{"id":{"repo_id":"houston","oai_identifier":"oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/20686"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/houston/oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/20686","repository":{"repo_id":"houston","name":"University of Houston","base_url":"https://uh-ir.tdl.org/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Enhancing Hex-dominant Meshes: Generation, Evaluation, and Simplification","abstract":"Hex-dominant mesh generation has recently received increasing attention from researchers and the simulation community due to its robustness compared to pure hex-mesh generation techniques. However, simulation algorithms require a limited number of cell types and mesh elements of desired quality to perform physics-based simulations over complex geometries. Unfortunately, in practice, most automatic hex-dominant generation algorithms for various geometries may contain unpredictable mesh elements, low-quality components, and undesired configurations. Furthermore, the hex-dominant meshing community lacks effective strategies for evaluating mesh structures or performing post-processing operations on these meshes. To address these challenges, this dissertation analyzed the demands aligned with the key stages in the meshing pipeline and contributed to the following areas: First, I designed a new hex-dominant mesh generation pipeline with an effective mesh extraction strategy. The generation pipeline links field information for feature alignment and utilizes a Voronoi diagram for geometry representation, which enables the pipeline to excel in both global and local controllability. The extraction strategy significantly improves generation performance. Second, I introduced a new 3D hexahedral mesh visual analysis system that highlights poor-quality areas with an aggregated glyph, emphasizes overlapping elements, and offers multi-level analysis through multiple views to effectively evaluate various mesh models and compare the performance of mesh generation and optimization algorithms for hex meshes. Third, I developed the first framework for analyzing hex-dominant meshes. It extends the base complex of pure hex-meshes by including non-hex elements. I also introduced a strategy to extract a cleaned (optimized) valence-based singularity graph wireframe to study the structure of both meshes and sheets. Fourth, I presented a first structure-informed simplification framework aimed at reducing the number of non-hex cells in hex-dominant meshes. My framework eliminates non-hex cells by using a novel relation graph that captures the connections involving edges and extracted sub-structures. I conducted comprehensive evaluations for each contribution, which demonstrated the advantages of my methods and their potential impact on related communities.","abstract_html":"Hex-dominant mesh generation has recently received increasing attention from researchers and the simulation community due to its robustness compared to pure hex-mesh generation techniques. However, simulation algorithms require a limited number of cell types and mesh elements of desired quality to perform physics-based simulations over complex geometries. Unfortunately, in practice, most automatic hex-dominant generation algorithms for various geometries may contain unpredictable mesh elements, low-quality components, and undesired configurations. Furthermore, the hex-dominant meshing community lacks effective strategies for evaluating mesh structures or performing post-processing operations on these meshes. To address these challenges, this dissertation analyzed the demands aligned with the key stages in the meshing pipeline and contributed to the following areas: First, I designed a new hex-dominant mesh generation pipeline with an effective mesh extraction strategy. The generation pipeline links field information for feature alignment and utilizes a Voronoi diagram for geometry representation, which enables the pipeline to excel in both global and local controllability. The extraction strategy significantly improves generation performance. Second, I introduced a new 3D hexahedral mesh visual analysis system that highlights poor-quality areas with an aggregated glyph, emphasizes overlapping elements, and offers multi-level analysis through multiple views to effectively evaluate various mesh models and compare the performance of mesh generation and optimization algorithms for hex meshes. Third, I developed the first framework for analyzing hex-dominant meshes. It extends the base complex of pure hex-meshes by including non-hex elements. I also introduced a strategy to extract a cleaned (optimized) valence-based singularity graph wireframe to study the structure of both meshes and sheets. Fourth, I presented a first structure-informed simplification framework aimed at reducing the number of non-hex cells in hex-dominant meshes. My framework eliminates non-hex cells by using a novel relation graph that captures the connections involving edges and extracted sub-structures. I conducted comprehensive evaluations for each contribution, which demonstrated the advantages of my methods and their potential impact on related communities.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Si, Lei 1995-"],"institution":"University of Houston","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Computer Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Chen, Guoning"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Mayerich, David","Wu, Panruo","Deng, Zhigang"],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-08","date_published":"2025-08","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:32:44Z","subjects":["Computer science"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10657/20686","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Chen, Guoning"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Mayerich, David","Wu, Panruo","Deng, Zhigang"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Si, Lei 1995-"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-10-06T18:39:14Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025-08"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Computer Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Houston"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Computer science"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10657/20686"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Hex-dominant mesh generation has recently received increasing attention from researchers and the simulation community due to its robustness compared to pure hex-mesh generation techniques. However, simulation algorithms require a limited number of cell types and mesh elements of desired quality to perform physics-based simulations over complex geometries. Unfortunately, in practice, most automatic hex-dominant generation algorithms for various geometries may contain unpredictable mesh elements, low-quality components, and undesired configurations. Furthermore, the hex-dominant meshing community lacks effective strategies for evaluating mesh structures or performing post-processing operations on these meshes. To address these challenges, this dissertation analyzed the demands aligned with the key stages in the meshing pipeline and contributed to the following areas: First, I designed a new hex-dominant mesh generation pipeline with an effective mesh extraction strategy. The generation pipeline links field information for feature alignment and utilizes a Voronoi diagram for geometry representation, which enables the pipeline to excel in both global and local controllability. The extraction strategy significantly improves generation performance. Second, I introduced a new 3D hexahedral mesh visual analysis system that highlights poor-quality areas with an aggregated glyph, emphasizes overlapping elements, and offers multi-level analysis through multiple views to effectively evaluate various mesh models and compare the performance of mesh generation and optimization algorithms for hex meshes. Third, I developed the first framework for analyzing hex-dominant meshes. It extends the base complex of pure hex-meshes by including non-hex elements. I also introduced a strategy to extract a cleaned (optimized) valence-based singularity graph wireframe to study the structure of both meshes and sheets. Fourth, I presented a first structure-informed simplification framework aimed at reducing the number of non-hex cells in hex-dominant meshes. My framework eliminates non-hex cells by using a novel relation graph that captures the connections involving edges and extracted sub-structures. I conducted comprehensive evaluations for each contribution, which demonstrated the advantages of my methods and their potential impact on related communities."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Enhancing Hex-dominant Meshes: Generation, Evaluation, and Simplification"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Chen, Guoning"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Mayerich, David","Wu, Panruo","Deng, Zhigang"],"dc:creator":["Si, Lei 1995-"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-10-06T18:39:14Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2025-08"],"dc:description.abstract":["Hex-dominant mesh generation has recently received increasing attention from researchers and the simulation community due to its robustness compared to pure hex-mesh generation techniques. However, simulation algorithms require a limited number of cell types and mesh elements of desired quality to perform physics-based simulations over complex geometries. Unfortunately, in practice, most automatic hex-dominant generation algorithms for various geometries may contain unpredictable mesh elements, low-quality components, and undesired configurations. Furthermore, the hex-dominant meshing community lacks effective strategies for evaluating mesh structures or performing post-processing operations on these meshes. To address these challenges, this dissertation analyzed the demands aligned with the key stages in the meshing pipeline and contributed to the following areas: First, I designed a new hex-dominant mesh generation pipeline with an effective mesh extraction strategy. The generation pipeline links field information for feature alignment and utilizes a Voronoi diagram for geometry representation, which enables the pipeline to excel in both global and local controllability. The extraction strategy significantly improves generation performance. Second, I introduced a new 3D hexahedral mesh visual analysis system that highlights poor-quality areas with an aggregated glyph, emphasizes overlapping elements, and offers multi-level analysis through multiple views to effectively evaluate various mesh models and compare the performance of mesh generation and optimization algorithms for hex meshes. Third, I developed the first framework for analyzing hex-dominant meshes. It extends the base complex of pure hex-meshes by including non-hex elements. I also introduced a strategy to extract a cleaned (optimized) valence-based singularity graph wireframe to study the structure of both meshes and sheets. Fourth, I presented a first structure-informed simplification framework aimed at reducing the number of non-hex cells in hex-dominant meshes. My framework eliminates non-hex cells by using a novel relation graph that captures the connections involving edges and extracted sub-structures. I conducted comprehensive evaluations for each contribution, which demonstrated the advantages of my methods and their potential impact on related communities."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/10657/20686"],"dc:language.iso":["English"],"dc:subject":["Computer science"],"dc:title":["Enhancing Hex-dominant Meshes: Generation, Evaluation, and Simplification"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Computer Science"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Houston"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:32:44Z"}