Dr. Debra F. Laefer Department of Civil Engineering North Carolina State University Campus Box 7908 Raleigh, NC 27695-7908 (919) 515-7631 dflaefer@unity.ncsu.edu
Premise Three-dimensional scanning laser systems hold great potential for the automated generation of FEM meshes for existing structures, but the current two-part procedure of first converting to CAD and then to a mesh generates excessive discrepancies causing untenable amounts of manual redrawing.
Goals
Create a sufficiently precise, one step mesh generation process to convert scanned data into a usable FEM mesh.
Develop a user-friendly interface to execute the conversion.
Method
Obtain field data for an actual structure.
Program the necessary elements for successful resolution of previous discrepancies.
Sponsor Dr. David Bloomquist, University of Florida at Gainesville
