An algorithm for automatic 2D quadrilateral mesh generation with line constraints

Finite element method (FEM) is a fundamental numerical analysis technique widely used in engineering applications. Although state-ofthe-art hardware has reduced the solving time, which accounts for a small portion of the overall FEM analysis time, the relative time needed to build mesh models has been increasing. In particular, mesh models that must model stiffeners, those features that are attached to the plate in a ship structure, are imposed with line constraints and other constraints such as holes. To automatically generate a 2D quadrilateral mesh with the line constraints, an extended algorithm to handle line constraints is proposed based on the constrained Delaunay triangulation and QMorph algorithm. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated, and numerical results of our proposed algorithm are presented. q 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.