Hex vs Tet Mesh Comparisons

Objective:

• Comparison of Hexahedral versus Tetrahedral meshing algorithms Orthopaedic applications

Progress:

• Currently evaluating open source tetrahedral meshing algorithms
  • VTK
    • Slivers exist in resulting mesh
  • Netgen
    • LGPL license
    • Issues have been found regarding invalid memory references
    • Does not always converge to a solution
    • Difficult to specify desired mesh density
  • Tetgen
    • Non commercial license. Commercial license can be purchased
    • Has been used for medical applications including heart, vertebral body, and head meshes

• Performed an initial comparison of hexahedral versus tetrahedral algorithms
  • Study included comparison of hexahedral and tetrahedral meshing tools
  • Evaluated the results based the following criteria
    • Time to generate the mesh
    • mesh quality
    • Results of a static load analysis versus the number of elements

To Do:

• Evaluate other tetrahedral meshing algorithms
• Complete comparison study of hexahedral and tetrahedral tools.

Key Investigators:

• Iowa: Nicole DeVries, Nicole Grosland, Vincent Magnotta

Links:

• Musculoskeletal Imaging, Modeling and Experimentation (MIMX)