This paper describes a method of calculating the feedrate for the constant cutting speed at a CL-point in 5-axis machining. Unlike 3-axis machining, 5-axis machining has the flexibility of the tool motions due to two rotation axes. But the feedrate at joint space differs from the feedrate at a tool tip(the CL-point) of the 3D Euclidean space for the tool motions. The proposed algorithm adjusts the feedrate based on 5-axis NC data, the kinematics of a machine, and the tool length. The following calculations is processed for each NC block to generate the new feedrate; 1) calculating the moving distance at the CL-point, 2) calculating the moving time by the given feedrate, 3) calculating the feedrate of each axis, 4) getting the new feedrate. The proposed algorithm was applied to a 5-axis machine which had a tilting spindle and a rotary table. Totally, the result of the algorithm reduced the machining time and smoothed the cutting-load by the constant cutting speed at the CL-point.

In order to adopt feature-based parametric modeling, CAD/CAM applications must have a geometric constraint solver that can handle a large set of geometric configurations efficiently and robustly. In this paper, we describe a graph constructive approach to solving geometric constraint problems. Usually, a graph constructive approach is efficient, however it has its limitation in scope; it cannot handle ruler-and-compass non-constructible configurations and under-constrained problems. To overcome these limitations. we propose an algorithm that isolates ruler-and-compass non-constructible configurations from ruler-and-compass constructible configurations and applies numerical calculation methods to solve them separately. This separation can maximize the efficiency and robustness of a geometric constraint solver. Moreover, the solver can handle under-constrained problems by classifying under-constrained subgraphs to simplified cases by applying classification rules. Then, it decides the calculating sequence of geometric entities in each classified case and calculates geometric entities by adding appropriate assumptions or constraints. By extending the clustering types and defining several rules, the proposed approach can overcome limitations of previous graph constructive approaches which makes it possible to develop an efficient and robust geometric constraint solver.

Swept volume is the sweeping region of moving objects. It is used in various applications such as interference detection in assembly design, visualization of manipulator motions in robotics, simulation of the volume removal by a cutter in NC machining. The shape of swept volume is defined by the envelope, which is determined by the boundary of moving objects and its direction of motion. In order to implement the generation of swept volume, researchers have taken much effort to develop the techniques how to generate the envelope. However, their results are confined to envelope generated only in simple shape objects, such as polyhedra or quadric surfaces. This study provided the envelope generation algorithm of NURBS objects. Characteristic points were obtained by applying the geometric conditions of envelope to NURBS equations, and then characteristic curves were created by means of interpolating those points. Silhouette edges were determined in the following procedures. First, two adjacent surfaces which have the same edge were found from B-Rep data. Then, by taking the scalar product of velocity vector of a point on that edge with each normal vector on two surfaces, silhouette edges were discriminated. Finally, envelope was generated along moving direction in the form of ruled surfaces by using both the partial information between initial and final position of objects affecting envelope along with characteristic curves and silhouette edge. Since this developed algorithm can be applied not only to NURBS objects but also to their Boolean objects, it can be used effectively in various applications.

The maximum intersection of spherical convex polygons are to find spherical regions owned by the maximum number of the polygons, which is applicable for determining the feasibility in manufacturing problems such mould design and numerical controlled machining. In this paper, an efficient method for partitioning a sphere with the polygons into faces is presented for the maximum intersection. The maximum intersection is determined by examining the ownerships of partitioned faces, which represent how many polygons contain the faces. We take the approach of edge-based partition, in which, rather than the ownerships of faces, those of their edges are manipulated as the sphere is partitioned incrementally by each of the polygons. Finally, gathering the split edges with the maximum number of ownerships as the form of discrete data, we approximately obtain the centroids of all solution faces without constructing their boundaries. Our approach is analyzed to have an efficient time complexity Ο(nv), where n and v, respectively, are the numbers of polygons and all vertices. Futhermore, it is practical from the view of implementation since it can compute numerical values robustly and deal with all degenerate cases.

In this paper, we propose rounding operations on shell meshes, which give a constant or variable radius of rounding directly to sharp edges on a shell mesh. The rolling-ball methods for freeform surface rounding are introduced to devise the algorithms for these operations. Our algorithms consists of three steps as follows: detecting sharp edges, generating a rolling-ball surface contacting with two face groups adjacent to the sharp edges, and then replacing the rounding area of the original mesh with the mesh generated on the rolling-ball surface. In addition, this paper shows their application to the area of stamping die design. These operations enable CAE engineers to directly change the meshes of stamping tools without modification of CAD models for dies and regeneration of their meshes.

An algorithm for generating all hexahedral meshes for three dimensional objects has been presented. This algorithm is based on the sweeping and the grafting method. In sweeping process internal nodes generating method has been modified by employing the distances between nodes on connecting surfaces and on source surfaces. In addition to the sweeping processes grafting algorithm is also modified to obtain more effective meshes by refining elements near grafting surfaces. With this method two and a half dimensional hexahedral meshes for three dimensional objects can be generated effectively. Sample meshes are constructed to demonstrate the mesh generating capability of the proposed algorithm.

Since a great number of 2D engineering drawings are being used in industry and at the same time 3D CAD becomes popular in recent years, we need to reconstruct 3D CAD models from 2D legacy drawings. In this thesis, a combination of a feature recognition method and an expert system is suggested for the 3D solid model reconstruction. Modeling primitives of 3D CAD systems are recognized and constructed by using the pattern matching technique of the features modeling. Additional information for the 3D model reconstruction can be generated by extracting symbols or text entities which are related to form entities. For complex and indefinite cases which cannot be solved by the process of feature recognition, an expert system with a rule base has been used for decision-making. A 3D reconstruction system which recognizes 2D DXF drawing files has been implemented where models composed with protrusions, holes, and cutouts can be handled.

A nuclear Power Plant is composed of a number of mechanical components. Maintaining the integrity of these components is one of the most critical issues in nuclear industry. In order to evaluate the integrity of these mechanical components, a lot of data are required including inspection data, geometrical data, material properties, etc. Therefore, an effective database system is essential to manage the integrity of nuclear power plant. For this purpose, an internet based virtual reality environment and web database system was proposed. The developed virtual reality environment provides realistic geometrical configurations of mechanical components using VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language). The virtual reality environment was linked with the web database, which can manage the required data for the integrity evaluation. The proposed system is able to share the information regarding the integrity evaluation through internet, and thus, will be suitable for an integrated system for the maintenance of mechanical components.