QMesh ( quadrilateral mesh generation)
Overview
In the aerospace and automotive industries, finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis are frequently used to solve a wide range of engineering problems. Mesh generation is a critical starting point for FEA/CFD. Currently, the generation of high quality hexahedral/quadrilateral meshes for complicated geometries requires tremendous amount of tedious human interaction, which adversely hampers user productivity. Ideally, users would like to obtain a high quality hexahedral/quadrilateral mesh at a few mouse-clicks for whatever complicated geometry they are working on. To achieve this goal, we propose to extract expert knowledge in hexahedral mesh generation from experienced users, using an innovative neural network/rule-based approach. The knowledge extracted will be documented, verified, and then computerized to develop a prototype software tool. The software tool will be used in place of human experts to automatically generate block topology for a given geometry, which is then interfaced with a commercial grid generation software tool (GridPro/az3000) to generate and optimize the final hexahedral/quadrilateral meshes.
The mesh generation process deals with the decomposition of a given domain (geometry) into finite elements in order to facilitate the numerical solution of partial differential equation. The two-dimensional (2D) domains are generally decomposed into triangles and quadrilaterals; whereas three-dimensional (3D) domains are subdivided into tetrahedral and hexahedral shapes. The quadrilateral (quad) and hexahedral (hex) shaped elements have superior performance to triangle and tetrahedral shaped elements when comparing an equivalent number of degrees of freedom. Use of quad and hex elements can vastly reduce the number of elements and consequently analysis and post-processing times. In addition, quad and hex elements are more suited for non-linear analysis as well as situations where alignment of element is important to the physics of the problem, such as in CFD or in simulation of viscous flow involving boundary layers or in simulation of composite materials. In current stage of research, the activities are focused on the 2D aspect. That is, methodologies and systems will be developed to generate quadrilateral grids. However, the methodologies could be used to hexahedral mesh generation with some revision.
Detailed project information is available in another web apge.
Operation Instruction of the Program of Quadrilateral Mesh Generation is also available for downloading.
Team
Dr. Samuel Huang (Principal Investigator) Director,
Intelligent CAM Systems Laboratory
Dr. John J Shi Research Associate,
Intelligent CAM Systems Laboratory, Dept of Mechanical, Industrial and Nuclear
Engineering, The University of Cincinnati
Mr. Summit Maloo (No longer
involved in the project after graduation on December 2001) Research Assistant,
Intelligent CAM Systems Laboratory, Dept of Mechanical, Industrial and
Manufacturing Engineering, The University of Toledo
Dr. Erlendur
Steinthorsson (Co- Principal Investigator) Parker Hannifin Corporation
Mr.
Guruprasad Bandekar Research Assistant, Dept of Mechanical, Industrial and
Manufacturing Engineering, The University of Toledo
Mr. Haixin Wang Research
Assistant, Intelligent CAM Systems Laboratory, Dept of Mechanical, Industrial
and Nuclear Engineering, The University of Cincinnati
Instructions
(1) Download the main program file: QMesh.exe
(2) Main user interface
(3) Snapshots
