Geometrical validity of curvilinear finite elements

In this paper, we describe a way to compute accurate bounds on Jacobian determinants of curvilinear polynomial finite elements. Our condition enables to guarantee that an element is geometrically valid, i.e., that its Jacobian determinant is strictly positive everywhere in its reference domain. It also provides an efficient way to measure the distortion of curvilinear elements. The key feature of the method is to expand the Jacobian determinant using a polynomial basis, built using Bézier functions, that has both properties of boundedness and positivity. Numerical results show the sharpness of our estimates

Quality surface meshing using discrete parametrizations

peer reviewe

Geometrical validity of high-order triangular finite elements

This paper presents a method to compute accurate bounds on Jacobian determinants of high-order (curvilinear) triangular finite elements. This method can be used to guarantee that a curvilinear triangle is geometrically valid, i.e., that its Jacobian determinant is strictly positive everywhere in its reference domain. It also provides an efficient way to measure the quality the triangles. The key feature of the method is to expand the Jacobian determinant using a polynomial basis, built using Bézier functions, that has both properties of boundedness and positivity. Numerical results show the sharpness of our estimates

Multiscale mesh generation on the sphere

A method for generating computational meshes for applications in ocean modeling is presented. The method uses a standard engineering approach for describing the geometry of the domain that requires meshing. The underlying sphere is parametrized using stereographic coordinates. Then, coastlines are described with cubic splines drawn in the stereographic parametric space. The mesh generation algorithm builds the mesh in the parametric plane using available techniques. The method enables to import coastlines from different data sets and, consequently, to build meshes of domains with highly variable length scales. The results include meshes together with numerical simulations of various kinds