The effective application of advanced simulation technologies is a critical component of the U.S. Navy efforts to meet current and future fleet needs. The application of some of these simulation technologies requires meshes that are mainly hexahedral, especially in critical areas. The current methods that can create the hexahedral element meshes best suited to accurate analysis by available simulation codes require specifically trained experts to spend days or weeks of their time using difficult to use tools. The goal of this project is to advance the levels of automation of methods to create hexahedral elements over geometric domains and to provide uses easy to use tools to control the applications of the methods to create the meshes well matched to the specific physics to be modeled and analysis codes to be used. The methods to be developed in this project will (i) employ analysis accuracy and meshing requirements aware geometry evaluation procedures to determine the portions of domain for which specific hex meshing procedures can be applied, (ii) apply the selected hex meshing methods in all key areas, and (iii) employ recent advances in hex mesh transitioning to mesh between critical regions.
Benefit: The methods and software tools to be developed will allow the DoD and industry to reliably apply high fidelity simulations with ever increasing levels of automation. These methods will decrease the time and cost associated with the preparation of simulations, thus allowing more extensive use of simulation, yielding superior products for the consumer and systems for the military.
Keywords: Simulation, Simulation, CAD/CAE integration, Hexahedral Meshing
