Thin. However, with
this choice, you can do any of the following:
Pick one source face and allow the program to determine the rest.
Pick all of the source faces and allow the program to do nothing but mesh the source faces and
sweep them to the target.
Pick multiple source faces and mesh one target face.

Note
In some cases, the thin model sweeper may want to swap source and target faces based
on meshing conditions in neighboring bodies. In such cases, a warning message will be
issued to alert you.
Refer to Considerations for Selecting Source Faces for the Thin Model Sweeper (p. 172) for details.
The Element Option setting, which is available for Automatic Thin, is also available for Manual
Thin. For Manual Thin an additional Gasket option is available.

Free Face Mesh Type - Determines the shape of the elements used to fill the swept body (pure hex,
pure wedge, or a combination of hex/wedge). Allows you to choose All Tri, Quad/Tri, or All Quad
meshing when Src/Trg Selection is Automatic, Manual Source, or Manual Source and Target. Allows
you to choose Quad/Tri or All Quad meshing when Src/Trg Selection is Automatic Thin or Manual
Thin. The default in all cases is Quad/Tri.

Note
If the source face is also a side face of another body, the face will always be quad mapped.

Note
When Free Face Mesh Type is set to either Quad/Tri or All Quad and the source face can
be mapped meshed, the face will sometimes be mapped meshed even if it means applied
sizing controls (such as Contact Sizing, Sphere of Influence, etc.) will be ignored.

Note
In some cases when Src/Trg Selection is set to Automatic, the source face that is selected
by the software must be quad mapped in order for the sweep method to be successful. In
these cases, the value that is specified for Free Face Mesh Type may be ignored.

Type - Allows you to specify Number of Divisions or Element Size through the sweep direction. When
sweeping generalized bodies that share faces, the Element Size is a soft constraint on interval assignment
where the Number of Divisions is a hard constraint. If you have conflicting Number of Divisions
constraints the sweeper will fail and yield a message. See Sizing Control (p. 134) for further information.

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Local Mesh Controls

Sweep Bias Type - Specify bias in the same manner as edge biasing for the Bias Type setting in a
Sizing mesh control. There is no graphical feedback for biasing on a Method control. Biasing direction
is based from the source to the target.

The Element Option setting is available as noted in the descriptions of the individual Src/Trg Selection
settings. Also see Gasket Element Meshing (p. 208).

The Constrain Boundary setting is available for multibody parts only (both for general sweeping and
thin sweeping). Specify whether you want to allow the mesher to split the elements at the boundary
of a swept mesh region to aid in meshing. You can choose Yes (constrain boundary; no splitting is allowed) or No (do not constrain boundary; splitting is allowed). Choosing Yes prevents tets from entering
the swept body. The default is No.

Note
There is a system limitation when using the sweep method with the Advanced Size Function. The
Advanced Size Function may have nodes slightly off because the spacing is queried. The sweeper
then tries to match that spacing, which may lead to unexpected mesh results.

MultiZone Method Control

The MultiZone mesh method, which is a patch independent meshing technique, provides automatic decomposition of geometry into mapped (sweepable) regions and free regions. When the MultiZone mesh method
is selected, all regions are meshed with a pure hexahedral mesh if possible. To handle cases in which a pure
hex mesh will not be possible, you can adjust your settings so that a swept mesh will be generated in
structured regions and a free mesh will be generated in unstructured regions.
For example, using the Sweep mesh method, you would need to slice the part below into five bodies as
shown to obtain a pure hex mesh:

Figure: Sweep Method Would Require Slicing to Obtain Pure Hex Mesh

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Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies

In contrast, using the MultiZone mesh method requires no slicing. MultiZone automates the geometry
decomposition and generates the pure hex mesh shown in Figure : MultiZone Generates Pure Hex Mesh without
Slicing (p. 127).

Figure: MultiZone Generates Pure Hex Mesh without Slicing

When you choose the MultiZone mesh method, the Details View expands to expose various settings, including
several that are unique to MultiZone. For basic usage that involves obtaining a MultiZone mesh, the procedure is to apply a Method Control to one or more bodies, set Method to MultiZone, and accept the
default values of the various settings.
For advanced or specialized usage, adjust the settings as needed. The following is a description of each of
these settings.

Mapped Mesh Type - Determines the shape of the elements used to fill structured regions according
to the following choices (the default is Hexa):

Hexa - A mesh of all hexahedral elements is generated for the part the method is scoped to.
Hexa/Prism - A mesh of hexahedral and prism/wedge elements is generated for the part the
method is scoped to. The main difference between the Hexa/Prism option and the Hexa option is
that for swept regions, the surface mesh can allow triangles for quality and transitioning. (The triangles
are later extruded to prisms/wedges.)

Free Mesh Type - Specifying a value for Free Mesh Type will instruct MultiZone to allow a free mesh
if it is not possible (without slicing) to generate a pure hex or hex/prism mesh. The value of Free Mesh
Type determines the shape of the elements used to fill unstructured regions according to the following
choices (the default is Not Allowed):

Not Allowed - Choose this option if you require a mapped mesh.

Tetra - Regions of the model that cannot be meshed with a mapped mesh will be filled with a tetrahedral mesh. Figure : Free Mesh Type = Tetra (p. 128) shows a MultiZone mesh that was generated
when Free Mesh Type was set to Tetra. Notice the upper section that was able to be mapped

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Local Mesh Controls

meshed, and the lower section that was free meshed because it could not be mapped meshed. Refer
to Patch Conforming Algorithm for Tetrahedrons Method Control (p. 109) for more information.

Figure: Free Mesh Type = Tetra

Hexa Dominant Regions of the model that cannot be meshed with a mapped mesh will be filled
with a hex dominant mesh. Figure : Free Mesh Type = Hexa Dominant (p. 128) shows a MultiZone
mesh that was generated when Free Mesh Type was set to Hexa Dominant. Notice the upper
section that was able to be mapped meshed, and the lower section that was free meshed because
it could not be mapped meshed. Refer to Hex Dominant Method Control (p. 123) for more information.

Figure: Free Mesh Type = Hexa Dominant

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Hexa Core - Regions of the model that cannot be meshed with a mapped mesh will be filled with
a hexa core mesh. Hexa Core meshes can be generated where the majority of the volume is filled
with a Cartesian array of hexahedral elements essentially replacing the tetras. This is connected to
the remainder of a prism/tetra hybrid by automatic creation of pyramids. Hexa Core allows for reduction in number of elements for quicker solver run time and better convergence. Figure : Free Mesh
Type = Hexa Core (p. 129) shows a MultiZone mesh that was generated when Free Mesh Type was
set to Hexa Core. Notice the upper section that was able to be mapped meshed, and the lower
section that was free meshed because it could not be mapped meshed.

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Setting the Method Control for Solid Bodies

Figure: Free Mesh Type = Hexa Core

Element Midside Nodes - Refer to Method Controls and Element Midside Nodes Settings (p. 106). The
default is Use Global Setting.

Src/Trg Selection - Defines the source and target selection type according to the following choices
(the default is Automatic):

Automatic - The program determines the best source and target for the body. The Automatic option
works for simple configurations only.

Manual Source - You select the faces that will be used as sources (and targets). MultiZone treats
all sources/targets as sources, as imprinting can occur from either side. For additional details, refer
to the description of Source below.

Note
MultiZone does not support the Manual Source setting if MultiZone is applied to more
than one part, even if you suppress all of the other parts.

Source - Select the faces that need to be imprinted for proper geometry decomposition. The faces you
select can be either sources or targets, but all of them will be treated as sources by MultiZone, as
shown in Figure : Source Face Selection for MultiZone (p. 130).

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Local Mesh Controls

Figure: Source Face Selection for MultiZone

Defeaturing Tolerance - Any edge that is less than or equal to this value may be meshed over by the
mesher. You may specify any value greater than 0.0. The default is 0.

Minimum Edge Length - Read-only indication of the smallest edge length in the model.

Note
For detailed information about MultiZone, refer to MultiZone Meshing (p. 184). For general information on applying MultiZone in combination with other mesh method controls, refer to "Mesh
Control Interaction Tables" (p. 217).
Notes on Scoping for the MultiZone Method
The MultiZone mesh method operates at the part level. Because of this if one body of a multibody part is
selected, all bodies of the multibody part will be meshed with this method. The scoping in this case is limited
to the selected bodies since multiple MultiZone method controls can be used to help define proper sources,
as well as different free mesh types for different bodies in the multibody part. The fact that MultiZone must
mesh all bodies with this method creates a limitation, in that you cannot have conformal mesh between
bodies meshed with the MultiZone mesh method and any other mesh method. You must mesh the entire
part with MultiZone.
If a multibody part contains some bodies that are scoped to be meshed with MultiZone and other bodies
that are not scoped with any mesh method, these other bodies will be meshed with MultiZone. If possible,
the bodies will be meshed with a pure hex mesh. If that is not possible, the bodies will be meshed with the
default Free Mesh Type used by MultiZone, which is Tetra.

CFX-Mesh Method Control

The CFX-Mesh Method control produces high quality meshes for use in computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
simulations. The requirement for CFD analyses is for meshes that resolve boundary layer phenomena and
satisfy more stringent element shape criteria than meshes in mechanical analyses. CFX-Mesh creates linear
tetrahedron, hexahedron, and wedge (prism) element shapes.

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Launching the CFX-Mesh Interface from the Meshing Application

The CFX-Mesh Method has been superseded by the Patch Conforming tetrahedron mesh method. The CFXMesh Method will be retired in a future release. You are strongly encouraged to learn and use the Patch
Conforming tetrahedron mesh method instead of CFX-Mesh. For these reasons, a warning message will appear
when you insert the CFX-Mesh Method control or select Mesh> Edit in CFX-Mesh from the Meshing application toolbar. To turn off the message, select Tools > Options from the Meshing application main menu,
click CFX-Mesh Options on the Options dialog box, and change the setting of Show CFX-Mesh Retirement
Message to No.
The Patch Conforming tetrahedron mesh method generally provides a more suitable mesh and is a good
replacement for the CFX-Mesh Method, as it provides the following advantages:

More tightly integrated into the meshing process (no need to go into a separate user interface).

Uses similar mesh controls as other mesh methods (including inflation, mesh sizing, etc.).

Allows for conformal mesh between bodies with tetrahedral mesh method and sweep mesh method
applied (along with conformal inflation layers between these bodies).

Provides a high quality mesh that is suitable for both CFX and FLUENT (CFX-Mesh generally does not
provide as high quality a mesh as the Patch Conforming method).

Meshing speed is generally superior with the Patch Conforming approach.

Notes on Scoping for the CFX-Mesh Method

The CFX-Mesh Method operates at the part level. Because of this if one body of a multibody part is selected,
all bodies of the multibody part are automatically selected. This creates a limitation, in that you cannot have
conformal mesh between bodies meshed with the CFX-Mesh Method and any other mesh method.

Note
CFX-Mesh meshes all parts that the method control is scoped to, including suppressed ones.

Launching the CFX-Mesh Interface from the Meshing Application

CFX-Mesh is a loosely integrated Method control. It has a slightly different workflow from the rest of the
Meshing application. All CFX-Mesh controls are accessible from the CFX-Mesh interface.
The following steps describe the basic workflow for accessing CFX-Mesh from the Meshing application:
1.

Within Workbench, double-click or drag a Mesh component system onto the Project Schematic.

2.

Right-click on the Geometry cell and choose New Geometry to create geometry within the DesignModeler application, or choose Import Geometry to attach existing geometry.

3.

Right-click the Mesh cell and choose Edit. This step will launch the Meshing application.

4.

Within the Meshing application, click on the Mesh object in the Tree Outline.

5.

Choose Mesh> Edit in CFX-Mesh from the toolbar or click the right mouse button and choose Edit
in CFX-Mesh from the context menu.
As a result, the CFX-Mesh interface appears and allows you to use the CFX-Mesh controls or accept
the defaults. The CFX-Mesh controls and interface are described in the CFX-Mesh help.

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Local Mesh Controls

Note
When you choose to edit a mesh in CFX-Mesh as described above, the Mesh cell on the Project
Schematic will become out-of-date and thus will require updating. On Linux platforms only, when
you perform the Update on the Mesh cell from within the Project Schematic, the Meshing application's progress bar does not appear. During the Update, you will be able to monitor your progress
from Workbench. For more information, refer to Updating the Mesh Cell State (p. 223).

Note
Using these steps to choose the CFX-Mesh method will not set the CFX-Mesh method to be the
default mesh method. To set CFX-Mesh to be the default (not recommended), you can either use
the Default Method control on the Meshing application's Options dialog box (accessed by selecting Tools> Options from the Meshing application main menu), or the Meshing application's
Meshing Options panel (accessed by selecting the Options button from the Meshing application's
Mesh toolbar).

Note
After generating the mesh using the CFX-Mesh method and saving the mesh to the Workbench
project directory, you can edit the mesh in ANSYS CFX-Pre. To do so, double-click or drag a CFX
component system onto the Project Schematic and create a link between the Mesh cell in the
Mesh system and the Setup cell in the CFX system. Right-click on the Setup cell in the CFX system
and select Edit. This will open the mesh in ANSYS CFX-Pre.

Usage Information for the CFX-Mesh Method

Keep the following information in mind when using the CFX-Mesh method:

Saving a mesh in *.gtm format is the most efficient way to transfer large meshes to CFX for analysis;
however, *.gtm is a legacy CFX mesh file format that is not supported at the ANSYS Workbench project
level in the 12.1 release. Mesh data transfer between the Meshing application (Mesh cell) and CFX-Pre
(Setup cell) via *.gtm is not supported directly on the project schematic. A *.gtm file may be written
from CFX-Mesh, but must be read into CFX-Pre via either an independent system, or by running CFXPre in standalone mode and importing the *.gtm file within the application.

CFD users of the DesignModeler, Meshing, and CFX applications should refer to "Named Selections and
Regions for CFX Applications" (p. 235) for important information about region definitions.

Setting the Method Control for Surface Bodies

The options described below are available for surface bodies.

Quadrilateral Dominant1 (default), where the body is free quad meshed. The Quadrilateral Dominant
mesh method includes the following settings:

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Element Midside Nodes - Refer to Method Controls and Element Midside Nodes Settings (p. 106).
Free Face Mesh Type - Available for most analyses and can be set to either Quad/Tri (default) or
All Quad.

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Setting the Method Control for Surface Bodies

Note
If you are using the Quadrilateral Dominant mesh method with inflation and the Advanced
Size Function is on, the mesh size of the last inflation layer will be used for the corresponding
Quadrilateral Dominant boundary mesh size.

Triangles, where an all triangle mesh is created. For information on the Element Midside Nodes option,
refer to Method Controls and Element Midside Nodes Settings (p. 106).

Uniform Quad/Tri, where a uniform mesh of quads and triangles is created over the entire part of the
selected body, depending on values that you enter for the following input fields:

Element Size - Allows you to specify the element size used for the selected geometry.

Fill Small Holes - By default, holes in surface bodies are not removed regardless of the Defeaturing
Tolerance setting. When Fill Small Holes is set to Yes, the mesher removes holes smaller than the
Defeaturing Tolerance setting. The mesh simply paves over the small holes.

Quad Dominant on Failure - Setting to Yes is equivalent to the Quadrilateral Dominant setting
with a body size equal to the Element Size setting in the Method control and turning Curv/Proximity Refinement off. The Quadrilateral Dominant mesher will be invoked on a part by part basis
when the Uniform Quad/Tri mesher cannot successfully mesh a part with the prescribed inputs.

Control Messages - (appears only when Method controls are applied to uniform sheets) Displays
an error message when the Method control is applied to a part that contains virtual topology.

Defeaturing Tolerance - Any edge that is less than or equal to this value may be meshed over by
the mesher in a Patch Independent manner. A recommended setting is at least one-half the value
set for Element Size to assure a successful mesh.

Minimum Edge Length - Read-only indication of the smallest edge length in the part.

Uniform Quad, where a uniform mesh of all quads is created over the entire part of the selected body,
depending on values that you enter for the same input fields mentioned above for the Uniform Quad/Tri
option.
In some cases, the Uniform Quad option will create some triangular meshes. If this occurs, it will be
reported in a mesh feedback message in the message pane.

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Local Mesh Controls

Note
Be aware of the following regarding the Uniform Quad/Tri and Uniform Quad controls:

These controls cannot be used for 2-D simulations.

These controls are sensitive to the scoping of all other objects in Workbench. If you add
a load or support to a group of faces, the part with either of these controls may need to
be re-meshed. If you change the scoping of the load, the part may need to be re-meshed
if the faces or edges are not captured by the mesh. The mesh however, is not made obsolete when adding or changing the scoping of a result. It is recommended that you apply
loads to the model before meshing when using either of these controls. These controls
differ from the other mesh control tools in Workbench. The remaining mesh control tools
are invariant to loading and mesh every selected face. Every surface body is not meshed
when using either of these controls.

Do not use the string "problematic geometry" in the names of any Named Selection.

Using either of these controls may allow meshing over very small bodies in a multibody
part. This may lead to a solver error if a body load is associated with that body. If this is
the case, you must suppress the body before solving your model.

The Uniform Quad and Uniform Quad/Tri mesh methods operate at the part level. Because of this if one body of a multibody part is selected, all bodies of the multibody part
are automatically selected. This creates a limitation, in that you cannot have conformal
mesh between bodies meshed with one of these mesh methods and any other mesh
method.

Once a uniform sheet mesh is created, deleting boundary conditions will not cause the
mesh to become obsolete.

Caution
Multiple environments with different loadings may over-constrain the Uniform Quad/Tri
and Uniform Quad meshers such that the mesher may not be able to return a mesh for the
given inputs. If discretization error is not an issue, the mesher will be less constrained if you
duplicate the model and change the environment instead of adding multiple environments
under the same model.

1 - If you apply a local Sizing control to a solid body with a Method control set to Hex Dominant or Sweep,
or to a sheet body with a Method control set to Quadrilateral Dominant, a near uniform quadrilateral
mesh will result on all affected faces on a body meshed with Hex Dominant, on the source face meshed
with Sweep, and on all affected faces meshed with Quadrilateral Dominant. To obtain even more of a
uniform quadrilateral mesh, set the Behavior of the Sizing control to Hard.

Sizing Control
The sizing control sets:

The element size for a selected body, face, or edge.

The number of divisions along an edge.

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Using the Local Sizing Control

The element size within a user-defined sphere of influence that can include a selected body, face,
edge, or vertex. This control is recommended for local mesh sizing. The control must also be attached
to a coordinate system if it is to be scoped to anything other than a vertex.

The element size within a user-defined body of influence. The body of influence will influence the
mesh of the body to which it is scoped, but the body of influence itself will not be meshed.

For more information, refer to:

Using the Local Sizing Control
Notes on Element Sizing

Using the Local Sizing Control

The basic steps for using the local Sizing control are presented here.
1.

Select a body, face, edge, or vertex.

2.

From the Mesh Control toolbar, choose Sizing.

or
Right-click on the selected object and choose Insert> Sizing.

3.

Specify options under Details of Sizing in the Type field. The value of Type can be Element Size,
Sphere of Influence, Body of Influence, or Number of Divisions. The available choices depend on the
topology you selected in step 1 above.

For details on defining local mesh sizing for the various topologies, refer to:
Defining Local Mesh Sizing on a Body
Defining Local Mesh Sizing on a Face
Defining Local Mesh Sizing on an Edge
Defining Local Mesh Sizing on a Vertex
Descriptions of Local Sizing Control Options

Defining Local Mesh Sizing on a Body

The following table provides an overview of how to define local mesh sizing on a body. Refer to Descriptions
of Local Sizing Control Options (p. 137) for details about the individual options that appear in the table.
1. Specify Type.

2. Specify Behavior.

3. Specify values for the applicable options. Applicable

options are dependent on the settings of Behavior and
Use Advanced Size Function.

Element Size

Soft

Element Size

Hard

Growth Rate

Curvature Normal Angle

Sphere Center

Sphere Radius

Element Size

Element Size

Growth Rate

Sphere of Influence

Body of Influence

N/A

N/A

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Local Mesh Controls

Defining Local Mesh Sizing on a Face

The following table provides an overview of how to define local mesh sizing on a face. Refer to Descriptions
of Local Sizing Control Options (p. 137) for details about the individual options that appear in the table.
1. Specify Type.

2. Specify Behavior.

3. Specify values for the applicable options. Applicable

options are dependent on the settings of Behavior and
Use Advanced Size Function.

Element Size

Soft

Element Size

Hard

Growth Rate

Curvature Normal Angle

Sphere Center

Sphere Radius

Element Size

Sphere of Influence

N/A

Defining Local Mesh Sizing on an Edge

The following table provides an overview of how to define local mesh sizing on an edge. Refer to Descriptions
of Local Sizing Control Options (p. 137) for details about the individual options that appear in the table.
1. Specify Type.

2. Specify Behavior.

3. Specify values for the applicable options. Applicable

options are dependent on the settings of Behavior and
Use Advanced Size Function.

Element Size

Soft

Growth Rate

Hard

Curvature Normal Angle

Element Size

Bias Type

Bias Factor

Sphere Center

Sphere Radius

Element Size

Sphere of Influence

Number of Divisions

N/A

Soft

Growth Rate

Hard

Curvature Normal Angle

Number of Divisions

Bias Type

Bias Factor

Defining Local Mesh Sizing on a Vertex

The following table provides an overview of how to define local mesh sizing on a vertex. Refer to Descriptions
of Local Sizing Control Options (p. 137) for details about the individual options that appear in the table.

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Sphere of Influence
1. Specify Type.

2. Specify values for the applicable options.

Sphere of Influence

Sphere Radius

Element Size

Descriptions of Local Sizing Control Options

Use the options described below to further define local mesh sizing. The choices that are available depend
on the selected topology, as noted in the individual option descriptions.

Element Size
If you selected a body, face, or edge, Element Size (default) is one of the available options in the Type field.
Enter a positive value (decimals are allowed) in this field. Smaller values generate more divisions. A value of
"0" instructs the sizing control to use its defaults.
Additional details about the Element Size option differ depending on whether Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is on or off.
The following series of figures shows the effect of the sizing control applied to a face.
Element Size set to
0.5.

Element Size default.

When Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is on, the description of Element Size is as follows:

For an edge, Element Size is the maximum size on the edge. It overrides Max Face Size (p. 58).

For a face, Element Size is the maximum size on the face, which is then propagated down to the edges.
The value of Element Size overrides Max Face Size (p. 58).

For a body, Element Size is the maximum tet size on the body, and the maximum sizes on faces and
edges of the body. The value of Element Size overrides Max Face Size (p. 58) and Max Tet Size (p. 58).

Sphere of Influence
Sphere of Influence is an available option in the Type field if you selected a body, face, edge, or vertex and
Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is off. (If scoping to a body and Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is off,
the body must be a sheet or solid body.) If Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is on, Sphere of Influence
can be scoped to a body or a vertex.
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Local Mesh Controls

For bodies, faces, and edges, Sphere of Influence allows you to apply mesh sizing within the confines of a
sphere in space that you define as follows:
1.

Create a local coordinate system whose origin you intend to be the center of the sphere.

2.

Select this coordinate system in the Sphere Center field.

3.

Enter the radius of the sphere in the Sphere Radius field.

4.

Enter a value in the Element Size field. The element size will be applied to all topologies within the
confines of the sphere. For example, if you are applying the element size to a face, the size will also
be applied to the edges of that face, and to the vertices of those edges, but only within the confines
of the sphere. An example is shown below.

If you selected a vertex, the only option available in the Type field is Sphere of Influence. The description
is the same as presented above except that the center of the sphere is the vertex. There is no need to create
or use a local coordinate system to define the center of the sphere. After applying element size to a vertex
using Sphere of Influence, the element size is applied to all topologies connected to that vertex, such as
all edges and faces containing that vertex, if they fall within the sphere. An example is shown below.

Body of Influence
The Body of Influence option is available in the Type field if you selected a body and Use Advanced Size
Function (p. 53) is on. (Body of Influence is not active when Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is off.) Using
this option, you can set one body as a source of another body (that is, a Body of Influence). The Body of
Influence will influence the mesh density of the body that it is scoped to, but it will not be a part of the
model geometry nor will it be meshed. Body of Influence bodies are noted in the Details View of each
prototype.
Keep the following notes in mind when using Body of Influence:

138

If your source body is a sphere, it is best for you to use the Sphere of Influence option instead of Body
of Influence. Body of Influence is intended for non-spherical bodies.

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Behavior

In general, users are discouraged from defining a Body of Influence and a Sphere of Influence such
that the regions of influence overlap. In cases where elements fall within overlapping bodies/spheres
of influence, elements will be created using the smaller size.

You cannot apply loads, mesh controls, etc. on bodies of influence. Bodies of influence are used only
to influence the size function and therefore only size function attributes can be applied to them.

You can suppress and unsuppress bodies of influence.

If you are using Body of Influence with Match Control, be aware that the body of influence will not
be copied from one matched entity to the other. As a workaround, you can copy the body in the
DesignModeler application and use both bodies as your source.

Number of Divisions
If you selected an edge, the options available in the Type field are Element Size and Sphere of Influence,
along with the Number of Divisions option. Choosing Number of Divisions and entering a value in the
Number of Divisions field is an alternative to choosing Element Size if you are interested in having the
mesh be sized according to a discrete number of divisions along an edge.

Behavior
For bodies, faces, or edges only, you can specify a Behavior option of either Soft (default) or Hard. (The Behavior option is not available for Sphere of Influence or Body of Influence.) The effect of the Behavior
setting is influenced by whether Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is on or off, as follows:
Regardless of whether Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is on or off:

Choosing the Hard option for edges means that the size or number of divisions is fixed on the edge
and cannot be changed by the meshing algorithm and the likelihood of a mesh failure increases.

Choosing the Soft option for edges, faces, and bodies means that the size control will be affected by
proximity, curvature, and local re-meshing during the meshing process.

If Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is off:

Choosing Hard on a face/body means that curvature pre-refinement is not performed on the edges of
the face/body, but the edge can be split by the mesher.

Interval assignments are handled as follows:

Regardless of whether Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is on or off, choosing Soft on a face/body
means that the edges are only seeded with this information in interval assignment; no additional constraints are placed on the mesher. A soft constraint in interval assignment places a higher weight to
meet that number of divisions on the edge in the interval solver.
When hard size constraints are placed on faces or bodies that will be swept/mapped, the edges of those
faces/bodies will receive soft edge sizes to guide the interval solver.

Keep these notes in mind when using the Behavior option:

If Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is on, Hard sizes do not respect the Growth Rate; the mesher will
try to maintain a uniform size on the entity. If Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is on and a Soft size
is specified, the specified Growth Rate will be used.

You should avoid the use of local Hard size controls on faces and bodies in combination with the Advanced Size Function if the specified local size falls between the values of the Advanced Size Function's
minimum size (Min Size (p. 58)) and maximum size (Max Face Size (p. 58) or Max Tet Size (p. 58), as apRelease 12.1 - 2009 SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
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plicable) options. In such cases use local Soft size controls instead, and the Soft controls will act like a
maximum size.

If the Tree contains multiple size controls for the same entity, the last size control for that entity is always
honored (with the exception of body of influence and sphere of influence).
When Use Advanced Size Function (p. 53) is on, the smallest size that the last size control specifies for
the entity overrides all other size controls. In this way, the smallest size will be the maximum size on
the entity. This is true unless a Hard size control is used. When size controls are applied to entities of
differing dimensions (for example, a face and an edge), a Hard size control will override all others and
the sizing will propagate from the Hard size outward.

The Uniform Quad, Uniform Quad/Tri, and MultiZone mesh methods do not support the Behavior option.

Growth Rate
You may specify a growth rate for the scoped soft size of an entity (body, face, or edge only). The description
of the scoped Growth Rate is the same as that of the global growth rate that you can set in the Details
View when the Mesh object is selected in the Tree Outline. However, the growth rate you specify for a
scoped entity must always be smaller than or equal to the specified global growth rate. Growth Rate is not
available for Sphere of Influence. Specifying a growth rate for a face or body affects the growth on the
face or on the boundary of the body, and its effect continues outside of the scoped entity as well.

Curvature Normal Angle

You may specify Curvature Normal Angle for a scoped entity (body, face, or edge only). Curvature Normal
Angle is the maximum allowable angle that one element edge is allowed to span. Available only when Use
Advanced Size Function is set to either On: Proximity and Curvature or On: Curvature. You can specify
a value from 0 to 180 degrees to override the global setting (where a value of 0 resets the option to its default). The default for the global setting is calculated based on the values of the Relevance (p. 53) and Span
Angle Center (p. 60) options.

Bias Type and Bias Factor

For edges only, use Bias Type to adjust the spacing ratio of nodes on an edge. This feature is useful for any
engineering problem where nodes need to be clustered on an edge or group of edges, or if there is a need
to bias the mapped mesh of a face towards a specific direction with respect to the edges of the face. Bias
Type can be used with all meshers except Patch Independent, Uniform Quad/Tri, and CFX-Mesh. To use
Bias Type, choose one of the four pre-determined patterned options depicted pictorially from the Bias Type
drop down menu:

Then specify a Bias Factor, which is defined as the ratio of the largest edge to the smallest edge.

Note
If Behavior is set to Hard, then the number of divisions and the bias cannot be changed by the
mesher. If Behavior is set to Soft, then the edge divisions can be changed but the edge will be
initially meshed with the specified Bias Factor.

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Notes on Element Sizing

Notes on Element Sizing

Keep the following notes in mind when using the Sizing control:

Visual aids are available to assist you. When you pick an edge, the edge length is displayed. A circle is
displayed adjacent to the cursor whose diameter indicates the current setting in the Element Size field.
The scale ruler is displayed below the graphic and provides a good estimate of the scale of the model.
Also, if you specify a bias, and if you set Element Size to a value other than Default, the size control
will be displayed graphically with the initial mesh density (including any specified bias) in the Geometry
window.

When Applying Sizes to Faces: Faces adjacent to a face that has a scoped size control applied to it
respect the source as part of the size function. Meshes on the adjacent faces will transition smoothly
to the size on the scoped face. When size controls that have differing sizes are on adjacent entities, the
adjacent topology receives the smallest size.

When Applying Sizes to Edges: If possible, the meshing algorithm places the requested number of
divisions on the specified edge. Otherwise, the algorithm adjusts the number to allow a successful mesh
generation.

When Sweeping: Consider the following when applying size controls to source and target geometry:

If your sizing controls are scoped to either the source or target face, the mesher will transfer the
size control to the opposite face. If you have a size control on both faces, the size on one of the
faces will be used. That face is automatically determined by the software. However the size on the
edges of the target face will not be affected if no sizes are explicitly defined on these edges.

Edge sizing applied to a target face is respected only if Behavior is Hard.

If you have a sphere of influence on a possible source or target face, the face with the most spheres
will be chosen as the source face. The edge mesh of the source face affected by the sphere of influence will not affect the target face. This may prevent the model from sweeping with acceptable
element quality. To avoid this, place the sphere of influence on the edges of both the source and
target face.

Applying sizes, regardless of type (that is, size, number of divisions, sphere of influence), to the edges
of possible source and target faces will only affect the faces that use these edges.

If you want to control a side area, the problem must be properly constrained such that the interval assignment does not override your size control. The divisions on the edge may decrease in order to make
the body sweepable. When using a meshing process other than swept meshing, the divisions can only
increase. When applying a size to a part that is sweepable, the resulting mesh may have fewer divisions
on the edge than specified due to the interval assignment logic of the sweepers.
When sweeping a model, if you use the Sphere of Influence sizing control and the sphere is not
touching the edges of a side area or is totally enclosed in the body, the sphere will have no effect.
When sweeping a closed torus (shown below) with an applied size on the face of the torus, the number
of divisions that will result on the torus is governed by the arc length between the caps of the surface
on the inside of the torus.

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Figure: Sweeping a Closed Torus

Figure: Resulting Mesh for Closed Torus

Using the Sphere of Influence sizing control may not have any effect on the generated mesh if the
control is scoped to the Body of a Line Body.

In cases where elements fall within overlapping spheres of influence, elements will be created using
the smaller size.

In general, users are discouraged from defining a body of influence and a sphere of influence such that
the regions of influence overlap. In cases where elements fall within overlapping bodies/spheres of influence, elements will be created using the smaller size.

Regardless of the value for the sizing control you set, other factors such as edge and face curvature
and the proximity of small features may override the effect of the sizing control.

Within MultiZone (and throughout ANSYS Workbench in general), parallel edge assignments are handled
automatically for mapped faces. That is, for a mapped face, there are two sets of parallel edges. If you
increase or decrease the sizing on one edge, the same increase or decrease occurs automatically on
the other edge to ensure a mapped mesh is possible. If a model contains a row of mapped faces (such
as the sides of a box), you can set a number of elements on one edge and the same number of elements
will be forced on all side/parallel edges.
When you scope bias settings to edges, they are applied according to the following priority:
1.
2.

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Double bias edge

Single bias edge
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Refinement Control
3.

No bias edge

This means that if a model contains a number of parallel edges with scoped edge sizes, the size control(s)
with the double biasing will take highest priority, then single biasing, then no biasing.
For additional information that is specific to MultiZone and element sizing, see Support for Defined Edge
and Face Sizings (p. 185).

If you apply a local Sizing control to a solid body with a Method control set to Hex Dominant or
Sweep, or to a sheet body with a Method control set to Quadrilateral Dominant, a near uniform
quadrilateral mesh will result on all affected faces on a body meshed with Hex Dominant, on the source
face meshed with Sweep, and on all affected faces meshed with Quadrilateral Dominant. To obtain
even more of a uniform quadrilateral mesh, set the Behavior of the Sizing control to Hard.

If several sizing controls are attached to the same edge, face, or body, the last control is applied. If a
sizing control is placed on an edge and then another is placed on a face or body that contains that
edge, the edge sizing takes precedence over the face or part sizing.

If you have adjusted the element size, then changed length units in a CATIA, ACIS, or Autodesk Mechanical Desktop model, when you choose Update or Clean at a Model or Project node in the Tree Outline,
you may need to re-adjust the element size. The sizing control does not automatically re-adjust to match
this situation.

Contact Sizing Control

Contact Sizing creates elements of relatively the same size on bodies from the faces of a face to face or
face to edge contact region. This control generates spheres of influence internally with automatic determination of radius and size (if Relevance is selected for Type). You may want to apply a method control on
sweepable bodies to force the elements to be tetrahedron in the case where the sweeper is not providing
enough local sizing near your contact region. Your swept mesh may be quite dense if the contact size is
small on the source and target faces of the body. You may also see very little effect on swept bodies in the
case where a contact size is applied to a very small region of a large source face. You can apply contact
sizing using either of the following procedures:

Choose Contact Sizing from the Mesh Control drop-down menu, or from the context menu through
a RMB click on a Mesh object (Insert> Contact Sizing). Select a specific contact region under Scope
in the Details View, then under Type, choose Relevance for a relative size (and enter a value or use the
slider), or Element Size (and enter a value) for an absolute size.

Drag a Contact Region object onto the Mesh object, then in the Details View, under Type, choose
Relevance for a relative size (and enter a value or use the slider), or Element Size (and enter a value)
for an absolute size.

Refinement Control
Refinement controls specify the maximum number of meshing refinements that are applied to the initial
mesh. Refinement controls are valid for faces, edges, and vertices.
Refinement controls are not available when using the CFX-Mesh, MultiZone, Patch Independent Tetra,
Uniform Quad/Tri, or Uniform Quad mesh methods.
In the following scenarios, the refinement control is automatically suppressed when used with inflation:

When automatic inflation (either Program Controlled (p. 62) or All Faces in Chosen Named Selection (p. 63))
is used with refinement in the same model

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When local inflation is used with refinement in the same body or in the same part

To use refinement controls, click Mesh on the Tree Outline, and right-click to view the menu. Select Insert>
Refinement. You can also click Mesh on the Tree Outline, and select the Mesh Control button on the
Context Toolbar. Select Refinement.
In the Details View, specify a Refinement number between 1 and 3, where 1 provides minimal refinement,
and 3 provides maximum refinement. If you attach several controls to the same entity, the last control applied
takes precedence.
Some refinement controls can override or affect other refinements that are on connected topology. A face
refinement control overrides a refinement control on any of the face's edges or vertices. An edge refinement
control overrides a refinement control on either of the edge's vertices. Basically, a refinement control will
lower the value of an overridden control by its own value. For example, consider a face with a refinement
control of 1 and one of the face's edges with a refinement control of 2. One of the edge's vertices has a refinement control of 2. In this example, the face control reduces the value of the edge control by 1. It also
reduces the value of the vertex control by 1. The edge control now has a value of 1, so it reduces the vertex's
control by 1. Now the vertex has a value of zero, so it has no effect.

Note
If you apply a Refinement control to a part that was either swept meshed or hex dominant
meshed, then delete the Refinement control, the intermediate tetrahedral mesh will be retained
unless you invalidate the state of the part (for example, by cleaning the database). An intermediate
tetrahedral mesh is created when you try to refine non-tetrahedral solid elements.

Mapped Face Meshing Control

Mapped face meshing controls place a mapped face mesh control on quadrilateral and triangular faces for
surface body models and only triangular faces for solid models. The application will automatically determine
a suitable number of divisions for the edges on the boundary face. If you specify the number of divisions
on the edge with a Sizing control, the application will attempt to enforce those divisions.
To set the mapped face meshing controls, highlight Mesh in the Tree Outline, and right-click to view the
menu. Select Insert> Mapped Face Meshing. You can also click Mesh in the Tree Outline, and select the
Mesh Control Context Toolbar, then select Mapped Face Meshing from the drop-down menu.
There are basic and advanced mapped face meshing controls. Mapped Face Meshing is supported for the
following mesh methods:
Volume Meshing:

Sweep

Patch Conforming

Hex Dominant Meshing

MultiZone (basic controls only)

Surface Meshing:

Quad Dominant

All Triangles

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Understanding Advanced Mapped Face Meshing Controls

Uniform Quad/Tri (basic controls only)

Uniform Quad (basic controls only)

Mapped face meshing topics include:

Setting Basic Mapped Face Meshing Controls
Understanding Advanced Mapped Face Meshing Controls
Notes on the Mapped Face Meshing Control

Note
For general information on applying mapped face meshing controls in combination with the
various mesh method controls, refer to "Mesh Control Interaction Tables" (p. 217).

Setting Basic Mapped Face Meshing Controls

This section describes the steps for setting basic mapped face meshing controls.

To set basic mapped face meshing controls:

1.

Insert a mapped face meshing control by highlighting Mesh in the Tree and right-clicking to view the
menu. Select Insert> Mapped Face Meshing.

2.

Select the face that you want to be mapped meshed.

3.

For the Definition> Method control, choose Quadrilaterals or Triangles: Best Split. (The Triangles:
Best Split option is available only for sheet models.)

4.

For the Definition> Radial Number of Divisions control, specify the number of divisions across the
annular region when sweeping. (The Radial Number of Divisions option is activated when the Mapped
Face Meshing control is scoped to faces made up of two loops.) You can specify a value from 1 to
1000. The default is 0.

5.

For the Definition> Constrain Boundary control, specify whether you want to allow the mesher to
split the boundary of a mapped mesh region to aid in meshing of adjacent faces. You can choose Yes
(constrain boundary; no splitting is allowed) or No (do not constrain boundary; splitting is allowed).
The default is No. See Notes on the Mapped Face Meshing Control (p. 152) for related information.

6.

Generate the mesh by right-clicking the Mesh object in the Tree and selecting Generate Mesh.

Understanding Advanced Mapped Face Meshing Controls

When you apply advanced mapped face meshing controls to a face, the Meshing application divides the
face into one or more mappable regions and creates a mapped mesh in each region. Advanced mapped
face meshing controls are subject to restrictions related to vertex types and restrictions related to edge
mesh intervals.
The advanced Mapped Face Meshing controls are supported for the following mesh methods only:
Volume Meshing:

Sweep

Patch Conforming

Hex Dominant Meshing

Surface Meshing:
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Local Mesh Controls

Quad Dominant

All Triangles

Advanced mapped face meshing topics include:

Restrictions Related to Vertex Types
Restrictions Related to Edge Mesh Intervals
Selecting Faces and Vertices
Effect of Vertex Type on Face Meshes
Setting Advanced Mapped Face Meshing Controls

Note
For general information on applying mapped face meshing controls in combination with the
various mesh method controls, refer to "Mesh Control Interaction Tables" (p. 217).

Restrictions Related to Vertex Types

To constitute a submappable face, a face must possess only End, Side, Corner, and Reversal vertices. In addition, the total number of End vertices, NE, must satisfy the following equation:
NE = 4 + NC + 2NR
where NC and NR are the total numbers of Corner and Reversal type vertices, respectively, on the face. That
is, for every Corner type vertex, the face must possess an additional End vertex, and for every Reversal vertex,
the face must possess two additional End vertices.

Note
You cannot specify Reversal vertices. Reversal vertices are used internally by the Meshing application to determine whether the face is mappable.
The shape of the mesh generated by means of the advanced mapped face meshing controls depends on
the type and arrangement of vertex types on the face. As an example of the effect of vertex types, consider
the face shown in Figure : Inside Corner Vertex (p. 147), which consists of a planar L-shaped face, one corner
of which is truncated at an angle.

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Understanding Advanced Mapped Face Meshing Controls

Figure: Inside Corner Vertex

In Figure : Inside Corner Vertex (p. 147), the inside corner vertex (C) is designated as a Corner vertex, therefore,
in order to be submappable, the face must possess five End type vertices (A, B, D, E, and F). The advanced
mapped face mesh control divides the face into the following two mapped regions:

A, B, C, H, F, G

C, D, E, H

Note
If you enforce an advanced mapped face mesh control on a face, the Meshing application evaluates
the face with respect to its vertex type designations. If the vertex types do not meet the criteria
outlined above, the Meshing application attempts to change the vertex types so that the face is
submappable.
For most submappable faces, there are multiple configurations of vertex types that satisfy the
vertex type criteria. Each vertex type configuration results in a unique node pattern for the
submapped mesh. When the Meshing application automatically changes vertex types, it attempts
to employ the configuration that minimizes distortion in the mesh. To enforce a specific node
pattern on a submapped mesh, manually select the vertices such that they meet the advanced
mapped mesh control vertex type criteria outlined above. (See Selecting the Vertex Type and
Picking Vertices (p. 148).)

Restrictions Related to Edge Mesh Intervals

If you specify a bias on the edge of a face before applying an advanced mapped face mesh control to the
face, you must specify the bias on all parallel edges of the face.

Selecting Faces and Vertices

To use advanced mapped mesh controls on a face, you must do the following:

Select the face upon which the vertex types are to be defined

Select the vertex type (using the Specified Sides, Specified Corners, and Specified Ends controls)
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Pick the vertices to which the vertex type specification is to be applied

Selecting the Face

The Meshing application vertex types are specific to the faces upon which they are set. Therefore, to specify
the type designation of an individual vertex, you must first select a face to be associated with that vertex.
An individual vertex may possess as many vertex type designations as the number of faces to which it is
attached. For example, it is possible for a vertex to possess a Side type designation with respect to one face
and an End type designation with respect to another, as long as two separate Mapped Face Meshing controls
are defined for the two faces. For more information, refer to Setting Advanced Mapped Face Meshing Controls (p. 151).

Selecting the Vertex Type and Picking Vertices

The structure of any face mesh in the vicinity of an individual vertex on its boundary is a function of the
vertex type. There are three vertex types that you can specify.

End

Side

Corner

Figure: Face Vertex Types

An individual vertex may possess only one vertex type designation. For example, you cannot designate a
vertex as type side and also designate that same vertex as type end. For more information, refer to Setting
Advanced Mapped Face Meshing Controls (p. 151).
Each vertex type differs from the others in the following ways:

The number of face mesh lines that intersect the vertex

The angle between the edges immediately adjacent to the vertex

The following table summarizes the characteristics of the vertex types shown in Figure : Face Vertex
Types (p. 148).

Note
If a face has only 4 vertices and 4 edges, the maximum for the range of the angle of a Side vertex
type is 179, and the acceptable range shifts accordingly.

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Selecting the Vertex Type and Picking Vertices

Vertex Type

Intersecting Grid
Lines

Range of Angle Between Edges

End

0 135

Side

136 224

Corner

225 314

Reversal

315 360 (You cannot specify Reversal vertices.The range for

Reversal vertices is used internally by the Meshing application to
determine whether the face is mappable.)

The following sections describe the general effect of the End, Side, and Corner vertex types on the shape
of the face mesh in the vicinity of a specified vertex.
End Vertex Type
When you specify a vertex as the End vertex type (Specified Ends control), the Meshing application
creates the face mesh such that only two mesh element edges intersect at the vertex (see (a) in Figure : Face Vertex Types (p. 148)). As a result, the mapped and submapped face mesh patterns on both
sides of the End vertex terminate at the edges adjacent to the vertex. Assigning the End vertex type to
a vertex whose adjacent edges form an angle greater than 180 will likely result in mesh failure.
Side Vertex Type
When you specify a vertex as the Side vertex type (Specified Sides control), the Meshing application
creates the face mesh such that three mesh element edges intersect at the vertex (see (b) in Figure : Face
Vertex Types (p. 148)). The Meshing application treats the two topological edges that are adjacent to the
vertex as a single edge for the purposes of meshing.
Corner Vertex Type
When you specify a vertex as the Corner vertex type (Specified Corners control), the Meshing application
creates the face mesh such that four mesh element edges intersect at the vertex (see (c) in Figure : Face
Vertex Types (p. 148)). Assigning the Corner vertex type to a vertex whose adjacent edges form an angle
less than 180 will create an unnecessarily bad quality mesh (although the mesh will be valid).

Effect of Vertex Type on Face Meshes

As an example of the general effects of vertex types on face meshes, consider the planar face shown in
Figure : Seven-sided Planar Face (p. 150). The following two examples illustrate the effects of different vertex
type specifications applied to vertices C, F, and G on the shape of the resulting mesh.

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Local Mesh Controls

Figure: Seven-sided Planar Face

In Figure : Example Face MeshSide Inside Corner Vertex (p. 150), vertices C, F, and G are specified as Side
vertices; therefore, the Meshing application treats sides BCD and EFGA as if each were a single edge. As a
result, the entire face represents a mappaple region, and the Meshing application creates a single checkerboard
pattern for the mesh.

Figure: Example Face MeshSide Inside Corner Vertex

In Figure : Example Face MeshCorner Inside Corner Vertex (p. 151), vertices C, F, and G are specified as Corner,
Side, and End type vertices, respectively. As a result, the face is submappable, and the Meshing application
creates two separate checkerboard patterns for the mesh. The upper-left submapped region is defined by
the polygon ABCHFG. The lower-right submapped region is defined by CDEH. For both regions, the node at
point H serves as an End type vertex for the purposes of mesh creation.

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Selecting the Vertex Type and Picking Vertices

Figure: Example Face MeshCorner Inside Corner Vertex

Setting Advanced Mapped Face Meshing Controls

This section describes the basic steps for setting advanced mapped face meshing controls.

To set advanced mapped face meshing controls:

1.

Insert a mapped face meshing control by highlighting Mesh in the Tree and right-clicking to view the
menu. Select Insert> Mapped Face Meshing.

2.

Select the face upon which the vertex types are to be defined by scoping the face in the Mapped
Face Meshing Details View. (Refer to Selecting the Face (p. 148) for more information.)

3.

For the Definition> Method control, choose Quadrilaterals or Triangles: Best Split.

4.

Enter additional Definition settings, as desired, in the Details View.

5.

Use the Specified Sides, Specified Corners, and Specified Ends controls in the Advanced section of
the Details View to select the desired vertices in the Geometry window and apply your selections. To
do so, pick the desired vertex/vertices in the Geometry window and then click on the Specified Sides,
Specified Corners, or Specified Ends control to assign the vertex/vertices to the desired vertex type.
(Refer to Selecting the Vertex Type and Picking Vertices (p. 148) for more information.)

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Note
If you select a vertex by mistake and want to de-select it, click the control in question in
the Advanced section of the Details View, clear the selection by clicking in an empty
portion of the Geometry window, and then click Apply. For example, assume that you
mistakenly selected 1 vertex for the Specified Corners control. To clear the selection:

In the Specified Corners control in the Advanced section of the Details View, click on
your selection (that is, the text 1 Vertex).
The Apply/Cancel buttons will appear in the Specified Corners control and the vertex
will be highlighted in green in the Geometry window.

Click in an empty portion of the Geometry window.

Click Apply in the Specified Corners control.

Note
An individual vertex may possess as many vertex type designations as the number of faces
to which it is attached. For example, it is possible for a vertex to possess a Side type designation with respect to one face and an End type designation with respect to another, as
long as two separate Mapped Face Meshing controls are defined for the two faces. Conversely, a single Mapped Face Meshing control cannot specify the same vertex as more
than one vertex type. That is, you cannot designate a vertex as type Side and also designate
that same vertex as type End in a single Mapped Face Meshing control. If you attempt to
do so, the second and any subsequent assignments for that vertex will result in the control
being highlighted in yellow in the Advanced section of the Details View, and you will not
be able to generate a mesh. If this occurs, use the procedure noted above to de-select the
unwanted vertex assignment(s).
6.

Generate the mesh by right-clicking the Mesh object in the Tree and selecting Generate Mesh.

Notes on the Mapped Face Meshing Control

Keep the following notes in mind when using the Mapped Face Meshing control:

The blue status icon that may appear in the Tree Outline indicates that a mapped mesh cannot be
provided on the scoped topology. One of three scenarios triggers the icon:
1.

The face cannot be map meshed.

2.

The quality of the mapped mesh was not acceptable and a free mesh was generated.

3.

If Constrain Boundary is set to Yes, the mesher will fail if the boundary of a mapped mesh needs
to be modified.

To assist you in working with Mapped Face Meshing, you may want to use the Show Sweepable
Bodies and/or Preview Surface Mesh features. By using Show Sweepable Bodies, you can find out
whether bodies are sweepable (before and after modifying vertex types). By using Preview Surface
Mesh, you can verify that your mesh settings are correct.

When the Mapped Face Meshing control is scoped to faces made up of two loops, the Radial Number
of Divisions field is activated. This specifies the number of divisions across the annular region when
sweeping. Refer to Setting Basic Mapped Face Meshing Controls (p. 145) for more information.

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Match Control

When sweeping:

If the sweep method is applied to a body and a Mapped Face Meshing control is defined for either
the body's source or target face, the sweep mesher will fail if a mapped mesh cannot be obtained
for the face.

When a side face has a Mapped Face Meshing control, the mapped mesher will loosen its tolerances
on determining whether a face is mappable.

When sweeping and using advanced mapped meshing controls, you must set vertex types for both
the source and target faces.

When a face has only 4 vertices and 4 edges, and a Mapped Face Meshing control is applied, the only
factor that will determine a successful mapped mesh is element quality.

An effective technique for mapped meshing on surface bodies is to select all faces on the body and let
the mesher determine which faces should be map meshed and which faces should be free meshed.

Mapped Face Meshing Limitations

The Mapped Face Meshing control attempts to generate a mapped mesh on all selected faces. It does this
through either one or multiple mapped regions (also called submappable regions). Be aware of the following
limitations when using Mapped Face Meshing:

Circular faces are not supported.

Triangular faces (i.e., faces with three vertices) are not supported.

Faces with internal cutout regions cannot be submapped. Exceptions include a face having only one
cutout, as long as the face is square-like with a square-shaped hole, or an annulus.

Match Control
The Match Control matches the mesh on two faces or two edges in a model. The Meshing application
provides two types of match controlscyclic and arbitrary.
The Match Control is supported for the following mesh methods:
Volume Meshing:

Sweep

Patch Conforming

Surface Meshing:

Quad Dominant

All Triangles

Keep the following information in mind when using the match control feature:

The two faces or edges that you select must be topologically and geometrically the same (that is, after
rotation or translation, they are an exact match).

Use care when defining match controls. Although a face or edge in a model may look like it is the same
as another face or edge in the model and therefore would be honored by matching, in many cases the
two entities are not the same and the match fails.

Multiple match controls may be associated with a single entity, resulting in conflicts among match
controls. If a conflict occurs, the Meshing application issues an error message, and matching fails. For
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example, a match control conflict may occur if the two faces adjacent to an edge have two different
match controls applied to them.

A match control can only be assigned to one unique face pair. Assigning the same face as High/Low
Geometry in more than one match control is not supported. If multiple match controls assign the same
face as a High/Low Geometry entity, the match control that appears lowest in the Tree is honored.

Match controls are not respected with refinement or adaptivity.

When match is used with the Advanced Size Function, the high side receives priority. If the low side
has a size control and the high side does not, the Advanced Size Function will take the low size control
on the high side.

Match controls on faces are supported with Pre inflation, regardless of whether inflation is set to Program
Controlled or has been set through any global or local inflation definition. In contrast, match controls
on edges are not supported with Pre inflation. Match controls (both faces and edges) are not supported
with Post inflation. For all these non-supported cases, ANSYS Workbench automatically suppresses/disables
the Match Control feature.

Match controls on faces are not supported for sheet models meshed with the Quad Dominant mesh
method.

Match controls are not enforced when previewing inflation.

Match controls can be used with thin sweeping, as shown in the figures below. In the figure on the left,
a match control was applied to the top and bottom faces. In the figure on the right, a match control
was applied to the side faces.

Match control topics include:

Cyclic Match Control
Arbitrary Match Control

Note
For general information on applying match controls in combination with the various mesh
method controls, refer to "Mesh Control Interaction Tables" (p. 217).

Cyclic Match Control

The cyclic matching process involves copying the mesh of the first selected face or edge in the Match
Control (the High Geometry Selection scoped in the Details View of the Match Control) to the second
selected face or edge in the control (the scoped Low Geometry Selection).

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Arbitrary Match Control

To apply the Match Control, select the high and low faces or edges of interest, in that order. Then, choose
Match Control from the Mesh Control drop down menu, or from the context menu through a RMB click
on a Mesh object (Insert> Match Control). In the Details View, you must then select Cyclic as the Transformation type and a coordinate system with its z-axis aligned to the axis of rotation for the geometry. A
small blue status icon ( ) appears to the left of the Match Control object icon in the Tree Outline if the
Match Control fails on the face or edge pair.
When a cyclic Match Control is used together with Sizing controls, the controls on the high side have the
higher precedence. Whatever controls are on the high face or edge will be honored on the low face or edge
in the Match Control. Sizing controls applied to the low face or edge will be honored only if the high side
does not have the same controls, and only if the sizing is applied directly on the low topology (that is, applying
the sizing on connected topologies will have no effect).

Note
The Meshing application inserts match controls for periodic regions automatically. See the Match
Meshing and the Symmetry Folder (p. 205) section for more information.

Arbitrary Match Control

This feature lets you select two faces or two edges in a model to create a match control that will consequently
generate exactly the same mesh on the two faces or edges. However, unlike cyclic match controls, which
require you to select a coordinate system with its z-axis of rotation aligned to the geometry's axis of rotation,
for arbitrary match controls the two faces or edges to be matched can be arbitrarily located, and the match
control is based on two coordinate systems that you select.
The steps for defining an arbitrary match control are presented here.

To define an arbitrary match control:

1.

Insert a Match Control object in the Tree Outline by selecting the desired face(s) or edge(s) in the
Geometry window, right-clicking, and choosing Insert> Match Control.

Note
If you select two faces or two edges, the first is automatically assigned to be the High
Geometry Selection and the second is assigned to be the Low Geometry Selection. If you
select only one face or edge, it is automatically assigned to be the High Geometry Selection.
2.

If you did not already do so in step 1, select the low geometry face or edge in the Geometry window
and click on Low Geometry Selection in Details> Scope.

Note
As an alternative to steps 1 and 2, you can insert a Match Control object by right-clicking
on the Mesh object and choosing Insert> Match Control from the context menu, or by
clicking Mesh Control on the toolbar and choosing Match Control from the menu. Then
scope the high and low geometry selections and continue with the steps below.
3.

Change the value of the Transformation control to Arbitrary.

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4.

Choose the coordinate systems for the selected high and low geometry entities. The applicable settings
in the Details View are:

High Coordinate System: Choose the coordinate system for the face/edge assigned by the High
Geometry Selection control.

Low Coordinate System: Choose the coordinate system for the face/edge assigned by the Low
Geometry Selection control.

Note
All the coordinate systems currently defined for the model appear in the High Coordinate
System and Low Coordinate System drop-down menus. You may choose coordinate systems
from the list, or you may need to define additional coordinate systems. In order for the
match control to be honored, the coordinate systems that you choose must be defined
such that a valid transformation matrix can be calculated. In other words, the two coordinate
systems must be created such that when the coordinates of every point of the Low Geometry Selection in the Low Coordinate System are placed into the High Coordinate
System, the two faces/edges match exactly. Refer to the Coordinate Systems Overview in
the Mechanical help for information on coordinate systems and how to create them.
5.

By default, the Control Messages control is set to No and is read-only. It is activated only when a
message is generated.

6.

Generate the mesh by right-clicking on the Mesh object and selecting Generate Mesh from the context
menu.

Note
When a match is successful, the number of elements in the matched faces/edges will be
the same, and there will be a direct one-to-one mapping between their nodes. If the mesh
is generated but the match was unsuccessful, a small blue status icon ( ) displays to the
left of the Match Control object icon in the Tree Outline.

The figures below show an example of arbitrary mesh matching. Figure : Coordinate Systems for Arbitrary Mesh
Matching (p. 156) shows the selected coordinate systems, and Figure : Matched Mesh (p. 157) shows the resulting
matched mesh. Edge and face sizings were also applied.

Figure: Coordinate Systems for Arbitrary Mesh Matching

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Defining Pinch Controls Locally

Figure: Matched Mesh

Pinch Control
The Pinch control lets you remove small features (such as short edges and narrow regions) at the mesh
level in order to generate better quality elements around those features.
When Pinch controls are defined, the small features in the model that meet the criteria established by the
controls will be pinched out, thereby removing the features from the mesh. You can instruct the Meshing
application to automatically create pinch controls based on settings that you specify (as described in Pinch
Control Automation (p. 81)), or you can manually designate vertices and edges to be pinched, as described
below in Defining Pinch Controls Locally (p. 157).
For an overview of pinch controls, details on pinch control automation, and descriptions of global pinch
controls, refer to Pinch Group (p. 79). For general information on applying pinch controls in combination
with the various mesh method controls, refer to "Mesh Control Interaction Tables" (p. 217). For general information about pinch control usage, see Usage Information for Pinch Controls (p. 85).

Defining Pinch Controls Locally

This section describes the steps for defining pinch controls locally.

To define pinch controls locally:

1.

Click the Mesh folder in the Tree Outline. Right-click and select Insert > Pinch from the context menu.
Or
Click Mesh Control on the toolbar and choose Pinch from the menu.
A pinch control object is automatically inserted into the Tree.

2.

In the Geometry window, pick the vertex or edge that you want to define as the master. (The master
geometry is the entity that retains the profile of the original geometry.) Click in the Master Geometry
control area to Apply your selection.
A flag appears in the Geometry window to point to the selected vertex/edge. The color of the selected
vertex/edge changes to blue to identify it as master geometry.

3.

In the Geometry window, pick one or more vertices or edges that you want to define as the slave(s).
(The slave geometry is the entity that changes in order to move towards the master geometry. Depending on the tolerance, the pinch control will pinch out the entire slave entity or only a portion of the
slave entity into the master.) Click in the Slave Geometry control area to Apply your selection.
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The color of each selected vertex/edge changes to red to identify it as slave geometry.
4.

Change the value of the Suppressed control if desired.

By default, the value of Suppressed is No. If you change the value to Yes, this pinch control has no
effect on the mesh (that is, the small features you picked for this pinch control are not removed and
will affect the mesh). In addition, an Active control with a read-only setting of No, Suppressed appears
under the Suppressed control.

5.

Change the value of the Tolerance control if desired.

By default, the value of Tolerance is based on the global pinch control tolerance. If you specify a different value here, it overrides the global value.

Note
When you define a pinch control locally, the value of Scope Method is Manual (read-only). If
you make changes to a pinch control that was created through pinch control automation, the
value of the Scope Method field for that pinch control changes from Automatic to Manual.

Inflation Control
Inflation is useful for CFD boundary layer resolution, electromagnetic air gap resolution or resolving high
stress concentrations for structures. It is supported for the mesh methods listed in the section Inflation
Group (p. 60). You can use local inflation mesh controls to apply inflation to specific boundaries. When an
inflation control is scoped to a solid model, every scoped geometry must have a boundary defined for it.
The settings of the local inflation controls will override global inflation control settings.
There are several ways that you can apply local inflation controls, including:
1.

Insert a mesh method.

2.

Associate (scope) the desired bodies or faces with the method.

3.

Right-click on the method and choose Inflate This Method from the menu.

Or
1.

Select the desired bodies or faces in the Geometry window.

2.

Click Mesh Control on the toolbar and choose Inflation from the menu.

Or
1.

Select the desired bodies or faces in the Geometry window.

2.

Right-click on the selected objects and choose Insert > Inflation from the menu.

For example, when you click the right mouse button on a Tetrahedrons method control or Sweep method
control and specify the source, an Inflate This Method menu option is available. Choosing this option inserts
an Inflation control on every body to which the Tetrahedrons meshing method with the selected Algorithm
is applied, or on every face to which the Sweep method is applied.
Sweeping with inflation is the same as inflation with tetrahedrons except that with sweeping you pick faces
and edges instead of bodies and faces.

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Gap Tool

Notes on Defining 2D Local Inflation

In most cases, the controls in the Inflation group apply to both 3D and 2D inflation. Special considerations
for defining 2D local inflation are described here.
When defining 2D local inflation, only two options are available for the Inflation Option control: First Layer
Thickness and Total Thickness. (Smooth Transition is not supported.)

If you select First Layer Thickness, you must set values for First Layer Height (p. 66), Maximum Layers (p. 65), and Growth Rate (p. 65). The value of Growth Rate is used to calculate the heights of the
successive layers, as follows:
Growth Rate = hn+1 / hn
where hn = height of layer n

If you select Total Thickness, you must set values for Number of Layers (p. 65), Growth Rate (p. 65), and
Maximum Thickness (p. 65). The first layer height is computed based on these three values. The heights
of the successive layers are computed using the same formula shown above under First Layer Thickness.

If you are using the Quadrilateral Dominant mesh method with inflation and the Advanced Size Function is
on, the mesh size of the last inflation layer will be used for the corresponding Quadrilateral Dominant
boundary mesh size.

Notes on Local Inflation Controls

Multiple Inflation controls can be scoped to the same body or face with different inflation options on the
faces/edges.
If the mesh method is Automatic, the Patch Conforming tetrahedron method will be used for inflation on
a body and the Sweep method will be used for inflation on a face.
In the following scenarios, using inflation results in automatic suppression of the refinement control:

When automatic inflation (either Program Controlled (p. 62) or All Faces in Chosen Named Selection (p. 63))
is used with refinement in the same model

When local inflation is used with refinement in the same body or in the same part

For information on setting global inflation controls and descriptions of all of the individual inflation controls,
refer to Inflation Group (p. 60). For steps to follow to assign inflation depending on the selected mesh
method, refer to Inflation Controls (p. 198). For general information on applying inflation controls in combination with the various mesh method controls, refer to "Mesh Control Interaction Tables" (p. 217).

Gap Tool
The Gap Tool is applicable to Electromagnetic simulations where a refined mesh is required across an air
gap in order to obtain accurate solutions. Typical applications are refined meshing in the air gap enclosure
region of an actuator, or the air gap enclosure region between a rotor and a stator of a rotating machine.
The tool identifies face/face pairs in a multibody part and creates gap sizing controls for meshing. Within a
Gap Tool object, you can specify settings for sizing on the bodies adjacent to the gap and for refinement
of the mesh in the air gap.

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Note
All Gap Tool controls and settings discussed in the following procedure are displayed only when
the model includes an enclosure from the DesignModeler application.

Using the Gap Tool

The steps for using the Gap Tool are presented here.

To use the Gap Tool:

1.

Insert a Gap Tool object in the tree using one of the following procedures:

2.

Choose Mesh Control> Gap Tool on Mesh context toolbar.

Click right mouse button on Mesh object (or any mesh control tool object)> Insert> Gap Tool.

Enter the width of the gap region between bodies (in your working units or as an existing CAD parameter). This entry represents the range for multiple gaps, or equals a single gap distance that varies
about a certain tolerance. Your mesh density in the air gap is a direct function of the Gap Distance
so your gap size should be quite accurate.1 The applicable settings in the Details View are the following:

Define By: Choose Range (default) if you will be entering numerical values, or CAD Parameters
if you will be entering parameters to define the values.

Minimum: The lower end of the range for multiple gaps, or the single gap distance.

Maximum: (Optional) The upper end of the range for multiple gaps, or the single gap distance
tolerance.

After you set the gap distance, a crosshair appears adjacent to the cursor in the Geometry window.
The crosshair is surrounded by a circle. The radius of the circle is a graphical indication of the maximum
gap distance. The radius will change if you change this distance. The circle also appropriately adjusts
when the model is zoomed in or out.
3.

Click the right mouse button on the Gap Tool object and choose Create Gap Sizes from the context
menu. Workbench searches the model to find all occurrences of face pairs separated by the gap distance
you specified. All face pairs within an absolute distance from the minimum gap distance to the maximum gap distance will have controls generated. Each occurrence of the gap face pairs is inserted as
a Gap Sizing object under the Gap Tool object. By changing to Wireframe mode (Graphics toolbar)
and clicking through each Gap Sizing object, you can visually inspect the selected gap face pairs for
use in mesh refinement.

Note
If you open a version 9.0 database file that includes Gap Sizing objects, Gap Tool object(s)
are created automatically. These Gap Tool object(s) are reported in the tree with a yellow
lightning bolt status, meaning that the items are not in a valid state.
4.

Right mouse click on Mesh object and choose Generate Mesh from the context menu.

5.

Use the following controls to adjust the degree of sizing and mesh refinement, as needed, for the gap
face pairs. These controls appear in the Details View of the Gap Tool object.

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Using the Gap Tool

Gap Aspect Ratio: Slider control that adjusts the aspect ratio of elements in the gap between
faces. The ratio represents the length of an element edge parallel to the face pairs, to the width
of the element perpendicular to the face pairs. A lower ratio (for example, 1:1) will produce significantly more elements than a higher ratio (for example, 4:1), but will generate better quality elements. A good compromise is a value of 3:1 (default).

Gap Density: Controls the number of elements spanning the width of the air gap between the
face pairs. The Coarse option (default) attempts to place at least two elements through the gap
width, the Fine option attempts to place three to four elements through the gap width.

Generate on Update: Controls whether the Gap Sizing objects are regenerated when the simulation
is updated from the geometry. By default the Gap Sizing objects are regenerated at their default
settings. You may choose to not update a Gap Sizing object by selecting No. The No option will
freeze the Gap Sizing object's face pairs and settings. This option will only work properly if there
are no topology changes for the face pairs during a geometry update. The Generate on Update
feature default setting is most applicable to rotating machines where the gap distance is constant
but the Gap Sizing object face pairs may change due to alignment. For linear devices (actuators),
the No option may be preferred since the gap distance may change during a geometry update,
but the face pairs will likely remain unchanged.

Note
For many applications, a typical Gap Aspect Ratio setting of 3:1 and Gap Density set to
Coarse will produce good results. You may need to adjust the Curv/Proximity setting (refer
to the description of Curvature and Proximity Refinement for related information) in order
to get a mesh. If this does not work, you may need to adjust the Gap Aspect Ratio or Gap
Density settings or apply other size controls to the model.
The Generate on Update field should be set to No to generate gap sizing controls with
multiple gap distances. Use multiple Gap Tool objects in this situation.

Note
Make sure that your maximum gap size is the actual gap size. A gap size that is
too large will cause a meshing failure or incorrect size distribution.
1 - Algorithmic Notes
The size on the face pairs in regions that lie within the specified gap distance is determined
as follows:
Size = dG*GA
where:
dG = the maximum Gap Distance
GA = the Gap Aspect Ratio
Mesh refinement occurs across the gap on tetrahedron that lie within the gap.
If you have a very small gap, keep in mind that the original size on the faces of the bodies
adjacent to the gap will be computed as described above. These elements may be difficult
or impossible to refine if the gap is very small.

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Meshing Options
You can control the behavior of functions in the Meshing application through the Options dialog box. For
more information, refer to:
Accessing the Options Dialog Box
Meshing Options on the Options Dialog Box

Accessing the Options Dialog Box

To access the Meshing application options:
1.

From the main menu, choose Tools> Options. An Options dialog box appears and the options are
displayed on the left.

2.

Click on a specific option.

3.

Change any of the option settings by clicking directly in the option field on the right. You will first see
a visual indication for the kind of interaction required in the field (examples are drop-down menus,
secondary dialog boxes, direct text entries).

4.

Click OK.

Note

To cancel your changes and restore the default settings, click Reset on the Options dialog
box.

Option settings within a particular language are independent of option settings in another
language. If you change any options from their default settings, then start a new Workbench
session in a different language, the changes you made in the original language session are
not reflected in the new session. You are advised to make the same option changes in the
new language session.

The following Meshing application options appear in the left side of the Options dialog box:
Meshing
CFX-Mesh Options

Meshing Options on the Options Dialog Box

The Meshing application options that appear in the right side of the Options dialog box are further divided
into the following categories: Meshing, Virtual Topology, Sizing, and Inflation.

Meshing

Show Meshing Options Panel at Startup: Controls whether the Meshing Options panel appears at
startup of the Meshing application. Choices are Yes and No. The default value is Yes.

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Meshing Options

Relevance: Allows setting of the default mesher, known as relevance. The Details View default is 0, but
it can be changed here. The range is from -100 (high speed solution, coarser mesh, less accuracy) to
+100 (slower speed solution, finer mesh, higher accuracy).

Unmeshable Areas: Highlights the problematic areas encountered when meshing. There is no counterpart
setting in the Details View. The choices are:

Show First Failed (default)

Show All Failed

This only affects Patch Conforming methods.

Number of Retries: This control is also available in the Advanced group under the Details View. Refer
to Number of Retries (p. 78) for details.

Default Physics Preference: Sets the default option for the Physics Preference in the Details View of
a Mesh object. Choices are Mechanical, Electromagnetics, CFD, and Explicit.

Default Method: Sets the default Method setting in the Details View of a Method control object.
Choices are Automatic (Patch Conforming/Sweeping), Patch Independent, CFX-Mesh, and Patch
Conforming. When the geometry is attached, the default method of all options except Automatic will
be scoped to all parts in the assembly. The Automatic option has no effect.

Note
The CFX-Mesh method has been superseded by the Patch Conforming tet method, and is
no longer recommended. Refer to CFX-Mesh Method Control for more information.

Note
Changing the Default Method changes the default mesh method for all future analyses, regardless of analysis type.

Write ICEM CFD Files: Determines whether ANSYS ICEM CFD files are written. Choices are Yes and No.
The default value is No. Set this option to Yes if you are working in Workbench but you know you want
to export your project files to ANSYS ICEM CFD for further mesh editing in ANSYS ICEM CFD. If this option
is set to Yes, your ANSYS ICEM CFD project (.prj), geometry (.tin), unstructured domain (.uns), and
blocking (.blk) files will be saved during mesh generation when using ANSYS ICEM CFD mesh methods
(Patch Independent, MultiZone, Uniform Quad, or Uniform Quad/Tri).
If your Workbench project file has been saved, your ANSYS ICEM CFD files will be written to the Workbench
project directory. Workbench creates a project folder as the top level folder for each project, at the
same level as the project file. The project folder will be named <filename>_files, where <filename> is a name you provide. The project file will be named <filename>.wbpj. Under the project
folder is a design point subdirectory for each design point in the project. The active design point is always
design point 0 (dp0) and corresponds to the design point labeled Current in the ANSYS Workbench
GUI. Under each design point folder are system folders for each system type in the project (i.e., Mechanical, FLUENT, etc.). Each system folder contains solver-specific files and folders, such as input files,
model directories, engineering data, resources, etc. Following this structure, the ANSYS ICEM CFD files
will be written to <filename>_files\dp0\global\MECH\SYS.
If your Workbench project file has not been saved, your ANSYS ICEM CFD files will be written to the temporary Workbench folder, as follows: %TEMP%\WB_<computer>\unsaved_project_files\dp0\global\MECH\SYS.

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CFX-Mesh Options

Note
Only appropriate files are written, based on the selected mesh method.

Note
Refer to the ANSYS Workbench help for more information about project file management in
Workbench.

Virtual Topology

Merge Edges Bounding Manually Created Faces: Sets the default value for the Merge Face Edges?
setting in the Details View of a Virtual Topology object. Choices are Yes and No. The default value is
Yes.

Sizing

Use Advanced Size Function: Sets the default value for the Use Advanced Size Function setting in
the Details View of a Mesh object. Choices are Off (the default), On: Proximity and Curvature, On:
Proximity, On: Curvature, and On: Fixed.

Inflation
Inflation-related options that can be set on the Options dialog box include:

Maximum Height over Base

Gap Factor

Growth Rate Type

Maximum Angle (Degrees)

Fillet Ratio

Use Post Smoothing

Smoothing Iterations

CFX-Mesh Options
Refer to the CFX-Mesh Options section in the CFX-Mesh help for details.

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Specialized Meshing
You can use the meshing features in Workbench to perform various types of specialized meshing. For more
information, refer to:
Mesh Sweeping
MultiZone Meshing
Inflation Controls
Mesh Refinement
Mixed Order Meshing
Air Gap Meshing
Contact Meshing
Winding Body Meshing
Wire Body Meshing
Pyramid Transitions
Match Meshing and the Symmetry Folder
Rigid Body Meshing
Thin Solid Meshing
Gasket Element Meshing
CAD Instance Meshing
Meshing and Hard Entities
Baffle Meshing

Mesh Sweeping
This method of meshing complements the free mesher. If a body's topology is recognized as sweepable,
the body can be meshed very efficiently with hexahedral and wedge elements using this technique. The
number of nodes and elements for a swept body is usually much smaller than ones meshed with the free
mesher. In addition, the time to create these elements is much smaller.
Workbench will automatically check to see if the body fulfills the topological requirements for sweeping. It
will then choose two faces that are topologically on the opposite sides of the body. These faces are called
the source and target faces. Workbench will mesh the source face with quadrilateral and triangular faces
and then copy that mesh onto the target face. It then generates either hexahedral or wedge elements connecting the two faces and following the exterior topology of the body.

Note
This information applies to general sweeping. For requirements and usage information specific
to thin model sweeping, see Thin Model Sweeping (p. 171).

Requirements for General Sweeping

A body cannot be swept if any of these conditions exist:

There is a completely contained internal void in the body.

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A source and target pair cannot be found. That is, the sweeper cannot find at least one path from a
source surface to a target surface connected by edges or closed surfaces.

If a Sizing control is used on a body with hard edge sizing and the source and target faces contain
hard divisions which are not the same for each respective edge.

When sweeping it is only necessary to apply hard divisions to one leg of the sweep path. If the path has
multiple edges, you should apply your controls to that path.
If the sweep path is shared by another body and that path lies on the body's source or target face then
more hard divisions may be needed to constrain the sweeper.
When using Virtual Topology with sweeping, avoid creating virtual cells that result in a fully closed surface.
Fully closed surfaces cause difficulties for the swept mesher and may result in poor meshes. When selecting
adjacent faces for inclusion in a virtual cell, it is best to use Virtual Topology to merge some (but not all) of
the faces. A good approach is to use Virtual Topology for the smaller faces, but omit any larger faces from
the virtual cell.
To preview any bodies that can be sweep meshed, click Mesh on the Tree Outline and right-click the mouse.
Select Show Sweepable Bodies to display bodies that fulfill the requirements of a sweepable body. However,
even if these requirements are met, the shape of the body may at times still result in poorly shaped elements.
In these cases, the tetrahedron mesher is used to mesh the body.
Show Sweepable Bodies only displays bodies that can be swept where the source and target are not adjacent
on an axis. It cannot automatically determine axis-sweepable bodies. However, more enhanced sweeping
capability, including axis-sweeping, is available by using the Sweep option of the Method mesh control.

Other Characteristics of General Sweeping

Other characteristics of sweeping include the following:

The general sweeper ignores the Num Cells Across Gap setting, which is used to help define the
proximity size function.

If the sweep method is applied to a body and a Mapped Face Meshing control is defined for either
the body's source or target face, the sweep mesher will fail if a mapped mesh cannot be obtained for
the face.

The source and target faces do not have to be flat or parallel.

If the topology of the source and target face is the same, the sweeping operation will often succeed
even if the shape of the source face is different from the shape of the target face. However, drastically
different shapes can cause element shape failures.

Sweeping does not require your model to have a constant cross section. However, the best results are
obtained for constant or linearly varying cross sections.

Figure: Axis Sweep Representation

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Topological Requirements of the General Sweeper

Figure: Edge Only Sweep Path

Figure: Edge Plus Closed Surface Sweep Path

Rules Followed By the General Sweeper

In deciding which area should be designated as the source area for general sweeping, the program uses
the following rules, in the order as listed below. The sweeper will check all the rules until it finds a rule to
use. Once a higher order rule is used, all the lower rules will not be considered. For example, if none of the
first five rules apply, it will check against rule 6. In this case, if a face is a plane (flat) and the other face is
not a plane (not flat), the flat face will be picked as the source and the test will be terminated.
1.

Manually set control - specify both source and target: The source and target for sweeping will be
exactly as the user specifies. This is the fastest way of meshing. It will eliminate searching for a possible
source and target. For axis-sweeping, this method must be used. If a face is a source of another body
and is not picked as a source of the current body, the aforementioned face will be used as a source.

2.

Manually set control - specify source: Once the user specifies a source area, the program will try to
find the target suitable to the source. The source will be exactly as specified.

3.

Mapped Face Mesh control: The program finds the face with a Mapped Face Mesh control applied
to it.

4.

Number of loops: The face with the largest number of loops will be picked as source face.

5.

Number of lines: The face with the largest number of lines will be picked as source face.

6.

Flat face: A flat face has higher priority for being a source face.

7.

Less sharing: In most cases, a face might be used by one or a maximum of two bodies. If every one
is flat (plane), the one used by the least number of bodies (that is, used by just one body) will be
picked as source face.

8.

Larger area: The largest area will be picked as the source.

Topological Requirements of the General Sweeper

The general sweeper must have at least one path between the source face and target face. The side faces
of the sweep do not need to be singular but they must all be sub-mappable and have single loops. The
source face cannot be a closed analytic such as a full cylinder, torus or sphere. However, partial analytics
are acceptable as source and target faces.

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Note
Pro/ENGINEER creates unique topological models that no other CAD system creates. In all other
CAD systems, non-periodic faces can have only 1 exterior topological loop. On the other hand,
models in Pro/ENGINEER can have non-periodic faces with multiple exterior loops. This type of
topology does not pose a problem for the free meshers in the Meshing application. However, it
does pose a problem for the general sweeper. As noted above, side faces of the sweep must have
single loops. They cannot have multiple exterior loops because if they do, a single path from the
source to the target cannot be determined.
Importing the model into the DesignModeler application breaks the face with multiple exterior
loops into multiple faces with single loops because the DesignModeler kernel does not support
the Pro/ENGINEER topology. Exporting the model from Pro/ENGINEER to IGES or STEP format will
also resolve this issue.

Figure: Example (a) Showing Invalid Closed Cylindrical Face as Source Face

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Thin Model Sweeping

Figure: Example (b) Valid Open Cylindrical Face as Source Face

Figure: Example (c) Multiple Connected Side Faces

Thin Model Sweeping

Similar to the behavior of the general sweeper, the thin model sweeper creates a structured hexahedral/wedge
mesh, but for a thin model. It meshes one side of the thin solid (the source), and then sweeps the mesh to
the other side (the target). Unlike the general sweeper, the thin model sweeper does not require a topological one-to-one match of source to target; the model may have multiple source and/or target surfaces.

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Specialized Meshing
(Refer to Topological Requirements of the Thin Model Sweeper (p. 172) for examples.) In addition, the thin
model sweeper can perform some edge defeaturing and thus can mesh models that have reasonably small
features.
Requirements and usage information specific to the thin model sweeper include the following:

The model must be thinif the model is too thick, the thin model sweeper algorithm may fail.

The source(s) and target(s) cannot touch each other.

The model must have an obvious side that is perpendicular to the source and target; all of the side
areas must connect directly from source to target.

Mesh controls defined on the target may not be respected.

Multibody parts are supported.

For multibody parts, only one division through the thickness is possible. For single body parts, you can
define multiple elements through the thickness using the Sweep Num Divs control in the Details View
of the Sweep Method. (See steps below.)

The thin model sweeper ignores the Num Cells Across Gap setting, which is used to help define the
proximity size function. Using the proximity size function in combination with the thin model sweeper
may lead to an unnecessarily long computation time.

If two bodies intersect to make a T connection, the thin model sweeper does not require that a mapped
mesh control be defined at the junction of the two bodies.

The Preview Source and Target Mesh and Preview Surface Mesh features do not support the thin
model sweeper.

Considerations for Selecting Source Faces for the Thin Model Sweeper
The thin model sweeper meshes one side of a thin solid (the source), and then sweeps the mesh to the
other side (the target). You can control which side the mesher uses as the source by selecting source faces
manually. (To do so, set the Src/Trg Selection control to Manual Thin as described below.)
For most geometries, you can select just 1 of the faces in the complete set of faces that you want to be
used as the source set, and the mesher will properly identify the other faces that are a part of that source
set. However, for more complicated models (such as those containing multibody parts), you need to select
all source faces in the source set in order for the mesher to be successful in finding the complete set of
source faces.
A general rule of thumb is if you can select a single face and then extend the selection to its limits, the
mesher can also identify the proper complete set of source faces. (For details about extending selections,
refer to the description of the Extend Selection command in the Mechanical help.) If the geometry contains
sharp angles that make the limit extension selection difficult, it will also be difficult for the mesher to use a
single face for the source face definition, and you should select the complete set of source faces.

Topological Requirements of the Thin Model Sweeper

The thin model sweeper supports M source faces to N target faces, where M and N can be any positive
whole numbers. Between source faces and target faces, there must be "side faces." The angles between side
faces and either source faces or target faces must be sharp enough that the faces are NOT considered to
be smoothly connected. Therefore, a knife with a thin blade would not be appropriate for thin model
sweeping because the cutting edge (i.e., blade) does not form a "side face." During the thin model sweeping
meshing process, the features (vertices, edges, and faces) on the target may not be preserved and therefore,
users should avoid applying boundary conditions to the target. The side faces must connect to both source
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Topological Requirements of the Thin Model Sweeper

and target. No edges or vertices are allowed on side faces. In this sense, no hard edges on side faces are
allowed. Side edges must connect directly from source to target. Users may use virtual topology to eliminate
some features.

Figure: Example (a) N Source to 1 Target or 1 Target to N Source Topology

Figure: Example (b) N Source to N Target Topology

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Figure: Example (c) 1 Source to N Target Mesh

Figure: Example (d) N Source to 1 Target Mesh

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Topological Requirements of the Thin Model Sweeper

Figure: Example (e) N Source to N Target Mesh

Use Virtual Topology to create a single edge between source and target faces.

Figure: Using Virtual Topology to Create Single Edge Between Source/Target Faces

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Mesh Controls and the Thin Model Sweeper

Mesh Controls applied on the target faces/edges are ignored. Only mesh controls applied to the source
faces/edges are respected.
In example (a) below, the Mapped Face Control is ignored because it is applied to the target face.

Figure: Example (a) Mapped Face Control Applied to Target Is Ignored

In example (b) below, the Mapped Face Control is respected because it is applied to the source face.

Figure: Example (b) Mapped Face Control Applied to Source Is Respected

Thin Model Sweeping for Single Body Parts

This section provides the basic steps for using thin model sweeping to mesh a single body part.

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Thin Model Sweeping for Single Body Parts

To use the Thin Model Sweeper to mesh a single body part:

1.

Click the Mesh object in the Tree and select Insert> Method from the context menu.

2.

Scope the Method control to the thin body.

3.

In Details> Definition, set Method to Sweep.

4.

Set Src/Trg Selection to Manual Thin or Automatic Thin.

Although Automatic Thin may work for simple cases, you may need to select Manual Thin depending
on the complexity of the model.

5.

If you selected Manual Thin, scope the source face(s), keeping in mind the recommendations provided
in Considerations for Selecting Source Faces for the Thin Model Sweeper (p. 172).

6.

Enter additional sweep option settings, as desired, in the Details View. These may include Free Face
Mesh Type, Sweep Num Divs, and Element Option. For descriptions of these options, see Sweep
Method Control (p. 124).

7.

Define other mesh controls, as desired.

8.

Generate the mesh.

Figure : Thin Solid Sweeper Used to Mesh a Single Body Part (p. 177) shows a model of a timing cover that
consists of a single body. The thin solid sweeper was used to mesh the body. To obtain this mesh, Free
Face Mesh Type was set to Quad/Tri, Sweep Num Divs was set to 2, and Element Option was set to Solid
Shell.

Figure: Thin Solid Sweeper Used to Mesh a Single Body Part

Figure : Thin Solid Sweeper Used to Mesh a Single Body Part: Detail (p. 178) shows detail of the timing cover.
The Sweep Num Divs setting of 2 is apparent in this view.

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Specialized Meshing

Figure: Thin Solid Sweeper Used to Mesh a Single Body Part: Detail

Thin Model Sweeping for Multibody Parts

This section provides the basic steps for using thin model sweeping to mesh multibody parts. You can define
thin sweep for each thin body in the multibody part.

To use the Thin Model Sweeper to mesh a multibody part:

1.

Select a thin body in the Geometry window, right-click, and select Insert> Method.

2.

Set Method to Sweep.

3.

Set Src/Trg Selection to Manual Thin or Automatic Thin.

Although Automatic Thin may work for simple cases, you may need to select Manual Thin depending
on the complexity of the model.

4.

If you selected Manual Thin, scope the source face(s) of the thin body, keeping in mind the recommendations provided in Considerations for Selecting Source Faces for the Thin Model Sweeper (p. 172).

5.

Enter additional sweep option settings for the thin body, as desired, in the Details View. These may
include Free Face Mesh Type and Element Option. For descriptions of these options, see Sweep
Method Control (p. 124).

6.

If the part contains multiple thin bodies, repeat step 1 through step 5 for each.

7.

If the part contains any thick sweepable bodies, repeat step 1 through step 5 for each, but set Src/Trg
Selection to Automatic, Manual Source, or Manual Source and Target (depending on complexity
of the model).

8.

If the part contains any non-sweepable bodies, define mesh methods for each, if desired. If the mesh
methods are left undefined, the Meshing application will determine the most appropriate methods to
use for the non-sweepable bodies.

9.

Define other mesh controls, as desired.

10. Generate the mesh.

Figure : Thin Solid Sweeper Used to Mesh a Multibody Part (p. 179) shows a model of a bracket that consists of
four bodies. The thin solid sweeper was used to mesh the bodies. To obtain this mesh, Free Face Mesh
Type was set to Quad/Tri and Element Option was set to Solid.

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Additional Considerations for Using the Thin Model Sweeper

Figure: Thin Solid Sweeper Used to Mesh a Multibody Part

Additional Considerations for Using the Thin Model Sweeper

This section describes several models and scenarios to consider before using the thin model sweeper.
The first example involves a multibody part that models a laminated composite material, as shown below.
Defining source faces for such models may be confusing.

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Specialized Meshing

Figure: Thin Solid Sweeper and Laminated Composite Models

The part contains nine bodies. Assume that the Manual Thin option for Src/Trg Selection will be applied
to each of them. With the Manual Thin option, source faces must be defined for each selected body (i.e.,
each body must have at least one face selected as its source face). There are different ways that you can
select faces to meet this requirement, and it is logical to assume that defining nine source faces (one for
each body) is one way that will work. However, in cases of laminated composites, we recommend that you
specify every other face as a source face.
Consider the figure below, in which nine faces (indicated by arrows) are defined as source faces for the nine
bodies. As illustrated by the figure, Body 1 has two faces defined as source faces, and the same is true for
bodies 2 through 8. This source face definition causes ambiguity for the thin sweep mesher, which will have
trouble determining a target face in bodies 1 through 8 and may fail.

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Additional Considerations for Using the Thin Model Sweeper

Figure: Ambiguous Source Face Definition for Laminated Composite Model

Now look at the figure below. Here every other face has been selected as a source face, for a total of five.
With this source face definition, each body still has one face selected to be its source face, so the requirement
for Manual Thin source face selection has been met. With this source face definition, the thin sweep
mesher will have no problem determining target faces for each of the bodies.

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Figure: Recommended Source Face Definition for Laminated Composite Model

Note
For cases in which the Automatic Thin option can be used, an alternative method to consider
is to apply the Manual Thin option to only one body, define its source face, and apply the
Automatic Thin option to the remaining bodies.
Before using thin solid sweeping, remember that the mesher meshes one side of faces and then sweeps the
mesh to the second side of faces. Consider Figure : Thin Solid Sweeper Limitation (p. 183), which shows a
model containing three plates. In the thin sweep operation, the edges that are common to two source faces
are present on the source side. If the edges are different on the opposite side, the mesher will use the nodes
from the source side in the mesh on the opposite side anyway. Thus, if there are features on the non-source
side that are unique and need to be captured, you should not use the thin solid sweeping approach, as the
mesher will ignore these features.
In Figure : Thin Solid Sweeper Limitation (p. 183), there is no valid way to mesh the middle plate with the thin
solid sweep method, as there is an imprint coming from both the plate above and the plate below the
middle plate, unless:
1.

The plate is decomposed (sliced) to ensure all target face(s) have a corresponding source face.

2.

The multibody part is broken into single parts (non-conformal mesh at common interfaces).

3.

Some other mesh method is used. (In Figure : Thin Solid Sweeper Limitation (p. 183), a tet mesh method
is used.)

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Additional Considerations for Using the Thin Model Sweeper

4.

The source and target faces have similar pairs, and the source faces are selected properly (described
below).

Figure: Thin Solid Sweeper Limitation

Figure : Adding Face Projections (Splits) in the DesignModeler Application (p. 183) illustrates an alternative approach
to meshing the model above. In the DesignModeler application, the Projection feature allows face(s) to be
split so that the source and target pairs will align. (For this model, the Edges on Face type of projection was
used.)

Figure: Adding Face Projections (Splits) in the DesignModeler Application

With the addition of the face splits, the model can be meshed successfully with the thin solid sweep method
by applying the Manual Thin option for Src/Trg Selection to all three bodies, and defining the top surface
of each body as its source faces, as shown below. In this example, two faces are selected as source faces for
the body on the left, three for the middle body, and two for the body on the right. Defining the source faces
in this way ensures that everything is meshed from one side of the multibody part to the other.

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Figure: Defining Source Faces when Face Splits Are Present

Figure : Three Plates Model Meshed with Thin Solid Sweeper (p. 184) shows the meshed model.

Figure: Three Plates Model Meshed with Thin Solid Sweeper

MultiZone Meshing
The MultiZone mesh method, which is a patch independent meshing technique, provides automatic decomposition of geometry into mapped (structured/sweepable) regions and free (unstructured) regions. It automatically generates a pure hexahedral mesh where possible and then fills the more difficult to capture regions
with unstructured mesh. The MultiZone mesh method and the Sweep mesh method operate similarly;
however, MultiZone has capabilities that make it more suitable for a class of problems for which the Sweep
method would not work without extensive geometry decomposition.
MultiZone meshing topics include:
MultiZone Overview
MultiZone Algorithms
Using MultiZone
MultiZone Limitations

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MultiZone Overview

MultiZone Overview
The MultiZone mesh method provides the following benefits:

Improved source face handling:

In traditional sweeping approaches, there is a source face that is meshed and then extruded to the
target. In MultiZone, the source and target are interchangeable.
A source can consist of multiple faces.

Automatic geometry decomposition:

Geometry is decomposed first at 2D level and then at 3D level.

2D decomposition can simplify geometry and improve success of hex meshing.

3D topology is constructed based on 2D topology; unique heuristic approaches are used for the
construction of the 3D blocks that do not force the traditional limitations of sweeping algorithms.

Mapped and free meshing in the same part

Inflation on a combination of source and/or side faces

The MultiZone mesh method provides the following mesh methods/interactions:

Support for inflation

Support for Virtual Topology

Support for embedded entities (hard points and hard edges) on surfaces

Support for multibody parts

Support for defined edge and face sizings

Support for Defined Edge and Face Sizings

MultiZone creates a secondary topology, called the blocking topology, and uses any defined edge and face
sizings to influence the blocking topology. By controlling source faces and side faces within MultiZone and
assigning proper edge and face sizings as desired, you can ensure MultiZone will be able to provide the
proper size for the different sweep paths.

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Specialized Meshing

Note
Within MultiZone (and throughout ANSYS Workbench in general), parallel edge assignments are
handled automatically for mapped faces. That is, for a mapped face, there are two sets of parallel
edges. If you increase or decrease the sizing on one edge, the same increase or decrease occurs
automatically on the other edge to ensure a mapped mesh is possible. If a model contains a row
of mapped faces (such as the sides of a box), you can set a number of elements on one edge
and the same number of elements will be forced on all side/parallel edges.
When you scope bias settings to edges, they are applied according to the following priority:
1.

Double bias edge

2.

Single bias edge

3.

No bias edge

This means that if a model contains a number of parallel edges with scoped edge sizes, the size
control(s) with double biasing will take highest priority, then single biasing, then no biasing.

Note
In general, if there is an edge in the direction of inflation, it is always best to use edge sizing for
boundary layers rather than inflation.

MultiZone Algorithms
The MultiZone mesh method, which is based on the blocking approach used in ANSYS ICEM CFD Hexa,
starts by automatically blocking out surfaces. If the surface blocking can form a closed volume, then the
volume may be filled automatically with a number of structured, swept, or unstructured blocks. The structured
blocks can be filled with Hexa or Hexa/Prism elements and the unstructured blocks can be filled with Tetra,
Hexa Dominant, or Hexa Core elements depending on your settings, as described in MultiZone Method
Control (p. 126).
The blocking algorithm and the meshing algorithm used to generate a MultiZone mesh are detailed below.

MultiZone Blocking Algorithm

The blocking algorithm used to generate a MultiZone mesh can be described as follows. The series of figures
illustrates the process, assuming the geometry shown in Figure : Blocking AlgorithmSample Geometry (p. 186).

Figure: Blocking AlgorithmSample Geometry

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MultiZone Blocking Algorithm

1.

Creates automatic surface blocking (2D) by performing a surface analysis. In this step the algorithm:

Uses the Uniform Quad and Uniform Quad/Tri mesh methods to generate 2D blocking.

Uses mapped controls to try to force mapping. In general, surfaces with four sides are mapped
(structured) and other surface patches are free (unstructured).

Uses source face selection to try to imprint faces into the source/target faces. (MultiZone treats
all sources/targets as sources, as imprinting can occur from either side. For additional details, refer
to MultiZone Source Face Selection Tips (p. 190).)

Figure: Blocking AlgorithmStep 1: 2D Blocking

2.

Creates a MultiZone (3D) structure. In this step the algorithm:

Processes surface blocks to match swept sections.

Connects surface blocks to create volume blocking (3D).

Resolves the volume region with structured, swept, and unstructured blocks. Mapped faces become
structured blocks and free faces become unstructured blocks.

Figure: Blocking AlgorithmStep 2: 3D Blocking

3.

O-Grid creates boundary blocks automatically, and the algorithm extrudes O-Grid to create inflation.

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Figure: Blocking AlgorithmStep 3: Inflation

MultiZone Meshing Algorithm

The meshing algorithm used to generate a MultiZone mesh can be described as follows:

Assigns intervals by transferring sizing from the topology to blocking.

Meshes structured faces (those that can be mapped meshed) using transfinite interpolation and unstructured (free) faces with all quadrilateral or a combination of quadrilateral/triangle elements.

Interpolates, sweeps, and fills the volume mesh for the structured, swept, and unstructured blocks respectively. (The structured blocks can be filled with Hexa or Hexa/Prism elements and the unstructured
blocks can be filled with Tetra, Hexa Dominant, or Hexa Core elements depending on your settings,
as described in MultiZone Method Control (p. 126).)

Using MultiZone
To help you to determine whether the MultiZone mesh method is the most appropriate method for your
problem and to ensure blocking is constructed properly, you must consider the following characteristics of
the problem:

Sources

Sweep paths (i.e., side faces)

Intersections (i.e., levels)

To classify a MultiZone problem, consider which faces will be sources and in turn, which sources will cause
imprinting. (Note that imprinting, which is described in MultiZone Source Face Imprinting Guidelines (p. 191),
has its own classifications that further define the problem.)
In Figure : Classifying the Problem: Sources (p. 189), four faces have been selected as sources (the two faces
highlighted in green, and two hidden planar faces at the base of the block and the cylinder).

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Using MultiZone

Figure: Classifying the Problem: Sources

You must also consider the sweep path, or sides, of the mesh. This includes how many potential sweep
directions exist in the problem and if there is more than one, how imprints should be handled. See Figure : Classifying the Problem: Handling of Paths and Imprints (p. 189).

Figure: Classifying the Problem: Handling of Paths and Imprints

A collective set of attached faces in a body is a source, and the simplest problem (such as a box) has two
sets of sources. All faces that are not sources are side faces, and they make up the path. In a simple box
example, the box could be swept in any one of three directions, but it is the source selection that determines
the path. If no source is selected, MultiZone determines the path arbitrarily.
The model shown in Figure : Classifying the Problem: Sweep Path (p. 190) shows one clear sweep direction.
The green faces are the side faces.

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Figure: Classifying the Problem: Sweep Path

You must also consider the number of intersections, or levels, the problem has in relation to the sweep
direction. In the MultiZone mesh method, levels are resolved before sources and sweep paths. Furthermore,
in problems involving more than three levels, the problem is resolved at each individual level first. You can
aid in this process by splitting the geometry to create levels as needed.
In a simple box example, the box has two levels but could be swept in any one of three directions. MultiZone
should work for most cases involving two or three levels, providing the path and imprinting cases in the
specific problem are supported. For cases involving more than three levels, there are additional factors to
consider. For example:

Imprints cannot be done through multiple levels. If the imprinting has to go through multiple levels,
the geometry should be sliced.

Side faces need to be mappable. For multiple levels, the software may have difficulty determining how
to properly map the side faces to get a proper swept mesh (see Internal Cutout Loops (p. 193)).

In Figure : Classifying the Problem: Levels (p. 190), there are four levels in the sweep direction.

Figure: Classifying the Problem: Levels

For more information, refer to:

MultiZone Source Face Selection Tips
MultiZone Source Face Imprinting Guidelines
Using Virtual Topology to Handle Fillets in MultiZone Problems

MultiZone Source Face Selection Tips

When you choose the MultiZone mesh method, the Details View expands to expose various settings, one
of which is Src/Trg Selection. Src/Trg Selection, which defines the source and target selection type for the
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Using MultiZone
MultiZone mesh method, can be set to either Automatic (the default) or Manual Source. Because the
Automatic option works for simple configurations only, it is likely that you will need to change the setting
to Manual Source and manually select the faces that will be used. Keep these points in mind when selecting
faces:

MultiZone does not support the Manual Source setting for the Src/Trg Selection option if MultiZone
is applied to more than one part, even if you suppress all of the other parts.

The faces you select can be either sources or targets. MultiZone does not distinguish between
source and target faces, and instead treats them all as sources.

To do imprinting of face loops, all swept section faces (that is, those that are perpendicular to the sweep
direction) should be selected.

Unstructured blocking is enforced for source faces since imprinting is not supported on structured faces.
Therefore, to resolve a structured region no source faces should be selected.

An unstructured mesh will be forced on the selected source faces in general. Depending on the geometry,
you can add mapped face meshing controls to these faces to get mapped meshing.

In a multibody part, source faces must be specified for the swept regions only. Structured regions are
decomposed automatically. Mapped face meshing controls can help to resolve structured regions.

At an interface in a multibody part (in which two bodies share the same face), there is not always a
distinction of which body the face belongs to. When using MultiZone in such cases, setting the face
to be inflated may affect both bodies because both bodies are meshed with MultiZone at the same
time.

Refer to Figure : Source Face Selection for MultiZone (p. 130) for more information.

MultiZone Source Face Imprinting Guidelines

Imprinting has its own classifications that further define the problem. Models often exhibit combinations of
these different situations when trying to sort out the sweep paths between pairs of source face(s).
When selecting source faces, it is important to recognize that the pairs of source faces need to have proper
matches. If source faces cannot be paired, imprinting needs to be done by the software to create proper
pairs. The software supports only certain types of imprinting, so it is important to understand these cases.
Imprinting classifications include:
Internal Loops
Boundary Loops
Multiple Internal Loops
Internal Cutout Loops
Parallel Loops
Intersecting Loops
It is also important to note that if you set the Free Mesh Type to anything other than Not Allowed, some
of the imprinting will not be done, as this can lead to some problems in the creation of the free blocks.

Internal Loops
Internal loops are internal regions that imprint to other faces, such as the fins in the rotor model shown
below.

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Figure: Source Imprinting Classifications: Internal Loops

Boundary Loops
Boundary loops are splits in a face that extend to the boundary, such as those shown in the model below.

Figure: Source Imprinting Classifications: Boundary Loops

Multiple Internal Loops

Some models exhibit multiple internal loops, such as those in the model below.

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Using MultiZone

Figure: Source Imprinting Classifications: Multiple Internal Loops

Internal Cutout Loops

Some models exhibit internal cutout loops, in which there are three sets of source faces:

Top source faces

Middle source faces (internal cutouts)

Bottom source faces

A simple cutout situation exhibits these characteristics:

The sets of top faces and bottom faces are connected by complete side faces (that is, faces on the side
have boundary edges on both top and bottom)

There can be multiple internal cutouts, but they must be located at the same level. In other words, the
middle source faces of all of the internal cutouts must be at the same level.

The figure below shows a model in which the boundary is at a higher level than the cutout regions. This
type of simple cutout case is supported, as the side faces are directly connected to the top and bottom
source faces.

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Figure: Source Imprinting Classifications: Internal Cutout Loops (Simple Cutout Case)

The case shown in the figure below is also supported. Although there are multiple internal cutouts, the
middle source faces of all of the cutouts are at the same level.

Figure: Source Imprinting Classifications: Internal Cutout Loops (Multiple Cutout Case)

However, in cases in which the internal cutouts are at multiple levels or the sides do not provide a clear
connected path, MultiZone will not be successful unless you set the Free Mesh Type to something other
than Not Allowed, or you perform manual geometry decomposition. Refer to the figure below for an example
showing cutouts at multiple levels.

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Using MultiZone

Figure: Internal Cutout Loops: Cutouts at Multiple Levels

In the figure above, notice that cutouts at different levels are meshed at the same level with regard to the
grid lines.
When there is no clear connected path because side faces do not extend from top source faces to bottom
source faces (as shown in the figure below), MultiZone will not be successful.

Figure: Internal Cutout Loops: Side Faces Do Not Provide Clear Connected Path

Parallel Loops
Some models exhibit parallel loops, such as those in the model below. If the software can match all pairs
these models should work; however, the angle between pairs can cause problems (due to difficulties finding
the pairs), and if there are non-matched pairs they will cause problems. For non-matched pairs, virtual topologies may solve the problem.

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Figure: Source Imprinting Classifications: Parallel Loops

Intersecting Loops
Two views of a model with intersecting loops are shown below. Notice that the sources on the top and
bottom would intersect when being imprinted. These types of cases are not supported yet. You can use
geometry decomposition as a workaround.

Figure: Source Imprinting Classifications: Intersecting Loops View 1

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MultiZone Limitations

Figure: Source Imprinting Classifications: Intersecting Loops View 2

Using Virtual Topology to Handle Fillets in MultiZone Problems

The presence of fillets in a model can cause problems for MultiZone, since arguably a fillet could be either
a side face or a source face. Ideally, a fillet should be split in half, with one half going to the source face and
the other half going to the side face. Alternatively, the fillet should be removed. For simplicity, however,
assigning the fillet to the side face through a Virtual Topology operation is the best solution.
In addition, inflation is generally recommended to improve the high angled elements that would be formed
along the edge that is shared between the source and side faces. Inflation allows the mesh to transition
away from the boundary and reduce the angle. See Figure : Fillets and Inflation (p. 197).

Figure: Fillets and Inflation

MultiZone Limitations
Be aware of the following limitations when using MultiZone:

Support for multibody parts exists at the part level only. This means that if you apply MultiZone to one
body in a multibody part, you must also apply it to all of the other bodies in the part.

Advanced mapped face meshing controls (side/end/corner) are not supported.

Advanced size function controls, sphere of influence, etc. are not supported.

Pinch controls are not supported.

Program Controlled inflation is not supported.

When setting Inflation Option, Smooth Transition is not supported.

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Some inflation cases are not supported; for example, when the inflation does not form a closed loop
(which would lead to non-conformal mesh that is not allowed). In these cases the inflation will be
skipped.

The Show Sweepable Bodies option is not supported.

There is no access to underlying blocks except by writing out the ANSYS ICEM CFD files.

When using the MultiZone mesh method on geometries where the sources are spherical and unstructured (that is, the source cannot be mapped), you may want to set the Mapped Mesh Type to
Hexa/Prism instead of Hexa. In such cases, using the Hexa mesh type may result in very poor quality
face mesh on the sources, which sometimes leads to mesh failures.

For additional limitations, refer to Interactions Between Mesh Methods and Mesh Controls (p. 218) (Patch Independent Mesh Methods table).

Inflation Controls
Inflation is useful for CFD boundary layer resolution, electromagnetic air gap resolution or resolving high
stress concentrations for structures.
The following sections provide the high-level steps to follow to assign inflation depending on the selected
mesh method.
For information on setting global inflation controls and descriptions of all of the individual inflation controls,
refer to Inflation Group (p. 60). Alternatively, you can use local inflation mesh controls to apply inflation to
specific boundaries. For details, refer to Inflation Control (p. 158). For general information on applying inflation
controls in combination with the various mesh method controls, refer to "Mesh Control Interaction
Tables" (p. 217).

Inflation Controls With Sweeper

Inflation is a pre process for the sweeper. The source face is meshed and then inflated before sweeping with
the sweeper.

Note
Inflation is supported only on the source face(s) of the sweep (that is, inflation on the side faces).
Inflation away from the source face(s) is not supported.

Note
You do not have to select a source face for sweeping with inflation. You can simply pick faces
for inflation and the Meshing application will internally place a Sweep method on the adjacent
bodies using the inflated faces as the sources (unless another method already exists).

To add boundary layers to a source face for sweeping:

1.

Apply a Method control to a body.

2.

Set Method to Sweep.

3.

Set Src/Trg Selection to Manual Source or to Manual Source and Target.

4.

Scope the source (and target if Manual Source and Target was selected).

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Inflation Controls With Sweeper

5.

Set Free Face Mesh Type to All Quad, All Tri, or Quad/Tri. Your selection determines the shape of
the elements used to fill the swept body (pure hex, pure wedge, or a combination of hex/wedge respectively). The boundary region of the source/target faces will always be meshed with quad layers.
Refer to Figure : Sweep Method With Inflation: Hex Fill (p. 199) and Figure : Sweep Method With Inflation:
Wedge Fill (p. 200).

6.

Enter additional sweep settings, as desired, in the Details View.

7.

Select the source face and insert an Inflation control.

8.

Select the outer boundary edges of the source face for inflation (i.e., the edges that you want inflation
to grow away from).

9.

Enter additional inflation settings, as desired, in the Details View.

10. Mesh the body.

Note
If the target face has a different number of edges than the source face, the bias of the boundary
layer may not be transferred correctly.
To obtain the mesh shown in Figure : Sweep Method With Inflation: Hex Fill (p. 199), Free Face Mesh Type was
set to All Quad. Notice the boundary region is meshed with quad layers.

Figure: Sweep Method With Inflation: Hex Fill

To obtain the mesh shown in Figure : Sweep Method With Inflation: Wedge Fill (p. 200), Free Face Mesh Type
was set to All Tri. Notice the boundary region is meshed with quad layers.

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Figure: Sweep Method With Inflation: Wedge Fill

Inflation Controls With Patch Conforming Mesher

Inflation can be either a pre process or a post process for the patch conforming mesher.

To add boundary layers to a face using the Patch Conforming Mesher:

1.

Apply a Method control to a body.

2.

Set Method to Tetrahedrons.

3.

Set the tetrahedrons Algorithm to Patch Conforming.

4.

Select the body and insert an Inflation control.

5.

Select the faces to be inflated (i.e., the faces that you want the inflation layers to grow away from).

6.

Enter additional settings, as desired, in the Details View.

7.

Mesh the body.

Inflation Controls With Patch Independent Mesher

Inflation is a post process for the patch independent mesher after it has created the tetrahedron elements.

To add boundary layers to a face using the Patch Independent Mesher:

1.

Apply a Method control to a body.

2.

Set Method to Tetrahedrons.

3.

Set the tetrahedrons Algorithm to Patch Independent.

4.

Set the Min Size Limit.

5.

Select the body and insert an Inflation control.

6.

Select the faces to be inflated (i.e., the faces that you want the inflation layers to grow away from).

7.

Enter additional settings, as desired, in the Details View.

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Inflation Handling Between Bodies With Different Methods

8.

Mesh the body.

Inflation Controls With MultiZone

To add boundary layers to a face using the MultiZone Mesher:
1.

Apply a Method control to a body.

2.

Set Method to MultiZone.

3.

Select the body and insert an Inflation control.

4.

Select the faces to be inflated (i.e., the faces that you want the inflation layers to grow away from).

5.

Enter additional settings, as desired, in the Details View.

6.

Mesh the body.

Inflation Controls With CFX-Mesh

Inflation is a pre process for CFX-Mesh. Inflation is performed after face meshing and before body meshing
for CFX-Mesh. For details, see the Inflation section under Meshing Features in the CFX-Mesh help.

Inflation Controls With Quadrilateral Dominant or All Triangles Mesher

Inflation is a pre process for the quadrilateral dominant mesher or all triangles mesher.

To add boundary layers to a face using the Quadrilateral Dominant or All Triangles Mesher:
1.

Apply a Method control to a body.

2.

Set Method to Quadrilateral Dominant or Triangles.

3.

Select the body and insert an Inflation control.

4.

Select the edges to be inflated (i.e., the edges that you want inflation to grow away from).

5.

Enter additional settings, as desired, in the Details View.

6.

Mesh the body.

Inflation Handling Between Bodies With Different Methods

The inflation handling between bodies where one body is meshed with the sweep method and one body
is meshed with the patch conforming tetrahedral method requires some special consideration to ensure
inflation layers propagate through the common interface. There are two such cases to consider:

The case in which the common interface of two bodies is also a source/target face of the swept body

The case in which the common interface of two bodies is also a side face of the swept body

The model below will be used to explain the first case, in which the common interface of two bodies is also
a source/target face of the swept body.

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Figure: Swept Body Shares Source/Target Face With Tet Body

In this case, inflation on the patch conforming tetrahedral method needs to be defined off the faces of the
wall (not common interface), or by using Program Controlled inflation (which ignores faces in Named Selections
and common interfaces between bodies). The swept body needs the source face to be selected, and 2D inflation needs to be defined on the source face. Since 2D inflation does not support the Smooth Transition
option, it is best to use another option so that the inflation between bodies will properly align.

Figure: Defining Inflation for a Swept Body Sharing Source/Target Face With Tet Body

After properly setting up the model and ensuring the inflation of the tet body and the swept body have
similar near-wall spacings, a mesh can be generated where the inflation layers will pass from one body to
the next with proper connections on the common interface, as shown below.

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Inflation Handling Between Bodies With Different Methods

Figure: Detail of Proper Connections on the Common Interface

The model below will be used to explain the second case, in which the common interface of two bodies is
also a side face of the swept body.

Figure: Tet Body Surrounds Swept Body

In this case, inflation on the patch conforming tetrahedral method needs to be defined off the faces of the
wall (not common interface), or by using Program Controlled inflation (which ignores faces in Named Selections
and common interfaces between bodies). To properly align the inflated tet mesh to the side faces of the
swept body, a biasing needs to be used along the sweep direction. Since the biasing along the sweep direction
uses a different formulation than the inflation biasing, the following notes may be helpful.
The sweep bias ratio is the ratio of largest edge to smallest edge along sweep path, the growth ratio for
inflation is a factor of the growth from the first element to the second element, etc. These relate as described
below. The equation to get the inflation growth rate to align to the swept body is:
Ir = Sb

(1/N-1)

where
Sb = Sweep Bias
N = Number of Divisions along sweep
Ir = Inflation Growth Rate
Also, to get proper alignment between the first layer of inflation and sweep, you need to use the first layer
height of the swept mesh as first layer height for sweep.
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Since the first layer height is computed by the software from the length of the sweep path, the sweep bias,
and the number of divisions along the sweep, and there is no easy way to get the length of the sweep path,
it is recommended to mesh the swept body first, measure the first layer height, and use this value as input
for the First Layer Height option when defining inflation controls. The inflation growth rate can then be
calculated using the formula above. This leads to well-aligned layers between the sweep and tet regions,
as shown below.

Figure: Detail of Well-aligned Layers Between the Swept and Tet Regions

Inflation and Baffles

The Meshing application provides support for meshing 0thickness walls, or baffles, as hanging faces of a
solid body. Inflation is supported. See Baffle Meshing (p. 213) for more information.

Mesh Refinement
Mesh refinement is a postprocess in the mesh generation process in which the elements on the selected
topology are split. This is useful for local mesh sizing control. See the Refinement Control (p. 143) section for
more information.

Mixed Order Meshing

Mixed order meshing is supported across bodies for certain mesh methods. See Method Controls and Element
Midside Nodes Settings (p. 106) for more information.

Air Gap Meshing

The Gap Tool is useful for capturing the physics in the air gap for electromagnetic analyses when using the
patch conforming tet mesher. Anisotropic ( stretched ) elements will be created in the air gap with this
method.
When using the patch independent tet mesher, isotropic elements can be created in the air gap by setting
the defeaturing tolerance to be a number less than your gap distance and by setting the number of elements
across the gap.
If you want hexes in your air gap, it will probably be necessary to slice the air gap into sweepable bodies
in the DesignModeler application.

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Rigid Body Meshing

Contact Meshing
Enhancing convergence or quality of results for structural contact analysis may require the use of contact
sizing to create similarly sized meshes where faces and bodies are coming in contact. See the Contact Sizing
Control (p. 143) section for more information.
For information about using contact meshing for rigid bodies, refer to Rigid Body Meshing (p. 205).

Winding Body Meshing

Winding body meshing creates special element types depending on the attributes given to bodies in the
DesignModeler application. No mesh controls are supported for winding bodies because of the nature of
the required mesh.

Wire Body Meshing

Wire body meshing meshes the wire bodies in an assembly, respecting any mesh controls applied to the
edges of the wire body.

Pyramid Transitions
Pyramid transitions occur when a swept or hex dominant body abuts, that is, shares faces with, a body
meshed with tetrahedrons. The mesher will try to insert the pyramids into the body meshed with tetrahedrons.
If that is not possible, the hexahedron at the boundary will be split into pyramids and tetrahedrons to create
a conformal mesh between the two bodies. Pyramids will also be formed at the interface of an end cap of
inflation on quad surface mesh and a tet body.

Match Meshing and the Symmetry Folder

Cyclic mesh matching, which controls mesh matching for a part that is symmetric about a cylindrical axis,
can be used for matching face meshes or matching edge meshes. Mesh matching is supported for the patch
conforming tet mesher, the sweeper, and the patch conforming surface body methods (quad dominant and
all triangles). When symmetric and anti-symmetric objects exist in the Periodic folder, match face mesh
controls will be created internal to the mesher. If the mesher cannot match the mesh on the objects in the
symmetry folder, it will return a failure code.
For an overview of the cyclic match control, see Cyclic Match Control (p. 154). For general information on
applying match controls in combination with the various mesh method controls, refer to "Mesh Control Interaction Tables" (p. 217).

Rigid Body Meshing

Rigid body meshing simplifies the representation of a model by reducing it to the contact regions and the
centroid of the model. In other words, when a part is defined as a rigid body, the mesher knows to mesh
only the contact regions, and to create a single mass element at the centroid of the model. (The centroid
is represented by an Inertial Coordinate System. Refer to the discussion of Rigid Bodies in the Mechanical
help for more information.)
Rigid body meshing can be used for both 2D and 3D contact. For 2D models, only the edges of the rigid
surface in contact are meshed because the surface mesh is not needed for the analysis. Similarly, for 3D
models, only the faces of the rigid body in contact are meshed because the volume mesh is not needed.

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The elements used to mesh the contact surfaces can be quadrilateral or triangular in shape, with or without
midside nodes.
The following surface mesh methods can be applied to rigid bodies:

Quadrilateral Dominant

Triangles

Rigid body contact meshing respects mapped face controls and sizing controls. If 2D inflation is applied,
inflation layers are generated for the surfaces in contact.
If a method control is scoped to a rigid body, the Method control is set to Quadrilateral Dominant by
default, but you can change the value to Triangles. When Method is set to Quadrilateral Dominant, an
additional option called the Free Face Mesh Type control is available for most analyses and can be set to
either Quad/Tri (default) or All Quad.
For Transient Structural and Explicit Dynamics analyses, certain default behaviors related to rigid body
meshing differ depending on analysis type and solver. Additionally, the Free Face Mesh Type option is replaced by the Rigid Face Mesh Type option to determine the default element shape for rigid body face
meshing. The table below provides information you should be aware of when selecting one of these analysis
types from the Toolbox and adding it to a Workbench project.
Rigid Body Meshing: Default Behaviors for Transient Structural and Explicit Dynamics Analyses
Standard Analysis
Type

Solver

Element Midside Nodes

Straight
Sided Elements

Rigid Body
Behavior

Rigid Face
Mesh Type

Transient Structural
(MBD)

ANSYS Rigid
Dynamics

Dropped
(Read-only)

Not applicable

Dimensionally
Reduced

All Tri (Readonly)

Transient Structural
(ANSYS)

ANSYS Mechanical

Program Controlled

No

Dimensionally
Reduced

Quad/Tri

Explicit Dynamics
(ANSYS)

AUTODYN

Dropped

Not applicable

Full Mesh

Quad/Tri

Explicit Dynamics
(LS-DYNA Export)

LS-DYNA

Dropped

Not applicable

Full Mesh

Quad/Tri

For information about generating a full mesh on rigid bodies instead of a surface mesh, refer to the description
of the Rigid Body Behavior (p. 79) control.

Using 2D Rigid Body Contact Meshing

This section describes the basic steps for using 2D rigid body contact meshing.

To define a 2D rigid body for contact meshing:

1.

Open the model in the Mechanical application.

2.

In the Tree, expand the Geometry object so that the body objects are visible.

3.

Click on the body that you want to define as the rigid body.

4.

In the Details> Definition view for the body, change the value of the Stiffness Behavior control to
Rigid.

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Using 3D Rigid Body Contact Meshing

Note
When you change the Stiffness Behavior to Rigid, an Inertial Coordinate System object
is added to the Tree automatically. This Inertial Coordinate System represents the centroid
of the body.
5.

If desired, change the value of the Element Midside Nodes control.

6.

Generate the mesh by right-clicking on the Mesh object in the Tree and selecting Generate Mesh.

Note
The mesh for the 2D rigid body is created only in the contact region (edges in contact). See
the figure below for an example.

In the figure below, which shows a model of a slab and a cylinder, the cylinder has been defined as a rigid
body. When the mesh is generated, the cylinder is meshed with line elements as shown.

Figure: 2D Rigid Body Contact Meshing

Using 3D Rigid Body Contact Meshing

This section describes the basic steps for using 3D rigid body contact meshing.

To define a 3D rigid body for contact meshing:

1.

Open the model in the Mechanical application.

2.

In the Tree, expand the Geometry object so that the body objects are visible.

3.

Click on the body that you want to define as a rigid body.

4.

In the Details> Definition view for the body, change the value of the Stiffness Behavior control to
Rigid.

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Note
When you change the Stiffness Behavior to Rigid, an Inertial Coordinate System object
is added to the Tree automatically. This Inertial Coordinate System represents the centroid
of the body.
5.

If you wish to control the mesh method, insert a mesh method by right-clicking on the Mesh object
in the Tree and selecting Insert> Method.

Note
The Automatic method appears in the Details View.
6.

In the Details View, scope the mesh method to the rigid body.

Note
By default, the Method control is set to Quadrilateral Dominant for rigid bodies, but you
can change the value to Triangles. When Method is set to Quadrilateral Dominant, an
additional option called the Free Face Mesh Type control is available and can be set to
either Quad/Tri (default) or All Quad.
7.

If desired, change the value of the Element Midside Nodes control.

8.

Generate the mesh by right-clicking on the Mesh object in the Tree and selecting Generate Mesh.

Note
The mesh for the 3D rigid body is created only in the contact region (faces in contact).

Thin Solid Meshing

Thin solid meshing is useful for thin solid bodies where one element through the thickness is desired. This
meshing also takes advantage of the Mechanical APDL application's SOLSH190 element.

It may be advantageous to use a Sizing control on the faces/body along with Mapped Face Meshing
controls to give a uniform mesh.

Virtual Topology may be necessary to satisfy the topological criterion for thin solid meshing.

Gasket Element Meshing

This feature lets you take advantage of the Mechanical APDL application's gasket element technology via
the Meshing application's Method control. Basic steps are provided below. By following these steps when
defining the Sweep mesh method, you can set a gasket option that instructs the Meshing application to
drop midside nodes on gasket element edges that are parallel to the sweep direction.

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Gasket Element Meshing

To use gasket element meshing:

1.

Right-click the Mesh object in the Tree and select Insert> Method.

Note
The Automatic method appears in the Details View.
2.

In Details> Scope, scope the mesh method to a body.

3.

In Details> Definition, change the value of the Method control to Sweep.

4.

For Src/Trg Selection, select Manual Source, Manual Source and Target, or Manual Thin.

5.

Select a Source face.

6.

Select a Target face.

Note
This step is applicable only if the Src/Trg Selection is set to Manual Source and Target.
7.

If desired, change the value of the Free Face Mesh Type control.

8.

Change the value of Element Option to Gasket.

9.

Generate the mesh by right-clicking on the Mesh object in the Tree and selecting Generate Mesh.

When generating the gasket element mesh, the Meshing application drops the midside nodes on the edges
that are parallel to the sweep direction. For example, consider the mesh shown below. To define the sweep
method, Src/Trg Selection was set to Manual Source, one face (the top face) was selected for Source,
and Element Option was set to Gasket. In the resulting mesh, the gasket element faces on the source and
target are quadratic, but the faces on the sides are linear.

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Note
Setting Element Option to Gasket when Element Midside Nodes (p. 77) is set to either Program
Controlled or Kept results in quadratic elements with midside nodes dropped in the normal
direction. Setting Element Option to Gasket when Element Midside Nodes (p. 77) is set to Dropped
removes the midside nodes, resulting in linear elements.

CAD Instance Meshing

The Meshing application supports pattern instances that have been defined for part features or assembly
components in a CAD system, such as Pro/ENGINEER, Parasolid, or Solid Edge. These instance definitions
remain in the CAD system. When a model with instances is read in to Workbench, the geometry is read once
and then copied for each instance. Similarly, when meshing, the Meshing application generates the mesh
once and then copies it for each instance. Support for pattern instances provides these benefits:

Improved geometry import speed because only one instance of a part is read in

Improved meshing speed because only one instance of a part is meshed; copies of the first instance's
mesh are used for the remaining instances

Keep the following information in mind when working with instances:

Instances cannot be defined using the DesignModeler application, nor should you use the DesignModeler
application to edit a model with instances or they will be lost. For example, assume that a model with
instances is designed using Pro/ENGINEER and then that model is read into the DesignModeler application. If you then import the model into the Meshing application, the instances will no longer be present
in the model.

You can use the Extend Selection command to select a set of instances, which can be useful for performing tasks such as applying loads or creating a Named Selection. To select a set of instances, first
select one instance, then click the Extend Selection drop-down menu and choose Extend to Instances.
Extend to Instances searches for all remaining instances that are defined for the currently selected instance. The Extend to Instances menu option is enabled only when pattern instances are defined in
the current model.

Because the mesh is copied from the first instance to the remaining instance, it follows that each instance
will be meshed with the same number of nodes and elements. To confirm this, after CAD instances are
successfully meshed, click the Geometry object in the Tree Outline. Then click the Worksheet toolbar
button. When the Worksheet appears, click on the Nodes heading, which sorts the data on that column
and allows you to view the matching numbers of nodes and elements for each instance.

Error handling for instances is also copied. For example, if the mesher fails on one instance, all instances
will fail; however, you will receive a warning message for each instance. Refer to Figure : Error Handling
for Instances (p. 211), which shows a model containing eight identical pistons.

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Meshing and Hard Entities

Figure: Error Handling for Instances

Meshing and Hard Entities

The two types of hard entities are hard edges and hard points. Hard entities are usually defined in the
DesignModeler application or a CAD system.
A hard point is an embedded point in a face or edge. Hard points are captured by nodes during the meshing
process. Hard points are not supported for the following mesh methods or controls:

General sweeping

3D inflation

A hard edge is an embedded edge in a face. There are two main types of embedded edges:

An edge in which one vertex of the edge touches the face boundary, but the other vertex does not
touch a face boundary

An edge in which neither of the vertices touches the face boundary

Hard edges are not supported for the following mesh methods or controls:
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Specialized Meshing

General sweeping

2D or 3D inflation

Note
If the methods and controls listed above are required in your mesh, you must go back to the
DesignModeler application and edit the model to remove the hard entities.

Note
Other mesh methods have certain limitations in how hard points and hard edges are handled.
For more information, refer to Limitations of Using Hard Entities with Other Mesh Controls (p. 212).

Spot Welds
Spot welds are used to connect individual surface body parts together to form surface body model assemblies,
just as contact is used for solid body part assemblies. Spot welds are usually defined as hard points in the
DesignModeler application or a CAD system:

When a model is imported into the Meshing application, the mesher simply treats the hard points as
embedded points.

Upon import to the Mechanical application, spot welds are automatically generated where hard points
are defined in the model.

For related information, refer to Point in the DesignModeler help and Spot Welds in the Mechanical help.

Limitations of Using Hard Entities with Other Mesh Controls

Limitations of hard entities include the following:

3D inflation does not support hard entities of either type. If inflation is applied, a warning message is
issued to indicate the hard entities were ignored.

2D inflation supports hard points only.

Sweeping does not support hard points.

The Uniform Quad/Tri, Uniform Quad, and MultiZone mesh methods do not respect hard entities unless
their topology is protected. For all three methods, protected topology includes embedded vertices
or edges with contacts, Named Selections, loads, boundary conditions, or results; spot welds; or surface
bodies with differing thicknesses. For Uniform Quad/Tri and Uniform Quad only, sheet bodies with differing material definitions are also protected topology. The boundaries at protected topology will not
be crossed.

For the MultiZone mesh method only, the faces that contain the hard entities must be selected as source
faces for the hard entities to be respected.

Hard edges may exist accidentally in a CAD model due to Boolean operations with tight tolerances or
other such operations. These accidental hard edges may be undesired, in which case you should remove
them through defeaturing within the DesignModeler application or a CAD system.

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Baffle Meshing

Baffle Meshing
The Meshing application provides support for meshing 0-thickness walls, or baffles, as non-manifold faces
of a solid body. For such models, you do not have to adjust the mesh size to capture the thin regions.
Characteristics and limitations of baffle meshing include:

Baffle meshing is supported by the Patch Conforming Tetra and Patch Independent Tetra mesh methods
only. If you apply any other mesh method to a body containing baffles, the mesh method will be suppressed, and the reason (not supported) will be reported in the Active read-only field in the Details
View. In such cases, the body will be meshed with the Patch Conforming Tetra mesh method.

When the Patch Conforming Tetra mesh method is used, inflation layers will stair step at free boundary
edges of the baffles.

When the Patch Independent Tetra method is used and Collision Avoidance (p. 68) is set to Stair Stepping, inflation layers will stair step at free boundary edges of the baffles. However, if Collision Avoidance
is set to Layer Compression, full prism columns appear at the free boundary edges.

Only both-sided growth cases for inflation are supported.

Program Controlled inflation is supported (that is, if you select Program Controlled inflation, baffles
are automatically selected to be inflation boundaries unless they are in a Named Selection).

Pyramid transitions are supported.

Prism/pyramid elements are not supported for meshing crossed/intersecting baffles.

There is a single set of nodes on the internal face.

Figure : Cylinder Containing Baffles (p. 213) shows a model of a cylinder that contains a series of baffles.

Figure: Cylinder Containing Baffles

In Figure : Section Cut Showing Baffle Meshing (p. 214), the model was meshed using Program Controlled inflation. Since the baffles were not in a Named Selection, they were automatically selected to be inflation

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Specialized Meshing
boundaries. A section plane was activated to view a section cut through the model, and the baffle faces
were selected in the Geometry window.

Figure: Section Cut Showing Baffle Meshing

Figure : Detail of Inflation on Baffles (p. 215) shows a detailed view of the inflation layers on the baffles.

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Baffle Meshing

Figure: Detail of Inflation on Baffles

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Mesh Control Interaction Tables

This section presents the effects of applying combinations of mesh controls on the same part or body.

Interactions with CFX-Mesh

The following global implication applies:

The CFX-Mesh Method control ignores all other mesh controls described in the Meshing application
help. The CFX-Mesh method has been superseded by the Patch Conforming tet method, and is no
longer recommended. Refer to CFX-Mesh Method Control for more information.

The following sections describe the meshing implication when one mesh method is applied in combination
with another mesh method, and the effects of applying various mesh controls in combination with the
various mesh methods.
Interactions Between Mesh Methods
Interactions Between Mesh Methods and Mesh Controls

Interactions Between Mesh Methods

The table below presents the effects of applying one mesh method in combination with another mesh
method.

Note
Using a patch independent mesh method in combination with any other mesh method is not
supported. For this reason, only patch conforming mesh methods are presented in the table.
Patch Conforming Mesh Methods
Surface Meshing
Mesh Method

Solid Meshing
Patch Conforming
Tetra

All Triangles
All Triangles
Quad Dominant

Quad Dominant

N/A

Triangles
meshed first

Not supported

Triangles
meshed
first

N/A

Not supported

Patch Conforming Tetra

General Sweep
Thin Sweep

N/A
Not supported

Tet mesh
last

General
Sweep

General
sweep first
N/A
General
sweep first

Thin Sweep

Thin sweep
after general
sweep
N/A

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Hex Dominant

Hex dominant after

thin
sweep

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Mesh Control Interaction Tables

Patch Conforming Mesh Methods
Surface Meshing

Solid Meshing

Mesh Method
All Triangles

Quad Dominant

Patch Conforming
Tetra

General
Sweep

Thin Sweep
Thin sweep
after general
sweep

Hex Dominant

Hex Dominant
N/A

Interactions Between Mesh Methods and Mesh Controls

The tables in this section present the effects of applying various mesh controls in combination with the
various mesh methods.
The table below describes the effects of applying the mesh control on the left with each of the patch conforming mesh methods.
Mesh Control

Patch Conforming Mesh Methods

All Triangles

Quad Dominant

Patch Conforming Tetra

General
Sweep

Thin Sweep

Hex Dominant

Body Sizing
Control

Size control affects elements on body and lower topological entities.

Face Sizing
Control

Size control affects elements on face and lower topological entities.

Edge Sizing
Control

Size control affects element edge lengths on edge.

Sphere of Influence Control

Inserts elements of specified size within sphere. Restrictions for General Sweep.

Body of Influence Control

Inserts elements of specified size within body. Only available when Advanced Size Function
is on. Similar sweeping restrictions.

Contact Sizing Control

Inserts spheres of influence on contact faces in regions within contact tolerance. Similar
sweeping restrictions.

Refinement
Control

Refines elements as post-process. Hex, wedge, and pyramid element regions are converted
to tetrahedron.

Mapped Face
Control

Mapped faces are meshed before any other faces. Interval assignment may affect edge divisions. No sphere of influence support. No mesh-based defeaturing or pinch support.

Match Control

Edge meshes are matched for sheet, 2D, and 3D bodies. Face meshes are
matched across bodies. Restrictions apply.

Pinch Control

Supported

Not supported

Inflation Control

Supported

Supported
on source.

Gap Tool

218

Not supported

Inserts sphere
of influence at
gap; then per-

Not supported

Supported
on sources
and targets.

Supported

Not supported

Not supported

Not supported

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Interactions Between Mesh Methods and Mesh Controls

Mesh Control

Patch Conforming Mesh Methods

All Triangles

Quad Dominant

Patch Conforming Tetra

General
Sweep

Thin Sweep

Hex Dominant

forms anisotropic tet refinement

across gap.
The table below describes the effects of applying the mesh control on the left with each of the patch independent mesh methods.

Note
When using any other meshing control with the Uniform Quad/Quad Tri, MultiZone, or Patch Independent tetra mesh method controls, the other meshing control will be suppressed regardless
of where the controls appear in the tree.
Patch Independent Mesh Methods
Mesh Control

Uniform Quad or Uniform Quad/Tri

MultiZone

Patch Independent Tetra

Body Sizing Control

Not supported

Supported, except for the Behavior

option. Restrictions for sweeping/mapped meshing and free
blocks.

Affects elements
on the body's surfaces.

Face Sizing Control

Not supported

Supported, except for the Behavior

option. Restrictions for sweeping/mapped meshing.

Supported

Edge Sizing Control

Not supported

Supported, except for the Behavior

option. Restrictions for sweeping/mapped meshing.

Supported

Sphere of Influence
Control

Not supported

Supported

Body of Influence
Control

Not supported

Supported

Contact Sizing Control

Not supported

Refinement Control
Mapped Face Control

Supported. Restrictions for sweeping/mapped meshing.

Supported

Not supported
Mapped faces are meshed before any other faces. Interval assignment may affect edge divisions. No sphere of influence
support. No mesh-based defeaturing or pinch support.

Match Control

Not supported

Pinch Control

Not supported

Not supported

Inflation Control
Gap Tool

Not supported

Supported. Restrictions for sweeping/mapped meshing.

Supported

Not supported

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Miscellaneous Meshing Tools

The miscellaneous meshing tools described in the following sections include:
Generation of Contact Elements
Renaming Mesh Control Tool
Mesh Numbering

Generation of Contact Elements

To model contact between parts in an assembly, you must define specific contact conditions.
One of those conditions is tolerance, which controls the extent of contact between parts in an assembly.
Tolerance is set as a percentage of the bounding box of the assembly. The bounding box is the smallest
volume that the assembly will fit in. You can change the tolerance (between -100 and 100) in the Options
dialog box under the Mechanical application's Connections category.
The higher the number, the tighter the tolerance. A loose tolerance generally increases the number of contact
faces and areas of contact between parts, while a tight tolerance will decrease the number of contact faces.
Each face of the part is checked against the faces of other parts in the assembly. A contact pair is generated
between any faces within the tolerance. When solving, the elements for the two faces that make up the pair
are compared. If any of the faces are within the tolerance, contact elements are generated for them.

Recommendations for Defining Contact for CFD Analyses

CFD users should be aware of the following recommendations:

By default, contact detection is computed upon geometry import when Physics Preference is set to
CFD. If you do not want contact detection to be computed, you must change the Auto Detect Contact
on Attach setting in the Mechanical application to No. This setting is available in the Options dialog
box under the Mechanical application's Connections category.

For CFX users, it is best practice to set the Group By option to None when defining Global Contact
Settings. This is true because CFX only accepts contact pairs having a 1-to-1 correspondence. Setting
Group By to None ensures the 1-to-1 pairing needed for contact regions in these cases.

Renaming Mesh Control Tool

You can rename any of the mesh control tool objects to include the name assigned to the part or body. To
do this, use a right mouse button click on the object and choose Rename Based on Definition from the
context menu. For example, if you scope a Refinement tool to a body named Tube and choose Rename
Based on Definition, the mesh control tool name changes from Refinement to Refinement on Tube. The
name change is reflected both in the tree and as a label on the body.

Mesh Numbering
The Mesh Numbering feature allows you to renumber the node and/or element numbers of a generated
meshed model consisting of flexible parts. The feature is useful when exchanging or assembling models
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Miscellaneous Meshing Tools

and could isolate the impact of using special elements such as superelements. For details, refer to Mesh
Numbering in the Mechanical help.

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Meshing Ease of Use Features

The features described in this section are intended to assist you in working with your mesh.
Updating the Mesh Cell State
Generating Mesh
Previewing Surface Mesh
Showing Sweepable Bodies
Showing Geometry in Overlapping Named Selections
Showing Program Controlled Inflation Surfaces
Previewing Inflation
Showing Problematic Geometry
Previewing Source and Target Mesh
Inspecting Large Meshes Using Named Selections

Updating the Mesh Cell State

In contrast to the Generate Mesh option (which only produces the mesh), the Update option determines
whether the geometry needs to be updated, refreshes the geometry if necessary, generates the mesh if
necessary, and also writes the output data for any connected cells.
The Generate Mesh option is useful when you are investigating the impact of different settings on the
mesh but you are not ready to export the mesh files.
The Update option is useful if you make a connection in the ANSYS Workbench Project Schematic from a
Mesh cell to a system that requires a new type of output data (for example, if you make a connection from
the Mesh cell to a Fluid Flow (CFX) or Fluid Flow (FLUENT) analysis system). In such cases, the Mesh cell will
go out-of-date. To bring the Mesh cell up-to-date, you can perform an Update on the Mesh cell from within
the Project Schematic, or follow the procedure below from within the Meshing application:

To update the Mesh cell:

1.

Select the Mesh object or any mesh control object.

2.

Right-click to display the context menu.

3.

Select Update in the menu.

Note
As an alternative to steps 2 and 3, you can click the Update button on the Mesh toolbar.

Note
Anytime you choose to edit a mesh in CFX-Mesh from within the Meshing application, the Mesh
cell on the Project Schematic will become out-of-date and will require updating from within the
Project Schematic.

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Meshing Ease of Use Features

Generating Mesh
You can generate the mesh for all unsuppressed bodies or individual unsuppressed parts.

Note
Selecting Generate Mesh generates a mesh based on the current mesh settings. It does not write
the output data for any connected cells. Generate Mesh is useful when you are investigating the
impact of different settings on the mesh but you are not ready to export the mesh files. Refer to
Updating the Mesh Cell State (p. 223) for related information.

Suppressing and Unsuppressing Bodies in a Model

When there is a combination of suppressed and unsuppressed bodies in a model, the Meshing application
meshes only the unsuppressed bodies. This is true regardless of mesh method. In addition, all influence of
the suppressed bodies on neighboring bodies and their meshes is suppressed. For example, if a size control
is applied to a suppressed body, the size control will not affect that body, nor will it influence neighboring
bodies. Because suppressing and unsuppressing bodies in a multibody part can change the meshes in
neighboring bodies, it invalidates the mesh state for the whole part, and the mesh will need to be regenerated.
When the mesh is regenerated, only the affected parts are re-meshed. Suppressing an entire part (or simultaneously suppressing every body in a part) will not affect the mesh state.

To generate the mesh for all unsuppressed bodies:

1.

Select the Mesh object or any mesh control object.

2.

Right-click to display the context menu, or choose the Mesh drop down menu from the toolbar.

3.

Select Generate Mesh in the menu. All unsuppressed bodies are meshed. The mesh is displayed when
you select the Mesh object

To generate the mesh for individual unsuppressed parts - from the object tree:
1.

Select the Part objects.

2.

Right-click to display the context menu.

3.

Select Generate Mesh in the menu. The parts are meshed. The meshes are displayed when you select
the Mesh object.

To generate the mesh for individual unsuppressed parts - from the Geometry window:
1.

Select the Mesh object.

2.

Select the parts in the Geometry window.

3.

Right-click to display the context menu.

4.

Select Generate Mesh on Selected Parts in the menu. The parts are meshed. The meshes are displayed
when you select the Mesh object in the tree.

After successfully generating a mesh, you can view statistics about it. These statistics include mesh metric
information that you can use to evaluate the mesh quality. For more information, see Statistics Group (p. 87).

To re-mesh:
1.
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Select the Mesh object.

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Previewing Surface Mesh

2.

Right-click to display the context menu and select Clean in the menu.

3.

Confirm that you want to clean the mesh by clicking the Yes button.

4.

Right-click on the Mesh object to display the context menu again and select Generate Mesh in the
menu.

Previewing Surface Mesh

You can preview the surface mesh for all unsuppressed parts or individual unsuppressed parts. You can also
export the previewed surface mesh file in FLUENT format, as described in Exporting a Previewed Surface Mesh
in FLUENT Format (p. 226).

Note
This feature is not supported for the CFX-Mesh, Patch Independent, and MultiZone mesh
method controls. It is also not supported for thin model sweeping (that is, use of the Sweep
mesh method control with Src/Trg Selection set to Manual Thin or Automatic Thin).

Note
Influence of a swept body is an example of a size source that is fully integrated into the Advanced
Size Function, which means that it will contribute to the final mesh distribution obtained by the
mesher when the Advanced Size Function is on. However, the results obtained by either Preview
Surface Mesh or Preview Inflation when the Advanced Size Function is on may not accurately
represent inflation layers and the surface mesh size distribution close to a swept body when
compared to the results obtained by Generate Mesh, particularly if there is bias along the sweep
axis and/or the hex elements on the interface of the inflation boundary are very thin.

To preview the surface mesh for all unsuppressed parts:

1.

Select the Mesh object or any mesh control object.

2.

Right-click to display the context menu, or choose the Mesh drop down menu from the toolbar.

3.

Select Preview Surface Mesh in the menu. The surface mesh is displayed for the model when you
select the Mesh object.

To preview the surface mesh for individual unsuppressed parts - from the object tree:
1.

Select the Part objects.

2.

Right-click to display the context menu.

3.

Select Preview Surface Mesh in the menu. The surface mesh is displayed for the parts when you select
the Mesh object.

To preview the mesh for individual unsuppressed parts - from the Geometry window:
1.

Select the parts in the Geometry window.

2.

Right-click to display the context menu.

3.

Select Preview Surface Mesh On Selected Parts in the menu. The surface mesh is displayed for the
parts when you select the Mesh object in the tree.

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Meshing Ease of Use Features

After successfully previewing the surface mesh, you can view statistics about it. These statistics include mesh
metric information that you can use to evaluate the mesh quality. For more information, see Statistics
Group (p. 87).

Exporting a Previewed Surface Mesh in FLUENT Format

Follow the steps below to export a previewed surface mesh in FLUENT format:

To export a previewed surface mesh in FLUENT format:

1.

Follow the procedure to preview a surface mesh.

2.

Select File> Export from the main menu to export the surface mesh.

3.

In the Save As dialog box, choose a directory and specify a file name for the file. Then choose FLUENT
Input Files from the Save as type drop-down menu and click Save.
A .msh file suitable for import into FLUENT will be created in the requested directory.

Showing Sweepable Bodies

You can display bodies that are sweepable according to the criteria detailed under Mesh Sweeping (p. 167).

To display sweepable bodies:

1.

Select the Mesh object or any mesh control object.

2.

Right-click to display the context menu.

3.

Select Show Sweepable Bodies in the menu. All sweepable bodies are displayed.

Showing Geometry in Overlapping Named Selections

When the same entity is a member of more than one Named Selection, those Named Selections are said to
be overlapping. If you are exporting a mesh into the ANSYS FLUENT, POLYFLOW, CGNS, ICEM CFD, or TGrid
format and overlapping Named Selections are detected, the export fails and the Meshing application issues
an error message to alert you to the overlap problem. You must resolve the overlapping Named Selections
before proceeding. To assist you in this task, you can display the geometry in the overlapping Named Selections in the Geometry window.

To display geometry in overlapping Named Selections:

1.

Select the Mesh object.

2.

Right-click to display the context menu.

3.

Select Show Geometry in Overlapping Named Selections in the menu. The overlapping geometry
is highlighted in the Geometry window.

To proceed with the export, first resolve each of the overlapping Named Selections (for example, by removing
a duplicate entity from all but one of the overlapping Named Selections). After you resolve each overlapping
Named Selection, select Show Geometry in Overlapping Named Selections and only the remaining overlapping entities will be highlighted in the Geometry window. Once you have resolved all of the overlapping
Named Selections, the Show Geometry in Overlapping Named Selections option will no longer appear
in the menu and you can retry the export.

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Previewing Inflation

Showing Program Controlled Inflation Surfaces

If you select Program Controlled as the value for the Use Automatic Tet Inflation (p. 62) control, all surfaces
in the model are selected to be inflation boundaries, except for those that are members of Named Selections
groups. To view the faces that have been selected for inflation:
1.

Select the Mesh object in the Tree Outline.

2.

Right-click to display the context menu.

3.

Select Show Program Controlled Inflation Surfaces in the context menu.

Previewing Inflation
The Preview Inflation feature helps you identify possible problems with inflation before you generate the
mesh. You can also export the previewed inflation mesh file in FLUENT format, as described in Exporting a
Previewed Inflation Mesh in FLUENT Format (p. 228).
Keep the following information in mind when using the Preview Inflation feature:

This feature is not supported for the Patch Independent Tetra and MultiZone mesh method controls.

Match controls are not enforced when previewing inflation.

In certain cases, Preview Inflation may return an invalid mesh. Generate Mesh may return a valid mesh
with inflation, a valid mesh without inflation (because inflation failed), or result in a mesh failure (because
tet meshing failed). For these reasons if Generate Mesh fails, using either the Preview Surface Mesh
or Preview Inflation feature to locate the worst quality element is also likely to locate the cause of the
mesh failure.

Influence of a swept body is an example of a size source that is fully integrated into the Advanced Size
Function, which means that it will contribute to the final mesh distribution obtained by the mesher
when the Advanced Size Function is on. However, the results obtained by either Preview Surface Mesh
or Preview Inflation when the Advanced Size Function is on may not accurately represent inflation
layers and the surface mesh size distribution close to a swept body when compared to the results obtained by Generate Mesh, particularly if there is bias along the sweep axis and/or the hex elements on
the interface of the inflation boundary are very thin.

To preview inflation:
1.

Apply inflation to the desired boundaries.

2.

Select an object in the Tree Outline (the Mesh object, a mesh Method object, or an Inflation object)
and right-click to display the context menu.

3.

Select Preview Inflation in the menu. In response, Workbench generates the inflation layers only and
displays them in the Geometry window. You may need to click the Mesh object in the Tree Outline
before you can view the inflation layers.

This feature applies only when the Inflation Algorithm control is set to Pre (p. 66).
After successfully previewing inflation, you can view statistics about it. These statistics include mesh metric
information that you can use to evaluate the mesh quality. For more information, see Statistics Group (p. 87).
Figure : Previewed Inflation Mesh (p. 228) shows a model of an auto manifold to which inflation was applied.
The Preview Inflation option was selected, and the inflation layers were generated and displayed in the
Geometry window.

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Meshing Ease of Use Features

Figure: Previewed Inflation Mesh

Figure : Section Plane View of Previewed Inflation Mesh (p. 228) shows a different view of the auto manifold
model. For this view, a Section Plane was defined so that the inflation layers could be viewed internally.

Figure: Section Plane View of Previewed Inflation Mesh

Exporting a Previewed Inflation Mesh in FLUENT Format

Follow the steps below to export a previewed inflation mesh in FLUENT format:

To export a previewed inflation mesh in FLUENT format:

1.

Follow the procedure to preview inflation.

2.

Select File> Export from the main menu to export the inflation mesh.

3.

In the Save As dialog box, choose a directory and specify a file name for the file. Then choose FLUENT
Input Files from the Save as type drop-down menu and click Save.
A .msh file suitable for import into FLUENT will be created in the requested directory.

Showing Problematic Geometry

If problematic geometry causes meshing to fail, Workbench alerts you by:

Displaying a Problematic Geometry message annotation in the Geometry window

Displaying messages in the Messages window to describe the problem

Creating a Named Selections group called Problematic Geometry in the Tree Outline to identify the
problem areas

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Inspecting Large Meshes Using Named Selections

For related information on viewing problematic geometry, refer to Show Problematic Geometry in the
DesignModeler help.

Previewing Source and Target Mesh

This feature applies only to a Method control set to the Sweep option. It allows you preview the source
and target meshes for scoped bodies.

Note
This feature is not supported for thin model sweeping (that is, use of the Sweep mesh method
control with Src/Trg Selection set to Manual Thin or Automatic Thin).

To preview the source and target mesh:

1.

Scope the body or bodies of interest.

2.

Right-click on the Mesh object and insert a Method control.

3.

In the Details View, set Method to the Sweep option.

4.

Right-click on the Sweep Method option in the tree, or choose the Mesh drop down menu from the
toolbar.

5.

Select Preview Source and Target Mesh in the menu. The source and target meshes are displayed
when you select the Mesh object.

Inspecting Large Meshes Using Named Selections

You can use Named Selections to inspect only a portion of the total mesh. Although this feature is available
regardless of mesh size, it is most beneficial when working with a large mesh (greater than 5 - 10 million
nodes). For details, refer to Inspecting Large Meshes Using Named Selections in the Mechanical help.

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Virtual Topology
Before performing analysis of a CAD model, you may want to group faces/edges together to form virtual
cells. Virtual Topology can aid you in reducing the number of elements in the model, simplifying small features
out of the model, and simplifying load abstraction.
The following sections cover these topics:
Introduction
Virtual Cell Creation

Introduction
A CAD Model has two parts:
1.

Topology: The connectivity of a CAD model, meaning: vertices are connected to edges, which are
connected to faces, which are connected to volumes. Each one of these entities is referred to as a cell.

2.

Geometry: The geometry of the CAD model is the underlying mathematical definition of the aforementioned cells.

A virtual cell in the Mechanical application or the Meshing application modifies the topology of only the
local copy in the Mechanical application or Meshing application. Your original CAD model remains unchanged.
New faceted geometry is also created with virtual topology. However, the mesher may project the nodes
back to the original geometry where applicable.

Virtual Cell Creation

You can manually designate faces and edges for inclusion into a virtual cell or, you can have the Mechanical
application or the Meshing application automatically create virtual cells based on settings that you specify.
The geometry under a virtual cell is represented by the underlying cell's graphic resolution. All cells must
be adjacent to one another to create virtual topology. There is a geometric limitation when creating virtual
cells.

Note
The tesselation of models from CATIA4 may not be appropriate for virtual topology, which could
prevent the creation of virtual cells for these models.

Creating Virtual Cells Manually

1.

Insert a Virtual Topology object in the tree.

2.

Choose a face or edge selection filter, then pick adjacent faces or edges that you want to include in
the virtual cell.

3.

Insert a Virtual Cell object in the tree.

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Virtual Topology

Creating Virtual Cells Automatically

1.

Insert a Virtual Topology object in the tree.

2.

Make adjustments as needed to any of the following settings in the Details View:

Behavior - Determines the level of aggressiveness of the Merge Face Edges? setting. The choices
are Low, Med, High, and Edges Only. The Edges Only setting will only merge edges with a very
conservative behavior.

Generate on Update - Sets whether you want to include the settings in this Details View when
you update geometry.

Merge Face Edges? - The property is relevant only during the virtual face creation process. It applies
only to manually-created virtual faces and can be modified at any time, but the modification will
have no effect on previously-created virtual faces.

3.

Yes: If the Merge Face Edges? property is turned on, the program will attempt to merge
bounding edges of a newly manually-created virtual face and create virtual edges. The criterion
used to merge edges is based on the Behavior setting.
No: If the Merge Face Edges property is turned off, only a virtual face will be created out of
selected faces.

Click right mouse button on Virtual Topology object and choose Generate Virtual Cells from the
context menu. A Virtual Cell object is automatically inserted in the tree for each region containing
only surface bodies that meets the criteria established by the settings in step 2.

Notes on Virtual Cell Creation

Scoped objects except other virtual cells may need to be relinked to the new virtual cells when that
virtual cell is comprised of entities in the scoped object. When the virtual cell is deleted the object may
need to be rescoped to the original entities.

All scoped objects except for mesh controls and other virtual cells will be protected during automatic
virtual cell generation. This will allow users to load their models and run auto virtual topology without
deleting loads. All faces within a protected object may be merged with faces in the same protected
object and not in any other protected object.

If Generate on Update is set to Yes and you update the geometry, all Virtual Cell objects that were
created automatically will be deleted and recreated based on the new geometry. Any loads that were
attached to geometry within the deleted Virtual Cell objects will need to be reattached to the new
geometry.

If Generate on Update is set to No and you update the geometry, all Virtual Cell objects that were
created automatically should remain persistent barring major topology changes of the model being
updated. Reapplication of loads may not be necessary.

For any virtual cells that were generated, you can choose whether the nodes will be projected back to
the underlying geometry (in contrast to the virtual cells faceted geometry). To do so, click the desired
virtual cell in the tree and then in the Details View, set the Project to Underlying Geometry option to
Yes or No. Computational expense increases when the option is set to Yes. The default is Yes for analytical geometry; otherwise, the default is No.

Virtual Topology Logic and Usage

The Virtual Topology feature is a cell dependency operation where existing virtual cells can be used to create
new virtual cells both manually and automatically. Within the cell hierarchy, a virtual cell depends on another
virtual cell if the latter is used to create the former.
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Context Menu Options

Virtual Face Dependency

A virtual face depends on a virtual edge if during the face creation the virtual edge is used to create virtual
face loops. A virtual face depends on another virtual face if the latter was used to create the former.
The following image represents the Merge Face Edges in the off position.

Figure: Merge Face Edges Off

The following image represents the Merge Face Edges in the on position.

Figure: Merge Face Edges On

Virtual Edge Dependency

A virtual edge depends on a virtual face if during the edge creation an owner loop belongs to the said face.
A virtual edge depends on another virtual edge if the latter was used to create the former.

Context Menu Options

The context menus vary depending if you select an Independent Cell or a Dependent Cell.

Independent Cell Options

Suppress: Only active for a single selection and not active if a cell has dependents.
Delete: Use to delete all cells and the virtual topology group. Only active for a single selection and
not active if a cell has dependents.

Dependent Cell Options

Delete All Virtual Cells: Use to delete only the cells. This option is available on the virtual topology
group only and becomes active when there is at least one virtual cell created.
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Virtual Topology

Delete Cell and Dependents: This option is available on the virtual cell only and is only active if
the cell has dependents. It can not be used for multiple selections and the result of the operation
is that the cell and its dependents will be deleted.

Suppress Cell and Dependents: This option is available on the virtual cell only and is only active
if the cell has dependents. It can not be used for multiple selections and the result of the operation
is that the cell and its dependents will be suppressed.

Note
If a virtual cell is suppressed via the Suppress Cell and Dependents option, it will be programmatically unsuppressed if any of its dependents are unsuppressed.

Virtual Topology Tree Display

If a virtual cell is used to create another virtual cell, it will become disabled upon creation and, therefore,
will disappear from the tree view. If the newly created virtual cell is deleted/suppressed, the original cell will
then become active and will reappear in the tree view.

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Named Selections and Regions for CFX Applications

There are a number of places in the ANSYS Workbench and CFX applications where geometric faces and
regions of mesh can be grouped together and assigned names. While this provides a large amount of flexibility, it can lead to confusion. In the 12.1 release, there is more control over which groups of names are
loaded into CFX to help simplify this issue. This document describes the best practice for region definitions
for the 12.1 release and is targeted mainly at CFD users of the DesignModeler, Meshing, and CFX applications.

Defining Names in the DesignModeler Application or the Meshing Application

When creating or importing geometry in the DesignModeler application or editing a mesh in the Meshing
application, Named Selections can be defined in terms of one or more CAD faces. If it is desirable for these
Named Selections to be available in CFX-Mesh or CFX-Pre, then they must adhere to some simple rules:

For both CFX-Mesh and CFX-Pre: Named Selections should not overlap or be defined as multi-dimensional and all Named Selections must have unique names.

For CFX-Mesh only: Named Selections that were created in the Meshing application (or whose definitions
were changed in the Meshing application) will not be available in CFX-Mesh. Only the original Named
Selections are available in CFX-Mesh.

Importing DesignModeler Named Selections into the Meshing Application

If the Named Selections defined in the DesignModeler application are required in the Meshing application,
you must set the appropriate geometry import options to ensure the Named Selections will be transferred
properly:
1.

From the ANSYS Workbench Menu Bar, select Tools> Options.

2.

In the left pane of the Options dialog box, select Geometry Import.

3.

In the right pane of the Options dialog box, select the Named Selections check box and either clear
the Filtering Prefix field (to import all names) or set it to the appropriate filter if required.

The next time that you attach geometry containing Named Selections and launch the Meshing application,
the application will start, load the geometry, and load any Named Selections previously defined for that
geometry. The preferences you set on the Options dialog box are local settings and affect only you.
If a mesh is generated, the Named Selections defined in the DesignModeler application will be available
when the mesh is imported into CFX-Pre.

Note
For detailed descriptions of the geometry import options, see Geometry Preferences in the
Mechanical help.

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Named Selections and Regions for CFX Applications

Named Selections in CFX-Mesh

If a mesh is generated using the CFX-Mesh method, the Named Selections defined in the DesignModeler
application will be available within CFX-Mesh as Regions. Additional Regions can be defined within CFXMesh as required. All of the Named Selections / Regions in CFX-Mesh will be available in CFX-Pre.
When using the GTM file option, the behavior is unchanged from previous releases. All the Region data
visible in CFX-Mesh will be available in CFX-Pre.

Using Multiple Mesh Methods

Named Selections can be defined in the Meshing application, CFX-Mesh, the DesignModeler application, or
supported CAD systems. When the resulting mesh is loaded into CFX-Pre, all of these Named Selections are
available. Control over which names are imported with the mesh is available in the Mesh Import options.
It is possible to define Named Selections that conflict with some virtual topology, or do not conform to the
CFX Topology Model in some other way. Such Named Selections will not be imported into CFX-Pre.
If a Named Selection is created that contains characters not supported in CFX-Pre names, these names will
be modified on import to remove the illegal characters.

Invalid Named Selections

The use of Virtual Topology within the Meshing application can invalidate Named Selection definitions.
Consider the case where a Named Selection Region1 is defined in terms of 4 CAD faces (1, 2, 3 and 4). If
this geometry is then loaded into the Meshing application and Virtual Topology is used to merge 2 of these
faces (3 and 4), the original Named Selection can no longer be resolved. In CFX-Pre, the Named Selection
will be modified so that it only refers to the resolvable faces. Hence, in CFX-Pre, the Named Selection Region1
would be defined in terms of faces 1 and 2 only.
Note, when using Virtual Topology within CFX-Mesh, the region definitions will be updated immediately to
resolve the Virtual Topology changes.

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Meshing Application Tutorials

To access tutorials on the Meshing application, go to http://www.ansys.com/tutorials.

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Index
Symbols
0-thickness walls, 213

A
accessing Meshing functionality, 14
active assembly - initial size seed meshing control option, 58
advanced global meshing controls, 75
advanced size function - sizing global meshing control,
53
curvature, 55
fixed, 56
influence of, 47
proximity, 55
specifying options, 56
with specialized meshing, 50
air gap meshing, 204
algorithm
meshing according to, 3
algorithms - tetrahedral meshing algorithms , 109
arbitrary match control
description, 155
aspect ratio for quadrilaterals
mesh metric, 94
aspect ratio for triangles
mesh metric, 93
assemblies of parts vs. multibody parts, 6
automatic meshing, 47
automatic method - in method control, 108
automatic tet inflation - inflation global meshing control, 62
automatic virtual topology, 231
auxiliary meshing tools - listed and described, 221
axis sweeping, 124

B
baffle meshing, 213
bias (sweeping) - in method control , 124
bias factor - in local sizing control, 137
bias type - in local sizing control, 137
body of influence - local mesh sizing tool option, 137

C
CAD instances, 210
CFD/fluids meshing strategies, 13
CFD/fluids meshing with tetrahedrons, 158
CFX-Mesh method option, 130
CGNS format export, 19

collision avoidance - inflation global meshing controls,

68
component system
Mesh, 14
conformal meshing, 6
contact
sizing - mesh control tool, 143
contact meshing, 205
contact sizing
description, 143
curvature normal angle - local mesh sizing tool option,
137
curvature normal angle - sizing global meshing control,
57
cyclic match control
description, 154

D
defaults global meshing controls, 51
determination of physics, analysis, and solver settings,
17

E
ease of use meshing features - listed, 223
edge behavior - in local sizing control , 137
edge bias - in local sizing control, 137
element midside nodes - advanced global meshing
control, 77
element option
in sweep method mesh control, 124
element quality
finding worst quality elements, 87
mesh metric, 93
element shape
meshing according to, 5
element size - local mesh sizing tool option, 137
element size - sizing global meshing control, 58
elements - statistics global meshing control, 87
exporting - procedure
previewed inflation mesh, 228
previewed surface mesh, 226
exporting faceted geometry
to TGrid, 19
exporting meshes
ANSYS FLUENT mesh format, 19
ANSYS ICEM CFD format, 19
CGNS format, 19
Mesh Application File format, 19
overlapping Named Selections, 226
POLYFLOW format, 19

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Index

F
fillet ratio - inflation global meshing controls , 74
first layer height - inflation global meshing control, 66
FLUENT mesh export, 19
fluids meshing strategies, 13
fluids meshing with tetrahedrons, 158
full assembly - initial size seed meshing control option,
58

G
gap tool
description, 159
gasket element meshing, 208
generate on refresh - pinch global meshing control , 84
generating mesh - procedure, 224
generation of contact elements, 221
geometry
vs. topology, 231
Geometry window, 15
global meshing settings - listed and defined, 51
Graphics window, 15
growth rate - inflation global meshing control , 65
growth rate - local mesh sizing tool option, 137
growth rate - sizing global meshing control, 58
growth rate type - inflation global meshing controls ,
73

H
hard divisions - in local sizing control, 137
hard entities, 211
hex dominant option - in method control, 123
histogram of mesh metrics, 87

I
ICEM CFD mesh export, 19
importing meshes
ANSYS CFX, 18
ANSYS FLUENT, 18
ANSYS ICEM CFD, 18
ANSYS POLYFLOW, 18
imprinting
classifications for MultiZone, 191
effects on meshing, 6
matched vs. non-matched, 6
inflation advanced options - inflation global meshing
controls, 68
inflation algorithm - inflation global meshing control,
66
inflation controls
with all triangles mesher, 198
with CFX-Mesh, 198
240

with MultiZone, 198

with patch conforming mesher, 198
with patch independent mesher, 198
with quadrilateral dominant mesher, 198
with sweeper, 198
inflation global meshing controls, 60
inflation mesh control tool, 158
inflation option - inflation global meshing control , 63
initial size seed - sizing global meshing control , 58
inspecting large meshes, 229
instances, 210
interactions - mesh control, 217

J
Jacobian ratio
mesh metric, 95

L
launching the Meshing application, 14
layer compression - inflation global meshing controls,
68
legacy data, 18
linear elements, 77
local meshing settings - listed and defined, 105

M
manual creation of virtual cells, 231
mapped face meshing
description, 144
limitations, 153
match control
arbitrary, 155
cyclic, 154
description, 153
match meshing - and symmetry, 205
matched vs. non-matched imprinting, 6
max face size - sizing global meshing control , 58
max tet size - sizing global meshing control, 58
maximum angle - inflation global meshing controls ,
73
maximum corner angle
mesh metric, 101
maximum layers - inflation global meshing control , 65
maximum thickness - inflation global meshing control
, 65
merge face edges - automatic virtual topology, 231
Mesh Application File format export, 19
mesh control interaction tables , 217
mesh control tools
description, 105
instances, 210

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Index
patterns, 210
precedence, 105
renaming, 221
mesh metric
histogram, 87
mesh metric - statistics global meshing control , 87
aspect ratio for quadrilaterals, 94
aspect ratio for triangles, 93
element quality, 93
Jacobian ratio, 95
maximum corner angle, 101
parallel deviation, 100
skewness, 101
warping factor, 97
Mesh Metrics bar graph, 87
mesh morphing - advanced global meshing control ,
79
mesh numbering, 221
mesh refinement, 204
mesh sweeping
general sweeping, 167
thin model sweeping, 171
Mesh system, 14
meshing
advanced size function, 47
algorithms - tetrahedral, 109
automatic, 47
auxiliary tools, 221
by algorithm, 3
by element shape, 5
capabilities in Workbench, 1
CFD/fluids, 158
conformal meshing, 6
control interactions, 217
controls, 47
determination of physics, analysis, and solver settings, 17
ease of use features - listed, 223
exporting - procedure
previewed inflation mesh, 228
previewed surface mesh, 226
fluids, 158
generating mesh - procedure, 224
global controls - listed and defined, 51
implementation in Workbench, 3
importing meshes, 18
inspecting large meshes, 229
local mesh controls, 105
mesh sweeping
general sweeping, 167
thin model sweeping, 171
Meshing application - basic workflow, 9

Meshing application - basic workflow for CFD, 10

Meshing application - basic workflow for combining
CFD/fluids and structural meshing, 11
Meshing application - basic workflow for Fluids, 10
Meshing application - description, 9
Meshing application - exporting meshes, 19
Meshing application - launching, 14
Meshing application - working with legacy mesh
data, 18
Meshing application interface, 15
Meshing Options panel, 1
Named Selections, 235
non-conformal meshing, 6
options
CFX-Mesh, 163
inflation, 163
meshing, 163
overview, 163
sizing, 163
virtual topology, 163
overlapping Named Selections, 226
overview, 1
previewing inflation - procedure, 227
previewing source and target mesh - procedure,229
previewing surface mesh - procedure, 225
replacing a Mesh system with a Mechanical Model
system, 15
showing geometry in overlapping Named Selections
- procedure, 226
showing inflation surfaces - procedure, 227
showing problematic geometry - procedure, 228
showing sweepable bodies - procedure, 226
specialized - 0-thickness walls, 213
specialized - air gap meshing, 204
specialized - baffle meshing, 213
specialized - CAD instance, 210
specialized - contact meshing, 205
specialized - gasket element, 208
specialized - hard entities, 211
specialized - inflation controls, 198
specialized - listed, 167
specialized - match meshing and the symmetry
folder, 205
specialized - mesh refinement, 204
specialized - mixed order meshing, 204
specialized - MultiZone, 184
specialized - non-manifold faces, 213
specialized - pyramid transitions, 205
specialized - rigid body contact meshing, 205
specialized - rigid body meshing, 205
specialized - spot weld, 211
specialized - sweeping, 167

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Index
specialized - thin solid meshing, 208
specialized - winding body meshing, 205
specialized - wire body meshing, 205
tutorials, 237
types - listed, 3
updating the Mesh cell state - procedure, 223
Workbench vs. Mechanical APDL, 45
workflow, 3
workflow - basic meshing, 9
workflow - CFD meshing, 10
workflow - combining CFD/fluids and structural
meshing, 11
workflow - Fluids meshing, 10
Meshing application
basic meshing workflow, 9
basic workflow, 9
basic workflow for CFD, 10
basic workflow for fluids, 10
combining CFD/fluids meshing and structural
meshing, 11
description, 9
determination of physics, analysis, and solver settings, 17
interface overview, 15
strategies for CFD/fluids meshing, 13
tutorials, 237
Meshing Options panel, 1
meshing support for hard entities, 211
meshing support for pattern instances, 210
meshing support for spot welds, 211
method mesh control tool
description, 106
interactions - uniform quad/quad tri, 217
midside nodes
advanced global control setting, 77
method control setting, 106
mixed order meshing, 106
min size - sizing global meshing control, 58
minimum edge length - sizing global meshing control
, 60
mixed order meshing, 106, 204
multibody parts vs. assemblies of parts, 6
MultiZone, 184
imprinting classifications, 191
MultiZone option - in method control, 126

N
Named Selections
and regions for CFX applications, 235
exporting faceted geometry to TGrid, 19
inspecting large meshes, 229
program controlled inflation and, 62
242

nodes - statistics global meshing control, 87

non-conformal meshing, 6
non-manifold faces, 213
num cells across gap - sizing global meshing control ,
57
number of layers - inflation global meshing control , 65
number of retries - advanced global meshing control ,
78

O
Options dialog box
CFX-Mesh, 163
inflation, 163
meshing, 163
overview, 163
sizing, 163
virtual topology, 163
overriding of mesh control tools, 105

P
parallel deviation
mesh metric, 100
part - initial size seed meshing control option, 58
patch conforming tetrahedral meshing algorithm , 109
patch independent tetrahedral meshing algorithm ,
109
patterns, 210
physics preference default global meshing control , 51
pinch control
defining pinch control automation, 79
defining pinch controls locally, 157
defining pinch controls manually, 157
pinch global meshing controls, 79
pinch tolerance - pinch global meshing control , 83
POLYFLOW format export, 19
POLYFLOW import, 18
post inflation - inflation global meshing control, 66
pre inflation - inflation global meshing control, 66
precedence of mesh control tools, 105
previewing inflation - procedure, 227
previewing source and target mesh - procedure, 229
previewing surface mesh - procedure, 225
program controlled inflation, 62
projecting nodes to underlying geometry, 231
proximity accuracy - sizing global meshing control , 57
pyramid transitions, 205

Q
quadratic elements, 77
quadrilateral dominant option - in method control ,132
quality metrics, 87

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Index

R
refinement, 204
description, 143
relevance center - sizing global meshing control , 58
relevance default global meshing control, 53
renaming mesh control tool, 221
replacing a Mesh system with a Mechanical Model system, 15
rigid body behavior - advanced global meshing control,
79
rigid body contact meshing, 205
rigid body meshing, 205

S
shape checking - advanced global meshing control ,75
showing geometry in overlapping Named Selections procedure, 226
showing inflation surfaces - procedure, 227
showing problematic geometry - procedure, 228
showing sweepable bodies - procedure, 226
sizing
description, 134
sizing global meshing controls, 53
skewness
mesh metric, 101
smoothing - sizing global meshing control, 59
smoothing iterations - inflation global meshing controls,
75
soft divisions - in local sizing control , 137
solver preference default global meshing control , 52
span angle center - sizing global meshing control , 60
sphere of influence - local mesh sizing tool option, 137
spot welds, 211
stair stepping - inflation global meshing controls, 68
statistics about quality, 87
statistics global meshing controls, 87
straight sided elements - advanced global meshing
control, 78
strategies for CFD/fluids meshing, 13
sweep option - in method control, 124
sweeping - mesh
general sweeping, 167
thin model sweeping, 171
symmetry - and match meshing, 205
system
Mesh, 14

thin model sweeping, 124

thin solid meshing, 208
topology - vs. geometry, 231
transition - sizing global meshing control, 59
transition ratio - inflation global meshing control , 64
triangle option - in method control , 132
tutorials , 237

U
uniform quad option - in method control, 132
uniform quad/quad tri mesh control interactions, 217
uniform quad/tri option - in method control, 132
updating the Mesh cell state - procedure, 223
use automatic tet inflation - inflation global meshing
control, 62
use post smoothing - inflation global meshing controls,
75
use sheet thickness - pinch global meshing control , 83

V
virtual cell
creation, 231
effect on topology, 231
projecting to underlying geometry, 231
virtual topology
overview, 231
topology vs. geometry, 231

W
warping factor
mesh metric, 97
winding body meshing, 205
wire body meshing, 205
Workbench
meshing capabilities, 1
Workbench meshing vs. Mechanical APDL meshing, 45
workflows , 9
worst quality elements, 87

T
tetrahedral meshing algorithms, 109
TGrid
exporting faceted geometry to, 19

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