Subdivision templates for converting a non-conformal hex-dominant mesh to a conformal hex-dominant mesh without pyramid elements

This paper presents a computational method for converting a non-conformal hex-dominant mesh to a conformal hex-dominant mesh without help of pyramid elements. During the conversion, the proposed method subdivides a non-conformal element by applying a subdivision template and conformal elements by a conventional subdivision scheme. Although many finite element solvers accept mixed elements, some of them require a mesh to be conformal without a pyramid element. None of the published automated methods could create a conformal hex-dominant mesh without help of pyramid elements, and therefore the applicability of the hex-dominant mesh has been significantly limited. The proposed method takes a non-conformal hex-dominant mesh as an input and converts it to a conformal hex-dominant mesh that consists only of hex, tet, and prism elements. No pyramid element will be introduced. The conversion thus considerably increases the applicability of the hex-dominant mesh in many finite element solvers.