[milan96]

Hello all,

I am trying to mesh an artery with a stent implanted. I need small elements near the wall and bigger in the bulk.

What I do now is setting the maximum global dimension for the bigger elements and dimensions for the element near the wall with Surface Mesh Setup. In this way, I get a mesh that goes immediately from the small elements to the max size (see first image). I am using Robust (Octree) method.

How can I increase the growing rate for the elements in the bulk? Something similar to the mesh in the second image.

Thank you!

[Gert-Jan]

You are using Robust Octree meshing. This method starts with volume elements and ends with surface elements. So, ICEM starts with one single huge element around your whole geometry. Then it halves, and halves, and halves.......... until it reaches your mesh size in the body. Then it projects the element on the wall, curves and points, and halves, and halves until it reaches the mesh size that you specified on the wall. So, mainly the growth rate is 2.

What you need is a method that starts from the surface and grows inward into the volume using a growth rate. Therefore you need to throw away the volume mesh from the Robust Octree meshing, while keeping the surface mesh. And then from this surface mesh start creating a volume mesh using Delauney or Advancing Front methods.

Alternatively use ANSYS Workbench Mesher. By default this starts meshing from the surfaces and then grows inward into the volume using your growth rate. The meshes generally have better quality. The disadvantage is that it start from the surface, so your surfaces should be defined very well in order the let the WB Mehser work well. ICEM does not require a nice surface specification. It is forgiven for bad CAD.