Scientists use meshes to approximate a geometric domain for solving complex engineering analysis problems. To assist in these efforts, researchers at Argonne National Laboratory have developed the Mesh-Oriented datABase (MOAB), a software component for representing and evaluating mesh data.

The newest release, MOAB 4.6, features several improvements in the parallel mesh-to-mesh transfer, including handling of spectral elements and better tolerance for point searches; the ability to access densely-stored variable data in its native storage; new metadata and properties handling; and one-dimensional support in a structured mesh interface.

“Meshes act as a ​‘data bus’ for most data in PDE-based simulation—from mesh generation, though analysis, to visualization,” said Tim Tautges, lead developer of MOAB in Argonne’s Mathematics and Computer Science Division. ​“The package can represent most mesh types used in PDE-solving applications, such as fluid dynamics, fusion modeling, and multiphysics reactor simulation.”

MOAB provides efficient storage of both structured and unstructured mesh data and can read and write formats used in a variety of simulation, mesh generation, and visualization applications. Moreover, the software can be used on a wide range of computing platforms, from workstations to clusters and high-performance parallel systems such as the IBM Blue Gene/P and Cray computers.

Development of MOAB is supported by DOE Offices of Science and Nuclear Energy.  Further information about downloading and documentation is available on the website.