A modified advancing layers mesh generation for thin three-dimensional objects with variable thickness

Abstract

A method of generating modified advancing layers mesh is proposed. In this paper the mesh generation process of semi-unstructured prismatic/tetrahedral mesh is presented for relatively thin three-dimensional geometries with variable thickness, as in the case of injection molding analysis. Prismatic meshes are generated by offsetting initial surface triangular meshes. During the mesh generation process, mesh quality is efficiently improved with the use of a new node relocation method. Finally, tetrahedral meshes are automatically generated in the rest of the domain. The mesh generating capability of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated with the several practical test cases. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.