Unconstrained plastering—Hexahedral mesh generation via advancing‐front geometry decomposition

The generation of all‐hexahedral finite element meshes has been an area of ongoing research for the past two decades and remains an open problem. Unconstrained plastering is a new method for generating all‐hexahedral finite element meshes on arbitrary volumetric geometries. Starting from an unmeshed volume boundary, unconstrained plastering generates the interior mesh topology without the constraints of a pre‐defined boundary mesh. Using advancing fronts, unconstrained plastering forms partially defined hexahedral dual sheets by decomposing the geometry into simple shapes, each of which can be meshed with simple meshing primitives. By breaking from the tradition of previous advancing‐front algorithms, which start from pre‐meshed boundary surfaces, unconstrained plastering demonstrates that for the tested geometries, high quality, boundary aligned, orientation insensitive, all‐hexahedral meshes can be generated automatically without pre‐meshing the boundary. Examples are given for meshes from both solid mechanics and geotechnical applications. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Meshing curved wire‐frame models through energy minimization and packing of ellipses

In the initial phase of structural part design, wire‐frame models are sometimes used to represent the shapes of curved surfaces. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of a curved surface requires a well shaped, graded mesh that smoothly interpolates the wire frame. This paper describes an algorithm that generates such a triangular mesh from a wire‐frame model in the following two steps: (1) construct a triangulated surface by minimizing the strain energy of the thin‐plate‐bending model, and (2) generate a mesh by the bubble meshing method on the projected plane and project it back onto the triangulated surface. Since the mesh elements are distorted by the projection, the algorithm generates an anisotropic mesh on the projected plane so that an isotropic mesh results from the final projection back onto the surface. Extensions of the technique to anisotropic meshing and quadrilateral meshing are also discussed. The algorithm can generate a well‐shaped, well‐graded mesh on a smooth curved surface. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Q‐Morph: an indirect approach to advancing front quad meshing

Q‐Morph is a new algorithm for generating all‐quadrilateral meshes on bounded three‐dimensional surfaces. After first triangulating the surface, the triangles are systematically transformed to create an all‐quadrilateral mesh. An advancing front algorithm determines the sequence of triangle transformations. Quadrilaterals are formed by using existing edges in the triangulation, by inserting additional nodes, or by performing local transformations to the triangles. A method typically used for recovering the boundary of a Delaunay mesh is used on interior triangles to recover quadrilateral edges. Any number of triangles may be merged to form a single quadrilateral. Topological clean‐up and smoothing are used to improve final element quality. Q‐Morph generates well‐aligned rows of quadrilaterals parallel to the boundary of the domain while maintaining a limited number of irregular internal nodes. The proposed method also offers the advantage of avoiding expensive intersection calculations commonly associated with advancing front procedures. A series of examples of Q‐Morph meshes are also presented to demonstrate the versatility of the proposed method. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mesh association by projection along smoothed‐normal‐vector fields: Association of closed manifolds

The necessity to associate two geometrically distinct meshes arises in many engineering applications. Current mesh‐association algorithms have generally been developed for piecewise‐linear geometry approximations, and their extension to the high‐order geometry representations corresponding to high‐order finite element methods is nontrivial. In the present work, we therefore propose a mesh‐association method for high‐order geometry representations. The associative map defines the image of a point on a mesh as its projection along a so‐called smoothed‐normal‐vector field onto the other mesh. The smoothed‐normal‐vector field is defined by the solution of a modified Helmholtz equation with right‐hand‐side data corresponding to the normal‐vector field. Classical regularity theory conveys that the smoothed‐normal‐vector field is continuously differentiable, which renders it well suited for a projection‐based association. Moreover, the regularity of the smoothed‐normal‐vector field increases with the regularity of the normal‐vector field and, hence, the smoothness of the association increases with the smoothness of the geometry representations. The proposed association method thus accommodates the higher regularity that can be provided by high‐order geometry representations. Several important properties of smoothed‐normal‐projection association are established by analysis and by numerical experiments on closed manifolds. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A finite‐volume particle‐in‐cell method for the numerical treatment of Maxwell‐Lorentz equations on boundary‐fitted meshes

A new conceptual framework solving numerically the time‐dependent Maxwell–Lorentz equations on a non‐rectangular quadrilateral mesh in two space dimensions is presented. Beyond a short review of the applied particle treatment based on the particle‐in‐cell method, a finite‐volume scheme for the numerical approximation of the Maxwell equations is introduced using non‐rectangular quadrilateral grid arrangements. The coupling of a high‐resolution FV Maxwell solver with the PIC method is a new approach in the context of self‐consistent charged particle simulation in electromagnetic fields. Furthermore, first simulation results of the time‐dependent behaviour of an externally applied‐B ion diode developed at the Forschungszentrum in Karlsruhe are presented. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Robust generation of high‐quality unstructured meshes on realistic biomedical geometry

In this paper, we propose efficient and robust unstructured mesh generation methods based on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, in order to obtain a patient‐specific geometry for high‐fidelity numerical simulations. Surface extraction from medical images is carried out mainly using open source libraries, including the Insight Segmentation and Registration Toolkit and the Visualization Toolkit, into the form of facet surface representation. To create high‐quality surface meshes, we propose two approaches. One is a direct advancing front method, and the other is a modified decimation method. The former emphasizes the controllability of local mesh density, and the latter enables semi‐automated mesh generation from low‐quality discrete surfaces. An advancing‐front‐based volume meshing method is employed. Our approaches are demonstrated with high‐fidelity tetrahedral meshes around medical geometries extracted from CT/MRI data. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mesh independent analysis of shell‐like structures

Mesh independent analysis is motivated by the desire to use accurate geometric models represented as equations rather than approximated by a mesh. The trial and test functions are approximated or interpolated on a background mesh that is independent of the geometry. This background mesh is easy to generate because it does not have to conform to the geometry. Essential boundary conditions can be applied using the implicit boundary method where the trial and test functions are constructed utilizing approximate step functions such that the boundary conditions are guaranteed to be satisfied. This approach has been demonstrated for two‐dimensional (2D) and three‐dimensional (3D) structural analysis and is extended in this paper to model shell‐like structures. The background mesh consists of 3D elements that use uniform B‐spline approximations, and the shell geometry is assumed to be defined as parametric surfaces to allow arbitrarily complex shell‐like structures to be modeled. Several benchmark problems are used to study the validity of these 3D B‐spline shell elements. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

LayTracks: a new approach to automated geometry adaptive quadrilateral mesh generation using medial axis transform

A new mesh generation algorithm called ‘LayTracks’, to automatically generate an all quad mesh that is adapted to the variation of geometric feature size in the domain is described. LayTracks combines the merits of two popular direct techniques for quadrilateral mesh generation—quad meshing by decomposition and advancing front quad meshing. While the MAT has been used for the domain decomposition before, this is the first attempt to use the MAT, for the robust subdivision of a complex domain into a well defined sub‐domain called ‘Tracks’, for terminating the advancing front of the mesh elements without complex interference checks and to use radius function for providing sizing function for adaptive meshing. The process of subdivision of a domain is analogous to, formation of railway tracks by laying rails on the ground. Each rail starts from a node on the boundary and propagates towards the medial axis (MA) and then from the MA towards the boundary. Quadrilateral elements are then obtained by placing nodes on these rails and connecting them inside each track, formed by adjacent rails. The algorithm has been implemented and tested on some typical geometries and the quality of the output mesh obtained are presented. Extension of this technique to all hexahedral meshing is discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Large‐eddy simulation of separated leading‐edge flow in general co‐ordinates

An incompressible separated transitional boundary‐layer flow on a flat plate with a semi‐circular leading edge has been simulated and a very good agreement with the experimental data has been obtained, demonstrating how this technique may be applied even when finite difference formulae are used in the periodic direction. The entire transition process has been elucidated and vortical structures have been identified at different stages during the transition process. Efficient numerical methods for the large‐eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent flows in complex geometry are developed. The methods used are described in detail: body‐fitted co‐ordinates with the contravariant velocity components of the general Navier–Stokes equations discretized on a staggered mesh with a dynamic subgrid‐scale model in general co‐ordinates. The main source of computational expense in simulations for incompressible flows is due to the solution of a Poisson equation for pressure. This is especially true for flows in complex geometry. Fourier techniques can be employed to speed up the pressure solution significantly for a flow which is periodic in one dimension. With simple conditions fulfilled, it is possible to Fourier transform a discrete elliptic equation such as the Poisson equation for the pressure field, decomposing the problem into a set of two‐dimensional problems of similar type (Poisson‐like). Even when a complex geometry and body‐fitted curvilinear co‐ordinates are used in the other two dimensions, as in the present case, the resulting Fourier‐transformed 2D problems are much more efficiently solved than the 3D problem by iterative means. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Voxel‐based meshing and unit‐cell analysis of textile composites

Unit‐cell homogenization techniques are frequently used together with the finite element method to compute effective mechanical properties for a wide range of different composites and heterogeneous materials systems. For systems with very complicated material arrangements, mesh generation can be a considerable obstacle to usage of these techniques. In this work, pixel‐based (2D) and voxel‐based (3D) meshing concepts borrowed from image processing are thus developed and employed to construct the finite element models used in computing the micro‐scale stress and strain fields in the composite. The potential advantage of these techniques is that generation of unit‐cell models can be automated, thus requiring far less human time than traditional finite element models. Essential ideas and algorithms for implementation of proposed techniques are presented. In addition, a new error estimator based on sensitivity of virtual strain energy to mesh refinement is presented and applied. The computational costs and rate of convergence for the proposed methods are presented for three different mesh‐refinement algorithms: uniform refinement; selective refinement based on material boundary resolution; and adaptive refinement based on error estimation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The generation of hexahedral meshes for assembly geometry: survey and progress

The finite element method is being used today to model component assemblies in a wide variety of application areas, including structural mechanics, fluid simulations, and others. Generating hexahedral meshes for these assemblies usually requires the use of geometry decomposition, with different meshing algorithms applied to different regions. While the primary motivation for this approach remains the lack of an automatic, reliable all‐hexahedral meshing algorithm, requirements in mesh quality and mesh configuration for typical analyses are also factors. For these reasons, this approach is also sometimes required when producing other types of unstructured meshes. This paper will review progress to date in automating many parts of the hex meshing process, which has halved the time to produce all‐hex meshes for large assemblies. Particular issues which have been exposed due to this progress will also be discussed, along with their applicability to the general unstructured meshing problem. Published in 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geometry independence for a meshing engine for 2D manifolds

The ‘meshing engine’ of the title is a software component that generates unstructured triangular meshes of two‐dimensional triangles for a variety of contexts. The mesh generation is based on the well‐known technique of iterative Delaunay refinement, for which the Euclidean metric is intrinsic. The meshing engine is to be connected to applications specific host programs which can use a geometry that is different from the intrinsic geometry of the mesh, i.e. locally, the Euclidean plane. An application may require a surface mesh for embedding in a three‐dimensional geometry, or it might use a Riemannian metric to specify a required anisotropy in the mesh, or both. We focus on how the meshing engine can be designed to be independent of the embedding geometry of a host program but conveniently linked to it. A crucial tool for these goals is the use of an appropriate local co‐ordinate system for the triangles as seen by the meshing engine. We refer to it as the longest edge co‐ordinate system. Our reference to ‘linking’ the meshing engine and host system is both general and technical in the sense that the example meshes provided in the paper have all been generated by the same object code of a prototype of such a meshing engine linked to host programs defining different embedding geometries. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quasi‐dual reciprocity boundary‐element method for incompressible flow: Application to the diffusive–advective equation

This work presents a new boundary‐element method formulation called quasi‐dual reciprocity formulation for heat transfer problems, considering diffusive and advective terms. The present approach has some characteristics similar to those of the so‐called dual‐reciprocity formulation; however, the mathematical developments of the quasi‐dual reciprocity approach reduces approximation errors due to global domain interpolation. Some one‐ and two‐dimensional examples are presented, the results being compared against those obtained from analytical and dual‐reciprocity formulations. The method convergence is evaluated through analyses where the mesh is successively refined for various Peclet numbers, in order to assess the effect of the advective term. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the discrete core of quadrilateral mesh refinement

We present a new approach to quadrilateral mesh refinement, which reduces the problem to its structural core. The resulting problem formulation belongs to a class of discrete problems, network‐flow problems, which has been thoroughly investigated and is well understood. The network‐flow model is flexible enough to allow the simultaneous incorporation of various aspects such as the control of angles and aspect ratios, local density control, and templates (meshing primitives) for the internal refinement of mesh elements. We show that many different variants of the general quadrilateral mesh‐refinement problem are covered. In particular, we present a novel strategy, which provably finds a conformal refinement unless there is none. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A consistent point‐searching algorithm for solution interpolation in unstructured meshes consisting of 4‐node bilinear quadrilateral elements

To translate and transfer solution data between two totally different meshes (i.e. mesh 1 and mesh 2), a consistent point‐searching algorithm for solution interpolation in unstructured meshes consisting of 4‐node bilinear quadrilateral elements is presented in this paper. The proposed algorithm has the following significant advantages: (1) The use of a point‐searching strategy allows a point in one mesh to be accurately related to an element (containing this point) in another mesh. Thus, to translate/transfer the solution of any particular point from mesh 2 to mesh 1, only one element in mesh 2 needs to be inversely mapped. This certainly minimizes the number of elements, to which the inverse mapping is applied. In this regard, the present algorithm is very effective and efficient. (2) Analytical solutions to the local co‐ordinates of any point in a four‐node quadrilateral element, which are derived in a rigorous mathematical manner in the context of this paper, make it possible to carry out an inverse mapping process very effectively and efficiently. (3) The use of consistent interpolation enables the interpolated solution to be compatible with an original solution and, therefore guarantees the interpolated solution of extremely high accuracy. After the mathematical formulations of the algorithm are presented, the algorithm is tested and validated through a challenging problem. The related results from the test problem have demonstrated the generality, accuracy, effectiveness, efficiency and robustness of the proposed consistent point‐searching algorithm. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three‐dimensional grayscale‐free topology optimization using a level‐set based r‐refinement method

In this paper, we propose a three‐dimensional (3D) grayscale‐free topology optimization method using a conforming mesh to the structural boundary, which is represented by the level‐set method. The conforming mesh is generated in an r‐refinement manner; that is, it is generated by moving the nodes of the Eulerian mesh that maintains the level‐set function. Although the r‐refinement approach for the conforming mesh generation has many benefits from an implementation aspect, it has been considered as a difficult task to stably generate 3D conforming meshes in the r‐refinement manner. To resolve this task, we propose a new level‐set based r‐refinement method. Its main novelty is a procedure for minimizing the number of the collapsed elements whose nodes are moved to the structural boundary in the conforming mesh; in addition, we propose a new procedure for improving the quality of the conforming mesh, which is inspired by Laplacian smoothing. Because of these novelties, the proposed r‐refinement method can generate 3D conforming meshes at a satisfactory level, and 3D grayscale‐free topology optimization is realized. The usefulness of the proposed 3D grayscale‐free topology optimization method is confirmed through several numerical examples. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A cut‐cell non‐conforming Cartesian mesh method for compressible and incompressible flow

This paper details a multigrid‐accelerated cut‐cell non‐conforming Cartesian mesh methodology for the modelling of inviscid compressible and incompressible flow. This is done via a single equation set that describes sub‐, trans‐, and supersonic flows. Cut‐cell technology is developed to furnish body‐fitted meshes with an overlapping mesh as starting point, and in a manner which is insensitive to surface definition inconsistencies. Spatial discretization is effected via an edge‐based vertex‐centred finite volume method. An alternative dual‐mesh construction strategy, similar to the cell‐centred method, is developed. Incompressibility is dealt with via an artificial compressibility algorithm, and stabilization achieved with artificial dissipation. In compressible flow, shocks are captured via pressure switch‐activated upwinding. The solution process is accelerated with full approximation storage (FAS) multigrid where coarse meshes are generated automatically via a volume agglomeration methodology. This is the first time that the proposed discretization and solution methods are employed to solve a single compressible–incompressible equation set on cut‐cell Cartesian meshes. The developed technology is validated by numerical experiments. The standard discretization and alternative methods were found equivalent in accuracy and computational cost. The multigrid implementation achieved decreases in CPU time of up to one order of magnitude. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new automatic adaptive 3D solid mesh generation scheme for thin‐walled structures

A new algorithm to generate three‐dimensional (3D) mesh for thin‐walled structures is proposed. In the proposed algorithm, the mesh generation procedure is divided into two distinct phases. In the first phase, a surface mesh generator is employed to generate a surface mesh for the mid‐surface of the thin‐walled structure. The surface mesh generator used will control the element size properties of the final mesh along the surface direction. In the second phase, specially designed algorithms are used to convert the surface mesh to a 3D solid mesh by extrusion in the surface normal direction of the surface. The extrusion procedure will control the refinement levels of the final mesh along the surface normal direction. If the input surface mesh is a pure quadrilateral mesh and refinement level in the surface normal direction is uniform along the whole surface, all hex‐meshes will be produced. Otherwise, the final 3D meshes generated will eventually consist of four types of solid elements, namely, tetrahedron, prism, pyramid and hexahedron. The presented algorithm is highly flexible in the sense that, in the first phase, any existing surface mesh generator can be employed while in the second phase, the extrusion procedure can accept either a triangular or a quadrilateral or even a mixed mesh as input and there is virtually no constraint on the grading of the input mesh. In addition, the extrusion procedure development is able to handle structural joints formed by the intersections of different surfaces. Numerical experiments indicate that the present algorithm is applicable to most practical situations and well‐shaped elements are generated. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Remeshing for metal forming simulations—Part I: Two‐dimensional quadrilateral remeshing

In this paper, a general framework of practical two‐dimensional quadrilateral remeshing, which includes the determination of remeshing time, automatic quadrilateral mesh generation, and data transfer process, will be formulated. In particular, the current work contains new algorithms of mesh density specification according to the distribution of effective strain‐rate gradients, mesh density smoothing by fast Fourier transform (FFT) and low‐pass filtering techniques, coarsening it by node placement scheme, and a modified Laplacian mesh smoothing technique. The efficiency of the developed remeshing scheme was tested through three practical two‐dimensional metal forming simulations. The results clearly indicate that the algorithms proposed in this study make it possible to simulate two‐dimensional metal forming problems efficiently and automatically. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.