• International Journal of CAD/CAM
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.3-8
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• 2006

The application of three-dimensional (3-D) CAD has been popularized for design and production and digital manufacturing has been spreading in many industrial fields. By simulation of the production process using 3-D digital models, which are the core of CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing) system, the efficiency and safety of production are improved at each stage of work, and optimization of manufacturing can be achieved. This paper firstly describes the concept of "simulation based production" in shipbuilding and also digital manufacturing; the 3-D CAD system is indispensable for effective simulation because ship structure is three dimensionally complex. By simulation, "computer optimized manufacturing" can be possible. The most effective fields of simulation in shipbuilding are in jobs where many parties have to cooperate, while existing two-dimensional drawings are hardly observed the whole structures due to interference between structures or equipment of complex shape. In this paper some examples of the successful application in IHIMU (IHI Marine United Inc.) are shown: assembly of a pipe unit, erection of a complex hull block, carriage of equipment, installation of a propeller, and access in an engine room.

• International Journal of CAD/CAM
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.59-64
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• 2006

A new method to obtain explicit re-parameterization that preserves the curve degree and parametric domain is presented in this paper. The re-parameterization brings a curve very close to the arc length parameterization under $L_2$ norm but with less segmentation. The re-parameterization functions we used are $C^1$ continuous piecewise rational linear functions, which provide more flexibility and can be easily identified by solving a quadratic equation. Based on the outstanding performance of Mobius transformation on modifying pieces with monotonic parametric speed, we first create a partition of the original curve, in which the parametric speed of each segment is of monotonic variation. The values of new parameters corresponding to the subdivision points are specified a priori as the ratio of its cumulative arc length and its total arc length. $C^1$ continuity conditions are imposed to each segment, thus, with respect to the new parameters, the objective function is linear and admits a closed-form optimization. Illustrative examples are also given to assess the performance of our new method.

• International Journal of CAD/CAM
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.105-115
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• 2006

Thickness is a commonly used parameter in product design and manufacture. Its intuitive definition as the smallest dimension of a cross-section or the minimum distance between two opposite surfaces is ambiguous for intricate solids, and there is very little reported work in automatic computation of thickness. We present three generic definitions of thickness: interior thickness of points inside an object, exterior thickness for points on the object surface, and radiographic thickness along a view direction. Methods for computing and displaying the respective thickness values are also presented. The internal thickness distribution is obtained by peeling or successive skin removal, eventually revealing the object skeleton (similar to medial axis transformation). Another method involves radiographic scanning along a viewing direction, with minimum, maximum and total thickness options, displayed on the surface of the object. The algorithms have been implemented using an efficient voxel based representation that can handle up to one billion voxels (1000 per axis), coupled with a near-real time display scheme that uses a look-up table based on voxel neighborhood configurations. Three different types of intricate objects: industrial (press cylinder casting), sculpture (Ganesha idol), and medical (pelvic bone) were used for successfully testing the algorithms. The results are found to be useful for early evaluation of manufacturability and other lifecycle considerations.

• International Journal of CAD/CAM
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.139-148
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• 2006

Catmull-Clark subdivision scheme provides a powerful method for building smooth and complex surfaces. But the number of faces in the uniformly refined meshes increases exponentially with respect to subdivision depth. Adaptive tessellation reduces the number of faces needed to yield a smooth approximation to the limit surface and, consequently, makes the rendering process more efficient. In this paper, we present a new adaptive tessellation method for general Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces. Different from previous control mesh refinement based approaches, which generate approximate meshes that usually do not interpolate the limit surface, the new method is based on direct evaluation of the limit surface to generate an inscribed polyhedron of the limit surface. With explicit evaluation of general Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces becoming available, the new adaptive tessellation method can precisely measure error for every point of the limit surface. Hence, it has complete control of the accuracy of the tessellation result. Cracks are avoided by using a recursive color marking process to ensure that adjacent patches or subpatches use the same limit surface points in the construction of the shared boundary. The new method performs limit surface evaluation only at points that are needed for the final rendering process. Therefore it is very fast and memory efficient. The new method is presented for the general Catmull-Clark subdivision scheme. But it can be used for any subdivision scheme that has an explicit evaluation method for its limit surface.

• International Journal of CAD/CAM
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• v.3 no.1_2
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• pp.51-60
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• 2003

The growth of the World Wide Web and the advances in high-speed network access have greatly changed existing CAD/CAE environment. The WWW has enabled us to share various distributed product data and to collaborate in the design process. An international standard for the product model data, STEP, and a standard for the distributed object technology, CORBA, are very important technological components for the interoperability in the advanced design and manufacturing environment. These two technologies provide background for the sharing of product data and the integration of applications on the network. This paper describes a distributed CAD/CAE environment that is integrated on the network by CORBA and product model data standard STEP. Several prototype application modules were implemented to verify the proposed concept and the test result is discussed. Finite element analysis server are further distributed into several frontal servers for the implementation of distributed parallel solution of finite element system equations. Distributed computation of analysis server is also implemented by using CORBA for the generalization of the proposed method.

• International Journal of CAD/CAM
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• v.3 no.1_2
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• pp.85-95
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• 2003

During the design of dies and molds, the cavity of the object is obtained by subtracting it from a surrounding rectangular block. This box is subsequently split into two halves by the parting surface. Similar problems also occur in some RP processes such as LOM, SGC, SLS and 3DP where the machine produces a block inside which the prototype is buried. Determining the orientation of the object inside the box and the corresponding parting surface taking appropriate constraints into account have been addressed by several researchers. However, given the parting surface, the problem of splitting the box development of a software package called OptiLOM (now a module of an RP software Magics 8.0), the authors realized non-triviality of this problem since the loop can spread over as many as 5 faces of the box. In this paper, the authors have tried to bring out the importance of this problem and have presented their algorithm to solve it.

• International Journal of CAD/CAM
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• v.3 no.1_2
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• pp.19-29
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• 2003

Disassembly is a fundamental process needed for component reuse and material recycling in all assembled products. Integral attachments, also known as 'snap' fits, are favored fastening means in design for assembly (DFA) methodologies, but not necessarily a favored choice for design for disassembly. In this paper, design methods of a new class of integral attachments are proposed, where the snapped joints can be disengaged by the application of localized heat sources. The design problem of reversible integral attachments is posed as the design of compliant mechanisms actuated with localized thermal expansion of materials. Topology optimization technique is utilized to obtain conceptual layout of snap-fit mechanisms that realizes a desired deformation of snapped features for joint release. Two design approaches are attempted and design results of each approach are presented, where the geometrical configuration extracted from optimal topologies are simplified to enhance the manufacturability for the conventional injection molding technologies. To maximize the magnitude of deformation, a design scheme has been proposed to include boundary conditions as design variables. Final designs are verified using commercial software for finite element analysis.

• International Journal of CAD/CAM
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• v.3 no.1_2
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• pp.61-66
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• 2003

This paper describes a novel experiment that measures skin movement with respect to the flexional motion of a hand. The study was based on MR images in conjunction with CAD techniques. The MR images of the hand were captured in 3 different postures with surface markers. The surface markers attached to the skin where employed to trace skin movement during the flexional motion of the hand. After reconstructing 3D isosurfaces from the segmented MR images, the global registration was applied to the 3D models based on the particular bone shape of different postures. Skin movement was interpreted by measuring the centers of the surface markers in the registered models.

• International Journal of CAD/CAM
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• v.3 no.1_2
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• pp.67-75
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• 2003

Viewpoint-dependent feature-based modelling in computer-aided design is developed for the purposes of supporting engineering design representation and automation. The approach of this paper uses a combination of a multi-level modelling approach. This has two stages of mapping between models, and the multi-level model approach is implemented in three-level architecture. Top of this level is a feature-based description for each viewpoint, comprising a combination of form features and other features such as loads and constraints for analysis. The middle level is an executable representation of the feature model. The bottom of this multi-level modelling is a evaluation of a feature-based CAD model obtained by executable feature representations defined in the middle level. The mappings involved in the system comprise firstly, mapping between the top level feature representations associated with different viewpoints, for example for the geometric simplification and addition of boundary conditions associated with moving from a design model to an analysis model, and secondly mapping between the top level and the middle level representations in which the feature model is transformed into the executable representation. Because an executable representation is used as the intermediate layer, the low level evaluation can be active. The example will be implemented with an analysis model which is evaluated and for which results are output. This multi-level modelling approach will be investigated within the framework aimed for the design automation with a feature-based model.

• International Journal of CAD/CAM
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• v.3 no.1_2
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• pp.97-109
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• 2003

A large scale polygon models are often used to approximately represent 3D CAD models in Digital Engineering environment such as DMU (Digital Mockups) and network based collaborative design. However, they are not suitable for distribution on the network and for interactive rendering. We introduce a new coding system based on subdivision schemes called S-CODE system. In this system, it is possible to highly compress the model with sufficient accuracy and to view the model efficiently in a level of detail (LOD) fashion. The method is based on subdivision surface fitting by which a subdivision surface and curves which approximate a face of a CAD model are generated. We also apply a subdivision method to analytic surfaces such as conical and cylindrical surfaces. A prototype system is developed and used for evaluation with reasonably complicated data. The results show that the method is useful as a CAD data coding system.