Reviewing a FEM Mesh
After you create a FEM mesh or run a FEM analysis, click Home > Mesh > Review to open the Mesh Review tab to review the mesh in detail. The following buttons are displayed on the Mesh Review tab:
Nodes—Opens the Review Nodes dialog box to review the nodes in the mesh.
Elements—Opens the Review Elements dialog box to review the elements in the mesh.
Mesh—Displays the mesh information in a window.
You can review a list of components by their path within the top-level assembly hierarchy, the number of elements and nodes, and the range of element and node ID numbers. You can also review the range of elements, nodes, and local mesh entity IDs with the Mesh ID Offset mesh control applied to identify and resolve any numbering conflicts.
The Boundary Edges and Boundary Nodes buttons check the connectivity in a mesh.
Boundary Edges—Highlights the edges that are associated only with one shell surface. It also detects places on the mesh where shell surfaces that must attach to one another are not connected.
Boundary Nodes—Highlights the nodes at the boundary ends of beams, springs, contacts, and other one-dimensional elements. This type of review is very useful for complex models with numerous connections. For example, for a beam model with a large number of interconnected beams or multiple beams connecting at a single point, a boundary nodes review shows you beams that are not fully connected to adjoining beams.
Hard Points—Opens an information window listing nodes created at hard points on the model.
The following buttons are available only after running a FEM analysis:
Materials—Shows the details of the mesh material in the browser.
Analyses—Opens the Review Analyses dialog box. Highlights nodes or elements from a selected analysis and examines how the loads and constraints defined for the analysis apply to the mesh.
Diagnostics—Opens the Diagnostics dialog box after you have run a FEM analysis.
Close—Closes the Mesh Review tab.
You can also review a mesh if you select the Display Only or Output to File option in the Run FEM Analysis dialog box
Return to About FEM Meshes.