Virtual topology operators for meshing

In recent years several automatic 3D meshing algorithms have emerged. However direct analysis of CAD models is still elusive. Among the major obstacles preventing automation is the necessity to edit the CAD models to be suitable both for the analysis objectives and the available meshing algorithms. Such editing includes topology correction and validation, detail suppression and decomposition. Editing the geometry directly (e.g. surface redefinitions) is cumbersome, tedious, and expensive. Introducing virtual topology allows such operations as modifications to the topology only. In this work the concept and operators of virtual topology are described, along with their use in performing the required editing of the model. A set of automatic and semi-automatic tools for the various editing operations are introduced.