Feature Recognition Applications in Mesh Generation

AMD-Vol. 220 Trends in Unstructured Mesh Generation, ASME, pp.117-121, July 1997

MESHING
RESEARCH
CORNER

Timothy J. Tautges:Sandia National Laboratories, PO Box 5800, Albuquerque, NM, 87112
Shang-sheng Liu, Yong Lu, Jason Kraftcheck, Rajit Gadh:Mechanical Engineering Dept., University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706

presented at
The 1997 Joint ASME/ASCE/SES Summer Meeting
June 29-July 2, 1997
Northwestern University
Evanston Illinois

Abstract
The use of feature recognition as part of an overall decomposition-based hexahedral meshing approach is described in this paper. Our meshing approach consists of feature recognition, using a c-loop or hybrid c-loop method, and the use of cutting surfaces to decompose the solid model. These steps are part of an iterative process, which proceeds either until no more features can be recognized or until the model has been completely decomposed into meshable sub-volumes.

This method can greatly reduce the time required to generate an all-hexahedral mesh, either through the use of more efficient meshing algorithms on more of the geometry or by reducing the amount of manual decomposition required to mesh a volume.