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Hierarchical template-based hexahedral mesh generation

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Abstract

This work describes a hexahedral mesh generation algorithm ideally suited for transition subdomain meshes in the context of any domain decomposition meshing strategy. The algorithm is based on an automatic hierarchical region decomposition in which, in the last level, it is possible to generate hexahedral elements with a conventional mapping strategy. Templates usually impose restrictions on meshes on boundary surfaces of a subdomain to be meshed. The proposed hierarchical template scheme eliminates many of these restrictions, creating more options in surface meshes and mesh refinement as input boundary data. This work implements four basic templates for volumes that should be simplified by a unit box. The volume decomposition is performance using a cube-shaped parametric space in the local coordinate system. The algorithm decomposes hierarchically a volume until all volumes should be mappable to generate elements by the 3D mapping approach. Examples demonstrate that this idea may result in structured meshes in complex geometries.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), the PUC-Rio Technical-Scientific Software Development Institute (Tecgraf/PUC-Rio), and the University of Brasília (UnB) for the financial support and for providing the necessary space and resources used during the development of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Brasília, SG-12 Building, Darcy Ribeiro Campus, Brasília, DF, 70910-900, Brazil

    Antonio Carlos de Oliveira Miranda

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua Marquês de São Vicente 225-Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 22453-900, Brazil

    Luiz Fernando Martha

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  1. Antonio Carlos de Oliveira Miranda
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Correspondence to Antonio Carlos de Oliveira Miranda.

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de Oliveira Miranda, A.C., Martha, L.F. Hierarchical template-based hexahedral mesh generation. Engineering with Computers 34, 465–474 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00366-017-0552-8

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