Abstract: Shape finding is a key step in membrane structure analysis. By taking the adjustment of the finite element mesh as the starting point, the method of layered mesh refinement adopted to optimize the form-finding results of the catenary mask structure. Firstly, the errors between numerical and analytical solutions of membrane structures under normal meshing are obtained, then the structural model was rebuilt, and the new model was divided into different areas according to the error size. The sparse grid was used for the area with small error, while the dense grid was used for the area with large error. Finally, the optimization of form-finding can be realized while keeping the total amount of grid basically unchanged. The results of numerical examples show that the method is feasible and effective, and it is verified that the relatively dense mesh is helpful to improve the accuracy of structural analysis.