Chapter 10: A Guide to Meshing in SOLIDWORKS
Meshing is the process of discretizing a structure into smaller, finite substructures. As you will have observed from past chapters, a strong interplay exists between meshing and results obtained from finite element analysis. For this reason, we will use this chapter to complete our exploration of finite element simulation for static analysis by taking a careful look at ways to customize the meshing of a structure to achieve reliable results. You will encounter mesh control (again) and learn how to employ convergence analysis to evaluate the accuracy of simulation results. In pursuit of these ideas, the remainder of the chapter entails discussion centered around the following topics:
- Discretization with beam and truss elements
- Mesh control with plane elements
- Mesh control with three-dimensional elements
- Discretization with h- and p-elements
