Mapped Meshing
Mapped meshing can be used for an entire model or for certain parts of a model, in which case free (unstructured) meshing is used for the remaining parts of the model.
Element Types
- Brick or tetrahedral elements can be generated using mapped meshing
- Only tetrahedral elements can be generated using free meshing
Geometry Topology
Mapped meshing can be used on geometry with the following shapes:
- Hexahedron
- Prism
- Pyramid
- Tetrahedron
The four types of shapes suitable for mapped meshing are illustrated below. The geometry is created using ADINA-M or SolidWorks for instance.
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Hexahedral |
Prismatic |
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Pyramidal |
Tetrahedral |
Non-regular Mapped Meshing
Traditionally, mapped meshing requires opposite sides on a face to have matching subdivisions. ADINA also allows non-matching subdivisions on opposite sides of a given face by integrating the use of prismatic elements (wedges) in the mapped meshing scheme. The picture below gives an example of ADINA's "non-regular" mapped meshing. Please, click on thumbnail for larger picture.
Non-regular mapped meshing
Combined Mapped and Free Meshing
In general, an original solid part will not have the simple shape required for mapped meshing. However, it may be necessary or desirable to use mapped meshing on a certain area of the part. The ability to combine mapped mesh with free mesh on a part makes this possible. A certain portion can be "carved" out of the original part for mapped meshing. Free meshing is then used on the rest of the part with compatibility at the interface to the mapped mesh.
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Fracture Analysis |
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Chisel |
Close-up |
See also the following meshing methods in ADINA: