.ele files


Blank lines and comments prefixed by `#' may be placed anywhere. Triangles must be numbered consecutively, starting from one or zero. Points are indices into the corresponding .node file. The first three points are the corners, and are listed in counterclockwise order around each triangle. (The remaining points, if any, depend on the type of finite element used.)

As in .node files, the attributes are typically floating-point values of physical quantities (such as mass or conductivity) associated with the elements (triangles) of a finite element mesh. Because there is no simple mapping from input to output triangles, an attempt is made to interpolate attributes, which may result in a good deal of diffusion of attributes among nearby triangles as the triangulation is refined. Diffusion does not occur across segments, so attributes used to identify segment-bounded regions remain intact.

In output .ele files, all triangles have three points each unless the -o2 switch is used, in which case subparametric quadratic elements with six points are generated, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth points lie on the midpoints of the edges opposite the first, second, and third corners.


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jrs@cs.cmu.edu