About

Main goal of this project is to define several file formats, which could be used for easy and efficient exchange of meshes between different SW packages. In context of this project the word mesh means discretisation of geomtrical objects, like in FEM or FVM.

The following file formats are planned to be developed:

• Triangular mesh (effectively it is intended to be a replacement for stl)
• Tetrahedral mesh (special case of linear mesh below). It is not yet clear if separate format is needed for this kind of mesh.
• Linear mesh. Can represent linear surace or volume elements, like tetrahedron, wedge, hexagon, prism etc., but not generic polyhedral mesh.
• Polyhedral mesh. Often used in CFD applications. Usually uses different topology definition compared to the linear mesh above.

Each of the formats above should be defined in two variants: text and binary.

As further development one may consider also definition of additional format(s) for representation of non-linear elements.

Further information

Project wiki contains further information about the project, its objectives and goals.

Currently the specification of Neutral Triangular Mesh format (text variant) is work in progres. Draft of the specification of this format is available in Wiki as well as page devoted to the rationale for the decisions made in the specification.

Please, don’t hesitate to ask question or share your thoughts about this format in the Discussions section.