Improved adaptive mesh refinement for conformal hexahedral meshes. (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nicolas, Gérald; Fouquet, Thierry; Geniaut, Samuel; Cuvilliez, Sam
• Is Part Of: Advances in engineering software. Volume 102(2016)
• Page Start: 14
• Page End: 28
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: H-refinement -- Adaptive meshing -- Hexahedral mesh refinement -- Conformal mesh -- Mesh adaptation -- Transition element -- Pyramid; Computer-aided engineering -- Periodicals; Engineering -- Computer programs -- Periodicals; Engineering -- Software -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 620.0028553
• DOI: 10.1016/j.advengsoft.2016.07.014
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0965-9978

Abstract

Highlights: The conformal refinement of a mesh made of hexahedra is available. The conformal transition is made by a combination of pyramids and tetrahedra. A set of 47 patterns was designed to solve any conflict about the pending nodes. The efficiency of the method is shown with the mechanical simulation of a crack. Abstract: The h-refinement is a technique to achieve the mesh adaptation during a finite element simulation. Some elements are selected because the error is higher than a given threshold: they are split. This operation creates new elements where the size of the edges is divided by 2 in the zone of high error. To produce a conformal mesh, the connection between two zones with different levels of refinement must be examined. This paper proposes a solution in the case of meshes made of hexahedra. Depending on the type of interface, a set of patterns has been designed. In each pattern, the hexahedron is split into pyramids and tetrahedra. That specific splitting stops the propagation of the refinement and allows h-refinement in numerical simulations based on hexahedra with a conformal finite element method. At the end, an application to a crack analysis is shown.