MESH OPTIMIZATION - HOW TO OBTAIN GOOD UNSTRUCTURED 3D FINITE-ELEMENTMESHES WITH NOT-SO-GOOD MESH GENERATORS

We propose a new idea, based upon an optimization procedure, for impro ving three-dimensional finite element meshes. Our method can effective ly be coupled with any automatic mesh generator in order to obtain a t riangulation without badly distorted elements. In this way, we are abl e to weaken the requirements on the generator, allowing it to produce singular elements, and post-process the result to obtain a valid mesh. We report some experiments showing how this combination makes the mes hing of arbitrary domains much more reliable, as compared to the usual approach of precluding distorted elements during the initial generati on stage.