An approach to achieving optimized complex sheet inflation under constraints

Sheet inflation is an enhanced and more general version of the classic pillowing procedure 1 used to modify hexahedral meshes. The flexibility of sheet inflation makes it a valuable tool for hex mesh generation, modification and topology optimization. However, it is still difficult to generate self-intersecting sheet within a local region while assuring the mesh quality. This paper proposes an approach to achieving optimized complex sheet inflation under various constraints. The approach can generate complex sheets that intersect themselves more than once and maximize the quality of the resultant mesh. We successfully apply this approach to mesh matching and mesh boundary optimizing. Graphical abstractDisplay Omitted HighlightsOur approach can inflate sheets under various constraints specified by user.Complex sheets that intersect themselves more than once can be locally inflated.The quality of the quad set can be improved by optimizing its chords.High node valences and edge valences can be reduced by sheet inflation.