Mesh Refinement through-thickness of a composite specimen in ACP-ANSYS

- February 19, 2019 at 10:01 am
  
  ahmedalsaadi
  Subscriber
  
  I am trying to perform a tensile test on a composite specimen. I have imported my CAD (Shell) into ACP but I gave the total thickness of my sample 2.64 mm and I have meshed it (see attached image). I have found out that there is only one element through-thickness of the specimen, however this is giving a wrong results because the through-thickness mesh density is very low.
  
  I wonder if anybody knows how to increase the mesh density (refine the mesh) through-thickness?
- February 20, 2019 at 11:54 am
  
  Rohith Patchigolla
  Ansys Employee
  
  Hi Ahmed,
  
  What you see is just a graphical expansion of surface mesh corresponding to surface body. This expansion is based on the thickness input you provide.
  
  You can also turn this off by, unchecking the below option,
  
  View --> Thick Shells and Beams
  
  Hope this helps. Under the hood, it uses shell181/281 (based on midside node setting) element. Please have a look at the these elements in ANSYS help documentation for further reference.
  
  Best regards,
  Rohith