Fixed Size Function

The fixed size function controls how the mesh size is distributed on a surface or within a volume. Since it does not refine the mesh based on curvature or proximity, instead you specify minimum and maximum sizes and gradation is provided between sizes based on the specified growth rate.

The following properties define the fixed size function.


Minimum size	The minimum size to be used in fixed size function mesh calculations. Some element sizes may be smaller than this based on local feature sizes or other geometric anomalies. You can accept the predefined setting or specify a value greater than 0.
Maximum face size	The maximum size to be used in fixed size function mesh calculations. Element faces may be larger than this size based on hard edge sizes or floating point arithmetic. Specify a value greater than 0 or accept the predefined setting.
Maximum size	The maximum size to be used in fixed size function mesh calculations. Specify a value greater than 0 or accept the predefined setting.
Growth rate	Represents the increase in element edge length with each successive layer of elements. For example, a growth rate of 1.2 results in a 20% increase in element edge length with each succeeding layer of elements. Specify a value from 1.0 to 5.0 or accept the predefined setting. The predefined setting is 1.2.
Maximum boundary layers	Boundary layers improve the mesh to resolve high gradients of velocity or temperature near the wall for fluid flow simulations. For fluid flow and fluid-solid heat transfer simulations, the default maximum boundary layers are 3. You can modify the number of boundary layers, increasing the number of layers improves accuracy and increases the solution time.