This paper on "Applications of the Medial Axis Transform in Analysis Modelling" was presented at the 5th International Conference on Reliability of Finite Element Methods for Engineering Applications - 10-12 May 1995, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Summary

The Medial Axis is the locus of the centre of an inscribed circle in 2D (sphere in 3D) of maximal diameter as it rolls around the interior of a solid. The combination of the Medial Axis and its radius at every point is known as the Medial Axis Transform. The MAT is an alternative method of describing geometry which has some significant advantages for analysis modelling. It provides a lower dimensional skeleton of the object it also identifies parts of the object boundary which are in geometric proximity and how far apart they are. It has been used for the subdivision of complex 2D and 3D solids into well-shaped subregions suitable for mapped meshing, but also appears to be very useful in the derivation of simpler beam, plate or shell models from solids. By comparing the size of features in the model with the size of the radius of the adjacent inscribed circles or spheres, features likely to cause only local perturbations to the stress distribution can be identified.