surfmesh 0.2.4

A Python library to create simple 3D Surface Meshs using Quadrilateral dominant faces.

SurfMesh - A Surface Meshing Python Library

Surface Mesher is a Python library for generating structured 3D surface meshes of primitive shapes, with a strong focus on quadrilateral-dominant (quad) meshing. The meshes are particularly suited for visualization and Boundary Element Method (BEM) simulations.

⚠️ This project is currently under active development.

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🎯 Objective

This library aims to provide a minimal, intuitive interface for constructing quad-based surface meshes of primitive solids.

Use cases include:

• Geometry visualization
• Boundary Element Methods (BEM)
• Educational tooling
• Preprocessing for surface-based solvers

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⚙️ Requirements

• Python: >= 3.10
• Dependencies:
  • numpy>=1.24
  • Optional (for examples and visualization):
    • ipykernel
    • jupyterlab
    • matplotlib

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🚀 Installation

To install stable version via PyPI:

pip install surfmesh

For the latest development version via Git:

pip install git+https://github.com/ckesanapalli/surface-mesher.git

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🧱 Basic Usage

Below are examples of how to use the library to generate and visualize meshes.

from pathlib import Path

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib.patches import Polygon
from matplotlib.collections import PatchCollection
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d.art3d import Poly3DCollection

import surfmesh as sm

plot_res = (4, 4)

1. Mesh Between Two Edges

# Define two edges
x = np.linspace(0, np.pi / 2, 20)
edge1 = np.array([x, np.sin(x)])
edge2 = np.array([x, np.exp(x)])

# Generate the mesh
radial_resolution = 10
mesh = sm.mesh_between_edges([edge1, edge2], radial_resolution)

print(f"Generated mesh with {mesh.shape[0]} quadrilateral faces.")

fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=plot_res)
collection = PatchCollection(map(Polygon, mesh), facecolor='lightblue', edgecolor='k', linewidth=0.3)
ax.add_collection(collection)
ax.set_xlim(mesh[:, :, 0].min() - 0.1, mesh[:, :, 0].max() + 0.1)
ax.set_ylim(mesh[:, :, 1].min() - 0.1, mesh[:, :, 1].max() + 0.1)
ax.set_title("Mesh Between Edges")
plt.show()

Generated mesh with 190 quadrilateral faces.

2. Radial Disk Mesh

# Parameters for the radial disk mesh
radius = 1.0
radial_resolution = 10
segment_resolution = 20

# Generate the radial disk mesh
radial_mesh = sm.disk_mesher_radial(radius, radial_resolution, segment_resolution)

print(f"Generated radial disk mesh with {radial_mesh.shape[0]} quadrilateral faces.")

fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=plot_res)
patches = [Polygon(face, closed=True) for face in radial_mesh]
collection = PatchCollection(patches, facecolors="lightblue", edgecolors="k", alpha=0.7)
ax.add_collection(collection)

ax.set_xlim(-radius, radius)
ax.set_ylim(-radius, radius)
ax.set_aspect("equal")
ax.set_title("Radial Disk Mesh")
plt.show()

Generated radial disk mesh with 200 quadrilateral faces.

3. Square-Centered Disk Mesh

square_resolution = 5
radial_resolution = 10
square_side_radius_ratio = 0.5

# Generate the square-centered disk mesh
square_centered_mesh = sm.disk_mesher_square_centered(radius, square_resolution, radial_resolution, square_side_radius_ratio)

print(f"Generated square-centered disk mesh with {square_centered_mesh.shape[0]} quadrilateral faces.")

fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=plot_res)
collection = PatchCollection(map(Polygon, square_centered_mesh), facecolors="lightgreen", edgecolors="k", alpha=0.7)
ax.add_collection(collection)

ax.set_xlim(-radius, radius)
ax.set_ylim(-radius, radius)
ax.set_aspect("equal")
ax.set_title("Square-Centered Disk Mesh")
plt.show()

Generated square-centered disk mesh with 225 quadrilateral faces.

4. Cuboid Mesh using Explicit Coordinates

# Define coordinate arrays for a cuboid
x_coords = [0.0, 1.0, 2.0]
y_coords = [0.0, 1.0, 2.0]
z_coords = [0.0, 0.5, 1.0]

# Generate the cuboid surface mesh
faces = sm.cuboid_mesher(x_coords, y_coords, z_coords)

print(f"Generated {faces.shape[0]} quadrilateral faces.")
print(faces.shape)

fig = plt.figure(figsize=plot_res)
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection="3d")

# Add each quad to the 3D plot
poly = Poly3DCollection(faces, facecolors="skyblue", edgecolors="k", alpha=0.7)
ax.add_collection3d(poly)

ax.set_xlabel("X")
ax.set_ylabel("Y")
ax.set_zlabel("Z")
ax.set_title("Cuboid Surface Mesh")
plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()

Generated 24 quadrilateral faces.
(24, 4, 3)

5. Cuboid Mesh using Resolution

# Generate a cuboid mesh with resolution
length, width, height = 2.0, 1.0, 1.0
resolution = (4, 2, 2)

mesh = sm.cuboid_mesher_with_resolution(length, width, height, resolution=resolution)

print(f"Generated cuboid with {mesh.shape[0]} quadrilateral faces.")
print(mesh.shape)

fig = plt.figure(figsize=plot_res)
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection="3d")

poly = Poly3DCollection(mesh, facecolors="lightgreen", edgecolors="k", alpha=0.6)
ax.add_collection3d(poly)

ax.set_xlabel("X")
ax.set_ylabel("Y")
ax.set_zlabel("Z")
ax.set_title("Cuboid Mesh with Resolution")
plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()

Generated cuboid with 40 quadrilateral faces.
(40, 4, 3)

6. Revolve a Curve Along a Circular Path

# Sample 2D curve coordinates
x = np.linspace(0, 1, 20)
z = x ** 2  # Example curve (parabola)

curves = np.array([x, z]).T
# Revolve the curve
segment_resolution = 20
faces = sm.circular_revolve(curves, segment_resolution, start_angle=0, end_angle=2*np.pi)

# Plotting
fig = plt.figure(figsize=plot_res)
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
ax.add_collection3d(Poly3DCollection(faces, facecolors='g', linewidths=1, alpha=0.5))
ax.set_xlim(-x.max(), x.max())
ax.set_ylim(-x.max(), x.max())
ax.set_zlim(z.min(), z.max())
ax.set_xlabel('X-axis')
ax.set_ylabel('Y-axis')
ax.set_zlabel('Z-axis')
plt.show()

7. Revolve a Curve Along a Custom Path

x = np.linspace(1, 10, 100)
z = np.log(x)
main_curve = np.array([x, z]).T

angle_rad = np.linspace(0, 4*np.pi, 100)
radius = angle_rad/10
revolve_path = np.array([angle_rad, radius]).T

revolved_mesh = sm.revolve_curve_along_path(main_curve, revolve_path)

fig = plt.figure(figsize=plot_res)
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
ax.add_collection3d(Poly3DCollection(revolved_mesh, alpha=0.5))
ax.set_xlim(-x.max(), x.max())
ax.set_ylim(-x.max(), x.max())
ax.set_zlim(z.min(), z.max())
plt.show()

8. Generate a Radial Cylinder Mesh

radius = 1.0
height = 2.0
radial_resolution = 8
segment_resolution = 16
height_resolution = 10

# Generate the cylinder mesh
mesh = sm.cylinder_mesher_radial(radius, height, radial_resolution, segment_resolution, height_resolution)

print(f"Generated a Radial Cylinder Mesh {mesh.shape[0]}.")
print(mesh.shape)

fig = plt.figure(figsize=plot_res)
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection="3d")

poly = Poly3DCollection(mesh, facecolors="lightgreen", edgecolors="k", alpha=0.6)
ax.add_collection3d(poly)

ax.set_xlabel("X")
ax.set_ylabel("Y")
ax.set_zlabel("Z")
ax.set_title("Radial Cylinder Mesh")
plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()

Generated a Radial Cylinder Mesh 416.
(416, 4, 3)

9. Generate a Square-Centered Cylinder Mesh

radius = 1.0
height = 2.0
radial_resolution = 8
half_square_side_resolution = 4
height_resolution = 10

# Generate the cylinder mesh
mesh = sm.cylinder_mesher_square_centered(radius, height, radial_resolution, half_square_side_resolution, height_resolution)

print(f"Generated a Square-Centered Cylinder Mesh.")
print(mesh.shape)

fig = plt.figure(figsize=plot_res)
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection="3d")

poly = Poly3DCollection(mesh, facecolors="lightgreen", edgecolors="k", alpha=0.6)
ax.add_collection3d(poly)

ax.set_xlabel("X")
ax.set_ylabel("Y")
ax.set_zlabel("Z")
ax.set_title("Square-Centered Cylinder Mesh")
plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()

Generated a Square-Centered Cylinder Mesh.
(960, 4, 3)

10. Generate a Sphere Mesh Using Cube Projection

mesh = sm.sphere_mesher_from_projection(radius=1.0, resolution=10)

print(f"Generated a Sphere Mesh from Cube Projection.")
print(mesh.shape)

fig = plt.figure(figsize=plot_res)
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection="3d")

poly = Poly3DCollection(mesh, facecolors="lightgreen", edgecolors="k", alpha=0.6)
ax.add_collection3d(poly)

ax.set_xlabel("X")
ax.set_ylabel("Y")
ax.set_zlabel("Z")
ax.set_title("Sphere Mesh from Cube Projection")
plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()

Generated a Sphere Mesh from Cube Projection.
(600, 4, 3)

11. Generate a Sphere Mesh Using Radial Divisions

radius = 1.0
radial_resolution = 20
segment_resolution = 20
mesh = sm.sphere_mesher_from_radial(radius, radial_resolution, segment_resolution)

print(f"Generated a Radial Sphere Mesh.")
print(mesh.shape)

fig = plt.figure(figsize=plot_res)
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection="3d")

poly = Poly3DCollection(mesh, facecolors="lightgreen", edgecolors="k", alpha=0.6)
ax.add_collection3d(poly)

ax.set_xlabel("X")
ax.set_ylabel("Y")
ax.set_zlabel("Z")
ax.set_title("Sphere Mesh from Radial Sphere")
plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()

Generated a Radial Sphere Mesh.
(400, 4, 3)

📌 Roadmap

• Cuboid surface mesh generation
• Disk face mesh generation
• Revolve curve mesh generation
• Cylinder, and sphere support
• Curvilinear mesh
• STL/PLY export support
• Mesh visualization utilities
• Export to BEM-compatible formats

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📄 License

MIT License © 2025 Chaitanya Kesanapalli