An All-Hex Meshing Strategy for Bifurcation Geometries in Vascular Flow Simulation

Proceedings, 14th International Meshing Roundtable, Springer-Verlag, pp.363-376, September 11-14 2005

MESHING
RESEARCH
CORNER

14th International Meshing Roundtable
San Diego, CA, USA
September 11-14, 2005

Chaman Singh Verma and Paul F. Fischer
Mathematics and Computer Science Division,
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439

Seung E. Lee
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, MA 02319

F. Loth
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60607

Abstract
We develop an automated all-hex meshing strategy for bifurcation geometries arising in subject-specific computational hemodynamics modeling. The key components of our approach are the use of a natural coordinate system, derived from solutions to Laplace’s equation, that follows the tubular vessels (arteries, veins, or grafts) and the use of a tripartitioned-based mesh topology that leads to balanced high-quality meshes in each of the branches. The method is designed for situations where the required number of hexahedral elements is relatively small (~ 1000 - 4000), as is the case when spectral elements are employed in simulations at transitional Reynolds numbers or when finite elements are employed in viscous dominated regimes.

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