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A normal offsetting technique for automatic mesh generation in three dimensions
Author(s) -
Johnston Bruce P.,
Sullivan John M.
Publication year - 1993
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.1620361007
Subject(s) - mesh generation , computer science , finite element method , engineering drawing , structural engineering , mathematics , engineering
A technique, based on a normal offsetting procedure, for the fully automatic generation of meshes suitable for finite element analysis in three dimensions is presented. The method is completely automatic, requiring no user intervention in the process and no special modelling procedures. The method is applied to three‐dimensional solid geometries. The procedure positions nodes in the interior domain of an object by offsetting an initial set of nodes on the object boundary along vectors normal to the boundary to define a layer of new interior point locations. The offset points are processed to ensure good nodal spacing appropriate for generating well‐shaped elements. Following processing, the offset points become a new boundary surrounding the remaining unmeshed region in the interior of the geometric domain. The offsetting procedure is applied again to this new boundary layer to form another offset layer farther into the domain interior. The offset‐process‐offset cycle is repeated until the entire region is filled with nodes. Tetrahedral elements are then formed by triangulation of the nodes. The boundary‐based technique ensures good quality element shapes for analysis in critical boundary regions and facilitates applications involving integration of mesh generation with design geometry databases. Calculation of nodal locations are based on local parameters avoiding the higher‐order time complexities associated with global calculations.