Primal and Dual Representations of

Hexahedral Meshes

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Quadrilateral
Dual Representation
The elemental
representation of a
mesh, composed of
elements, edges, and
nodes, is known as the
primal.

Quadrilateral meshes
have a dual
representation, similar
to the voroni skeleton
of a triangular
delaunay mesh.

Quadrilateral
Dual Representation
A dual vertex, vi, is
defined at the
centroid of each
quadrilateral
element.
A dual vertex is also
placed at the
centroid of every
boundary edge.

Quadrilateral
Dual Representation
Connecting the dual
vertices through
adjacent elements
creates the edges of
the dual.

Quadrilateral
Dual Representation
Quadrilateral meshes
have an inherent row
structure. The red
quads illustrate one
row.
Each row
corresponds to one
dual chord.

Quadrilateral
Dual Representation
The set of all dual
edges which connect
quads in each row
forms a dual chord,
c i.

Matt Staten
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Quadrilateral
Dual Representation
Each dual edge is
part of exactly one
dual chord.
The vertex at the
centroid of a quad is
the intersection of 2
dual chords.

Matt Staten
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Quadrilateral
Dual Representation
Dual chords must be either circular, or connect two boundaries.

Circular

Connects two
boundaries

Quadrilateral
Dual Representation
Dual chords can be self-intersecting or self-touching or both.

Self-touching

Self-intersecting

Quadrilateral
Dual Representation
The union of all dual
chords is the dual.
For quadrilateral
meshes, the dual is
set of all chords and
vertices.
D2D = (C, V)

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Quadrilateral
Dual Representation
Another way to
define a chord is
through edge
traversal.
Create a group of
edges by
propagating from a
single edge through
adjacent
quadrilaterals and
through their
topologically
opposite edges.
Connecting
midpoints of edges
forms the chord.
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Dual Chord Extraction

Dual chords can be

extracted from a quad mesh
by collapsing each edge
defining it.
To maintain an all-quad
mesh, the entire chord must
be extracted.

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Dual Chord Extraction

Dual chords can be

extracted from a quad mesh
by collapsing each edge
defining it.
To maintain an all-quad
mesh, the entire chord must
be extracted.

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Dual Chord Extraction

Dual chords can be

extracted from a quad mesh
by collapsing each edge
defining it.
To maintain an all-quad
mesh, the entire chord must
be extracted.

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Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

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Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

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Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

17

Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

18

Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

19

Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

20

Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

21

Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

22

Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

23

Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

24

Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

25

Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

26

Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

27

Dual Chord Modifications

The path of a dual chord can

be altered by performing
local operations on the quad
mesh:
Edge Swapping
Face Collapsing
Face Open
Doublet Insertion

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Hexahedral
Dual Representation
The elemental
representation of a
hexahedral mesh,
composed of
hexahedra, faces,
edges, and nodes, is
known as the primal.

Hexahedral meshes
also have a dual
representation, similar
to the voroni skeleton
of a triangular
delaunay mesh.

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Hexahedral
Dual Representation
A dual vertex, vi, is
defined at the
centroid of each
hexahedral element,
boundary quad face,
and boundary edge.

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Hexahedral
Dual Representation
Connecting the dual
vertices through
adjacent elements
creates the edges and
faces of the dual.

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