filename : vis98 title : Progressive Tetrahedralizations entry : inproceedings pages : 7 year : 1998 author : Oliver G. Staadt and Markus H. Gross language : English month : Aug address : Institute of Scientific Computing keywords : mesh simplification, multiresolution, FEM meshing institution : ETH Zürich abstract : This paper describes some fundamental issues for robust implementations of progressively refined tetrahedralizations generated through sequences of edge collapses. We address the definition of appropriate cost functions and explain on various tests which are necessary to preserve the consistency of the mesh when collapsing edges. Although being considered a special case of progressive simplicial complexes the results of our method are of high practical importance and can be used in many different applications, such as finite element meshing, scattered data interpolation or rendering of irregular volume data.