Equipotential

Applies to: Volume Meshes

Summary: Attempts to equalize the volume of elements attached to each node

Syntax:

Volume <range> Smooth Scheme Equipotential [Free]

Discussion:

This smoother is a variation of the Equipotential (Jones, 74) algorithm that has been extended to manage non-regular grids (Tipton, 90). This method tends to equalize element volumes as it adjusts nodal locations. The advantage of the equipotential method is its tendency to "pull in" badly shaped meshes. This capability is not without cost: the equipotential method may take longer to converge or may be divergent. To impose an equipotential smooth on a volume, each element must be smoothed in every iteration--a typically expensive computation. While a Laplacian method can complete smoothing operations with only local nodal calculations, the equipotential method requires complete domain information to operate.