Tetrahedralization of a Hexahedral Mesh

Abstract

Two important classes of three-dimensional elements in computational meshes are hexahedra and tetrahedra. While several efficient methods exist that convert a hexahedral element to a tetrahedral elements, the existing algorithm for tetrahedralization of a hexahedral complex is the marching tetrahedron algorithm which limits pre-selection of face divisions. We generalize a procedure for tetrahedralizing triangular prisms to tetrahedralizing cubes, and combine it with certain heuristics to design an algorithm that can triangulate any hexahedra.