M.
Technical Reference
This sec on details the engineering theory and methods behind the program.
The Advanced Mesher uses the Deluanay meshing principles to create a triangular mesh using ver ces and density se ngs
specified by the user. The basic Deluanay rou ne can be modified by three op ons known as the Triangula on Methods. On top
of this there is an addi onal Parallel Grid quad op on that can be used on surfaces that are defined with edges between ver ces
that lie purely in the X and Z axes.
Triangulation Methods
The Advanced Mesher uses three type of meshing rou ne:-
1. Triangula on using the defined ver ces only
2. Triangula on without sub-dividing the contours, but crea ng addi onal internal elements.
3. Triangula on sub dividing the contours as well crea ng internal elements.
Method A) uses the Delaunay triangula on – DT.
Methods B) and C) use the constrained Delaunay triangula on – CDT on PSLG (planar straight line graph)
The points created by the meshing rou ne that were not defined by the user in methods B) and C) are referred to as Steiner
points or Free Nodes. When crea ng the triangles in method B) and C) the program ensures that only acute angles or obtuse
angles are created in the mesh. Addi onally, with method C) the user specified triangula on step is used to limit the maximum
length of the side of a triangle or the area of the triangle. Note that there is a direct rela onship between the length of the
longest side of a triangle and its area.
Definitions
height the maximum distance to a vertex from a longest edge.
aspect ra o the ra o of the longest length to its height.
u the minimum internal angle.
Therefore the aspect ra o > 1 / sin(u) and ≤ 2 / sin(u)
Also if the step ≤ L, Area of triangle ≤ L2 / 4 sin(u)
Triangle element nomenclature
triangula on Defined for each triangula on vertex. The triangula on density is the ra o between the
density maximum length of the lines emana ng from the vertex, to the triangula on step. Where the
length has been limited by the triangle area (or length), then the triangula on density of a given vertex is the
ra o of the area of the largest triangle connected to the vertex to the triangula on parameter. Therefore the
triangula on density never exceeds one (unity).
Note that the program allows the user to specify triangula on density for:
a. Nodes (thickening nodes)
b. Lines (thickening lines), specified density applies to all ver ces along the line.
c. Regions (thickening region), specified density applies to all ver ces that occur within the region
including the edge.
Note: Also, if a vertex is covered by more than one density se ng —such as a density line and a density
region— then the maximum density se ng will be used fro either situa on.
The formation of triangles
Consider the following plane surface with an internal opening showin in the following figure. It is defined by two contours, an
external and a single internal contour. Straight lines between ver ces define the contours. Ver ces of contours are indicated
with a red circle.
Plan surface with openeing
Triangula on is defined as the representa on of the plane surface with a set of united, inter-connected (i.e., sharing edges), but
not overlapping triangles.
Simple triangulation
The ver ces of the triangles are referred to as triangula on nodes. In the above simple triangula on, only the ver ces defined
by the contours are used. However, you can specify addi onal nodes inside the surface as shown in the following figure. The
supplimentary traingula ons nodes assigned are indicated with a cyan circle.
Triangulation with intermediate nodes
If you choose Triangula on Method B) or C), then addi onal nodes may be generated by the program. These nodes are known
as Steiner’s points, or free nodes, and are indicated in the following figure with a magenta circle.
Triangulation with program-assigned free nodes
A er the ini al meshing process, these free nodes can be modified to suite a specific requirement such as maximising the
minimum angle on the triangles, using the Smoothing tool.
