CleanUp: Improving Quadrilateral Finite Element Meshes

Proceedings, 6th International Meshing Roundtable, Sandia National Laboratories, pp.437-447, October 1997

MESHING
RESEARCH
CORNER

Paul Kinney
MD- IO ECC
PO. Box 2053
Ford Motor Company
Dearborn, MI. 48121
(313) 248-1228
pkinney@ford.com

Abstract
Unless an all quadrilateral (quad) finite element mesher is of a high quality, the mesh it produces can contain misshapen quads. This paper will describe "CleanUp", written to improve an all quad mesh. CleanUp looks at improving node connectivity, boundary and flange patterns, quad shape, and to some extent, quad size. CleanUp is currently used in conjunction with the Paver algorithm developed by Sandia National Laboratories and is a part of their CUBIT software.