In order to reduce the size of the initial finite element mesh, global mesh refinement can be done at run time. Once you have generated a coarse model, you can refine it to the desired level. It allows much smaller input data files and adds the flexibility of increasing the mesh resolution without re-meshing the model with a mesh generator. The global refinement scheme is very simple, because it just splits up every finite element into four "children" (Fig.11). If this scheme is applied to the whole finite element mesh, its structure remains consistent (Fig.12). The quality of the mesh is preserved. This feature is implemented for all finite element types supported by the code.
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Fig.11 Global refinement of a "parent" finite element into four "children". |
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Fig.12 Automatic mesh refinement (h-refinement). |
As a result, the input data files and especially the file containing the mesh geometry are much smaller. Even more important, the mesh generator does not have to generate a very fine and therefore large mesh, even though it has to be fine enough to resolve the details of the geometrical model and should give finite elements of good quality. Moreover, convergence of the results can be easily checked with a refined finite element mesh (Fig.12).
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