Different element sizes for meshing

Question

Different element sizes for meshing

Boosted7 (Mechanical)

(OP)

21 Sep 05 12:16

Hey everyone,

I'm fairly new with Solidworks and I just started using Cosmosworks at work.

I was wondering if there was any way to make specific parts of an object (in an assembly drawing) have fine or coarse sized elements when meshing.

I know how to make the entire assembly coarse or the entire assembly fine, but is there a way to pick specific parts?

Thanks! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Chris

ctopher (Mechanical) · Answer 1 · 2005-09-21 12:22:36

What version are you using?
I don't have it loaded yet, but I think I heard you can do this now in 2006, not sure.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

Boosted7 (Mechanical) · Answer 2 · 2005-09-21 12:30:11

Hey Chris,

Thanks for responding.

I'm using Solidworks 2005 right now.

cbrn (Mechanical) · Answer 3 · 2005-09-21 12:41:44

Hi,
you can do it regardless of the version.
When you mesh, there is a global setting you assign for the default mesh size. Then, you can add as many mesh refinements as you want, and if you select a component as the target, the refinement will affect the whole component relatively to the default size; you can specify an "importance factor" (i.e. low=coarser mesh, high=finer) or input an exact value to be applied on the component.

Regards

ctopher (Mechanical) · Answer 4 · 2005-09-21 12:45:27

I just tried it. After you mesh, go back to "Apply Control". You can select the component or face.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

Boosted7 (Mechanical) · Answer 5 · 2005-09-21 13:23:08

Oh, I got it! Thanks everyone for the quick replies.

jdesouza (Mechanical) · Answer 6 · 2005-09-22 13:25:07

You can also apply a mesh control to a specified, sketched region... create a sketch on a surface or plane and then use the Split Line command. This will create a separate region on the model. Forces, restraints, mesh refinement can all be applied to these region.

I just learned this last week myself!

ShaggyPE (Mechanical) · Answer 7 · 2005-09-28 19:29:02

ctopher,
the mesh control must be done prior to creating the mesh. Typically when you make a change after meshing, you will get a warning that the model has changed and needs remeshing.

-Shaggy

ctopher (Mechanical) · Answer 8 · 2005-09-28 23:23:27

In CW05 we tried it. We meshed first, but before we went further went to the mesh control...no errors.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

jdesouza (Mechanical) · Answer 9 · 2005-09-30 09:33:31

What I like about the mesh control is you can specify the exact dimensions of the elements. This allows you to take your data from a curve/line, export it to Excel, and query from any position along the curve in a repeatable way.

When you make a change to your model in between iterations, you can grab the data from the same positions and tab through Excel and see the graphs change and analyze trends in a visual manner.

Now I have to convince my boss to upgrade us from Office 95 to 2003...

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Different element sizes for meshing