When generating a conformal mesh for Finite Element Analysis (FEA), careful attention is
required to ensure that the nodes along an interface exactly match each other. But even after
meshing the structure, there still may be faces with an undesirable mesh resolution. Time
and computing power are wasted by iterating through different mesh configurations until an
acceptable one is found. To overcome these issues, it would be better to mesh each face
independently of the others. Tie constraints are utilized to connect these non-conformal meshes.

This research assesses how the implementation of tie constraints affects the accuracy and
efficiency of solving FEA problems. To accomplish this, a finite element code, PRoFile,
is written in C. It is shown that, if implemented properly, tie constraints do not have a negative impact on the accuracy of the solution. However, the efficiency of obtaining the solution is reduced when tie constraints are used.

Links to Project Materials:

College of Engineering & Computer Science 2021, Natural Science & Engineering Projects 2021, 2021