How to Mesh a thin body in partial contact with a thick body?

This article will inform the reader on how to use Ansys Meshing to mesh a thin body that is in partial contact with a thick body.  It shows how to sweep both bodies to, especially, obtain many thin layers in the thin body.  The method includes Multizone and Sweep meshing methods.  It assumes that Ansys SpaceClaim is used as the geometry preprocessor; however, Ansys Discovery could be used as well for with similar functions.  The example has one thin body and 4 thick bodies of different shapes. 

Step1 – SpaceClaim: Share Topology in SpaceClaim/Discovery 

Step2 – Ansys Meshing: Set desired global and local meshing sizes 

Step3 – Ansys Meshing: Create a MultiZone meshing Method for the thin body 

• Select the thin body with Geometry Selection 
• Set the “Sweep Element Size to obtain the desired number cell layers/divisions 

Step4 – Ansys Meshing: Create a Sweep meshing Method for the thick bodies 

1. Select the thick bodies with Geometry Selection 
2. Set the Sweep Method 
3. Select the desired number of divisions 

Step5 – Ansys Meshing: Mesh the thick bodies 

1. Control left-click the Sweep method bodies 
2. Right-click the “Generate Mesh on Selected Bodies 

Step6 – Ansys Meshing: Mesh the thin body 

1. Left-click the thin body 
2. Right-click the “Generate Mesh on Selected Bodies 

The resulting mesh has thin layers in the thin body. 

The resulting mesh should be conformal at the interfaces/contacts. 

It is not necessary to create Mesh Interfaces because the topology is shared and the mesh is conformal.