Basic LOgical bulk shapes (BLOBs) for finite element hexahedral mesh generation to support virtual prototyping

Manufacturability analysis of product design reduces the downstream problem s of manufacturing Such design approaches are referred to as Virtual Protot yping when performed on the computer. In the present research, Virtual Prot otyping is facilitated by the use of an automated method of determining the finite element meshes needed to perform finite element analyses. Finite el ement analysis requires a finite element mesh of the product model as input . This mesh (an approximation of an object's geometry and topology, compose d in terms of a given individual unit, e.g., a tetrahedron, or a hexahedron ), can be generated using a variety of methods. The research presented here offers apr approach for automatic mesh generation that addresses some of t he limitations in the mesh-generation technologies currently available. Thi s article presents an approach for automatically generating hexahedral mesh es from solid models. The mesh generating method presented in this paper in volves four major steps. First objects called Basic LOgical Bulk shapes (BL OBs) are determined from the solid model of a given part. Second, these BLO Bs ape used to decompose the solid model into its various sub-volumes. Thir d, a multiple-block structure (MBS), which is a group of hexahedral objects , is constructed to approximate the solid model Finally, transfinite mappin g is employed to project the faces of the MBS onto the surfaces of a model to generate the finite element meshes.