Curvature Size Function In ANSYS® Meshing(Illustrated Expression)

The geometric shape defines the mesh structure, so obtaining mesh structures according to the geometric shapes is a very important thing in Finite Element Analyses(FEA). Also, you can adjust the structure of mesh in ANSYS® Meshing according to your geometric shape. If your geometry has curvature features or curvy entities, you can adjust the Sizing Function of your mesh as ‘Curvature’. In this article of Mechanical Base, we will show;

• How to adjust the Sizing Function ad Curvature,
• What are the features of Curvature Size Function in ANSYS® Meshing?

Curvature Size Function In ANSYS® Meshing

The default option for Size Function in ANSYS® Meshing is ‘Adaptive’ that the size function will be defined by the system. But if your geometry is very straightforward that has lots of curvatures inside it, you can adjust it to ‘Curvature’ as shıwn by the green arrow above.

So Curvature Size Function provides proper meshing element structures according to the curvature of the entities that the mesh elements will not violate the curvature in this entity. The mesh size parameters are also defined by the user in the ‘Curvature’ option in ANSYS® Meshing. You can adjust these parameters for Curvature Size Function below;

• Curvature Normal Angle: This is the maximum angle value that one mesh element’s face or surface can span. It is very vital information to adjust the curvature. You can enter 0 to 180 degrees for this value.
• Min Size: Minimum allowed mesh element size. You can enter a value for it.
• Max Surface Size: The maximum element surface size the size function returns to the surface meshes.
• Max Tet Size: The maximum element size the size function returns to the mesher.
• Growth Rate: Defines the growth of mesh elements in each successive layer. For example, if you enter the value of 1.5, the size will be grown 50% in each layer.

Conclusion

The mesh structures of curvy faces or curvy geometries will be adjusted according to these values that you entered in Curvature Size Function in ANSYS® Meshing.

Leave your questions and comments below!

NOTE: All the screenshots and images are used in education and informative purposes. Images used courtesy of ANSYS®, Inc.