arXiv subjects

Jean-François Remacle

Publications and source records attributed to Jean-François Remacle.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Topology-Preserving Mesh Adaptation for Sharp-Interface Multiphase PFEM

This paper presents a robust, fully Lagrangian framework based on the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM) capable of simulating multiphase flows with an arbitrary number of immiscible phases. Interface-tracking methods can sometimes suffer from numerical diffusion or allow the underlying mesh resolution to prematurely dictate topological changes. To address these limitations, we introduce a dynamic mesh adaptation strategy that naturally preserves sharp geometric interfaces without relying on classical constrained triangulation. A node-empty disk is assigned to each segment of the discretized interface, ensuring that the edge is part of the Delaunay triangulation. Our approach decouples the interface physics from the grid size, allowing the integration of sub-grid physical models to properly govern topological changes independently of the user-defined mesh size. The capabilities and accuracy of the framework are validated against standard multiphase benchmarks, closely matching references while maintaining a remarkably low overall node count. We demonstrate the scalability and geometric versatility of the method, in particular with a challenging 16-phase Rayleigh-Taylor simulation.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2026

Intrinsic Meshing of Closed Surfaces Using Geodesic Distances

We present a method for constructing intrinsic triangulations of closed discrete surfaces, in which edges correspond to shortest geodesic paths and faces decompose into geometric primitives inherited from the underlying mesh. Starting from a watertight input triangulation, the method progressively builds an intrinsic mesh through local optimization operations -- edge swaps, edge splits, edge collapses, and triangle splits -- performed directly on the surface without modifying the original geometry. Element size is controlled via a characteristic length field, and quality is enforced through angle-based criteria derived from intrinsic distances. Geodesic distances are computed exactly using a continuous Dijkstra approach, accelerated by an A* search strategy that reduces computation to roughly $3\%$ of the cost of standard propagation. The framework supports both refinement and coarsening, overcoming a key limitation of prior intrinsic methods based on developable triangles. As a by-product, the intrinsic triangulation provides a natural foundation for direct high-order mesh generation, bypassing the classical pipeline of first constructing a linear mesh and subsequently curving it. The method is validated on the Thingi10K dataset across nearly 5,000 geometrically complex models.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2026

The Tempered Finite Element Method

In this paper, we propose a new approach -- the Tempered Finite Element Method (TFEM) -- that extends the Finite Element Method (FEM) to classes of meshes that include zero-measure or nearly degenerate elements for which standard FEM approaches do not allow convergence. First, we review why the maximum angle condition [2] is not necessary for FEM convergence and what are the real limitations in terms of meshes. Next, we propose a simple modification of the classical FEM for elliptic problems that provably allows convergence for a wider class of meshes including bands of caps that cause locking of the solution in standard FEM formulations. The proposed method is trivial to implement in an existing FEM code and can be theoretically analyzed. We prove that in the case of exactly zero-measure elements it corresponds to mortaring. We show numerically and theoretically that what we propose is functional and sound. The remainder of the paper is devoted to extensions of the TFEM method to linear elasticity, mortaring of non-conforming meshes, high-order elements, and advection.

math.NA↗

arXiv2026

Taming Slivers: A Robust TFEM Framework for Reliable Computations on Degenerate Tetrahedral Meshes

Sliver elements are an intrinsic difficulty of three-dimensional tetrahedral mesh generation and remain costly, and sometimes impractical, to eliminate completely. Although isolated degenerate elements do not necessarily prevent finite element convergence, connected clusters or sheets of slivers may impose artificial constraints on the discrete solution, leading to locking and severe loss of accuracy. In this work, we revisit the effect of slivers from the viewpoint of the finite element solution and propose a robust solver-side treatment based on the Tempered Finite Element Method (TFEM). The method limits the singular contribution of degenerate elements by introducing a lower bound on the Jacobian determinant, which can be interpreted as a vanishing added-volume correction. The resulting formulation prevents the effective element volume from falling below a threshold while preserving the relevant physical modes of the solution. We analyze the stiffness matrices of degenerate tetrahedra, identify the mechanisms responsible for locking in sliver bands, and assess the method on a range of representative physical problems, including incompressible flow, Cahn--Hilliard phase-field dynamics, transient wave propagation, and vibro-acoustic fluid--structure interaction. The numerical results show that TFEM consistently recovers accurate and physically meaningful solutions on meshes for which standard FEM exhibits locking or loss of convergence, providing a simple and broadly applicable alternative to exhaustive geometric sliver removal.

math.NA↗

arXiv2026

DG = FEM + flat elements, Part I: Diffusion

We establish a simple, rigorous, and easy to implement connection between the classical continuous finite element method (FEM) and the discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method for Poisson's problem. The key idea is to insert a vanishing-thickness layer of "dummy" elements along cell interfaces. By modifying the diffusion coefficient on these elements to be proportional to their thickness, we prove the FEM formulation converges to Babuška-Zlámal DG with trapezoidal edge quadrature. The scheme is trivial to implement by (i) a mesh edit that introduces degenerate interface elements and (ii) a single Jacobian threshold in an otherwise unmodified FEM code to handle the degenerate elements via the tempered finite element (TFEM) framework. We provide a rigorous derivation of the resulting TFEM-DG scheme, prove optimal $H^1$ and $L^2$ error estimates, and present numerical experiments in 2D and 3D. The method allows for simple implementation of DG in a FEM code and even adaptive element-by-element switching between FEM and DG with minimal coding effort. The framework is readily extensible, as we will demonstrate in a companion paper dedicated to evolutionary nonlinear first-order hyperbolic systems.

math.NA↗

arXiv2025

Three-dimensional mesh adaptation in PFEM

Chaotic free surface flows are challenging problems to simulate numerically, mainly due to the significant changes in geometry and frequent topological changes. Methods that track the evolution of the fluid in a Lagrangian formulation are a natural choice. One such method is the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM). As a hybrid particle-based and mesh-based method, PFEM leverages advantages from both approaches. The equations of motion are solved on a mesh using the finite element method and the obtained velocity field is used to displace the nodes of this mesh, considered as particles carrying all the relevant information across time steps. To avoid element distortion, the mesh is frequently re-generated. This introduces some challenges: How can the new shape of the domain be detected? How can the quality of the elements be kept acceptable? Can adaptive mesh refinement increase the accuracy and efficiency of the solver? Can PFEM simulations be performed in the presence of complex boundary geometries? In this work, three contributions to the geometry and mesh component of PFEM are introduced for three-dimensional free surface flow simulations. First, we propose a different domain reconstruction approach than the classically used alpha-shape procedure, namely through the use of the advected boundary from the previous time step as a predicate to represent the new shape of the domain. Second, an adaptive refinement procedure is proposed in two steps: refinement of the boundary surface followed by quality-based node insertion in the bulk. Third, an approach for managing boundaries in complex geometries is presented. A series of applications is shown to demonstrate the interest of the approach.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Phase-field and lip-field approaches for fracture with extreme mesh deformation (X-Mesh): a one-dimensional study

We consider a one-dimensional fracture problem modelled using either the phase-field or lip-field approach. In both cases, we optimise the incremental potential with respect to the displacement and damage fields and the nodal coordinates of the mesh. This is thus a variational mesh study. We observe that, as the damage reaches its maximum value, the optimisation drives the most damaged element to zero size as the damage reaches its maximum value. This peculiar element provides a precise displacement jump representation as the bar breaks. The overall solution is also shown to be much more accurate than the fixed mesh solution. This work forms part of an exploration into the capabilities of extreme meshes in computational mechanics (X-Mesh).

cs.CE↗

arXiv2025

Isometric simplices for high-order anisotropic mesh adaptation. Part I: Definition and existence of isometric triangulations

Anisotropic mesh adaptation with Riemannian metrics has proven effective for generating straight-sided meshes with anisotropy induced by the geometry of interest and/or the resolved physics. Within the continuous mesh framework, anisotropic meshes are thought of as discrete counterparts to Riemannian metrics. Ideal, or unit, simplicial meshes consist only of simplices whose edges exhibit unit or quasi-unit length with respect to a given Riemannian metric. Recently, mesh adaptation with high-order (i.e., curved) elements has grown in popularity in the meshing community, as the additional flexibility of high-order elements can further reduce the approximation error. However, a complete and competitive methodology for anisotropic and high-order mesh adaptation is not yet available. The goal of this paper is to address a key aspect of metric-based high-order mesh adaptation, namely, the adequacy between a Riemannian metric and high-order simplices. This is done by extending the notions of unit simplices and unit meshes, central to the continuous mesh framework, to high-order elements. The existing definitions of a unit simplex are reviewed, then a broader definition involving Riemannian isometries is introduced to handle curved and high-order simplices. Similarly, the notion of quasi-unitness is extended to curved simplices to tackle the practical generation of high-order meshes. Proofs of concept for unit and (quasi-)isometric meshes are presented in two dimensions.

math.NA↗

arXiv2025

A Coupled PFEM-DEM Model for Fluid-Granular Flows with Free-Surface Dynamics Applied to Landslides

Free surface and granular fluid mechanics problems combine the challenges of fluid dynamics with aspects of granular behaviour. This type of problem is particularly relevant in contexts such as the flow of sediments in rivers, the movement of granular soils in reservoirs, or the interactions between a fluid and granular materials in industrial processes such as silos. The numerical simulation of these phenomena is challenging because the solution depends not only on the multiple phases that strongly interact with each other, but also on the need to describe the geometric evolution of the different interfaces. This paper presents an approach to the simulation of fluid-granular phenomena involving strongly deforming free surfaces. The Discrete Element Method (DEM) is combined with the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM) and the fluid-grain interface is treated by a two-way coupling between the two phases. The fluid-air interface is solved by a free surface model. The geometric and topological variations are therefore naturally provided by the full Lagrangian description of all phases. The approach is validated on benchmark test cases such as two-phase dam failures and then applied to a real landslide problem.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2025

Solving the Porous Medium Equation with the eXtreme Mesh deformation approach (X-Mesh)

We introduce a new scheme for solving the non-regularized Porous Medium Equation. It is mass conserving and uses only positive unknown values. To address these typically conflicting features, we employ the eXtreme Mesh deformation approach (X-Mesh), specifically designed for problems involving sharp interfaces. The method ensures that the interface is always meshed, even in the face of complex topological changes, without the need for remeshing or altering the mesh topology. We illustrate the effectiveness of the approach through various numerical experiments.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

X-Mesh: A new approach for the simulation of two-phase flow with sharp interface

Accurate modeling of moving boundaries and interfaces is a difficulty present in many situations of computational mechanics. We use the eXtreme Mesh deformation approach (X-Mesh) to simulate the interaction between two immiscible flows using the finite element method, while maintaining an accurate and sharp description of the interface without remeshing. In this new approach, the mesh is locally deformed to conform to the interface at all times, which can result in degenerated elements. The surface tension between the two fluids is added by imposing the pressure jump condition at the interface, which, when combined with the X-Mesh framework, allows us to have an exactly sharp interface. If a numerical scheme fails to properly balance surface tension and pressure gradients, it leads to numerical artefacts called spurious or parasitic currents. The method presented here is well balanced and reduces such currents down to the level of machine precision.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2024

Integrable Frame Fields using Odeco Tensors

We propose a method for computing integrable orthogonal frame fields on planar surfaces. Frames and their symmetries are implicitly represented using orthogonally decomposable (odeco) tensors. To formulate an integrability criterion, we express the frame field's Lie bracket solely in terms of the tensor representation; this is made possible by studying the sensitivity of the frame with respect to perturbations in the tensor. We construct an energy formulation that computes smooth and integrable frame fields, in both isotropic and anisotropic settings. The user can prescribe any size and orientation constraints in input, and the solver creates and places the singularities required to fit the constraints with the correct topology. The computed frame field can be integrated to a seamless parametrization that is aligned with the frame field.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2022

Integrable cross-field generation based on imposed singularity configuration -- the 2D manifold case --

This work presents the mathematical foundations for the generation of integrable cross-field on 2D manifolds based on user-imposed singularity configuration. In this paper, we either use singularities that appear naturally, e.g., by solving a non-linear problem, or use as an input user-defined singularity pattern, possibly with high valence singularities that typically do not appear in cross-field computations. This singularity set is under the constraint of Abel-Jacobi's conditions for valid singularity configurations. The main contribution of the paper is the development of a formulation that allows computing an integrable isotropic 2D cross-field from a given set of singularities through the resolution of only two linear PDEs. To address the issue of possible suboptimal singularities' distribution, we also present the mathematical setting for the generation of an integrable anisotropic 2D cross-field based on a user-imposed singularity pattern. The developed formulations support both an isotropic and an anisotropic block-structured quad mesh generation. Keywords: integrable 2D cross-field, valid singularity configuration, quad layout, quad meshing

math.NA↗

arXiv2021

Multidirectionnal sweeping preconditioners with non-overlapping checkerboard domain decomposition for Helmholtz problems

This paper explores a family of generalized sweeping preconditionners for Helmholtz problems with non-overlapping checkerboard partition of the computational domain. The domain decomposition procedure relies on high-order transmission conditions and cross-point treatments, which cannot scale without an efficient preconditioning technique when the number of subdomains increases. With the proposed approach, existing sweeping preconditioners, such as the symmetric Gauss-Seidel and parallel double sweep preconditioners, can be applied to checkerboard partitions with different sweeping directions (e.g. horizontal and diagonal). Several directions can be combined thanks to the flexible version of GMRES, allowing for the rapid transfer of information in the different zones of the computational domain, then accelerating the convergence of the final iterative solution procedure. Several two-dimensional finite element results are proposed to study and to compare the sweeping preconditioners, and to illustrate the performance on cases of increasing complexity.

math.NA↗

arXiv2021

Generation of High-Order Coarse Quad Meshes on CAD Models via Integer Linear Programming

We propose an end-to-end pipeline to robustly generate high-quality, high-order and coarse quadrilateral meshes on CAD models. This kind of mesh enables the use of high-order analysis techniques such as high-order finite element methods or isogeometric analysis. An initial unstructured mesh is generated; this mesh contains a low number of irregular vertices but these are not necessarily aligned, causing a very dense quad layout. A T-mesh is built on the mesh which allows to modify its topology by assigning new integer lengths to the T-mesh arcs. The task of simplifying the quad layout can be formulated as an Integer Linear Program which is solved efficiently using an adequate solver. Finally, a high-order quad mesh is extracted from the optimized topology. Validation on several CAD models shows that our approach is fast, robust, strictly respects the CAD features, and achieves interesting results in terms of coarseness and quality.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2021

Quasi-structured quadrilateral meshing in Gmsh -- a robust pipeline for complex CAD models

We propose an end-to-end pipeline to robustly generate high-quality quadrilateral meshes for complex CAD models. An initial quad-dominant mesh is generated with frontal point insertion guided by a locally integrable cross field and a scalar size map adapted to the small CAD features. After triangle combination and midpoint-subdivision into an all-quadrilateral mesh, the topology of the mesh is modified to reduce the number of irregular vertices. The idea is to preserve the irregular vertices matching cross-field singularities and to eliminate the others. The topological modifications are either local and based on disk quadrangulations, or more global with the remeshing of patches of quads according to predefined patterns. Validity of the quad mesh is guaranteed by monitoring element quality during all operations and reverting the changes when necessary. Advantages of our approach include robustness, strict respect of the CAD features and support for user-prescribed size constraints. The quad mesher, which is available in Gmsh, is validated and illustrated on two datasets of CAD models.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2020

Ginzburg-Landau energy and placement of singularities in generated cross fields

Cross field generation is often used as the basis for the construction of block-structured quadrangular meshes, and the field singularities have a key impact on the structure of the resulting meshes. In this paper, we extend Ginzburg-Landau cross field generation methods with a new formulation that allows a user to impose inner singularities. The cross field is computed via the optimization of a linear objective function with localized quadratic constraints. This method consists in fixing singularities in small holes drilled in the computational domain with specific degree conditions on their boundaries, which leads to non-singular cross fields on the drilled domain. We also propose a way to calculate the Ginzburg-Landau energy of these cross fields on the perforated domain by solving a Neumann linear problem. This energy converges to the energy of the Ginzburg-Landau functional as epsilon and the radius of the holes tend to zero. To obtain insights concerning the sum of the inner singularity degrees, we give: (i) an extension of the Ginzburg-Landau energy to the piecewise smooth domain allowing to identify the positions and degrees of the boundary singularities, and (ii) an interpretation of the Poincaré-Hopf theorem focusing on internal singularities.

math.NA↗

arXiv2020

Automatic feature-preserving size field for 3D mesh generation

This paper presents a methodology aiming at easing considerably the generation of high-quality meshes for complex 3D domains. We show that the whole mesh generation process can be controlled with only five parameters to generate in one stroke quality meshes for arbitrary geometries. The main idea is to build a meshsize field $h(x)$ taking local features of the geometry, such as curvatures, into account. Meshsize information is then propagated from the surfaces into the volume, ensuring that the magnitude of $\vert \nabla h \vert$ is always controlled so as to obtain a smoothly graded mesh. As the meshsize field is stored in an independent octree data structure, the function h can be computed separately, and then plugged in into any mesh generator able to respect a prescribed meshsize field. The whole procedure is automatic, in the sense that minimal interaction with the user is required. Applications examples based on models taken from the very large ABC dataset, are then presented, all treated with the same generic set of parameter values, to demonstrate the efficiency and the universality of the technique.

math.NA↗