) to display a mesh. It is possible to plot the mesh without solving a model using a Mesh dataset. The plot can display the mesh quality (2D or 3D) or the mesh size. For 2D and 3D meshes, add Deformation, Filter, Selection (Plot Attribute), Transformation, Transparency (3D only), or Visual Effects (3D only) subnodes as needed. Right-click a plot group to add this plot type.
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Go to Common Results Node Settings for links to information about these sections: Data, for all meshes, and Title, Element Filter, Shrink Elements, and Inherit Style for 2D and 3D meshes.
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This section is only available for 1D Mesh plots and if the Two y-axes checkbox is selected in the Plot Settings section of the parent 1D Plot Group node’s Settings window.
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For 3D models and if Volume is selected, select the base Element type to visualize: All, Tetrahedron, Pyramid, Prism, or Hexahedron.
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Select an Element color: Any basic color, Quality (the default) to get a mesh element quality plot, Size to get a plot of the local mesh size, Type to plot colors representing the mesh element types, Custom to select a different color from the color palette, or None to plot with no color.
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Select a Quality measure:
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Skewness, which is the default quality measure, is a measure of the equiangular skew.
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Maximum angle, which is based on the cosine of the largest angle in the element.
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Volume versus circumradius is the default quality measure, which is based on a quotient of the element volume and the radius of the circumscribed sphere (or circle) of the element.
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Volume versus length, which is based on a quotient of element edge lengths and element volume.
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Condition number, which is based on the element dimension divided by the condition number of the matrix transforming the element to a reference element.
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Growth rate, which is a measure of the local (anisotropic) mesh growth rate.
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Curved skewness, which is a measure that can be used to find badly shaped mesh elements when higher-order elements are used for solving. It is defined as the elementwise product of skewness and reldetjacmin, a measure of the deformation when mapping from the linear to the higher-order element.
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Custom expression provides a Quality expression field where you can enter a custom expression for the mesh quality. The expression should provide scalar values between 0 and 1, where 1 is an element of the highest possible value. You can use it, for example, to combine some of the existing mesh quality measures. Click the Replace Expression (
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The Color range [0, 1] checkbox is selected by default to span the largest possible span of mesh quality values. Clear it to use a range that spans the actual range of mesh quality values for the plotted mesh. Such a plot can make it easier to see a difference between mesh elements in some cases.
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Choose a Color table for the element quality or element size. By default, the TrafficFlow color table is used with the Reverse color table checkbox selected, so that a high element quality is indicated with a light green color and elements with a poor element quality are red. If the default is not suitable for the plot, try other options.
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Also, if the element color displays the element quality or element size, select the Color legend checkbox (selected by default) to display a color legend next to the plot.
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The default Color table transformation setting is Nonlinear. For descriptions of the available options and their associated settings, see Color Table Transformation in the Common Results Node Settings section.
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By default, if the element color displays the element quality or element size, the Reverse color table checkbox is selected. Clear this checkbox, if needed, to reverse the colors in the color table so that the color for the minimum value instead indicates the maximum value, and vice versa.
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Choose a Color table type — Continuous (the default) or Discrete. If you chose Discrete, specify the number of discrete color bands in the Number of bands field (default: 10).
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Choose a Wireframe color — any basic color (default Black), Custom to select a different color, or None to plot with no color indicating the mesh element boundaries. This setting is not available when Level is set to Line.
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Choose a Resolution for the elements in mesh plots where the geometry order is greater than one: Extra fine, Finer, Fine, Normal (the default), Coarse, No refinement, or Custom. If you chose Custom, enter a positive integer (default: 1) in the Element refinement field.
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When you plot a mesh plot using a Solution dataset, you can choose an option from the Node points list (default: None) to show the node points, including those of interior nodes in higher-order elements:
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Choose Geometry shape function to plot the node points from the geometry shape discretization.
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Choose any physics field included in the Solution dataset, such as Solid mechanics: Field name: u to plot the node points for that field’s discretization.
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).