Automatic all-hex mesh generation of thin-walled solids via a conformal pyramid-less hex, prism, and tet mixed mesh

Abstract

A new computational method for creating all-hex meshes of thin-walled solids is presented. The proposed method creates an all-hex mesh in a three-step process. First, a tet mesh of the target geometric domain is created, and a layer of prism elements is inserted on the boundary of the mesh. Second, a sequence of novel topological transformations and smoothing operations is applied to reduce the number of tet elements and increase the number of hex elements. The topological transformations maintain conformity of the hex, prism, and tet mixed mesh. The proposed topological transformations do not introduce pyramid elements, and therefore avoids problems imposed by pyramid elements. Third and finally, the mixed mesh is subdivided into an all-hex mesh by applying mid-point subdivision templates. Experimental results show that the proposed method creates high-quality all-hex meshes.