Study on the Alignment of Single-layer Grid Shell for Free Form Surface

The grid quality standards of grid shell are different from that of the FEM grid, which emphasize more particularly on qualitative demands. It is aimed to identical bar length, well-distributed grids, and fluent lines. After the free-form surface shape optimization was carried out, the intelligent alignment design programs were composed based on mesh shape and element length standard. In the process of alignment, the space problem must firstly be turned into plane problem under topological invariant principle; and then the grids should be mapped back onto the 3D surface from the reference field. By intelligent correcting and optimization of the initial grids on the 3D surface, well-distributed grids will be obtained. The validity and practicability of this method are discussed on Sun Valley of Shanghai EXPO axis. It reveals that the same efficiency will be achieved using different topological grids, for designer’s reference. The method was proved to be simple manipulation and well effective.