A Laplacian equation method for numerical generation of boundary-fitted 3D orthogonal grids (Q1122967)

The generation of orthogonal curvilinear grids in a three-dimensional domain is considered in view of their application to flow problems. The orthogonal curvilinear coordinates are found as solutions of the Laplace equation that is nonlinear in nature due to the metric tensor involved. Some simplifications are applied to these equations which are discretized in the following by finite differences. The orthogonality requirements on the boundary and the description of the boundary surfaces require some additional considerations. A series of examples illustrate the numerical method for the grid generation.