A modification of the hexahedral mesh generator based on voxel geometry representation

Abstract

We consider a modification of the previously developed voxel-based mesh algorithm to generate models given in STL-geometry format. Proposed hexahedral mesh generator belongs to the family of grid methods, and is general-purpose in terms of a capability to use as source data both volume (voxel) and STL-surface representation of model geometry. For now, the algorithm works with CAD models described in the well-known STL format. However, it also allows to handle higher-order surface patches defined in an arbitrary format if appropriate procedures for projection and intersection operations will be specified. To define the initial position of mesh nodes, a “signed distance field” volume data file, obtained from the STL-geometry, is used. A special projection technique was developed to adapt constructed orthogonal mesh on the model's boundary. It provides an approximation of sharp edges and corners and is performed before running any other operations with the mesh. Finally, to improve the quality of the mesh, additional procedures were implemented, including boundary layers insertion, bad quality cells splitting, and optimization-based smoothing technique. The algorithm has been tested on a sufficient number of models, some of which are given as examples.