Basic LOgical Bulk Shapes (BLOBs) for Finite Element Hexahedral Mesh Generation

This article presents an approach for automatically generating hexahedral meshes from solid models. The mesh generating method presented in this paper involves four major steps. First, objects called Basic LOgical Bulk shapes (BLOBs) are determined from the solid model of a given part. Second, these BLOBs are used to decompose the solid model into its various sub-volumes. Third, a multiple-block structure (MBS), which is a group of hexahedral objects, is constructed to approximate the solid model. Finally, transfinite mapping is employed to project the faces of the MBS onto the surfaces of a model to generate the finite element meshes.