Cubit 15.2 User Documentation
The metrics used for tetrahedral elements in CUBIT are summarized in the following table:
|
Function Name
|
Dimension
|
Full Range
|
Acceptable Range
|
Reference
|
|
Aspect Ratio Beta
|
L^0
|
1 to inf
|
1 to 3
|
1
|
|
Aspect Ratio Gamma
|
L^0
|
1 to inf
|
1 to 3
|
1
|
|
Element Volume
|
L^3
|
-inf to inf
|
None
|
1
|
| Condition No |
L^0
|
1 to inf
|
1 to 3
|
2
|
|
Jacobian
|
L^3
|
-inf to inf
|
None
|
2
|
|
Scaled Jacobian
|
L^0
|
-1 to 1
|
0.2 to 1
|
2
|
|
Shape
|
L^0
|
0 to 1
|
0.2 to 1
|
3
|
|
Relative Size
|
L^0
|
0 to 1
|
0.2 to 1
|
3 |
| Shape and Size |
L^0
|
0 to 1
|
0.2 to 1
|
3
|
| Distortion |
L^0
|
-1 to 1
|
0.6 to 1
|
4
|
Aspect Ratio Beta: CR / (3.0 * IR) where CR = circumsphere radius, IR = inscribed sphere radius
Aspect Ratio Gamma: Srms**3 / (8.479670*V) where Srms = sqrt(Sum(Si**2)/6), Si = edge length
Element Volume: (1/6) * Jacobian at corner node
Condition No.: Condition number of the Jacobian matrix at any corner
Jacobian: Minimum pointwise volume at any corner
Scaled Jacobian: Minimum Jacobian divided by the lengths of 3 edge vectors
Shape: 3/Mean Ratio of weighted Jacobian Matrix
Relative Size: Min(J, 1/J), where J is the determinant of the weighted Jacobian matrix
Shape & Size: Product of Shape and Relative Size Metrics
Distortion: {min(|J|)/actual volume}*parent volume, parent volume = 1/6 for tet
For tetra10 elements, the distortion metric can be used in conjunction with the shape metric to determine whether the mid-edge nodes have caused negative Jacobians in the element. The shape metric only considers the linear (parent) element. If a tetra10 has a non-positive shape value then the element has areas of negative Jacobians. However, for elements with a positive shape metric value, if the distortion value is non-positive then the element contains negative Jacobians due to the mid-side node positions.
Note that, for tetrahedral elements, there are several definitions of the term "aspect ratio" used in literature and in software packages. Please be aware that the various definitions will not necessarily give the same or even comparable results.