Tech Tip: Easy Mesh Configuration Options in Structural FEA/FEM

written by Achraf Ben Afia

GRAITEC Advance Design is FEA/FEM structural analysis software dedicated to structural engineers operating in a BIM environment. With its easy-to-use features, engineers can design any type of structure with any kind of loads, mixing concrete, timber and steel members.

If you are an Advance Design user, you may wonder what different functions are offered in the surface property sheet.

Following is the answer for mesh options.

The “Automatic” option indicates that the selected surface should be connected to other elements.

If this box is unchecked, no common node will be created.

The “Type” option can have three values:

• Complete
• Triangulation
• None

The following graphic shows examples with these values.

The “Density” option contains four values: Global, Simplified, Element size, and Detailed.

• Global: Advance Design will retrieve the values entered in the mesh options (Manage > Mesh).
• Simplified: Advance Design uses the X and Y values from the property sheet to determine a mesh divided into n along its X axis and m along its Y axis.
• Element size: You can specify an element size.
• Detailed: You can specify a mesh size for each side of the surface (or a main and secondary size to vary the mesh on that side of the surface).

Example of a planar element meshed using “Detailed” option 

The functions offered in the Advance Design surface property sheet enable users to easily specify mesh configurations to meet each project’s specific needs.

TRY IT FOR YOURSELF! Discover the all-in-one FEM software Advance Design for structural engineers.