An advancing front point generation technique

Published in Communications in Numerical Methods in Engineering Vol. 14 (12), pp. 1097-1108, 1998
doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0887(199812)14:12<1097::AID-CNM183>3.0.CO;2-7

Abstract

An algorithm to construct boundary‐conforming, isotropic clouds of points with variable density in space is described. The input required consists of a specified mean point distance and an initial triangulation of the surface. Borrowing a key concept from advancing front grid generators, one point at a time is removed and, if possible, surrounded by admissible new points. This operation is repeated until no active points are left. Timings show that the scheme is about an order of magnitude faster than volume grid generators based on the advancing front technique, making it possible to generate large ($>10^{6}$) yet optimal clouds of points in a matter of minutes on a workstation. Several examples are included that demonstrate the capabilities of the technique.