Meshing

[nmknop]

I am trying to mesh a fireplace that I am modeling and have been having some troubles meshing. Most components are very thin bodies (thickness around .02-.03") and they are giving me shape violations on practically every element. Also the number of elements is going through the roof and I am exceeding the maximum allowable nodes with about half of my model meshed. Right now I am using Solid87 and have flirted with the idea of trying to use a shell element but that would mean starting over about 3 months of work. Any thoughts? I've messed around a lot with setting line lengths on my elements and also I've been setting all thickness lines (.021-.03") to have only 1 element. This is the only way that I can get it to mesh at all.

p.s. thickness is about .05% my longest length worst case but I can't really do a whole lot about that.

 

[Stringmaker]

I can't imagine why it would take 3 months to mesh a fireplace. Why are shape issues just rearing their heads now?

Anyway, shells are your best bet. You may want to consider simplifying your geometry as well.

 

[Transient1]

If you have bending dominant problems, 1 element through the thickness with SOLID87's could result in incorrect answers. 3 months is a long time to mesh a model. You should use shell elements.