What is a mesh transition?

A mesh transition is an area where a mesh transitions from coarse (large elements) to fine (small elements), as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. A mesh with a transition from coarse to fine elements.

Abaqus/CAE provides mesh transition controls for the following types of meshes:

  • A two-dimensional, quadrilateral-only mesh that is created using the structured meshing technique or the free meshing technique with the medial axis algorithm.

  • A three-dimensional, hexahedral-only mesh that is created by sweeping a two-dimensional mesh. For more information, see What is swept meshing?.

When transition controls are applicable to the type of mesh you are creating, a toggle button appears on the right side of the Mesh Controls dialog box that allows you to minimize the mesh transition. By default, Abaqus/CAE minimizes the mesh transition, which in some cases will reduce mesh distortion. Conversely, if you toggle off the option to minimize mesh transition, the mesh may move closer to the specified mesh seeds. To display the Mesh Controls dialog box, select MeshControls from the main menu bar. For more information, see Setting the mesh algorithm.