ISOSURFACE EXTRACTION FROM HYBRID UNSTRUCTURED GRIDS CONTAINING PENTAHEDRAL ELEMENTS

Akshay Narayan, Jaya Sreevalsan-Nair, Kelly Gaither, Bernd Hamann

2012

Abstract

Grid-based computational simulations often use hybrid unstructured grids consisting of various types of elements. Most commonly used elements are tetrahedral, pentahedral (namely, square pyramids and right triangular prisms) and hexahedral elements. Extracting isosurfaces of scalar fields defined on such hybrid unstructured grids is often done using indirect methods, such as, (a) subdividing all non-tetrahedral cells into tetrahedra and computing the triangulated isosurfaces using the marching tetrahedra algorithm, or (b) triangulating intersection points of edges of cells and computing the isosurface using a standard triangulation algorithm. Using the basic ideas underlying the well-established marching cubes and marching tetrahedra algorithms, which are applied to hexahedral and tetrahedral elements, respectively, we generate look-up tables for extracting isosurfaces directly from pentahedral elements. By using appropriate look-up tables, it is possible to process nearly all types of hybrid unstructured grids used in practical applications without the need for indirect methods. We construct look-up tables for square pyramidal and triangular prismatic cells with accurate topological considerations.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Narayan A., Sreevalsan-Nair J., Gaither K. and Hamann B. (2012). ISOSURFACE EXTRACTION FROM HYBRID UNSTRUCTURED GRIDS CONTAINING PENTAHEDRAL ELEMENTS . In Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications and International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications - Volume 1: IVAPP, (VISIGRAPP 2012) ISBN 978-989-8565-02-0, pages 660-669. DOI: 10.5220/0003852506600669

in Bibtex Style

@conference{ivapp12,
author={Akshay Narayan and Jaya Sreevalsan-Nair and Kelly Gaither and Bernd Hamann},
title={ISOSURFACE EXTRACTION FROM HYBRID UNSTRUCTURED GRIDS CONTAINING PENTAHEDRAL ELEMENTS},
booktitle={Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications and International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications - Volume 1: IVAPP, (VISIGRAPP 2012)},
year={2012},
pages={660-669},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0003852506600669},
isbn={978-989-8565-02-0},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications and International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications - Volume 1: IVAPP, (VISIGRAPP 2012)
TI - ISOSURFACE EXTRACTION FROM HYBRID UNSTRUCTURED GRIDS CONTAINING PENTAHEDRAL ELEMENTS
SN - 978-989-8565-02-0
AU - Narayan A.
AU - Sreevalsan-Nair J.
AU - Gaither K.
AU - Hamann B.
PY - 2012
SP - 660
EP - 669
DO - 10.5220/0003852506600669