Generation of 1D and 2D grids

Abstract

As we have seen, the finite element method for the solution of partial differential equations requires a “triangulation” of the computational domain, i.e. a partition of the domain in simpler geometric entities (for instance, triangles or quadrangles in two dimensions, tetrahedra, prisms or hexahedra in three dimensions), called the elements, which verify a number of conditions. Similar partitions stand at the base of other approximation methods, such as the finite volume method (see Chapter 9) and the spectral element method (see Chapter 10). The set of all elements is the so-called computational grid (or, simply, grid, or mesh).