A size function is computed when meshing begins. The mesher examines the global and local sizes and uses the smallest, most local size to seed the mesh. It uses the growth rate to transition the mesh from a small size to a larger size.
The following factors contribute to the final mesh distribution obtained by the mesher:
The value of the Element Size option
The value of the Curvature Min Size/Proximity Min Size option
The value of the Max Size option
The value of the Growth Rate option
Features of the geometry, which can be any of the following:
Local element sizing on selected edges, faces, or bodies
Sphere of influence scoped to a selected body, face, edge, or vertex
Body of influence scoped to a selected body
Influence of an existing mesh or a swept body
Note:
The mesher uses the sizes defined by the user or computes its own Defaults.
The size function works within parts, but not across parts.
When Capture Curvature and/or Capture Proximity are set to Yes, the default pinch tolerance is 90% of the value of Curvature Min Size/Proximity Min Size (whichever is smaller). This differs from the tolerance used by the default mesh based defeaturing. Refer to Mesh Defeaturing for details.
The size function computes a background grid prior to meshing and re-uses that background grid during meshing. This background grid could differ for solid parts and sheet parts.
The size function may over-refine bodies being meshed with sweep or MultiZone as side faces can influence source faces and source faces can influence side faces to try to make the mesh more uniform. Use hard edge sizing controls or set the number of divisions along the sweep path to override such behavior.
In some situations, the mesh will exceed the applied Element Size setting to create a better quality mesh. To set a strict upper limit for each element edge, set the Element Size to a size slightly smaller than the desired size.