The Tetra mesher accepts the following inputs:

B-Spline Curves and Surfaces

When the input is a set of B-Spline curves and surfaces with prescribed points, the mesher approximates the surface and curves with triangles and edges respectively; and then projects the vertices onto the prescribed points.

The B-Spline curves enable the Tetra mesher to follow discontinuities in surfaces. If no curves are specified at a surface boundary, the Tetra mesher will mesh triangles freely over the surface edge. Similarly, prescribed points enable the mesher to recognize sharp corners in the geometry. Ansys ICEM CFD provides tools (Build Topology) to extract points and curves to define sharp features in the surface model.

Triangular Surface Meshes as Geometry Definition

Prescribed curves and points can also be extracted from triangulated surface geometry. This could be stereo-lithography (STL) data or a surface mesh converted to faceted geometry. Though the nodes of the Tetra-generated mesh will not exactly match the nodes of the given triangulated geometry, they will follow the overall shape. A geometry for meshing can contain both faceted and B-Spline geometry.

Full/Partial Surface Mesh

Existing surface mesh for all or part of the geometry can be specified as input to the Tetra mesher. The final mesh will then be consistent with—and connected to—the existing mesh nodes.