Smooth Panel

Use the Smooth panel to improve element quality in a surface-based mesh or a mesh of solid elements using one or more algorithms that adjust node positions to moderate sharp variations in size or quality in adjacent elements.

Location: 2D and 3D pages

The Plates subpanel adjusts the positions of the free nodes of the selected plate or shell elements to smooth out variations in element quality and size.

A node of a plate or shell element is free if none of these statements is true:
  • It is used by an element that wasn't selected.
  • It is selected as an anchor node.
  • It is attached to an edge, vertex, or meshing fixed point of a surface.
  • It is used by a 1D element (whether or not that element is selected).
  • It is not attached to a surface, but is on a feature line of the mesh of the selected plate or shell elements.

The Solids subpanel adjusts the positions of the free nodes of the selected solid elements to smooth out variations in element quality and size. A node is free if it is not associated to a surface, all of the elements to which it belongs are selected, and the entire volume around it is occupied by selected elements.

Plates Subpanel

Use the Plates subpanel to optimize mesh consisting of 2D shell elements.

For any elements that are not associated to surfaces, Engineering Solutions infers an approximation to the shape of the surface that most likely produced these elements. A message appears in the status bar indicating the largest change in node location encountered during the final iteration.

Option Action
smooth: elements Select the elements you want to smooth.
anchor: nodes Select the node(s) to be anchored.

For example, an anchor node might be used at a weld site.

iterations = Specify the number of passes you wish the smoothing algorithm to run.

The default number of iterations is 1.

Note: Each pass will progressively improve overall mesh quality, but each pass takes time, therefore very large models may take substantial time to smooth if the number of iterations is high.
mesh algorithm options Select the behavior of the smooth function.
autodecide
Calculate the lengths of all of the elements' edges to find the extreme values. If the ratio of smallest to largest is below a certain threshold, it uses the shape correcting algorithm; otherwise, it uses the size correcting algorithm.
size correcting
Moderate variations in element edge size through the mesh using a modified Laplacian over-relaxation that correctly handles mixtures of quad and tria elements.
shape correcting
Moderate variations in element aspect ratio through the mesh using a modified isoparametric-centroidal over-relaxation that correctly handles mixtures of quad and tria elements.
angle correcting
Globally minimize the average deviation of element angles from their ideal values.
QI Optimization
Adjust the nodes to the target quality index value that you define in order to reduce the quality index of the selected elements. Selecting QI optimization enables sub-options.
time limit
Specify an optional time limit that the optimization loop can use to optimize large models.
keep nodes on geometry edges
Smooth nodes on shared edges by moving them along the edge, and not across.


Figure 1. Before Optimized Smoothing


Figure 2. Optimized Smoothing, Keep Nodes on Geometry Edges Disabled


Figure 3. Optimized Smoothing, Keep Nodes on Geometry Edges Enabled
feature angle
Specify the feature angle to determine the feature lines of the selected elements that the smoothing algorithm honors.
use current criteria / criteria file
Choose whether to use the current element criteria file (use current criteria), or use a different file (criteria file), which can by selected by clicking load.
recursive optimization procedure / single optimization procedure
Choose whether to run a single smoothing step (single optimization step), or multiple smoothing steps (recursive optimization procedure) until an internal convergence is reached.

Solids Subpanel

Use the Solids subpanel to optimize mesh consisting of 3D elements.
Option Action
elems Select the 3D elements to smooth.
iterations Specify the number of passes you wish the smoothing algorithm to run.

The default number of iterations is 1.

Note: Each pass will progressively improve overall mesh quality, but each pass takes time, therefore very large models may take substantial time to smooth if the number of iterations is high.

Command Buttons

Button Action
smooth Perform the specified number of smoothing passes.
reject Revert the most recent smoothing command.
return Exit the panel.