From 927accce45b514c57c784190a84cf61918ec54d4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: jyviko <2501648+jyviko@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2026 06:05:23 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] mesh: smoothing straightens the face grid lines the compass
 search leaves zigzagging (#402)

The compass search after the sweeps moves the nodes of the worst elements one at a time, each to
its own best place. Since it lifts every element below 0.7 (#462) it moves many surface nodes,
and a column of them on a face ends at scattered places: the enclosure base's inner walls showed
zigzag element lines in a column next to each corner, full height. A last pass now moves each
surface node back toward the mean of its neighbours on the surface, as far as no element round
it falls below the lower of its own value and the mesh's smallest after the search, so the lines
straighten and the mesh's worst element is no worse.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01UhhZMBTviDQxZvwnyP89fo
---
 crates/mesh/src/project/smooth.rs | 49 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 49 insertions(+)

diff --git a/crates/mesh/src/project/smooth.rs b/crates/mesh/src/project/smooth.rs
index 4749180..875bace 100644
--- a/crates/mesh/src/project/smooth.rs
+++ b/crates/mesh/src/project/smooth.rs
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ const SAME_QUALITY: f64 = 1e-6;
 /// move without lowering another below the lower of its own value and [`QUALITY_FLOOR`].
 const LIFT_BELOW: f64 = 0.7;
 
+/// Sweeps that straighten the grid lines on the faces after the compass search.
+const STRAIGHTEN_SWEEPS: usize = 30;
+
 /// Rounds of the compass search on the worst elements.
 const OPTIMIZE_ROUNDS: usize = 20;
 
@@ -511,5 +514,51 @@ fn pass(m: &mut Mesh, g: &dyn Geometry, targets: &[Vec<u32>], method: Smoothing,
             break;
         }
     }
+    // The search moves boundary nodes one at a time, each to its own best place, which leaves the
+    // grid lines on a face zigzagging from node to node. Straighten them: each surface node back
+    // toward the mean of its neighbours on the surface, as far as no element round it falls below
+    // the lower of its own value and the mesh's smallest after the search (so the mesh's worst
+    // element is no worse for it).
+    let floor = hexes.iter().map(|h| hex_scaled_jacobian(&h.map(|q| at(m.nodes, q)))).fold(f64::INFINITY, f64::min);
+    for _ in 0..STRAIGHTEN_SWEEPS {
+        let mut moved = false;
+        for v in 0..n as u32 {
+            let c = cons(v);
+            if !matches!(c, Constraint::Surface(_)) {
+                continue;
+            }
+            let p = at(m.nodes, v);
+            let Some(q) = along_boundary.get(&v).and_then(|e| {
+                let (mut s, mut k) = ([0.0; 3], 0usize);
+                for &w in e {
+                    s = add(s, at(m.nodes, w));
+                    k += 1;
+                }
+                (k > 0).then(|| place(g, targets, c, scale(s, 1.0 / k as f64), ptol))
+            }) else {
+                continue;
+            };
+            if dist(q, p) <= ptol {
+                continue;
+            }
+            let before = quality(m.nodes, v);
+            for step in [1.0, 0.5, 0.25] {
+                let x = if step == 1.0 { q } else { place(g, targets, c, add(p, scale(sub(q, p), step)), ptol) };
+                if let Some(slot) = m.nodes.get_mut(v as usize) {
+                    *slot = x;
+                }
+                if quality(m.nodes, v).keeps_above(before, floor) {
+                    moved = true;
+                    break;
+                }
+                if let Some(slot) = m.nodes.get_mut(v as usize) {
+                    *slot = p;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        if !moved {
+            break;
+        }
+    }
     report
 }