A step-by-step approach for three-dimensional finite element mesh generation

A step-by-step approach for 3-d finite element mesh generation is presented in this paper, which decomposes the procedure of mesh generation into four independent steps: from points to edges, edges to surface elements, surface elements to spatial elements and element refinement. Each step can be implemented without any special difficulty. Thus a 3-d mesh generator, which is capable of meshing arbitrary 3-d domains, can be developed. This step-by-step idea makes 3-d mesh generation much simpler than what usually considered. A tetrahedral mesh generator has been developed based on the step-by-step approach, which works automatically and only requires users to give the basic geometrical information.