SMS:2D Mesh Elements Menu

The Elements Menu includes the following commands:

Command	Description
Options	General command – set up the default element options.
Select Thin Triangles	General command – selects all thin triangular element that meet the definition specified in the options command. During the process of triangulation, a mesh of triangular elements is created around existing nodes. This usually creates triangular elements outside the desired mesh boundary. Many of these exterior triangles are very skinny, and some are virtually invisible. The Select Thin Triangles command from the Elements menu finds and selects skinny triangular elements which are on the mesh boundary. Thin triangles interior to the mesh will not be selected when this command is performed, since deletion of interior triangles would result in gaps in the mesh. After the thin triangles have been selected, they can be removed by selecting the Delete macro File:Delete.jpg.
Find	General command – finds the element with a specified ID or location.
Assign Material Type	General command – requires a selected element. Sets the material type of the selected elements based on the option defined in the options command. Each element in the mesh is assigned a material type. The default material ID can be set in the Element Options dialog. A selected element is assigned a new material type by choosing the Assign Material Type command from the Elements menu. If the Assign default material option is selected in the Element Options dialog, then the default material is automatically assigned to the selected element. If the Prompt for material when assigning option is selected in the Element Options dialog, then the Materials Data dialog opens from which a material type can be chosen.
Merge Triangles	Conversion command – merges triangle pairs that meet the standard for rectangles defined in the options command. Can operate on selected elements.
Split Quadrilaterals	Conversion command – splits quadrilateral elements into two triangular elements. Can operate on selected elements.
QUAD8 ↔ QUAD9	Conversion command – converts all QUAD8 to QUAD9 elements and vice versa. Only applies to the FESWMS model. Can operate on selected elements.
Linear ↔ Quadratic	Conversion command – converts all elements from linear to quad or vice versa. Only applies to TABS and FESWMS models.
Triangulate	Generation command – triangulates the selected nodes to form triangle elements.
Optimize Triangulation	Generation command – swaps edges of triangular elements to meet the Dulanay criterion.
Refine	Generation command – splits all selected elements into four elements.
Relax	Generation command – moves all the nodes on the interior of the selected elements to the centroid of their contributing area. Iterates based on option set in the options command.
Fix Bad Area Transitions	Generation command – removes nodes that cause bad area transitions as defined in the element quality control.
Rectangular Patch	Patch command – creates elements from four selected node strings.
Triangular Patch	Patch command – creates elements from three selected node strings.

Related Topics

• Mesh Module
• Element Options Dialog