{"id":458553,"date":"2026-05-20T14:08:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T14:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/forums\/topic\/nanoindentation-large-deflection-failed-due-to-highly-distorted-elements\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T14:08:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T14:08:35","slug":"nanoindentation-large-deflection-failed-due-to-highly-distorted-elements","status":"publish","type":"topic","link":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/forums\/topic\/nanoindentation-large-deflection-failed-due-to-highly-distorted-elements\/","title":{"rendered":"Nanoindentation large deflection failed due to highly distorted elements"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&lt;p&gt;Hello Ansys community,&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&nbsp;&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I&#8217;ve been working on this 2D axisymmetric nanoindentation problem for a little while but still not able to figure out a fix. The problem is simply a half-sphere indenter drilled into the surface of a rubber block, and the goal was to indent 2.5mm into it(please see the image below). Element type: plane 182.&nbsp;&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/20-05-2026-1779283960-mceclip3.jpg\" \/>&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I first tried the uniform mesh, and it was able to go to 1.4mm deep(failed due to highly distorted elements and unconvergence). No matter how I modify the mesh, make it extremely fine or slightly coarse, it still fails around 1.3mm to 1.4mm range.&nbsp;&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Then I tried adaptive mesh, still fails at 1.4mm, and it doesn&#8217;t seem to improve much&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;commands be:&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p dir=&#8221;ltr&#8221;&gt;&#8221;&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;ALLSEL,ALL&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;ESEL,S,ENAME,,182&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;CM,C1,ELEM&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;ALLSEL,ALL&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;NLAD,C1,ON,,,1&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;NLAD,C1,ADD,MESH,SHAPE,110&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;NLMESH,NLAY,50&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;NLMESH,GRAD,1&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;NLMESH,SRAT,0.10&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;NLAD,ALL,LIST,ALL&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;NLMESH,LIST&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;ALLSEL,ALL&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;p dir=&#8221;ltr&#8221;&gt;&lt;span style=&#8221;font-size: 14pt;&#8221;&gt;&#8221;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p dir=&#8221;ltr&#8221;&gt;I set the corner angle to be 110 degrees because the adaptive mesh never seems to get triggered if it&#8217;s a bigger angle&#8230;&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;My question is how to fix the non linear adaptive mesh commands so it actually helps and indents to 2.5mm.&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&nbsp;&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thanks!&lt;\/p&gt;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-458553","topic","type-topic","status-publish","hentry","topic-tag-2dmaterialsandmetals-1","topic-tag-adaptivemesh-2","topic-tag-indenter","topic-tag-large-deformation","topic-tag-nonlinear"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"custom_fields":[{"0":{"_bbp_forum_id":["27791"],"_bbp_topic_id":["458553"],"_bbp_subscription":["689913","240"],"_bbp_author_ip":["2601:46:c47d:a600:6840:d9b0:3b16:ae32"],"_bbp_last_reply_id":["458657"],"_bbp_last_active_id":["458657"],"_bbp_last_active_time":["2026-05-21 19:04:26"],"_bbp_reply_count":["7"],"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":["0"],"_bbp_voice_count":["2"],"_bbp_engagement":["689913","240"],"_btv_view_count":["64"],"_bbp_topic_status":["unanswered"]},"test":"zwang05villanova-edu"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics\/458553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/topic"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics\/458553\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}