Ansys Mesh Introduction

Appendix A
Mesh Quality
Introduction to ANSYS
Meshing
ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

© 2010 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved. A-1 March 2010
Appendix A: Mesh Quality
Overview Training Manual
• Mesh Quality Metrics in ANSYS Meshing

– Skewness
– Aspect Ratio
– Worst Element
• Mesh Quality Considerations for the FLUENT Solver
– General Considerations
– Impact of Mesh Quality on the Solution
• Mesh Quality Considerations for the CFX Solver
• Factors Affecting Mesh Quality
– CAD Issues
– Mesh Resolution and Distribution
– Meshing Method
– Inflation
• Strategies to Improve Mesh Quality
– CAD Cleanup
– Virtual Topology
– Pinch Controls
– Sensible Mesh Sizings and Inflation Settings
– General Recommendations
• Workshop A.1 Virtual Topology for an Auto Manifold
• Workshop A.2 FLUENT and CFX Mesh Quality Metrics

Mesh Quality Metrics in ANSYS Meshing Training Manual
• Mesh Metrics are available under

Mesh Options to set and review
mesh metric information and to
evaluate mesh quality
• Different physics and different
solvers have different requirements
for mesh quality
• Mesh metrics available in ANSYS
Meshing include:
– Element Quality
– Aspect Ratio
– Jacobian Ration
– Warping Factor
– Parallel Deviation
– Maximum Corner Angle
– Skewness

Mesh Quality Metrics Training Manual
Skewness optimal (equilateral) cell
Two methods for determining skewness:

1. Based on the Equilateral Volume deviation:
• Skewness = optimal cell size − cell size

optimal cell size
• Applies only to triangles and tetrahedra
• Default method for tris and tets
actual cell
2. Based on the deviation from a Normalized
Angle deviation: circumsphere
θ −θ
θ max
• Skewness = maxθmax −θe , e min 
  θ min
 180 − θe θe 
Where θe is the equiangular face/cell (60 for
tets and tris, and 90 for quads and hexas)
• Applies to all cell and face shapes
0 1
• Used for prisms and pyramids
Perfect Worst

Mesh Quality Metrics Training Manual
Aspect Ratio
• Aspect for generic triangles and quads is a

function of the ratio of longest side to the
shortest side of the reconstructed
quadrangles (see User Guide for details)
• Equal to 1 (ideal) for an equilateral triangle
or a square aspect ratio = 1 high-aspect-ratio quad
aspect ratio = 1 high-aspect-ratio triangle

Mesh Quality Statistics in ANSYS Meshing Training Manual
• The min, max, averaged and standard

deviation for the selected mesh metric
are shown for the surface mesh (after
Preview Surface Mesh generation) and
for the volume mesh (after Preview
Inflation layer or Generate Mesh
generation)
• The worst elements can be highlighted

using the Show Worst Elements under
the Mesh object in the Tree Outline

Mesh Quality Considerations for FLUENT Training Manual
• FLUENT requires high quality mesh to avoid numerical diffusion

• Several Mesh Quality Metrics are involved in order to quantify the quality,
however the skewness is the primary metric
• The aspect ratio and cell size change mesh metrics are also very
important
• In worst scenarios and depending on the solver used (density based or
pressure based) FLUENT can tolerate poor mesh quality. However some
applications may require higher mesh quality, resolution and good mesh
distribution
• The location of poor quality elements helps determine their effect
• Some overall mesh quality metrics may be obtained in Ansys Meshing
under the Statistics object
• Additional mesh quality metrics may be retrieved in FLUENT GUI under
Mesh/Info/Quality from the menu, or using the TUI commands
‘mesh/quality’

Mesh Quality Requirements for FLUENT Training Manual
• The most important mesh metrics for Fluent are:

– Skewness
– Aspect Ratio
– Cell Size Change (not implemented in Ansys
Meshing)
• Poor mesh quality may
For all/most applications: lead to inaccurate
• For Skewness: solution and/or slow
– For Hexa, Tri and Quad: it should be less than 0.8 convergence
– For tetrahedra: it should be less than 0.9
• Some applications may
• For Aspect Ratio: require even lower
– It should be less than 40, but this depends on skewness than the
the flow characteristics suggested value
– More than 50 may be tolerated at the inflation
layers
• For Cell Size Change:
– It should be between 1 and 2.
Skewness and the Fluent Solver Training Manual
• High skewness values are not recommended

• Generally try to keep maximum skewness of volume mesh < 0.95.
However this value is strongly related to type of physics and the location
of the cell
• FLUENT reports negative cell volumes if volume mesh contains
degenerate cells.
• Classification of the mesh quality metrics based on skewness:
0-0.25 0.25-0.50 0.50-0.80 0.80-0.95 0.95-0.98 0.98-1.00*
Excellent very good good acceptable bad Inacceptable*

•
* In some circumstances the pressure based solver in Fluent can handle

meshes containing a small percentage of cells with skewness ~0.98.

Impact of the Mesh Quality on the Solution Training Manual
(max,avg)CSKEW=(0.912,0.291)
Example (max,avg)CAR=(62.731,7.402)
Mesh 1
VzMIN≈-90ft/min
VzMAX≈600ft/min
Large cell size change
(max,avg)CSKEW=(0.801,0.287)
(max,avg)CAR=(8.153,1.298)
Mesh 2
VzMIN≈-100ft/min
VzMAX≈400ft/min

Mesh Quality Considerations for CFX Training Manual
• Mesh quality requirements are somewhat different for the CFX

solver than for the FLUENT solver due to the difference in the
solver structure for the two codes
– Fluent uses a a cell-centered scheme, in which the fluid flow variables are
allocated at the center of the computational cell, and the mesh-element is
the same as the solver-element
– CFX employs a vertex-centered scheme for which the fluid flow variables
are stored at the cell vertex, and the solver-element or control volume is a
“dual” of the mesh-element. This means that the vertex of the mesh-
element is the center of the solver-element

Mesh Quality Considerations for CFX Training Manual
• The CFX solver calculates 3 important measures of mesh

quality at the start of a run and updates them each time the
mesh is deformed
– Mesh Orthogonality
– Aspect Ratio
– Expansion Factor
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Mesh Statistics |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Domain Name: Air Duct
Good
Minimum Orthogonality Angle [degrees] = 20.4 ok (OK)
Maximum Aspect Ratio = 13.5 OK
Maximum Mesh Expansion Factor = 700.4 !
Domain Name: Water Pipe
Minimum Orthogonality Angle [degrees] = 32.8 ok
Acceptable
Maximum Aspect Ratio = 6.4 OK (ok)
Global Mesh Quality Statistics :
Minimum Orthogonality Angle [degrees] = 20.4 ok Questionable
Maximum Aspect Ratio = 13.5 OK (!)

Mesh Orthogonality in CFX Training Manual
•Orthogonality measures alignment of:

• ip-face normal vector, n, &
• node-to-node vector, s.
• Orthogonality Factor = n·s, >1/3 desirable

• Orthogonality Angle = 90º-acos(n·s), >20º desirable
• Are these different than Max/Min Face Angles in CFD Post? YES!
– Face angles correspond to angles between edges
– One can have an acceptable Face Angle and an unacceptable Orthogonality
Angle if an element is skewed in two directions…

Mesh Expansion Factor in CFX Training Manual
Expansion factor measures how

poorly the nodal position corresponds
to the control volume centroid
• Mesh Expansion Factor ≈ ratio of largest to smallest element

volumes surrounding a node,
<20 is desirable
• The Mesh Expansion Factor is essentially identical to the Element Volume
Ratio in CFD Post

Mesh Aspect Ratio in CFX Training Manual
Aspect ratio measures how stretched a

control volume is
• Aspect Ratio = maximum of the ratio of largest to smallest

ip-areas for each element surrounding a node,
<100 is desirable
• The Aspect Ratio is very similar to the Edge Length Ratio in CFD Post

Significance of Mesh Quality in CFX Training Manual
Why is geometrical mesh quality important?
• Sources of discretisation error

– non-orthogonality introduces errors in flux approximations
– large mesh expansion introduces errors in storage and source
approximations
• Amplification of discretisation error
– corrections to reduce errors caused by non-orthogonality can create
unphysical influences
• Difficulties solving linearised equations
– large aspect ratios require use of more significant digits
(i.e. use of double precision solver)

Factors Affecting Mesh Quality Training Manual
• CAD Issues
– Small edges, sharp edges and faces
– Small gaps/passages between edges and faces
– Unconnected geometry entities
CAD issues need to

be fixed to avoid this

• Mesh Resolution
and Distribution
– Geometry with
abrupt changes,
discontinuities
and/or small gaps
may require more
resolution, and
– Mesh distribution
where appropriate to
be able to predict
physical conditions
Inappropriate
resolution and
distribution may lead
to large cell size
change, aspect ratio
and/or skewness

• Type of Size Function

– Inappropriate usage (or
no usage at all) of
Advanced Size Functions
(ASF) may lead to poor
mesh quality
– Use Curvature ASF for
geometries with
dominant curvature
features
– Use Proximity ASF for
geometries with gaps or
narrow components
– Use Curvature and
Proximity ASF in
geometries having a
combination of these
features ASF may be used to
avoid this !

Factors Affecting the Mesh Quality Training Manual
• Meshing Method
– Inappropriate usage of Meshing Method (Automatic, Tetrahedrons, Sweep, MultiZone
and CFX-Mesh) may lead to large skewness
– The selection of the Meshing Method depends on the geometry and application
– It is a good practice to use Show the Sweepable Bodies under the Mesh object in the
Tree Outline
– Many applications may take advantage of Patch Conforming and Sweep Meshing Method
A relatively “good” mesh in

terms of max skewness,
however the average and
standard deviation are large

• Inflation
Inappropriate:
– Surface mesh
quality
– Choice of the
inflation surfaces
– Inflation Option
– Inflation algorithm
(layer compression
or stair-stepping)
– Inflation
parameters
– Advanced Inflation
Options Affected Inflation
may lead to poor

mesh quality!

Strategies to Improve Mesh Quality Training Manual
• CAD cleanup After split edge/Project

Use CAD or DM to: edge/merge face in DM
– Simplify the geometry
– Merge small edges
– Merge the faces in
order to reduce the
number of faces
– Avoid narrow faces
– Keep volume gaps only
where important
– Decompose the
geometry
– Remove unnecessary
geometries
– Add geometries
– Repair the geometry

After virtual merging of

• Virtual topology narrow face with wide face
Use VT in order to
simplify details at
geometry level in AM
Can be added under
Model object in the
Tree Outline
Mesh may be
improved by creating
virtual edges/faces
If the resulting
surface mesh is
distorted consider
fixing the geometry
issue in DM or CAD

• Pinch Controls Pinch locations are detected

automatically with Pinch Controls under
– Allow to remove small features (small edges
Mesh object in the Tree Outline
or narrow faces) at the mesh level
– Intended for Patch-Conforming Tetrahedral Method
– When it is defined the small features are “pinched-
out” from the mesh when pinch criteria are met

• Sensible Mesh Sizings and Inflation Settings
The minimal size decreased 2X in order to

fit the narrow geometry. As a result the
mesh quality has been improved. Local
face sizing may also be used

• General Recommendations
– A volume mesh may be considered inacceptable if it satisfies one or more the
following conditions:
• Very high skewness for FLUENT meshes(> 0.98)
• Degenerate cells (skewness ~ 1)
• High aspect ratio cells
• Negative volumes
– Cell Quality can be improved by:

• Improving surface mesh quality
• Moving mesh nodes
• CAD to fix geometric problems such as sharp angles, small edges, merge faces unite
and/or decompose the geometries
• Clean-up tools in DM to simplify the geometries and their entities
• Different methods, global and local sizings and parameters in the ANSYS Meshing
Application
• Pinch Controls in the ANSYS Meshing Application to avoid small features
• Virtual topology in the ANSYS Meshing Application in order to simplify the geometry

Miscellaneous Training Manual
• If the model contains multiple

parts or bodies the mesh metric
information can be shown by
highlighting them under the
Geometry object in the Tree
Outline
• The Body of Influence (BOI)
technique may be used also to
control the mesh quality and
appropriate local resolution
• More advanced mesh statistics
including histograms can be
exhibited by FE Modeler Mesh
Metrics in FEM
• Different mesh quality metrics
can also be viewed in CFD Post


Ansys Mesh Introduction

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ansys Mesh Introduction

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Appendix A

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

• Mesh Quality Metrics in ANSYS Meshing

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

• Mesh Metrics are available under

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

Skewness optimal (equilateral) cell

Two methods for determining skewness:

• Skewness = optimal cell size − cell size

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

• Aspect for generic triangles and quads is a

aspect ratio = 1 high-aspect-ratio triangle

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

• The min, max, averaged and standard

• The worst elements can be highlighted

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

• FLUENT requires high quality mesh to avoid numerical diffusion

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

• The most important mesh metrics for Fluent are:

• High skewness values are not recommended

0-0.25 0.25-0.50 0.50-0.80 0.80-0.95 0.95-0.98 0.98-1.00*

Excellent very good good acceptable bad Inacceptable*

* In some circumstances the pressure based solver in Fluent can handle

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

Large cell size change

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

• Mesh quality requirements are somewhat different for the CFX

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

• The CFX solver calculates 3 important measures of mesh

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

•Orthogonality measures alignment of:

• Orthogonality Factor = n·s, >1/3 desirable

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

Expansion factor measures how

• Mesh Expansion Factor ≈ ratio of largest to smallest element

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

Aspect ratio measures how stretched a

• Aspect Ratio = maximum of the ratio of largest to smallest

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

Why is geometrical mesh quality important?

• Sources of discretisation error

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

CAD issues need to

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

• Type of Size Function

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

A relatively “good” mesh in

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

may lead to poor

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

• CAD cleanup After split edge/Project

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

After virtual merging of

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

• Pinch Controls Pinch locations are detected

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

• Sensible Mesh Sizings and Inflation Settings

The minimal size decreased 2X in order to

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

– Cell Quality can be improved by:

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0

• If the model contains multiple

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary Release 12.0