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COMSOL Multiphysics®
Hanna Gothäll
Product Specialist
Geometry and Mesh
COMSOL
Agenda
▪ FEM is based on discretization of the geometry into small units called mesh elements
▪ The finite element mesh serves two purposes:
Represents the solution field
Represents the geometry
▪ The mesh operation discretizes the domains into domain mesh elements
Their faces, edges, and corners are called mesh faces, mesh edges, and mesh vertices,
respectively
▪ The boundaries defined in the geometry are discretized into mesh elements, referred
to as boundary elements
Default: Must conform with the mesh elements of the adjacent domains
Control «probe»
Number of elements
When Is a Mesh Usable?
▪ Plot geomapproxdist
Maximum distance to the geometry from a node point in the element
Useful if the solver log reports that node points of curved elements have been moved to
avoid inverting curved elements
▪ Allow for smaller elements on curved boundaries for more accurate representation
The color indicates how much the node points deviate from the After refining the mesh, the node points lie on the geometry. A Full geometry where the rectangle
geometry. The wireframe shows the relatively coarse mesh. single colored plot, here blue, indicates zero deviation. represents the zoomed in part.
Linearized Geometry Shape
Trademarks are the property of their respective owners. See www.comsol.com/tm. Support for implementation of the ODB++ Format was provided by Mentor
Graphics Corporation pursuant to the ODB++ Solutions Development Partnership General Terms and Conditions (http://www.odb-sa.com).
Online Resources
▪ Blog posts:
How to Inspect Your Mesh in COMSOL Multiphysics®
How to Automatically Remove Small Details in Your Model Geometry
Best Practices for Meshing Domains with Different Size Settings
▪ Knowledge Base:
Performing a Mesh Refinement Study