A Mixed-Element 3D Advancing Layer Mesh Generator For Complex Geometries

摘要

With recent advances in 3D turbulent flow simulation come a growing need for high-quality automatic mesh generation. Advancing layer mesh generators are favored for their unmatched cell alignment, orthogonality and boundary layer resolution, yet full advancing layer meshing is almost nonexistent due to the challenges posed by complex geometry. This paper presents a fully automatic unstructured advancing layer mesh generation scheme suited for complex geometries in 3D, providing high-quality prism-dominant meshes throughout the domain. We focus on two critical but underdeveloped components of advancing layer mesh generation: a robust algorithm for processing front collisions, and a method for gradual simplification of the front in the transition from boundary layer to domain interior. The success of our method is evaluated for realistic flow configurations in 2D and in 3D, including a geometry used in a previous AIAA CFD Drag Prediction Workshop. We expect that the techniques developed here will be useful both independently and as improvements to modern advancing layer codes.