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Automatic conversion of triangular finite element meshes to quadrilateral elements
Author(s) -
Johnston Bruce P.,
Sullivan John M.,
Kwasnik Andrew
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.421
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1097-0207
pISSN - 0029-5981
DOI - 10.1002/nme.1620310105
Subject(s) - quadrilateral , polygon mesh , finite element method , triangle mesh , mesh generation , element (criminal law) , heuristic , volume mesh , mathematics , algorithm , computer science , topology (electrical circuits) , geometry , structural engineering , engineering , mathematical optimization , combinatorics , political science , law
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 methods operates completely without user intervention once the nodal co‐ordinates and element connectivity of the original mesh are supplied.