Edit Mesh Biasing and Element Size Distribution

Use the Interactive: Biasing tool to apply linear, exponential, or bellcurve biasing to individual edges of a surface, and edit the elements size distribution.

Before you begin, use the Interactive: Create tool to define a meshing area by selecting surfaces, and create an initial mesh.

Element biasing can be used to improve element quality when transitioning from smaller to larger element sizes, and enables you to moderate the changes in aspect ratio from the start to the end.

After you have created an initial mesh, bias the placement of nodes so that their intervals are not uniform in size. For example, you can designate that the smaller intervals go near the start of the edge, near the end of the edge, near both ends with larger intervals in the middle, or near the middle of the edge.

  1. From the Mesh ribbon, click the Interactive > Biasing tool.


    Figure 1.
  2. Optional: On the guide bar, click to define surface mesh options.
  3. Left-click to select the edge(s) to modify.
  4. In the microdialog, click the icon to select an element biasing type.
  5. Edit magnitude in the following ways:
    • Increase individual edge values by holding Ctrl while left-clicking on an edge; decrease individual edge values by holding Ctrl while right-clicking on an edge.
    • Scroll edge values by holding Ctrl while scrolling the mouse wheel up and down. Hovering directly over an edge will only modify that edge; hovering over empty space will modify all selected edges.
    • Specify an edge value in the microdialog and press Enter. If multiple edges are selected, a common value will be applied. If multiple edges with different edge values are selected, use the arrows in the microdialog to modify individual edge values simultaneously, without applying a common value.
  6. On the guide bar, click Update
Tip: Clear your selection by left-clicking in empty space.