Meshing Operations and Attributes
A meshing sequence corresponding to a geometry consists of Mesh Operations and Mesh Attributes. The attribute nodes store properties that are used by the operation nodes when creating the mesh. You can also choose the Predefined Mesh Element Sizes.
Mesh Operations
The following table lists the available mesh operations:
Table 8-2: Operation Nodes
Icon
Name
Description
Geometric Entity Level
Adapt
Use adaptive mesh generation based on an error estimate from a computed solution.
Entire geometry and domain
Boundary Layers
Create a boundary layer mesh — a mesh with dense element distribution in the normal direction along specific boundaries. This mesh is typically used for fluid flow problems to resolve the thin boundary layers along the no-slip boundaries.
Domain
Convert
Some geometries have domains that are well suited for swept meshes. If there are surrounding domains that cannot be swept, you can use this to convert faces with quadrilateral mesh between these domains to faces with triangular mesh.
Domain and boundary
2D 3D
Copy Domain
Copy a mesh between domains.
Domain
2D
3D
Copy Edge
Copy a mesh between edges. A 3D Copy Edge feature can also be used for destination edges of different shapes.
Edge
Copy Face
To make a copy of a mesh that you can use to create an identical mesh on, for example, two boundaries in a model with periodic boundary conditions.
Boundary
Copy
Copy a mesh from another meshing sequence, typically of imported mesh type, or mesh part into a meshing sequence corresponding to a geometry.
Entire geometry, domain, boundary, or edge
Edge
To create an edge mesh. This menu button works in the same way as the Free Tetrahedral button.
Edge
Free Quad
Create an unstructured quadrilateral mesh. This menu button works in the same way as the Free Tetrahedral button.
Boundary
Free Tetrahedral
Create an unstructured tetrahedral mesh. If no selection is specified, this feature creates a mesh on the remaining domains, boundaries, edges and points.
Domain, boundary, edge, or point
Free Triangular
Create an unstructured triangular mesh. This menu button works in the same way as the Free Tetrahedral button.
Boundary
Mapped
To create a structured quadrilateral mesh on boundaries in 3D and domains in 2D. This menu button works in the same way as the Free Tetrahedral button.
Boundary
Reference
To refer to another meshing sequence. Building a Reference node runs the operation nodes of the referenced sequence.
 
Refine
Refine a mesh by splitting elements.
 
Swept
Create a swept mesh. In domain selection mode this button works in the same way as the Free Tetrahedral button. In boundary selection mode the software creates a swept mesh on the remaining domains using the selected boundaries as source faces.
Domain
Mesh Attributes
The following table lists the mesh attributes:
Table 8-3: Mesh Attribute nodes
Icon
Name
Description
Boundary Layer Properties
To specify the location of the boundary layers and the properties, such as the number and thickness of the boundary layers.
Corner Refinement
To decrease the element size at sharp corners. The node considers a vertex in 2D or an edge in 3D to be a sharp corner if the angle between the adjacent selected boundaries, with respect to the selected domain, is greater than a specified angle.
Distribution
To specify the distribution of mesh elements along an edge, for example. It is possible to add Distribution nodes both as global nodes and as local nodes.
Edge Groups
To specify the four groups of edges around a boundary (3D) or domain (2D) that is used to determine the Mapped mesh of the boundary/domain.
Edge Map
Using this node, the source mesh of the Copy Face or Copy Domain operation is transformed so that the source edge of the Edge Map node is mapped onto the destination edge of the Edge Map node with the specified orientation.
One-Point Map
To define the orientation of the source mesh on the destination for a Copy Face or Copy Domain feature by specifying how to map one point adjacent to the source to a point adjacent to the destination.
Scale
To scale the properties of the Size, Distribution, and Boundary Layer Properties nodes.
Size
To specify the size of mesh elements. It is possible to add Size nodes both as global nodes and as local nodes.
Size Expression
To specify the size of mesh elements using an expression evaluated on the grid or on a solution.
Two-Point Map
To define the orientation of the source mesh on the destination for a Copy Face or Copy Domain feature by specifying how to map a pair of points adjacent to the source to a pair of points adjacent to the destination.