1097-0207/asset/NME_left.gif?v=1&s=d337defb1fdf8b3424a76d74a4a8200ecaa73ed0)
Research Article
Generating a mixed mesh of hexahedra, pentahedra and tetrahedra from an underlying tetrahedral mesh
Article first published online: 18 JUL 2000
DOI: 10.1002/1097-0207(20000910/20)49:1/2<17::AID-NME920>3.0.CO;2-U
Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Issue
1097-0207/asset/cover.gif?v=1&s=5d3c2f985f53bee38848d738727a7cada83b15d6 "International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering")
International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering
Special Issue: Unstructured Mesh Generation
Volume 49, Issue 1-2, pages 17–30, 10 - 20 September 2000
Additional Information
How to Cite
Meshkat, S. and Talmor, D. (2000), Generating a mixed mesh of hexahedra, pentahedra and tetrahedra from an underlying tetrahedral mesh. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng., 49: 17–30. doi: 10.1002/1097-0207(20000910/20)49:1/2<17::AID-NME920>3.0.CO;2-U
Publication History
- Issue published online: 18 JUL 2000
- Article first published online: 18 JUL 2000
- Manuscript Revised: 4 AUG 1999
- Manuscript Received: 15 APR 1999
- Abstract
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- hex-dominant;
- hexahedra;
- tetrahedra;
- pentahedra;
- indirect hexahedral meshing
Abstract
The decomposition of an arbitrary polyhedral domain into tetrahedra is currently more tractable than its decomposition into hexahedra. However, for some engineering applications, a mesh composed of hexahedra, or even a mixture of hexahedra, pentahedra and tetrahedra, is preferable. One such application is the p-type finite element method, where the total number of elements should be as small as possible. We show in this paper that given a tetrahedral decomposition, some of the tetrahedra can be efficiently combined into hexahedra and pentahedra. The basis of the method is a classification, using a generalized graph representation, of all possible tetrahedral decompositions of pentahedra and hexahedra. We then present a tetrahedral merge algorithm that utilizes this result to search for the subgraphs of hexahedra and pentahedra in a tetrahedral mesh. The problem of finding an optimal solution is NP-complete. We present heuristics to increase the number of hexahedra and pentahedra, within a reasonable amount of computation time. The algorithm has been implemented in the PolyFEM mesher, and examples showing the typical merge success of the algorithm are included. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.