Automatic Conversion of Triangular Finite Element Meshes to Quadrilateral Elements

International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, Wiley, Vol 31, pp.67-84, 1991

MESHING
RESEARCH
CORNER

Department of Mechanical Engineerinq, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, U.S.A.

Abstract
A method is presented for the fully automatic conversion of a general finite element mesh containing triangular elements into a mesh composed of exclusively quadrilateral elements. The initial mesh may be constructed of entirely triangular elements or may consist of a mixture of triangular and quadrilateral elements. The technique used employs heuristic procedures and criteria to selectively combine adjacent triangular elements into quadrilaterals based on preestablished criteria for element quality. Additional procedures are included to eliminate isolated triangles. The method operates completely without user intervention once the nodal co-ordinates and element connectivity of the original mesh are supplied.