To obtain information on the mesh, select Tools
Query from the main menu bar. You can request information on the following:
The total number of nodes and elements in a selected part, part instance, or region along with the number of elements of each element shape.
The type and connectivity of a selected element.
The positive and negative sides of shell and membrane faces.
The direction of beam and truss tangents.
The mesh stack orientation.
Whether any edges of boundary faces have incompatible interfaces, cracks, or gaps and whether any edges intersect other faces.
If the part or the assembly contains multiple meshed regions, use the following techniques to specify the region you want to query:
If the region contains a native mesh:
Use the mouse to select the desired region in the viewport, and then click mouse button 2 when your selection is complete. For more information on selecting objects, see Chapter 6, “Selecting objects within the viewport.”
If the region contains an orphan mesh imported from an output database:
Click Sets on the right side of the prompt area. A dialog box appears with a list of all of the element sets that you have created from the orphan mesh. Select the element set of your choice, and then click Continue. For information on creating sets, see Chapter 48, “The Set and Surface toolsets.”
To obtain mesh information:
From the Object field in the context bar, select a part or select the assembly.
From the main menu bar, select ToolsQuery.
Tip:
You can also select the query tool 
in the toolbar.
ABAQUS/CAE displays the Query dialog box.
From the Query dialog box, select one of the following queries and click Apply:
Shell/Membrane normals
ABAQUS/CAE displays the part or the assembly using the shaded render style. The side of the shell where the surface normal coincides with the shell normal (top face) is shaded brown; the opposite side (bottom face) is shaded purple.
Beam/Truss tangents
ABAQUS/CAE displays cyan arrows indicating the direction of the beam tangents.
Mesh stack orientation
For hexahedral and wedge elements, ABAQUS/CAE colors the top face purple and the bottom face brown. Similarly, arrows indicate the orientation of quadrilateral elements. In addition, ABAQUS/CAE highlights any element faces and edges that have inconsistent orientation.
Part mesh or Instance mesh
Select a part or part instance. ABAQUS/CAE displays the following in the message area:
The name of the part or part instance
The number of nodes and elements in the part or part instance
The number of elements for each element shape
Tip: To enlarge the message area so that you can view the entire listing at once, drag the top edge of the message area upward.
Element
Select an element. ABAQUS/CAE displays the following in the message area:
The element label
The element topology
The element type that ABAQUS/CAE will use for the analysis
Nodal connectivity
Mesh gaps/intersections
Select a part instance. ABAQUS/CAE highlights any edges of boundary faces of the model in the current viewport with the following:
Incompatible interfaces
Cracks or gaps
Intersections with other faces
Region mesh
Select a region. ABAQUS/CAE displays the following in the message area:
The region identifier
The number of nodes in the region
The number of elements in the region
The number of elements in the model for each element shape
The element type that ABAQUS/CAE will use for the analysis
The geometric order
The mesh technique applied to the region
The mesh algorithm and any options applied to the region
The number of logical corners in the region if ABAQUS/CAE used structured meshing to mesh the region
Click Cancel to close the Query dialog box.
