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Mesh Generation for High Performance Computing: Current Trends and Applications

Timothy J. Tautges

Address Sandia National Laboratories
telecommuting from University of Wisconsin, Madison
1500 Engineering Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Phone608-263-8485
Fax608-263-4499
Emailtjtautg@sandia.gov
Education Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1990.
M.S. Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1989.
B.S. Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1985.
Ph.D Thesis The Parallel Processing of Nuclear Power Plant Severe Accident Simulation Codes, Gregory A. Moses, Advisor.
Positions
  • Principal Member Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories, 1992-present.
  • Adjunct Professor, Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics Dept., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1999-present.
  • Visiting Scientist, CEC Joint Research Centre-Ispra, Italy, 1990-1991.
  • Research Associate, Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics Dept., 1989-1990.
  • U.S. Dept. of Energy Nuclear Engineering Fellowship, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1985-1989.
  • Reactor Operator, University of Wisconsin Reactor Laboratory, Madison, 1984-1987.


    • Statement of Current Work

    Dr. Tautges' current work is centered around the use of CAD geometry for analysis applications. These applications typically require a level of geometric detail that is coarser than that found in typical design models, and finer than can feasibly be produced using bottom-up construction of analysis geometry. Dr. Tautges' work in feature-based decomposition, automatic detection of sweepable geometries, and techiniques for automatic detail suppression in support of mesh generation have enabled the use of CAD design models directly in the mesh generation process, while preserving a reasonable time to mesh for these models.

    Dr. Tautges is also investigating the flow of information through the design to analysis process, with the goal of preserving this information through the mesh generation, analysis, and post-processing steps. Preserving this information flow is critical to the Model-Based Simulation process, especially for large models.

    Selected Publications

    Refereed Publications:

    David R. White, Timothy J. Tautges, "Automatic Scheme Selection for Toolkit Hex Meshing", Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engr., to appear (expected September 2000).

    Yong Lu, Rajit Gadh, Timothy J. Tautges, "Feature Based Hex Meshing Methodology: Feature Recognition and Volume Decomposition", Computer Aided Design, to appear (expected October 2000).

    Timothy J. Tautges, "The Generation of Hexahedral Meshes for Assembly Geometries: A Survey", submitted to Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engr.

    Timothy J. Tautges, Scott A. Mitchell, Ted D. Blacker, Peter Murdoch, Stephen E. Benzley, "Connectivity-Based, All-Hexahedral Mesh Generation and Apparatus", U.S. Patent #5,768,156, June 1998.

    Ted D. Blacker, Scott A. Mitchell, Timothy J. Tautges, Peter Murdoch, Steven Benzley, "Forming and resolving wedges in the spatial twist continuum", Engineering with Computers, 13:1, 35-47 (1997).

    T. J. Tautges, T. Blacker and S. A. Mitchell, 'The Whisker Weaving Algorithm: A Connectivity-Based Method for Constructing All-Hexahedral Finite Element Meshes', Int. J. Numer. Meth. Eng., 39, 3327-3349 (1996).

    Timothy J. Tautges, Gregory A. Moses, Michael L. Corradini, The Combination of Data and Functional Partitioning to Parallelize Severe Accident Computer Codes, Nucl. Sci. Eng., 114:1, 36-41 (1993).

    Timothy J. Tautges, "On The Generation of Hexahedral Meshes for Assembly Geometries ", keynote address, 2nd Symposium on Trends in Unstructured Mesh Generation, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO, August 4, 1999.

    Invited Presentations:

    Timothy J. Tautges, "On The Generation of Hexahedral Meshes for Assembly Geometries ", keynote address, 2nd Symposium on Trends in Unstructured Mesh Generation, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO, August 4, 1999.

    Panel Discussions & Short Courses:

    Short Course Co-Instructor, Geometry Issues in Mesh Generation, 9th International Meshing Roundtable, New Orleans LA, October, 2000 (in preparation).

    Panel Member, Mesh Generation Panel Discussion, 7th International Meshing Roundtable, Dearborn MI, October 26-28, 1998.

    Panel Member, Mesh Generation Researchers/Developers, 5th International Conference on Numerical Grid Generation in Computational Field Simulations, Mississippi State University, April 1996.

    Short Course Instructor, New Advances and Open Issues in Hexahedral Mesh Generation, 8th International Meshing Roundtable, Lake Tahoe CA, October 10, 1999.

    Instructor, The CUBIT Mesh Generation Toolkit, PET Grid Generation Training Class, Waterways Experimental Station, Vicksburg MS, May 12, 1998.

    Professional Activities

    Project Leader, CUBIT Mesh Generation Project, 1996-1998.

    Member, Steering Committee, 8th, 9th International Meshing Roundtable conference, 1998-2000.

    Awards and Honors

    Award for Excellence, Sandia National Laboratories, February 23, 1999 (for delivering FEA mesh for radiation hardness certification application).

    Award for Excellence, Sandia National Laboratories, April 8, 1998 (for technical excellence in certification of MC4380 to hostile environments).

    Division 9000 Employee Recognition Award (Leadership) nominee, Sandia National Laboratories, February 4, 1997.

    DOE Nuclear Engineering Fellowship, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1986-1989.

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