Which mesh controls can I use with adaptive remeshing?

Table 1 shows the mesh controls that must be assigned to a region that will use adaptive remeshing.

Table 1. Mesh controls and adaptive remeshing.
DimensionalityElement ShapeAlgorithmTechnique
Two-dimensional Triangular n/a Free
Two-dimensional Quad-dominated Advancing front Free
Three-dimensional Tetrahedral n/a Free
In addition, you must assign the above supported mesh controls to any face or cell that is adjacent to a region that is included in a remeshing rule.

When Abaqus/CAE generates a tetrahedral mesh, it first creates a boundary mesh of triangles on the exterior faces of the solid region and then generates the tetrahedral mesh using the triangles as faces of the exterior tetrahedral elements. When you assign adaptive remeshing to a solid region, Abaqus/CAE applies adaptive remeshing to the boundary mesh of triangles on the exterior faces. For more information, see Free meshing with triangular and tetrahedral elements.

If Abaqus/CAE is using the mapped meshing technique in a region you have selected for adaptive remeshing, the mesh resizing algorithm may be slow to converge and require more remeshing iterations to achieve a given target error. To prevent Abaqus/CAE from using mapped meshing, you can toggle off Use mapped meshing where appropriate in the Mesh Controls dialog box. For more information, see Setting the mesh algorithm.