A FLEXIBLE AUTOMATIC HEXAHEDRAL MESH GENERATION BY BOUNDARY-FIT METHOD

A general-purpose automatic hexahedral mesh generation system for FEA (Finite Element Analysis) was developed, based on a shape recognition technique and the boundary-fit method. In this system, a solid model i s analyzed and decomposed into single-connected sub-models. Then, othe r sub-models topologically identical to the original ones are construc ted using only orthogonal angles. Cubes are used to construct intermed iate models, which reassemble these, and finally, hexahedral meshes ar e generated by mapping the cubes back onto the original solid model. I n order to make the automatic system more flexible and friendly to the user, this system also has the capability to interact with the user t o modify the intermediate models used in the system to improve the qua lity of generated mesh, or to help the system to circumvent various to pological difficulties. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights rese rved.