The FE mesh must be generated prior to the calculation. RFEM creates 1D elements for members; 2D elements for plates, walls, diaphragms, and shells; and, if necessary, 3D elements for solids. The FE analysis requires the division of a structural system into small subsystems represented by finite elements. Equilibrium relations are set up for each element, which result in a linear system of equations with a large number of unknowns. The finer the mesh size of the FE mesh is, the more points are available for the FE analysis. At the same time, computing time increases due to the amount of data to be dealt with: For each further mesh node, additional equations have to be solved.
Find more information about discretization and the Finite Element Method in [1].