Removing Self Intersections of a Triangular Mesh by Edge Swapping, Edge Hammering, and Face Lifting

Abstract

This paper describes a computational method for removing self intersections of a triangular mesh. A self intersection is a situation where a part of a surface mesh collides with another part of itself, i.e., two mesh elements intersect each other. It destroys the integrity of the mesh and makes the mesh unusable for certain applications. A mesh generator often creates a self intersection when a relatively large element size is specified over a region with a narrow clearance. There has been no automated method that automatically removes self intersections, and such self intersections needed to be corrected by manually editing the mesh. The proposed method automatically resolves a self intersection by re-connecting edges and adjusting node locations. This technique removes a typical self intersection and recovers the integrity of the triangular mesh. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.