Smooth Elements

Use the Edit Elements: Smooth tool to optimize the quality of selected elements.

1. From the Elements ribbon, click the Edit Elements > Smooth tool.

   
   
   Figure 1.

   Elements are colored according to how well they adhere to the pre-set quality requirements defined in the criteria file.
2. Optional: On the guide bar, click to to define the options used to edit elements.
3. Select the element(s) to smooth.
4. Optional: Select anchor nodes in the following ways:
   • Hold Ctrl while left-clicking.
   • Activate the Anchors selector on the guide bar then make your selection.
5. In the microdialog, select a smoothing method then click Smooth.

   Auto

   Calculates the lengths of all of the elements’ edges to finds the extreme values. If the ratio of smallest to largest is below a certain threshold, than the Fix Shape method will be used. If the ratio of smallest to largest is above a certain threshold, than the Fix Size method will be used.

   Fix Size

   Moderates variations in element edge size through the mesh using a modified Laplacian over-relaxation that correctly handles a mixture of quad and tria elements.

   Fix Shape

   Moderates variations in element aspect ratio through the mesh using a modified isoparametric-centroidal over-relaxation that correctly handles a mixtures of quad and tria elements.

   Q.I. Warm, Q.I. Good, Q.I. Ideal

   Sets the quality of the optimization target to the corresponding value on the quality index.

Figure 2.