diff --git a/MeshLib/MeshEditing/AddLayerToMesh.cpp b/MeshLib/MeshEditing/AddLayerToMesh.cpp
index 07b08c83659737e21670b74ec25dc0ab7eab4504..07736e29863bd70dc86723889388b61154d4da39 100644
--- a/MeshLib/MeshEditing/AddLayerToMesh.cpp
+++ b/MeshLib/MeshEditing/AddLayerToMesh.cpp
@@ -82,11 +82,10 @@ MeshLib::Mesh* addLayerToMesh(MeshLib::Mesh const& mesh, double thickness,
 	std::unique_ptr<MeshLib::Mesh> sfc_mesh (nullptr);
 	
 	if (mesh.getDimension() == 3)
-		sfc_mesh = std::unique_ptr<MeshLib::Mesh>(
-			MeshLib::MeshSurfaceExtraction::getMeshSurface(mesh, dir, angle, true));
+		sfc_mesh.reset(MeshLib::MeshSurfaceExtraction::getMeshSurface(mesh, dir, angle, true));
 	else
 		sfc_mesh = (on_top) ? std::unique_ptr<MeshLib::Mesh>(new MeshLib::Mesh(mesh)) :
-		                      std::unique_ptr<MeshLib::Mesh>(MeshLib::flipMeshElements(mesh));
+		                      std::unique_ptr<MeshLib::Mesh>(MeshLib::createFlippedMesh(mesh));
 	INFO("done.");
 
 	// *** add new surface nodes
diff --git a/MeshLib/MeshEditing/FlipElements.cpp b/MeshLib/MeshEditing/FlipElements.cpp
index 6cd042384570ec2d707e12fb9516bb5b2ba5e5f7..d2271971122f43977a47aa4f0f2e2cdff05b71ed 100644
--- a/MeshLib/MeshEditing/FlipElements.cpp
+++ b/MeshLib/MeshEditing/FlipElements.cpp
@@ -19,35 +19,30 @@
 namespace MeshLib
 {
 
-MeshLib::Element* flipElement(MeshLib::Element const& elem, std::vector<MeshLib::Node*> const& nodes)
+std::unique_ptr<MeshLib::Element> createFlippedElement(MeshLib::Element const& elem, std::vector<MeshLib::Node*> const& nodes)
 {
 	if (elem.getDimension()>2)
 		return nullptr;
 
-	std::size_t const n_nodes (elem.getNNodes());
+	unsigned const n_nodes (elem.getNNodes());
 	MeshLib::Node** elem_nodes = new MeshLib::Node*[n_nodes];
 	for (unsigned i=0; i<n_nodes; ++i)
 		elem_nodes[i] = nodes[elem.getNode(i)->getID()];
-	MeshLib::Node* tmp (elem_nodes[0]);
-	elem_nodes[0] = elem_nodes[1];
-	elem_nodes[1] = tmp;
-
+	std::swap(elem_nodes[0], elem_nodes[1]);
+	
 	if (elem.getGeomType() == MeshElemType::LINE)
-		return new MeshLib::Line(elem_nodes, elem.getID());
+		return std::make_unique<MeshLib::Line>(MeshLib::Line(elem_nodes, elem.getID()));
 	else if (elem.getGeomType() == MeshElemType::TRIANGLE)
-		return new MeshLib::Tri(elem_nodes, elem.getID());
+		return std::make_unique<MeshLib::Tri>(MeshLib::Tri(elem_nodes, elem.getID()));
 	else if (elem.getGeomType() == MeshElemType::QUAD)
 	{
-		tmp = elem_nodes[2];
-		elem_nodes[2] = elem_nodes[3];
-		elem_nodes[3] = tmp;
-		return new MeshLib::Quad(elem_nodes, elem.getID());
+		std::swap(elem_nodes[2], elem_nodes[3]);
+		return std::make_unique<MeshLib::Quad>(MeshLib::Quad(elem_nodes, elem.getID()));
 	}
-
 	return nullptr;
 }
 
-MeshLib::Mesh* flipMeshElements(MeshLib::Mesh const& mesh)
+std::unique_ptr<MeshLib::Mesh> createFlippedMesh(MeshLib::Mesh const& mesh)
 {
 	if (mesh.getDimension() > 2)
 		return nullptr;
@@ -59,10 +54,10 @@ MeshLib::Mesh* flipMeshElements(MeshLib::Mesh const& mesh)
 	new_elems.reserve(n_elems);
 	
 	for (std::size_t i=0; i<n_elems; ++i)
-		new_elems.push_back(flipElement(*elems[i], new_nodes));
+		new_elems.push_back(createFlippedElement(*elems[i], new_nodes).release());
 
 	MeshLib::Properties new_props (mesh.getProperties());
-	return new MeshLib::Mesh("FlippedElementMesh", new_nodes, new_elems, new_props);
+	return std::make_unique<MeshLib::Mesh>(MeshLib::Mesh("FlippedElementMesh", new_nodes, new_elems, new_props));
 }
 
 } // end namespace MeshLib
diff --git a/MeshLib/MeshEditing/FlipElements.h b/MeshLib/MeshEditing/FlipElements.h
index a4305ad13b9fbbba1a7e8bb18f2e41b9710cc5a9..6fa127e8a6e891f1a699301fed8e76d2b15a4b61 100644
--- a/MeshLib/MeshEditing/FlipElements.h
+++ b/MeshLib/MeshEditing/FlipElements.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #ifndef FLIPELEMENTS_H_
 #define FLIPELEMENTS_H_
 
+#include <memory>
 #include <vector>
 #include "MeshLib/Elements/Element.h"
 
@@ -19,17 +20,23 @@ class Mesh;
 class Node;
 
 /**
- * Reverses the node order of a 1D / 2D element such that the direction 
- * of a line changes and normals of 2D elements changes its sign.
+ * Creates a copy of an 1d / 2d element where the node order is reversed,
+ * such that the direction of a line changes and normals of 2D elements 
+ * changes its sign.
+ * @param elem original element
+ * @param nodes node vector used for the copy of the element
+ * @return a flipped copy of the element
  */
-MeshLib::Element* flipElement(MeshLib::Element const& elem, std::vector<MeshLib::Node*> const& nodes);
+std::unique_ptr<MeshLib::Element> flipElement(MeshLib::Element const& elem, std::vector<MeshLib::Node*> const& nodes);
 
 /**
- * Reverses the node order of all elements in a 1D / 2D mesh such that 
- * the direction of lines changes and normals of 2D elements changes 
- * their sign.
+ * Creates a copy of a 1d / 2d mesh where the node order of all elements 
+ * is reversed such that the direction of lines changes and normals of 
+ * 2D elements changes their sign.
+ * @param mesh input mesh
+ * @return a flipped copy of the input mesh
  */
-MeshLib::Mesh* flipMeshElements(MeshLib::Mesh const& mesh);
+std::unique_ptr<MeshLib::Mesh> createFlippedMesh(MeshLib::Mesh const& mesh);
 
 }