Mesh Quality and Definition

Mesh Quality Overview

Generally, there are four criteria to evaluate the qualities of the solid mesh, which are aspect ratio,
skewness, orthogonality, and smoothness. Aspect ratio is the most important criteria to evaluate the
qualities ofeach individual element. On the other hand, skewness, orthogonality and
smoothness, show the quality prediction for two adjacent elements sharing the same inner face. The
definition of each quality is explained below.
Aspect Ratio of Triangle (Element)
The aspect ratio of a triangle is defined as 2Ri/Ro where Ri is the radius of the circle inscribed in a
triangle and Ro is the radius of the circle circumscribed around the triangle. The aspect ratio of a
triangle lies between 0 and 1. The larger aspect ratio implies the better quality of the triangle. For the
triangle with an area of zero, the aspect ratio is 0. For the equilateral triangle, the aspect ratio is 1.

Fig. 1: The definition of triangle aspect ratio

Aspect Ratio of Tetrahedron

The aspect ratio of the tetrahedron is defined as 3Ri/Ro, where Ri is the radius of the sphere inscribed
in the tetrahedron and Ro is the radius of the sphere circumscribed around the tetrahedron. The
aspect ratio of the tetrahedron also lies between 0 and 1, and the larger aspect ratio implies the
better quality of the tetrahedron. For a tetrahedron with zero volume, the aspect ratio is 0. For a
equilateral tetrahedron, the aspect ratio is 1. As shown in the figure below, the left one is the front
view of an equilateral tetrahedron element, whose aspect ratio is good. The element on the right is
the tetrahedron by decreasing the height of the equilateral one , which its aspect ratio is poor.

Fig. 2: Good aspect ratio V.S. poor aspect ratio for tetrahedron element

Aspect Ratio of Prism

The aspect ratio of a prism is defined as (Aupper+Alower)/2 where Aupper is the aspect ratio of the upper
triangle of a prism and Alower is the aspect ratio of the lower triangle of a prism. Calculating based
on the definition of triangle aspect ratio, the aspect ratio of the prism also lies between 0 and 1. Large
aspect ratio implies better quality of the prism. The height of prism is not considerd into the definition
of aspect ratio. As shown below, the aspect ratio of the left prism element seen from the top view is 1,
which is good. The element on the right is the triangle by decreasing the height of the equilateral
one, which its aspect ratio is poor.

Fig. 3: Good aspect ratio V.S. poor aspect ratio for prism element

Skewness
Skewness is defined as

where e is inner face center, e is the connect center of

and A is area of face e. The inner faces may be triangles or quadrangles. P and E are centers of cells
adjacent to face e. Cells may be tetra, pyramid, prism or hexa solid elements. The quality of
skewness indicates the distance between the connect center and face center. And its value is
normalized by the square root of inner face area. If these two centers, e and e, are coincident, the
skewness is equal to 1. The skewness is influenced by the area of inner face. The smaller skewness
implies a bigger distance between two centers. By definition, the skewness may be negative. As
shown in Fig 6-108, the skewness is good for the left face, and is bad for the right one.

Fig. 4: The definition of skewness

Fig. 5: Good skewness V.S. poor skewness

Orthogonality
Orthogonality is defined as the angle in degrees between
and

, connection vector of cell centers

, normal vector of inner face. The orthogonality lies between 0 and 180. The value of 0

implies the best situation, and the larger value indicates poor orthogonality.

Fig. 6: The definition of orthogonality

Two examples shown in below figure describe the good orthogonality and the poor one.

Fig. 7: Good orthogonality V.S. poor orthogonality

Fig. 8: Good orthogonality V.S. poor orthogonality

Smoothness
Smoothness is defined as volume ratio of two cells adjacent to the same inner face, and it is always
the ratio of the small volume to the large one. The smoothness lies between 0 and 1, and the larger
smoothness implies the smoother volume of adjacent elements.
The quality ranges for each criterion are listed in the following table.
Mesh for Plastic and Cooling
Channel

Mesh for Mold Base

Good Quality
Range

Poor Quality
Range

Good Quality
Range

Poor Quality
Range

Mesh Quality

Range

Aspect Ratio

(0.0, 1.0) (0.3, 1.0)

(0.0, 0.3)

(0.01, 1.0)

(0.0, 0.01)

Skewness

(-, 1.0)

(-,0.4)

(0.01, 1.0)

(-,0.01)

(0.4, 1.0)

Orthogonality (0, 180)

Smoothness

(0, 60)

(0.0, 1.0) (0.08, 1.0)

(60, 180)

(0, 89)

(89, 180)

(0.0, 0.08)

(0.008, 1.0)

(0.0, 0.008)