In order to provide a guidance to specify the element size dynamically during adaptive finite element mesh generation, adaptive criteria are firstly defined according to the relationships between the geometrical features and the elements of 3D solid. Various modes based on different datum geometrical elements, such as vertex, curve, surface, and so on, are then designed for generating local refmed mesh. With the guidance of the defined criteria, different modes are automatically selected to apply on the appropriate datum objects to program the element size in the local special areas. As a result, the control information of element size is successfully programmed coveting the entire domain based on the geometrical features of 3D solid. A new algorithm based on Delaunay triangulation is then developed for generating 3D adaptive fmite element mesh, in which the element size is dynamically specified to catch the geometrical features and suitable tetrahedron facets are selected to locate interior nodes continuously. As a result, adaptive mesh with good-quality elements is generated. Examples show that the proposed method can be successfully applied to adaptive finite element mesh automatic generation based on the geometrical features of 3D solid.