Abstract
We present a novel automatic grid generator for the finite element discretization of partial differential equations in 3D. The grids constructed by this grid generator are composed of a pure tensor product grid in the interior of the domain and an unstructured grid which is only contained in boundary cells. The unstructured component consists of tetrahedra, each of which satisfies a maximal interior angle condition. By suitable constructing the boundary cells, the number of types of boundary subcells is reduced to 12 types. Since this grid generator constructs large structured grids in the interior and small unstructured grids near the boundary, the resulting semi-unstructured grids have similar properties as structured tensor product grids. Some appealing properties of this method are computational efficiency and natural construction of coarse grids for multilevel algorithms. Numerical results and an analysis of the discretization error are presented.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received July 17, 2000; revised October 27, 2000
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pflaum, C. Semi-Unstructured Grids. Computing 67, 141–166 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s006070170011
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s006070170011