Mesh control with three-dimensional elements
The only three-dimensional element within SOLIDWORKS Simulation is the solid element. We worked with this element in Chapter 6, Analyses of Components with Solid Elements, and Chapter 7, Analyses of Components with Mixed Elements.
As with the plane element demonstrated in the previous section, the idea of mesh control and refinement can also be applied when discretizing with solid elements. However, it is important to note that for large-scale structures, solid elements can quickly rack up degrees of freedom that will overwhelm your machine's memory. For this reason, you may find that the best compromise to arrive at a reliable result within a manageable computational time is to adopt the hybrid mesh refinement, where you combine a moderate global mesh with a locally refined mesh detail in the intricate regions. Figure 10.13 shows the difference between the number of elements and nodes for a moderate mesh (Figure 10.13a), a moderate...