Shell element size and thickness

Altair Forum User
Altair Forum User
Altair Employee
edited October 2020 in Community Q&A

Hello

I want to do linear static analysis of a plate of irregular surface geometry. It has a uniform thickness(other two dimensions of the whole component are more as compared thickness) of 6 mm.

I meshed the mid surface with Shell Mesh (Tria Element) with element size 5mm. 

Is it okay to have element size less than that its thickness? If I go for higher element size then it won't match with the surface.

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Answers

  • Altair Forum User
    Altair Forum User
    Altair Employee
    edited March 2015

    Hi Vij,

     

    I don't see a relationship between element thickness and size of the element for a linear static analysis.

     

    There is a thumb rule that if the total thickness of the component is 1/10th or more of the length or size of the component it is desirable to use shell elements. For instance, a thin sheet metal.

  • Altair Forum User
    Altair Forum User
    Altair Employee
    edited March 2015

    Thanks for the quick reply.

    Yes my model follows the thumb rule. 

  • Altair Forum User
    Altair Forum User
    Altair Employee
    edited March 2015

    To decide modelization of your part, you have to examine the behavior of your real part, not on the size of finites elements.

    So if your part has thickness of 6mm and its small dimension is about 100mm for example, you could consider that your part has 'shell behavior'.

     

    Again, it's you and only you could decide in which direction you have to go image/emoticons/default_smile.png' alt=':)' srcset='/emoticons/smile@2x.png 2x' width='20' height='20'>

  • Rahul_P1
    Rahul_P1
    Altair Employee
    edited March 2015

    Perhaps see page 95 section 9.3 of the HyperWorks student guide, the topic about how to choose element type. 

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