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Loft: An Automated Mesh Generator for Stiffened-Shell Aerospace Vehicles

Loft is an automated mesh generation code designed for aerospace vehicle structures. Based on user input, it can generate meshes for wings, noses, tanks, fuselage sections, thrust structures, etc. As the mesh is generated, each element is assigned properties that mark what part of the vehicle it is associated with. This property assignment is an extremely powerful feature making possible detailed analysis tasks such as load application and sizing.

Loft can save its meshes in NASTRAN bulk data deck, EDS’ I-DEAS Universal File format, Abaqus input file format, VRML 2.0 (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) and STL (Stereo Lithography) files. The property assignment scheme was designed to make sizing in Collier Research’s HyperSizer easy. Support for other mesh storage formats can be added as needed.

Document ID
20230001772
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Technical Memorandum (TM)
Authors
Lloyd B. Eldred
(Langley Research Center Hampton, Virginia, United States)
Date Acquired
February 6, 2023
Publication Date
July 1, 2023
Subject Category
Structural Mechanics
Funding Number(s)
WBS: 725017.02.07.01.01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Portions of document may include copyright protected material.
Technical Review
NASA Peer Committee
Keywords
Structural modeling
Finite Element
FEA
NASTRAN
VRML
Abaqus
STL
mesh generation
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