440 research outputs found
The discretized polyhedra simplification (DPS): a framework for polyhedra simplification based on decomposition schemes
This work discusses simplification algorithms for the generation of a multiresolution family of solid representations from an initial polyhedral solid. We introduce the Discretized Polyhedra Simplification (DPS), a framework for polyhedra simplification using space decomposition models. The DPS is based on a new error measurement and provides a sound scheme for error-bounded, geometry and topology simplification while preserving the validity of the model. A method following this framework, Direct DPS, is presented and discussed. Direct DPS uses an octree for topology simplification and error control, and generates valid solid representations. Our method is also able to generate approximations which do not interpenetrate the original model, either being completely contained in the input solid or bounding it. Unlike most of the current methods, our algorithm can deal and also produces faces with arbitrary complexity. An extension of the Direct method for appearance preservation, called Hybrid DPS, is also discussed
Meshing Deforming Spacetime for Visualization and Analysis
We introduce a novel paradigm that simplifies the visualization and analysis
of data that have a spatially/temporally varying frame of reference. The
primary application driver is tokamak fusion plasma, where science variables
(e.g., density and temperature) are interpolated in a complex magnetic
field-line-following coordinate system. We also see a similar challenge in
rotational fluid mechanics, cosmology, and Lagrangian ocean analysis; such
physics implies a deforming spacetime and induces high complexity in volume
rendering, isosurfacing, and feature tracking, among various visualization
tasks. Without loss of generality, this paper proposes an algorithm to build a
simplicial complex -- a tetrahedral mesh, for the deforming 3D spacetime
derived from two 2D triangular meshes representing consecutive timesteps.
Without introducing new nodes, the resulting mesh fills the gap between 2D
meshes with tetrahedral cells while satisfying given constraints on how nodes
connect between the two input meshes. In the algorithm we first divide the
spacetime into smaller partitions to reduce complexity based on the input
geometries and constraints. We then independently search for a feasible
tessellation of each partition taking nonconvexity into consideration. We
demonstrate multiple use cases for a simplified visualization analysis scheme
with a synthetic case and fusion plasma applications
Examples, Counterexamples, and Enumeration Results for Foldings and Unfoldings between Polygons and Polytopes
We investigate how to make the surface of a convex polyhedron (a polytope) by
folding up a polygon and gluing its perimeter shut, and the reverse process of
cutting open a polytope and unfolding it to a polygon. We explore basic
enumeration questions in both directions: Given a polygon, how many foldings
are there? Given a polytope, how many unfoldings are there to simple polygons?
Throughout we give special attention to convex polygons, and to regular
polygons. We show that every convex polygon folds to an infinite number of
distinct polytopes, but that their number of combinatorially distinct gluings
is polynomial. There are, however, simple polygons with an exponential number
of distinct gluings.
In the reverse direction, we show that there are polytopes with an
exponential number of distinct cuttings that lead to simple unfoldings. We
establish necessary conditions for a polytope to have convex unfoldings,
implying, for example, that among the Platonic solids, only the tetrahedron has
a convex unfolding. We provide an inventory of the polytopes that may unfold to
regular polygons, showing that, for n>6, there is essentially only one class of
such polytopes.Comment: 54 pages, 33 figure
Highly accurate numerical computation of implicitly defined volumes using the Laplace-Beltrami operator
This paper introduces a novel method for the efficient and accurate
computation of the volume of a domain whose boundary is given by an orientable
hypersurface which is implicitly given as the iso-contour of a sufficiently
smooth level-set function. After spatial discretization, local approximation of
the hypersurface and application of the Gaussian divergence theorem, the volume
integrals are transformed to surface integrals. Application of the surface
divergence theorem allows for a further reduction to line integrals which are
advantageous for numerical quadrature. We discuss the theoretical foundations
and provide details of the numerical algorithm. Finally, we present numerical
results for convex and non-convex hypersurfaces embedded in cuboidal domains,
showing both high accuracy and thrid- to fourth-order convergence in space.Comment: 25 pages, 17 figures, 3 table
Geometry-based structural analysis and design via discrete stress functions
This PhD thesis proposes a direct and unified method for generating global static equilibrium
for 2D and 3D reciprocal form and force diagrams based on reciprocal discrete stress
functions. This research combines and reinterprets knowledge from Maxwell’s 19th century
graphic statics, projective geometry and rigidity theory to provide an interactive design and
analysis framework through which information about designed structural performance can be
geometrically encoded in the form of the characteristics of the stress function. This method
results in novel, intuitive design and analysis freedoms.
In contrast to contemporary computational frameworks, this method is direct and analytical.
In this way, there is no need for iteration, the designer operates by default within
the equilibrium space and the mathematically elegant nature of this framework results in its
wide applicability as well as in added educational value. Moreover, it provides the designers
with the agility to start from any one of the four interlinked reciprocal objects (form diagram,
force diagram, corresponding stress functions).
This method has the potential to be applied in a wide range of case studies and fields.
Specifically, it leads to the design, analysis and load-path optimisation of tension-and compression
2D and 3D trusses, tensegrities, the exoskeletons of towers, and in conjunction
with force density, to tension-and-compression grid-shells, shells and vaults. Moreover, the
abstract nature of this method leads to wide cross-disciplinary applicability, such as 2D and
3D discrete stress fields in structural concrete and to a geometrical interpretation of yield line
theory
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