An automatic mesh generation scheme for plane and curved surfaces by ‘isoparametric’ co‐ordinates
Olek C. Zienkiewicz, David V. Phillips · International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering · 1971
Abstract A computer orientated method is presented which generates meshes of triangular elements in plane and curved surfaces. Depending on geometrical and material variations, the region to be discretized is divided into a number of four sided zones. By using curvi‐linear co‐ordinate systems, nodes within and on the boundary of each zone are automatically positioned and referenced to a global Cartesian co‐ordinate system. Elements are automatically assembled from these nodes. Input data is required to specify the positions and material properties of each zone and how they are connected. Examples are given which illustrate the range of meshes that can be generated. Extension of the method to generate three‐dimensional tetrahedral elements is indicated.