In rock mechanics, a visually clean mesh is not the same as a defensible mesh. Poor zoning can mask stress concentrations, smear joint sets, and produce apparently stable factors of safety that fail calibration against field data.
We treat mesh QA as a gate before any constitutive calibration:
• Aspect ratio and gradation near excavations and support elements
• Zone size relative to bolt spacing, joint persistence, and blast damage
• Sensitivity runs with systematic coarsening/refinement around critical paths
• Comparison of principal stress orientations against mapping and borehole breakout
For staged tunnel models, we document mesh decisions alongside construction sequences so reviewers can trace why a zone was refined — not just that it was.
Practical takeaway: invest in mesh QA early. Re-meshing after calibration invalidates weeks of constitutive tuning and undermines peer review.