1D MESHING:

• Used for geometries having one of the dimensions very large in comparison to rest of the two (Refer fig.1).

•Element Shape: Line (Refer fig.2)

•Element Type: Rod, beam, Pipe etc,.

•Practical Example: Long shaft, beam, pin joint, Connection elements. In solidworks, We use beam element for 1D meshing. Beam elements are capable of resisting axial, bending, shear, and torsional loads.

2D MESHING

•Used for geometries having two of the dimensions very large in comparison to last dimension.

•Element shape: Triangle

•Element type: Thin shell, membrane, plate.

•Practical application: Sheet metal parts, Plastic components like instrument panel

3D MESHING

•Used for all 3D objects.

•Element shape in solidworks: Tetragonal.

•Element type: Solid

•Practical application: Gear Box, Engine Block, Crankshaft.

Appropriate meshing:

You can mesh a sheetmetal part with Solid tetrahedral element but meshing a sheetmetal with shell element gives you approximate result and reduce computational effort which will be handy for any simulation engineer. likewise, you should mesh a beam or rod using beam  element.