Since version 2026, Flux 3D and Flux PEEC are no longer available.

Please use SimLab to create a new 3D project or to import an existing Flux 3D project.

Please use SimLab to create a new PEEC project (not possible to import an existing Flux PEEC project).

/!\ Documentation updates are in progress – some mentions of 3D may still appear.

Meshing of volumes algorithms

Introduction

Flux provides two generators for automatic meshing of volumes: the ASML mesher and the Delaunay mesher.

The two meshers are presented in the blocks below.

ASML mesher

The ASML Mesher (Altair Solid Meshing Library) is a volume mesher which is the proprietary of Altair. This is a mesher of volume mesh starting from a surface mesh. Including ASML allows to generate tetrahedral mesh of volume from a mesh of surface triangular.

Delaunay mesher

The mesh generation by the Delaunay mesher is carried out in two phases, as presented in the table and figure below.

Note: The Delaunay mesher is not available if the Dynamic memory is activated (Delaunay is available only with User memory).
Stage Description
1 Generation of boundary mesh
2 Insertion of internal nodes into border mesh elements

Comparison

Comparison of Volume mesh generators is presented in the table below
Delaunay ASML (Altair Solid Mesher Library)
Characteristics
  • This mesher is the historical mesher of Flux
  • Potentially it rebuild the surface mesh to construct a mesh of volume
  • Respects the surface mesh (not node insertion)
  • Robust mesher=> tested by other simulation tools

Advantages /

disadvantages
  • Relaxation may be important =>Less nodes and less mesh elements
  • More time to mesh the device
  • Difficulty with the extrusive mesh
  • Low relaxation => Increase the number of nodes and the number of mesh elements
  • Low time to mesh the device with good quality of the mesh compared to Delaunay
  • Suitable for mixed mesh
Remember: In 3D, in case of a mixed meshing (mapped mesh /automatic mesh) with the Delaunay mesher, certain nodes must be inserted on the faces during the generation of the mesh front. This insertion is forbidden on the mapped faces, which generates the failure of the Delaunay mesher. The ASML mesher is better suited to this problem.

Configure the mesher

To configure the volume mesher:

  • clic on: Tools > Geometry and Mesh options > Edit
  • clic on tab Mesh
  • choose the mesher