An automated approach to generate mixed-dimensional finite element analysis model

Feature-based solid modelling systems has been widely use in product design. Ideally the models generated within these solid modelling systems can be reused in downstream operations, such as finite element analysis. However, for engineering analysis an abstracted model is usually more appropriate, in term of accuracy and efficiency. This paper describes an automated approach to approximate an abstract model through the geometric information provided by medial axis transform (MAT). This approach simplifies the original models by first identifies long and slender regions that can be more efficiently represent by a lower dimension element during finite element analysis. Then partition the models into separate cells using the cellular modelling representation for further processing and mesh generation.