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1 Course Content
7. Feature Technology: Feature definition, Feature taxonomy, Feature Representation Schemes,

Surface Features vs. Volumetric Features, Feature-based Methodologies, Integration vs Interfacing,
Integrated Feature Recognition.
8. Slicing Algorithm (3D-Printing)
9. Computer-Aided Process Planning and Mfg

a. COMPUTER-AIDED PROCESS PLANNING (Basic Steps in Developing a Process Plan,
Analysis of Part Requirements, Selection of Raw Workpiece, Determination of Manufacturing
Operations and Their Sequences, Selection of Machine Tools, Selection of Cutters, Work
holding devices and Inspection Equipment). Principal Process Planning Approaches (CAPP
Method).
b. COMPUTER-AIDED MANUFACTURING (Computer Applications in a Manufacturing Plant,
Key Aspects of CAM in a Manufacturing System, Manufacturing Control).
ME5303 – CAD in Manufacturing
Course Coordinator: Prof. GL Samuel
Room No.103
Manufacturing Engineering Section
samuelgl@iitm.ac.in
Teaching Assistant : Mohammad Sohail

me17b154@smail.iitm.ac.in
Pavan Girish Pandit
pavan_pandit@smail.iitm.ac.in
2
09.08.2021
3 About the course
Course objective:
The objective of this course is to explore the evolution of CAD models from simply being
geometrical representation of a product to having added value and intelligence to interface effectively with
manufacturing the product, and even beyond, in the areas of maintenance and life-cycle management of the
product.
Slot - B
No of Credits - 9
Evaluation Pattern - 25% - Course Project
10% - Assignment
15% - Tutorials
50% - End Semester exam
Text books:
Integrating Advanced Computer-Aided Design, Manufacturing and Numerical Control, by Xun Xu.
Computer-Aided Manufacturing by T-C Chang, R. A. Wysk and H-P Wang.
Reference Books:
Delaunay mesh generation, by Siu-Wing Cheng, Tamal Krishna Dey and Jonathan Richard Shewchuk.
4 Course Content
1. Introduction to CAD
2. Geometric modelling and Wireframe modelling: Definitions and importance of models,
Importance of geometric information in product life cycle, parametric and non-parametric
representation.
3. Surface modelling: Plane surface, ruled surface, surface of revolution, tabulated surface, reformed
surface, Two parameters for surfaces, Torus surface parametric equation, Bounded Surface, Tabulated
cylinder, Blending curves, surface patches, Blending points to get surface, Torus surface equation
(Rational bi-quadratic Bezier)
4. Solid modelling: Boundary representation, Basic Entities and the Connectivity of B-rep, Validation
of a B-rep Model, Constructive Solid Geometry, Other Types of Representations, Analytical Solid
Modelling.
5. CAD System Architecture: Feature-Based Design, Parametric Design, Variational Design,
History-Based and History-Free CAD, Adding Intelligence to CAD, Computer hardware for CAD
6. CAD Data Exchange and CAD Standards: CAD Kernels, Data Interoperability, Different Types of
Data Translation/Conversion, Dual Kernel CAD Systems, Direct Data Translators, Common/Neutral
Translators, STEP files in detail, Comparing Data Exchange Methods, Data Quality.
5 Introduction to Geometric modelling
• The geometric information about an object essentially includes types of surfaces, edges and
their dimensions and tolerances.
• Prior to the availability of commercial CAD systems, this information was represented on
blueprints by a draftsperson, hence in a two-dimensional (2D) form.
• Earlier problems:
1. It is hard to comprehend complex geometry through a 2D
form of description. This is particularly true with
assemblies that have many components, e.g. an engine
assembly.
2. The design information in this form is difficult to be
archived for a longer period of time and it is cumbersome
to search for.
3. It is considered unfit for the modern manufacturing
industry in which data management is mostly in the
electronic format.
Blueprint of army tank

• As manufacturing rapidly enters into the digital era, the emphasis is on paperless and total
integration. That is, the means is being sought for the geometric information to be directly
transferred from a CAD database to a CAPP/CAM database.
• In order to meet the above discussed needs, an accurate, efficient and effective representation of
the complete information about a design becomes a prerequisite for many subsequent applications.
Manual Drafting Computer Aided Engineering Drawing

7 History of CAD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcwIMsh_g3o
8 History of CAD
• 1960s - Starting of Computer Aided Design Systems.
• 1970s - Limited to producing drawings similar to
hand-drafted drawings.
• 1980s - Solid modelling due to the Advances in
programming and computer hardware
• 1981 - Romulus™ (ShapeData) and Uni-Solid
(Unigraphics®) based on PADL-2 and the release of the
surface modeler Catia® (Dassault Systems).
• 1982 - Autodesk® was founded 1982 and AutoCAD® soon
became one of the most successful 2D CAD systems.
• 1988 - Release of Pro/Engineer® (Pro/E® for short)
• feature-based modelling methods
• parametric linking of the parameters of features.
9 History of CAD
• Development of B-rep solid modelling kernels (engines for manipulating
geometrically and topologically consistent 3D objects) such as Parasolid®
(ShapeData) and ACIS® (Spatial Technology Inc.)
• 1995-96 - Affordable, mid-range packages such as
• SolidWorks® in 1995.
• SolidEdge® (Intergraph™ ) in 1996.
• IronCAD® in 1998.
• Present - Product design and development.
10 Engineering Drawing vs Computer Aided Drawing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4xZmBpXIzQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsuNS7tE_Ow
Manual Drafting Geometric Tools in AutoCAD

CAD System Architecture
11 Data/Human knowledge Design Engineering
Database Software
• Component • Model
models Working data definition Hardware
CAD systems basically consists of:
• Geometry
• Hardware: the computer and • Manipulation
associated peripheral equipment • Drawings
• Software: the computer program(s)

• Input
running on the hardware • Associated
• Picture
Generation User
Data
• Data: the data structure created and • Standards
manipulated by the software

• Utilities
• Human knowledge and activities. • Manufacturing • Output
• Library Data • Database

Management
• Applications
12 Product life cycle
Customer
Demands
Design Manufacturing
Process Process
Synthesis
Analysis
• Sketches Process planning
• Layouts
• Production planning
• Tools Procurement
• Material order
• Machine Programming
A Typical product cycle
13
• The product begins with a need that depends on customer’s and market’s demands.
• The product goes through two main processes from inception to finished product:
• Design process
• Manufacturing process.
Design Process : Two components
• Synthesis
• Analysis
• Synthesis
• Sketches and layout drawings showing the relationship among the product parts.
• Drawn using CAD/CAM systems or simply hand drawn.
• Analysis
• Check for stress concentration zones, deflections, material selection.
• Using CAD/CAM systems.
Manufacturing process begins with process planning and ends with actual product.
• Process planning is considered as backbone of manufacturing process as it attempts to
determine the most efficient sequence in which to produce the product.
• The outcome of process planning is production plan, tools procurement, Material order, and
machine programming.
16 Geometric Modelling approaches
The development of geometric modelling is coupled with three
departments of sciences and technologies:
They are computer graphics techniques, three-dimensional (3D)
geometric representation schemes and computer hardware advances.
The research started in the 1960’s.
The basic geometric modelling approaches used in today’s CAD/CAM
systems are wire-frame, surface and solid modelling.
Wire Frame Surface Modelling Solid Modelling

Geometric Modelling…
1. Wireframe modelling
2. Surface modelling Geometric
Ideas Modelling
3. Solid modelling
1 Design Production
analysis
• The geometric information about an object essentially includes types of
surfaces, edges and their dimensions and tolerances.
• Prior to the availability of commercial CAD systems, this information was
represented on blueprints by a draftsperson, hence in a two-dimensional
(2D) form.
Geometric modelling…
3
• Earlier problems:
A. it is hard to comprehend complex geometry through a 2D form of

description. This is particularly true with assemblies that have many
components, e.g. an engine assembly.
2D Drawing of Engine Assembly

4 3D Engine assembly drawing
5
B. the design information in this form is difficult to be archived for a
longer period of time and it is cumbersome to search for.
C. it is considered unfit for the modern manufacturing industry in

which data management is mostly in the electronic format.
Geometric modelling…
6
• As manufacturing rapidly enters into the digital era, the emphasis is on

paperless and total integration. That is, the means is being sought for the
geometric information to be directly transferred from a CAD database to a
CAPP/CAM database.
• In order to meet the above discussed needs, an accurate, efficient and

effective representation of the complete information about a design becomes
a prerequisite for many subsequent applications.
7 Wireframe Modelling
• Wire-frame is the first developed and is also the most basic method of
geometric modelling techniques and initially developed particularly for
computer version of a 3D object.
• Basic entities in this model include points, lines, arcs and circles, conics,
and other type of curves. Figure shows the wire-frame representation of a
part.
Wireframe Modelling…
8
• So the wire-frame scheme is relatively easy and straightforward to use, and it
is the most economical of the 3D schemes in terms of computing time and
memory requirements.
• The scheme is still particularly useful in certain applications involving

visualization of the motion of simple shapes. But it has some serious
deficiencies when used to model more complex engineering artefacts such as:
a. Deficiencies in pictorial representation;
b. Limited ability to calculate mechanical properties and geometri intersections;
c. Limited value as a basis for manufacture or analysis.
Ambiguous
wireframe models
Wire-Frame Entities
9
• Vertices (points) and edges (lines) are the main entities in a wire-frame
model. To represent these entities in a computer, we use data structure so that
management of these entities (e.g. modify, save and load) is made easier.
• Normally, wire-frame entities are divided into two categories: analytic and
synthetic entities. The choice of a curve in a CAD system depends on the
effectiveness of a curve in terms of manipulating complex geometries such as
blends, trims and intersections.
10 Curve Entities
Curve entities can be divided into two categories
Analytic
Points, lines, arcs, fillets, chamfers and conics (ellipses,
parabolas and hyperbolas)
Synthetic
Types of splines: Cubic spline, B spline and Bezier curve
11 Curve entities…
Defining points
Defining points
Defining lines
Defining lines
Defining circles
Defining circles
Defining ellipse
Synthetic curves
Synthetic curves
Analytic Entities
20
• Analytic entities include points, straight lines, arcs, circles, ellipses,
parabolas, and hyperbolas.
• Different CAD systems may provide a different set of methods.
Analytic Entities…
21
example: a straight line may be defined by two 3D vertices, or by an existing line
that may be parallel or perpendicular to the line being defined.
• The latter method suits the modelling option of defining a line with an imbedded
reference to an existing one, or simply to support a “copy & paste” option for line
creation.
22 Curve Representation
The various representation schemes of curves in a CAD system

indicates the ways that thousands of curves or lines (including
straight lines, a special case of curves) are stored and manipulated.
It is important to represent them effectively and efficiently so that

the computation effort and storage requirement are minimized.
Mathematically, there are two ways of describing a curve, using

nonparametric and parametric equations.
Nonparametric Representation of a Curve
23
• For 2D straight line, its nonparametric representation can be defined as
y = x + 1.
• This equation defines the x and y coordinates of each point without the
assistance of extra parameters. Thus, it is called the nonparametric
equation of a line.
• The same line also may be described by defining the coordinates of each
point using equation,
L = [x, y]T = [x = t, y = t + 1]T T = transpose.

24 Nonparametric Representation of a Curve…
• Nonparametric equations of curves can be further divided into

explicit and implicit nonparametric equations.
• The explicit nonparametric representation of a general 3D curve is

of the form,
L = [x, y, z]T = [x, f(x), g(x)]T
L = position vector of the point L in the 3D space.

Nonparametric Representation of a Curve…
25
• The implicit nonparametric representation of a general 3D curve takes the
form of,
F(x y z) = 0
G(x y z) = 0
Parametric vs Non parametric
Nonparametric Representation of a Curve…
26
• This equation expresses the relationship between the coordinates x and y, x and
z of each point in the 3D space. Therefore, the relationship between y and z is
implicit. This equation, however, must be solved analytically to obtain the
explicit form.
• It is possible to solve it, accurate data cannot always be guaranteed. This limits
its use in CAD systems.
27 Limitations of Non Parametric
representation
If the slope of a curve at a point is vertical or near
vertical, its value becomes infinity or very large.
Shapes of the engineering objects are intrinsically
independent of any coordinate system.
If the curve is to be displayed as a series of points or
straight line segments, the computations involved could
be extensive
Parametric Representation of a Curve
28
• Parametric representation of a curve is well suited for its use in CAD
systems because of its properties.
• In the parametric form, each point on a curve is expressed as a function of a

parameter t by equations
x = X(t), y = Y(t), and z = Z(t).

29 Parametric representation of the 3D
curve
Parametric Representation of a Curve…
30
• Equations in this form are also known as parametric or freedom equations
for x, y, and z. The value of the parameter t can be either bounded by the
minimum and maximum range or the normalized range between 0 and 1.
• The parametric equation for a 3D curve takes the form of,
L(t) = [x, y, z]T = [X(t), Y(t), Z(t)]T, tmin < t < tmax
L(t) is the point vector and t is the parameter of the equation.
Advantages Explicit curves Implicit curves Parametric curves
31 Easy to trace Closed and multivalued Closed and multivalued
curves and infinite slopes can curves and infinite slopes can
be represented be represented
Point classification is easy Axis independent

Intersection/offset can be Easy to generate composite
represented curves
Easy for fitting and
manipulating free form curves
Disadvantages
Explicit curves Implicit curves Parametric curves
Infinite slopes are impossible Difficult to fit and manipulate Highly flexible but
if f(x,y) is polynomial free form curves complicates intersections,
point classification
Axis dependent Axis dependent
Closed and multivalued curves Complex to trace
are difficult to represent
32 Synthetic Entities
Synthetic entities are basically synthetic curves. These are more genetic curves
that can take virtually any shape in order to meet geometric design
requirements of a mechanical part and/or various engineering applications.
Represent the problem of constructing a smooth curve that passes through given data
points.
Synthetic Entities…
33
a. Car body. The curves of a car body are usually designed to increase
aerodynamic performances as well as to meet the aesthetic requirements.
They could take any shape that is required.
b. Other examples include the fuselage, wings, and propeller blades of an

aircraft, whose shapes may be purely based on aerodynamic and
fluid flow simulations.
34 Order of continuity of curves
? A cubic polynomial is the minimum order polynomial that can guarantee the
generation of C0, C1 or C2 curves.
35
Hermite cubic spline vs Bezier curve
V’(0)
36
V(1) Hermite cubic spline
V(n)
This curve is formed by set of points and
their slopes.
V(0) V(1) V(i)
V(3)
Bezier curve
The curve is formed by a set of contact
V(1)
points, no requirement of slope V(3)
V(2)
V(n)
V(0)
V(2)
V(i)
Bezier curve...
37
• Bézier curves on the contrary, are based on approximation techniques that

produce curves that do not necessarily pass through all the given data points
except the first and the last control points.
• A Bézier curve does not require first-order derivative.

Characteristics of Bezier curve
38 1. The curve interpolates the first and last points; that is it passes through P0 and Pn if we substitute u
= 0 and 1 in the characteristic equation
2. The curve is tangent to the first and last segments of the characteristic polygon.
3. The curve is symmetric with respect to u and (1-u)

4. The interpolation polynomial Bi,n(u) has a maximum value of C(n, i)(i/n)n-i
5. The curve can be modified by either changing one or more vertices of its polygon or by keeping
the polygon fixed and specifying multiple coincident points at a vertex as shown in the figures
Characteristics of Bezier curve
39 6. A closed Bezier curve can simply be generated by closing its characteristic polygon or choosing P0
and Pn to be coincident.
7. For any valid value of u, the sum of the bi,n functions associated with the control points is always
one for any degree Bezier curve.
8. The most desirable feature for any polygon based curve is the Convex hull property.
❑ Relates the curve to its characteristic polygon.
❑ A curve is said to have a convex hull if it lies entirely within the convex hull defined the
polygon vertices.
Convex hulls of a Bezier Curve

40
• The shape of the curve is controlled by the control points. For n + 1
control points,
• B-spline is considered a generalization of the Bézier curve. Local control
is a specific feature of B-spline curves, which allows changing of a local
control point to only affect part of the curve.
V(i)
V(1)
V(2)
V(0) V(n)
V(3)
B-spline curve
41
Four control points can always produce a cubic Bezier curve, they can generate a
linear, quadratic or cubic B-spline curve.
Achieved by choosing the basis (blending) functions pf B-spline curves with a an
additional degree of freedom that does not exist in Bernstein polynomials.
Where
• P(u) is any point on the curve
• Pi is a control point
• Ni,k(u) are the B-spline basis functions of degree k
0 ≤ u ≤ ( (n+1) – (k-1) )
• It should be noted that the range of u is not 0 to 1, but it varies
with the number of control points and the degree of the curve 0≤u≤n–k+2
The parameter k controls the degree (k-1) of the resulting B-spline curve and is usually
independent of he number of control points.
The maximum limit of the parameter u is no longer 1 as was arbitrarily chosen for
Bezier curves.
42 Synthetic Curves
B-spline curves
If k = 2, we get a linear curve
If k = 3, we get quadratic curve
If k = 4, we get cubic curve
? The B-spline basis functions are given as

43 Synthetic Curves
B-spline curves
The ui are called parametric knots or knot values. These values form a sequence of
non-decreasing integers called knot vector. The point on the curve corresponding to a knot ui is
referred to as a knot point. The knot points divide a B-spline curve into curve segments.
Where, 0 ≤ j ≤ n+k
The number of knots (n + k + 1) are needed to create a (k-1) degree curve defined by (n+1)
control points
44 Characteristics of B-spline curves
1. The local control of the curve can be achieved by changing the position of a
control point(s), using multiple control points by placing several points at the
same location, or by choosing a different degree (k-1).
2. A periodic B spline curve passes through the first and last points P0 and Pn+1, and
is tangent to the first and last segments of the control points.
Figure a. Local control of B-spline curves.

3. Increasing the degree of the curve tightens it.
▪ The less the degree, the closer the curve gets to the control points.
Figure b. Effect of degree of B-spline curve on its shape.

4. A second degree curve is always tangent to the midpoints of all the internal
polygon segments. (Figure b)
5. If k equals the number of control points (n+1), then the resulting B-spline curve
becomes a Bezier curve.
6. Multiple control points induce regions of high curvature in a b-spline curve.
▪ The curve is pulled more toward a control point by increasing its multiplicity.
7. Increasing the degree of the curve makes it more difficult to control and to
calculate accurately.
Figure c. Effect of point multiplicity of B-spline curve on its shape.

47 NURBS – Non Uniform Rational B-Spline
NURBS is the most widely used rational curves
Development of NURBS began in the 1950s and evaluated over years
A NURBS curve is defined by its order, a set of weighted control points,
and a knot vector
In NURBS the knot vectors will be at unequal spacing
Editing NURBS curves and surfaces is highly intuitive and predictable
NURBS is a unified surface geometry, since it can represent all kinds of
curves.
It can exactly represent conic sections and rotational sweep surfaces
• NURBS is a parametric representation of a curve or surface
• A NURBS curve of degree p is defined by
where Pi are the control points, forming a control polygon, the wi

are the weights and Ni, p (u) are the B-spline basis functions of
degree p.
• Typically, the parameter u is defined in the range 0 ≤ u ≤ 1.
• Setting
allows us to write the NURBS equation in the form
The Ri,p (u) are the rational basis functions. They are piecewise
rational functions on u in [0, 1].
Rational B-splines
50
• Hermite and Bézier curves changing one control point (or slope) affects
the whole curve. This may cause some inconvenience for designers when
they only wish to modify a curve locally.
• Rational B-splines (RBSs) are generalizations of B-splines. More

specifically, an RBS has an added parameter (also called weight)
associated with each control point to control the behaviour of the curve.
Control points
• Increasing the value of weight (wi) of a control point (Pi) will pull
the curve towards it and vice versa.
Point 9
52 NURBS – Knot Vectors
• The curve is defined on the non-periodic, non-decreasing and
non-uniform knot vector
• The values a and b are repeated (p+1) times, denoting the order of
the NURBS curve.
53 NURBS – B-Spline Basis Functions
• The value of Ni, p (u) can be estimated using the following recursive
relations, choosing 0/0 = 0, if the denominators become zero.
where,
Ni, 0 (u) = 1 ui ≤ u < ui+1
0 otherwise
54
Surface Modelling
55 Surface Modelling
• Surface model is more complete and less ambiguous representation compared to wire
frame model
• Can be used for design of tool path (but wire frame model cannot)
• Surface models store only the information of outer geometry of the objects, but they will
not have inner details
• Surface models provide hidden line removal and surface algorithms to make the objects
look more real
• Defined as an unbounded, geometric description of a faces. Surface is a pure geometric

entity and face carries both geometric and topologic information.
Surface Modelling…
56 • In general, real parts are represented using surface geometry by an assembly of
surface patches, a complete car body, for example, may require several hundred
patches.
• Surface modelling systems also offer better graphic interaction, although the
models are more difficult to create than wire-frame models.
• Surface representations are not, however, without their drawbacks. In general

they require more skill in construction and use.
Surface models of spray gun with

and without surface boundaries
shown.
57 Surface Modelling – Types of surfaces
- Plane Surface
- Ruled Surface
- Surface of revolution
- Tabulated surface
- Off-set surface
- Synthetic/Free-form surface
58 Plane Surface
• This is the simplest surface

• It requires three non-coincident points to define an infinite plane
• It can be used to generate cross-sectional views by intersecting a surface

model with it, generate cross-sections for mass property calculations, or
other similar applications where a plane is needed
Surface Modelling…
59
Ruled Surface
• This is a linear surface
• It interpolates linearly between two boundary curves that define the surface
• Ideal to represent surfaces that do not have any twists or kinks

Surface of Revolution
60
• This is an axi-symmetric surface that can model axi-symmetric objects
• It is generated by rotating a planar wire frame entity in space about the axis
of symmetry a certain angle

Tabulated Surface
61
• This is a surface generated by
translating a planar curve a certain
distance along a specified direction
(Eg.: axis of cylinder)
• The plane of the curve is

perpendicular to the axis
• It is used to generate surfaces that

have identical curve cross sections
Offset Surface
62
• Existing surfaces can be offset to create two
new ones identical in shape but may have
different dimensions
• It is a useful surface to use to speed up surface

construction
• Offset surface command becomes very efficient Offset

direction
to use if the original surface is a composite one
• For example, to create a hollow cylinder, the

outer or inner cylinder can be created using a
cylinder command and the other one can be
created by an offset command
Bézier Surface and B-Spline Surface
63 • These both surfaces are synthetic surfaces, Like synthetic curves, a synthetic
surface approximates the given input data, often in form of an array of given
points in 3D space.
• Bézier and B-spline surfaces are general surfaces that permit twists and kinks.
Bezier surface
64
• The difference between them, also similar to the case of curves, is
that local control is possible for a B-spline surface but not for a
Bézier surface.
B-Spline Surface
Analytic Surface Representations
65
• Like a general analytic curve, general analytic surface can also be defined by
either an implicit or an explicit equation.
Implicit Equation
F(x, y, z) = 0
• Geometric meaning of above equation is that the locus of the points that
satisfy the above constraint equation defines the surface.
Analytic Surface Representations…
66 Explicit Equation
Explicit equation in surface representation
V = [x, y, z] T = [x, y, f(x, y)] T

V = position vector of a variable point on the surface.
• The variable point coordinates x, y, z are directly defined.
• The z coordinates of position vector of variable points are defined by x and y

through function f(x, y).

67
Synthetic Surface Representations…
68
Bézier Surface Patches
• Mathematically, the only difference between a Hermite surface patch and a

Bézier surface patch is that different basis functions are used.
• In Bézier curve, the Bernstein basis function is used for the Bézier surface
patch. most common use of Bézier surfaces is as nets of bi-cubic patches.
69 Bézier Surface Patches…
• These are typically linked up to form a B-spline surface in the similar way that
Bézier curves are linked up to form a B-spline curve.
Surface Manipulation
70
• Various surface manipulation techniques are employed in CAD systems. The
simplest and most widely used method is to display a surface by a mesh of
curves. This is usually called a mesh in the CAD software.
• By holding one parameter constant at a time, a mesh of curves can be

generated to represent the surface.
• Segmentation and trimming is a way of representing part of a surface with

localized interests.
Surface Manipulation…
71
• Intersection is another useful function where curves can be defined as a result of
intersection.
• projection is performed by projecting an entity onto a plane or surface. When a

curve or surface is projected, the point projections are performed repeatedly.
This function is often used in determining shadows of entities.
• Curve transformation, one can translate, rotate, mirror and scale a surface in
most CAD systems.
Surface Manipulation…
72
Meshing Transformation
73
Solid Modelling
74
Solid Modelling
Solid modeling can be defined as the process of creating
Solid models
- A solid model is defined by volumes, areas, lines and key points
- Volumes are bounded by areas, areas by lines, and lines by
Key points
- Hierarchy of entities from low to high:
1) Keypoints, 2) Lines, 3) Areas, 4) Volumes
- An entity can not be deleted if a higher entity is attached to it

75
Constructive Solid Modelling
76 Solid Modelling…
• So solid model representations have been developed and become a

predominate form of design representation.
Rendering the solid model of a part

Solid Modelling…
77 • A solid model is an “informationally complete” representation, the more

complete the representation, the smaller the requirement for human
transcription between models, and thus the smaller the risk of errors in
transcription.
• Because of the “completeness” of the information contained in a solid model,

it is relatively straightforward for a computer to render a line image with
hidden lines removed.
Solid Modelling…
78
• Solid models can be used in finite-element analysis and fluid flow analysis in the
conceptual design of products, numerical control (NC) part programming for
computer-aided manufacturing, and generation of computer-aided process plans.
Solid Modelling…
79 • In a solid modelling system, objects are often defined directly by primitive shapes called
building blocks or solid primitives, instead of the surfaces, edges and vertices used in
wire-frame and surface modelling.
• There are a number of representation schemes for solid modelling, such as boundary
representation (B-rep), constructive solid geometry (CSG), destructive solid
geometry(DSG), sweep representation, parameterized primitive instancing, cell
decomposition, spatial occupancy (voxel), and analytical solid modelling.
Solid Modelling…
80
• B-rep and CSG are the most widely used representation schemes. B-rep is
more suitable for representing complex designs, whereas with CSG, models
are easy to create and are usually used in representing relatively simple
objects.
Boundary Representation
81
• This method uses representation of shapes using the limits, or rather
boundaries as the name suggests. A solid is represented as a collection of
connected surface elements and the boundary between solid.
• To represent a solid object by its surfaces, the orientation of each surface

needs to be defined to show the inside or outside of the object.
• By convention, the inside is the material and the outside is the void space. The
direction of the face normal is usually used as the orientation of the face, and the
face that carries the orientation information is called orientable surface.
Boundary Representation…
82
• Since a solid is bounded by orientable surfaces, one can define a solid by a set
of faces. A face is generally bounded by edges which are bounded by vertices.
• Although any complex solid can be represented by faces, the system of

equations known as Euler’s equations is used to ensure the validity of a B-rep
model.
Basic Entities and the Connectivity of B-rep
83
• B-rep model contain two pieces of critical information, geometry and topology.
The main geometric items are: faces, edges and vertices. A face is a bounded
portion of a surface; an edge is a bounded piece of a curve (or line) and a vertex
lies at a point.
• Other elements are the shell, the loop and loop-edge links (also known as
winged-edge links or half-edges) which are used to create the edge circuits to
bound a face.
84 Basic Entities and the Connectivity of B-rep…
• Equally important in a B-rep model is the connectivity present amongst the

topological items (e.g. faces, edges and vertices).The most popular type of the data
structure for defining such connectivity is Baumgart’s winged-edge data structure.
B-REP…
85 Illustration of Winged-edged data structure for cube
• There are 6 faces, each containing a loop of 4 edges. Each edge is bounded by 2 vertices. Every
edge is shared by two faces and every vertex is shared by three edges.
• The edges in a loop are stored in a particular sequence, one after the other, in
the database so that the normal of the face (pointing away from the object) is defined using
the right-hand rule (e.g. n1, n2, n3 …)
86
B-REP…
87 Validation of a B-rep Model
• Euler’s law states that a polyhedron is topologically valid (or a sane solid) if the
following equation is satisfied,
F-E+V=2
• In order to cope with solids that have passageways or holes, the generalized
version of Euler’s law can be used.
F-E+V-L = 2(B-G)
F = Faces, E = Edges, V = Vertices, L = Inner loops, B = Bodies, G =

genera (such as torus, through-hole etc.)
• These laws are critical in a CAD system as they govern the construction syntax of
a solid modelling kernel.
B-REP…
88
• B-rep have a complete set of information and it is explicit but using operators
such as “make vertex, make face, kill vertex, and kill face” can be a hectic job
to construct a reasonably complex solid.
• A useful advancement in this regard is the formation and definition of

geometric (or form) features.
B-REP…
89
• Features in this respect are defined as logical units that relate to a group of
sub-elements (e.g. faces and edged) of the shape.
• Features are the basis of many other developments, allowing high-level

“geometric reasoning” about the shape for comparison, process-planning,
manufacturing, etc.
B-REP…
90
Constructive Solid Geometry
• Constructive solid geometry allows a modeler to create a complex surface or object
by
using Boolean operators to combine objects.
• The common Boolean operators include set theoretic intersection (∩), set-theoretic
union (∪), and difference (-).
• The simplest solid objects used for representation are called primitives. An object is
constructed from primitives by means of allowable Boolean operations.
Common solid primitives used in CSG

91 Constructive Solid Geometry…
• A primitive can typically be described by a procedure which accepts some
number of parameters. For example, a sphere may be described by the
coordinates of its centre point, along with a radius value.
• When these elementary operations are combined, it is possible to build up

objects with high complexity starting from the simple ones. Therefore, CSG
objects can be represented by binary trees, where leaves represent primitives,
and nodes represent operations.
Constructive Solid Geometry…
92
Different ways of constructing same part using CSG.

Other Types of Representations
93
• Sweep representation defines a solid in terms of volumes swept out by two-
or three-dimensional laminae as they move along a curve, which is usually
called a path or trajectory.
• The primitive instancing technique is based on a concept that considers an

object that has the same topology as a potential primitive (also called generic
primitive) but different geometry.
Other Types of Representations…
94
• A solid can also be represented by a collection of smaller, often regular
volumes or cells that are mutually contiguous and do not interpenetrate. This
method is called cell decomposition. The cells may be any shape and do not
have to be identical.
Analytical Solid Modelling
95
• Similar to wireframe and surface modelling a solid object can also be
represented by three-dimensional parametric space with three parameters
(e.g. s, t and u).
• This method is called analytical solid modelling. The solid thus created is
called a parametric solid or a hyper patch because it is similar to a surface patch
in surface representation.
Analytical Solid Modelling…
96

Geometric Modelling
Bezier Curves
Introduction
• First introduced by P. Bezier of Regie Renault (French Car firm)
• Used in UNISURF (for outer panel design of Renault cars)
• It was also developed by P DeCastelijau of Citreon
• First Published by P. Bezier, hence called as Bezier Curves
Geometric Modelling 2
Bezier Curves
• Controlled by data points. The tangents vectors are not used as in
Cubic splines. Better feel for the relationship between the input(points)
and output (curve).
• The order or degree is variable and is related to the number of points

defining it. n+1 points define a nth degree curve. [Higher order
Continuity]
Geometric Modelling 3
Bezier Curves
• The data points are called the CONTROL POINTS.
• Form the vertices of the Control or characteristic polygon.
• Only first and last points lie on the curve.
• Other vertices define Control

Points
• Order, derivatives and shape

P0 P3
Geometric Modelling 4 Characteristic

Polynomial
Observations
• Order defining the control points change the polygon
definition, changing the resulting curve
Geometric modelling 5
Observations
• Mathematically, for n+1 control points, the Bezier curve is
defined by a nth order polynomial.

Observations
• Mathematically, for n+1 control points, the Bezier curve is
defined by a nth order polynomial.
Observations
• Bernstein polynomial serves as the blending or basis function

Observations
• Equation of the curve
Characteristics
• Based on the properties of Bernstein polynomials
1. The curve interpolates the first and last points; that is it passes through P0
and Pn if we substitute u = 0 and 1 in the characteristic equation
2. The curve is tangent to the first and last segments of the characteristic
polygon.

ADD A FOOTER 10
Characteristics
•
ADD A FOOTER 11
Characteristics
5. The curve can be modified by either changing one or more vertices of its
polygon or by keeping the polygon fixed and specifying multiple coincident
points at a vertex as shown in the figures
ADD A FOOTER 12
Characteristics
6. A closed Bezier curve can simply be generated by closing its characteristic
polygon or choosing P0 and Pn to be coincident.
7. For any valid value of u, the sum of the bi,n functions associated with the
control points is always one for any degree Bezier curve.
ADD A FOOTER 13
Convex Hull
The most desirable feature for any polygon based curve is the Convex hull property.
❑ Relates the curve to its characteristic polygon.
❑ A curve is said to have a convex hull if it lies entirely within the convex hull
defined the polygon vertices.
Convex hull of Bezier Curve

ADD A FOOTER 14
Geometric Modelling
B-spline Curves
Introduction
• The shape of the curve is controlled by the control points. For
n + 1 control points,
• B-spline is considered a generalization of the Bézier curve.
Local control is a specific feature of B-spline curves, which
allows changing of a local control point to only affect part of
the curve. V(1)
V(i)
V(2)
V(0) V(n)
V(3)
B-spline Curves 16
Introduction
Four control points can always produce a cubic Bezier curve, they can generate a linear, quadratic
or cubic B-spline curve.
Achieved by choosing the basis (blending) functions pf B-spline curves with a an additional degree of
freedom that does not exist in Bernstein polynomials.
Where
• P(u) is any point on the curve 0 ≤ u ≤ ( (n+1) – (k-1) )
• Pi is a control point 0≤u≤n–k+2
• Ni,k(u) are the B-spline basis functions of degree k
• It should be noted that the range of u is not 0 to 1, but it varies

with the number of control points and the degree of the curve
The parameter k controls the degree (k-1) of the resulting B-spline curve and is usually independent of
he number of control points.
The maximum limit of the parameter u is no longer 1 as was arbitrarily chosen for Bezier curves.
B Spline Curve 17
Introduction
If k = 2, we get a linear curve
If k = 3, we get quadratic curve
If k = 4, we get cubic curve
• The B-spline basis functions are given as
B Spline Curve 18
Introduction
The ui are called parametric knots or knot values. These values form a sequence of
non-decreasing integers called knot vector. The point on the curve corresponding to
a knot ui is referred to as a knot point. The knot points divide a B-spline curve into
curve segments.
Where, 0 ≤ j ≤ n+k
The number of knots (n + k + 1) are needed to create a (k-1) degree curve defined
by (n+1) control points
B Spline Curve 19
Characteristics of B-spline curves
1. The local control of the curve can be achieved by changing the position of a
control point(s), using multiple control points by placing several points at the
same location, or by choosing a different degree (k-1).
2. A periodic B spline curve passes through the first and last points P0 and Pn+1, and
is tangent to the first and last segments of the control points.
Figure a. Local control of B-spline curves.

B-spline curves 20
3. Increasing the degree of the curve tightens it.
▪ The less the degree, the closer the curve gets to the control points.
Figure b. Effect of degree of B-spline curve on its

4. A second degree curve is always tangentshape.
to the midpoints of all the internal polygon segments.
(Figure b)
5. If k equals the number of control points (n+1), then the resulting B-spline curve becomes a Bezier
curve.
B-spline curves 21
6. Multiple control points induce regions of high curvature in a
b-spline curve.
▪ The curve is pulled more toward a control point by increasing its multiplicity.
7. Increasing the degree of the curve makes it more difficult to control
and to calculate accurately.
Figure c. Effect of point multiplicity of B-spline curve on its shape.

B-spline curves 22
Surface model of Aston Martin one-77 body in Autodesk Free form surface
Surface Modelling
Surface Modelling
• In wireframe model, only the boundary of a face can be precisely represented not the actual geometric
property of the face itself.
a) wire frame model b) surface model

• A Surface Design Model mainly consists of a set of faces which carries both geometric and topologic
information.
• The geometric properties of a certain area on the surface represented is of great importance.
• The surface model are often constructed from surface edges and curves on the surface, therefore surface
representations are often mixed with or developed from, wire-frame representations.
Surface Modelling
• Advantages:
• Surface model is more complete and less ambiguous representation compared to wire frame model.
• Surface model can be used to define tool path.
• Renders the model for better visualization and presentation, objects appear more realistic.
• Surface properties such as roughness, color and reflectivity can be assigned and demonstrated.
• Disadvantages:
• Surface models store only the information of outer geometry of the objects, but they will not have inner
details.
• Complicated computation, depending on the number of surfaces .
Surface patches
• Surface patch are defined as surfaces generated using 1 or more curves that make a closed connection.
• In general, real parts are represented using surface geometry by an assembly of surface patches, For
example a complete car body may require several hundred patches
Surface Patch Part with assembly of surface patches

Surface Modelling: Types of Surfaces
• Plane Surface
• Ruled Surface
• Surface of revolution
• Tabulated surface
• Off-set surface
• Synthetic/Free-form surface
Plane Surface
• It is the most basic surface in the engineering design that can be defined by three non-coincident points
or its variation.
• It can be used to generate cross-sectional views by intersecting a surface model.

Ruled surface
• This is a linear surface, interpolates linearly between two boundary curves that define the surface.
• Boundary curves can be in form of any wireframe entity.
Surface of revolution
• It is generated by rotating a planar wire frame entity in space about the axis of symmetry at a certain
angle
Tabulated Cylinder
• This is a surface generated by translating a planar curve a certain distance along a specified direction.
• The plane of the curve is perpendicular to the axis
• It is used to generate surfaces that have identical curve cross sections
Offset Surface
• Existing surfaces can be offset to create two new ones identical in shape but may have different
dimensions
• It is a useful surface to speed up surface construction
• Offset surface command becomes very efficient to use if the original surface is a composite one
• For example, to create a hollow cylinder, the outer or inner cylinder can be created using a cylinder
command and the other one can be created by an offset command.
Synthetic Surfaces
• Like synthetic curves, a synthetic surface approximates the given input data, often in form of an array of
given points in 3D space.
• Synthetic surfaces :
• Bezier Surface
• B-Spline Surface
• Bezier and B-Spline surfaces permit twists and kinks.
• In B-Spline surfaces local control is possible but not for Bezier surface.
• Bicubic Bezier and B-Spline generally provide enough degrees of freedom and accuracy of
representation for most applications.
Surface Representations
• Analytic Surface Representations
• Implicit Equation
• Explicit Equation
• Parametric Equation
• Synthetic Surface Representations
• Hermite Surface
• Bezier Surface
• Like a general analytic curve, general analytic surface can also be defined by either an implicit or an
explicit equation.
• Implicit Equation:
• F(x, y, z) = 0
• Geometric meaning of above equation is that the locus of the points that satisfy the above constraint equation
defines the surface.
• Explicit Equation:
• V = [x, y, z] T = [x, y, f(x, y)] T
• V = position vector of a variable point on the surface.
Fig: Explicit equation in surface representation

• Parametric Equation:
• In both implicit and explicit equations point son a surface have two degrees of freedom that are directly
controlled by x ,y and Z coordinates.
• The equations that utilize controlling parameters such as ‘s’ and ‘t’ are called parametric equations.
Synthetic Surface Representations
• As synthetic curves are dealt with curve segments in a single parameter (e.g. s) domain, similarly
synthetic surfaces are defined in patches in patches , each corresponding to a rectangular domain in the
s-t space.
• Hermite Bicubic Surface
• Hermite Bicubic Surface is one of the common synthetic surfaces used in CAD systems.
• In mathematic terms, a Hermite Bicubic surface can be described using the following cubic parametric
equation.
• A Hermite surface also requires the values of tangent vectors at the corners of the surface.
• Bezier surface Patches:
• The only difference between a Hermite surface patch and a Bezier surface patch is Basis Functions.
• Bernstein basis function is used for Bezier surface patch.
• The cubic Bezier surface can be expressed as
• Where ,
• Bezier Surface Patches:
• Advantages:
• Bezier patch meshes are superior to meshes of triangles as a representation of smooth surfaces.
• They are compact, easier to manipulate, and have much better continuity properties.
• Parametric surfaces such as spheres and cylinders can be well approximated by relatively small
number of cubic Bezier patches.
• Disadvantages:
• Bezier patch meshes are difficult to render directly.
• Calculating the intersections of Bezier patches with lines is difficult, making them awkward for pure
ray tracing or other direct geometric techniques which do not use subdivision or successive
approximation techniques.
• Difficult to combine directly with perspective projection algorithms.
• B- Spline Surfaces:
• Extension of the idea of B-Spline curves.
• Where , K,l = degree of polynomial in respective parameters.

• B i.j is the input set of (n+1)x(m+1) control points.
• N i,k , M j,l , blending functions.
• Advantage of B-Spline Curve is it supports local control of the surface.
• B- Spline Blending functions:
Surface manipulation
• Various surface manipulation techniques employed in CAD systems are: Mesh, Shading, Segmentation
and Trimming, Intersection, Projection, Translate, Rotate, Mirror, Scale.
• Mesh:
• Simple and most widely used method is to display a surface by mesh of curves.
• By holding one parameter constant at a time , a mesh of curves can be generated to represent a surface.
Fig: Simple triangular Mesh

• Shading:
• Effective way of rendering a design model and is available in many CAD systems.
• Segmentation and Trimming is a way of representing part of surface with localized interests.
Trimming of surface with a curve

• Intersection is another useful function where curves can be defined as a result of intersection.
Fig: Intersection of Two cylinders

• Projection is performed by projecting an entity onto a plane or surface. When a curve or surface is
projected, the point projections are repeatedly. This function is often used in determining shadows of
entities.
• Transformations : Translate Rotate, Mirror and Scale a surface in most CAD systems
Fig: Translation and Rotational Transformations

Surface model of Aston Martin one-77 body in Autodesk Free form surface
Surface Modelling
Surface Modelling
• In wireframe model, only the boundary of a face can be precisely represented not the actual geometric
property of the face itself.
a) wire frame model b) surface model

• A Surface Design Model mainly consists of a set of faces which carries both geometric and topologic
information.
• The geometric properties of a certain area on the surface represented is of great importance.
• The surface model are often constructed from surface edges and curves on the surface, therefore surface
representations are often mixed with or developed from, wire-frame representations.
Surface Modelling
• Surface model is more complete and less ambiguous representation compared to wire frame
model.
• Surface model can be used to define tool path , where as wire frame model cannot.
• Surface models provide hidden line removal and surface algorithms to make the objects look
more real.
• Surface models store only the information of outer geometry of the objects, but they will not
have inner details.
• In general, real parts are represented using surface geometry by an assembly of surface patches,
For example a complete car body may require several hundred patches.
Surface patches
• Surface patch are defined as surfaces generated using 1 or more curves that make a closed connection.
• In general, real parts are represented using surface geometry by an assembly of surface patches, For
example a complete car body may require several hundred patches
Surface Patch Part with assembly of surface patches

Surface Modelling: Types of Surfaces
• Plane Surface
• Ruled Surface
• Surface of revolution
• Tabulated surface
• Off-set surface
• Synthetic/Free-form surface
Plane Surface
• It is the most basic surface in the engineering design that can be defined by three non-coincident points
or its variation.
• It can be used to generate cross-sectional views by intersecting a surface model.

Ruled surface
• This is a linear surface, interpolates linearly between two boundary curves that define the surface.
• Boundary curves can be in form of any wireframe entity.
Surface of revolution
• It is generated by rotating a planar wire frame entity in space about the axis of symmetry at a certain
angle
Tabulated Cylinder
• This is a surface generated by translating a planar curve a certain distance along a specified direction.
• The plane of the curve is perpendicular to the axis
• It is used to generate surfaces that have identical curve cross sections
Offset Surface
• Existing surfaces can be offset to create two new ones identical in shape but may have different
dimensions
• It is a useful surface to speed up surface construction
• Offset surface command becomes very efficient to use if the original surface is a composite one
• For example, to create a hollow cylinder, the outer or inner cylinder can be created using a cylinder
command and the other one can be created by an offset command.
Synthetic Surfaces
• Like synthetic curves, a synthetic surface approximates the given input data, often in form of an array of
given points in 3D space.
• Synthetic surfaces :
• Bezier Surface
• Bezier and B-Spline surfaces permit twists and kinks.
• In B-Spline surfaces local control is possible but not for Bezier surface.
• Bicubic Bezier and B-Spline generally provide enough degrees of freedom and accuracy of
representation for most applications.
Surface Representations
• Analytic Surface Representations
• Implicit Equation
• Explicit Equation
• Parametric Equation
• Synthetic Surface Representations
• Hermite Surface
• Bezier Surface
• Like a general analytic curve, general analytic surface can also be defined by either an implicit or an
explicit equation.
• Implicit Equation:
• F(x, y, z) = 0
• Geometric meaning of above equation is that the locus of the points that satisfy the above constraint equation
defines the surface.
• Explicit Equation:
• V = [x, y, z] T = [x, y, f(x, y)] T
• V = position vector of a variable point on the surface.
Fig: Explicit equation in surface representation

• Parametric Equation:
• In both implicit and explicit equations point son a surface have two degrees of freedom that are directly
controlled by x ,y and Z coordinates.
• The equations that utilize controlling parameters such as ‘s’ and ‘t’ are called parametric equations.
• As synthetic curves are dealt with curve segments in a single parameter (e.g. s) domain, similarly
synthetic surfaces are defined in patches in patches , each corresponding to a rectangular domain in the
s-t space.
• Hermite Bicubic Surface
• Hermite Bicubic Surface is one of the common synthetic surfaces used in CAD systems.
• In mathematic terms, a Hermite Bicubic surface can be described using the following cubic parametric
equation.
• A Hermite surface also requires the values of tangent vectors at the corners of the surface.
• Bezier surface Patches:
• The only difference between a Hermite surface patch and a Bezier surface patch is Basis Functions.
• Bernstein basis function is used for Bezier surface patch.
• The cubic Bezier surface can be expressed as
• Where ,
• Bezier Surface Patches:
• Advantages:
• Bezier patch meshes are superior to meshes of triangles as a representation of smooth surfaces.
• They are compact, easier to manipulate, and have much better continuity properties.
• Parametric surfaces such as spheres and cylinders can be well approximated by relatively small
number of cubic Bezier patches.
• Disadvantages:
• Bezier patch meshes are difficult to render directly.
• Calculating the intersections of Bezier patches with lines is difficult, making them awkward for pure
ray tracing or other direct geometric techniques which do not use subdivision or successive
approximation techniques.
• Difficult to combine directly with perspective projection algorithms.
• B- Spline Surfaces:
• Extension of the idea of B-Spline curves.
• Where , K,l = degree of polynomial in respective parameters.

• B i.j is the input set of (n+1)x(m+1) control points.
• N i,k , M j,l , blending functions.
• Advantage of B-Spline Curve is it supports local control of the surface.
• Various surface manipulation techniques employed in CAD systems are: Mesh, Shading, Segmentation
and Trimming, Intersection, Projection, Translate, Rotate, Mirror, Scale.
• Mesh:
• Simple and most widely used method is to display a surface by mesh of curves.
• By holding one parameter constant at a time , a mesh of curves can be generated to represent a surface.
Fig: Simple triangular Mesh

• Shading:
• Effective way of rendering a design model and is available in many CAD systems.
• Segmentation and trimming is a way of representing part of surface with localized interests.
• Intersection is another useful function where curves can be defined as a result of intersection.
• Projection is performed by projecting an entity onto a plane or surface. When a curve or surface is projected,
the point projections are repeatedly. This function is often used in determining shadows of entities.
• Transformations : Translate Rotate, Mirror and Scale a surface in most CAD systems.
Solid Modelling
Solid Model of Two cycle engine Assembly

Solid Modelling
• Wireframe Model and Surface Model are three dimensional representation of
edges and surfaces and are essential partial models.
• A Solid Model of an object is more complete representation than wireframe or
surface model.
• It provides topological information along with geometrical representation which
helps to represent solid unambiguously.
Solid Modelling
• A solid model is defined by volumes, areas, lines

and key points.
• Volumes are bounded by areas, areas by lines,
and lines by Key points
• Hierarchy of entities from low to high:
1) Key points, 2) Lines, 3) Areas, 4) Volumes Hierarchy of entities
• An entity can not be deleted if a higher entity is
attached to it
Entities
Solid Modelling
• Advantages:
• Complete modelling and Unambiguous.
• Best suitable for calculating mass properties.
• Fast creation and gives huge information, So smaller risk of errors in transcription.
• Applications:
• Solid modelling has now found wide applications that cut across functional boundaries, such as
the use of solid models with
• Finite-element analysis
• Fluid flow analysis in the conceptual design of products
• Numerical control (NC) part programming for computer-aided manufacturing,
• Generation of computer-aided process plans
Solid Modelling
• Representation schemes for solid modelling:
1. Boundary representation (B-rep).
2. Constructive solid geometry (CSG).
3. Sweep Representation.
4. Parameterized Primitive Instancing.
5. Cell Decomposition.
6. Spatial Occupancy (voxel).
7. Analytical Solid Modelling.
1. Boundary Representation (B-Rep)
• The method was initially developed in the early 1970s.
• Boundary representation is a method for representing shapes using the limits,
or rather boundaries as the name suggests.
• A solid is represented as a collection of connected surface elements and the
boundary between solid (inside the object) and non-solid (outside the object)
• Basic Entities and the Connectivity of B-Rep
• Boundary representation models contain two pieces of critical information Geometry
and Topology.
• Geometrical elements : Faces, Edges and vertices.
• Other elements : Shell ( set of connected faces), The Loop (a circuit of edges bounding
a face) and Loop-edge links (also known as winged-edge links or half-edges).
• Equally important in a B-rep model is the connectivity present amongst the
topological items (e.g. faces, edges and vertices).
• The most popular type of the data structure for defining such connectivity is
Baumgart’s winged-edge data structure.
• Winged data structure for simple cube :
• 6 faces each containing a loop of 4 edges. Each edge is bounded by 2 vertices.
Every edge is shared by two faces and every vertex is shared by three edges
• Validation of B- Rep Model :
• Euler’s law states that a polyhedron is topologically valid (or a sane solid) if
F-E+V=2 F= number of faces, E = number of edges, V = number of vertices.
• Example : Simple Cube:
• Number of Faces = 6
• Number of Edges = 12
• Number of Vertices =8
• F-E+V = 6-12+8 = 2 ,
• Hence according to Euler’s law Simple cube is
a valid one.
• Validation of B- Rep Model :
• For the solids that have passageways or holes, the generalized version of Euler’s law
used is,
• F-E+V-L = 2(B-G) .
• Where, L= inner loops, B= body, G= genera (such as torus, through-hole).
• Number of Faces: 14
• Number of Edges : 36
• Number of Vertices : 24
• Number of inner loops: 2
• Number of Bodies = 1
• Number of Genera= 1
• F-E+V-L = 2(B-G) = 14-36+24-2 = 2 (1-1)
• = 0=0.
• Euler's theory validates the given model.
2. Constructive Solid Geometry
• Constructive solid geometry allows a modeler to create a complex surface or object by
using Boolean operators to combine objects.
• The simplest solid objects used for representation are called Primitives.
• Primitives : a) Cube, b) Sphere, c) Cylinder, d) Cone, e) Taurus, f) Wedge, g) Pyramid.
• An object is constructed from primitives by means of allowable Boolean operations.
• The common Boolean operators include set theoretic intersection (∩), set-theoretic
union (∪), and difference (-).
Intersection(∩) Union Difference (-)

(∪)
• Different ways of constructing a same part by using CSG.
• Advantages:
• Modeler can use a set of relatively simple objects to create very complicated
geometry.
• The user can revise complex geometry by changing the position of the objects or by
changing the Boolean operation(s) used to combine those objects.
• Disadvantages:
• CSG is slow in displaying objects.
• It is usually converted internally into a B-rep model for displaying.
• Non-uniqueness in representing an object.
3. Sweep Representation
• Sweep Representation defines a solid in terms of volumes swept out by two- or
three-dimensional laminae as they move along a curve usually called a path or
trajectory.
• The path types can take virtually any shape, but usually non-self-intersecting.
“T” cross section sweeping along a closed path to give solid geometry
4. Parameterized primitive instancing
• The primitive instancing technique is based on a concept that considers an object
that has the same topology as a potential primitive (also called generic primitive)
but different geometry.
• Set of parameters govern the topology of the object, different objects can be
generated by setting the parameters to different values.
• Example:
• A gear can be defined by a set of parameters such as, its
pitch-circle diameter, thickness, number of teeth and
etc.
• Different gears can be easily generated by specifying a
specific set of parameters.
5. Cell Decomposition
• In Cell Decomposition method a solid is represented by a collection of smaller
regular volumes or cells that are mutually contiguous and do not interpenetrate.
• The cells may be any shape and do not have to be identical.
Different shape cells building a complex shape

6. Spatial Occupancy (voxel).
• Spatial occupancy enumeration schemes are a particular case of cell
decompositions where all the cells are cubical and lie in a regular grid.
• The cells are also called voxels or cubes of a fixed size.
Similar size voxels or cubes building up a solid

7. Analytical Solid Modelling
• In Analytical Solid Modelling, a solid object can be represented by three-dimensional
parametric space with three parameters (e.g. s, t and u).
• The solid thus created is called a parametric solid or a hyper patch because similar to
a surface patch in surface representation.
• Variable point of solid is given by following equation:
• A general solid can be represented by the following polynomial:

Sweep Representation
• Sweep is based on the notion of moving a point, curve or surface

along a given path.
• Three types of sweep
• Linear
• Nonlinear
• Hybrid
Linear Non Linear Hybrid

Sweep Volume
• Sweep volume: sweeping a 2D area along a trajectory creates a new 3D object
• Translational Sweep : Linear trajectory normal to 1
the 2D plane
• Tapered Sweep : Scale area while sweeping 2
• Slanted Sweep : Trajectory is not normal to the 2D

3
plane
• Rotational sweep : 2D area is rotated about an axis
4
• General Sweep : object swept along any trajectory
and transformed along the sweep
1- Translatory Sweep, 2- Tapered Sweep
3- Slant Sweep, 4- Rotational Sweep
Boundary – Polyhedra and Euler’s formula
V-E+F-H=2(C–G)
Where H is the number of holes in the faces, G is number of holes

that pass through the object, and C is the number of separate
components (parts) of the object
V-E+F-H=2(C–G)
24 36 15 3 1 1
Surface Patch
• Patch Surfaces are defined as surfaces generated using 1 or more curves that
make a closed connection.
A twisted ribbon segmented using different values of the Complex Patch Boundary Methodology in Sketching system
parameter α. a). α = 0, b). α = 0.2, c). α = 0.4
Coons Surface Patch
• Is a form of “Transfinite interpolation”, - Coons scheme interpolates to an

infinite number of data points,. i.e., to all points of a curve segment, to
generate the surface.
• It is useful in blending four prescribed intersecting curves which form a closed
boundary.
Windshield of a car
Coons Surface patch (Contd)
• Produced by the superposition of two ruled surfaces connecting the two pairs
of boundary curves satisfying the boundary curve conditions.
P(u, ν) = G(u) + ν[Q(u) – G(u)] = (1 - ν)G(u) + ν Q(u)
Where ν = ruling parameter 0≤u≤1, 0 ≤ ν ≤1
P1(u, ν) = (1 - u)P(0, ν) + u P(1, ν)

P2(u, ν) = (1 - ν)P(u, 0) + ν P(u, 1)
P(u, ν) = P1(u, ν) + P2(u, ν) Doesn’t satisfy the boundary

conditions
Correction surface P3 is subtracted from the main equation
P3(u, ν) = (1 - (1 - ν))[ (1 - u) P(0, 0) + uP(1, 0)] + ν[(1-u)P(0,1) + uP(1,1)]
P(u, ν) = P1(u, ν) + P2(u, ν) – P3(u, ν) = P1(u, ν) Ꚛ P2(u, ν)_____ Boolean Sum

Coons Surface patch (Contd)
• In the above matrix, left column is P1(u,v), middle column is P2(u,v),

right column is P3(u,v).
• -1, 1-u, u, 1- ν, and ν functions are called blending functions,
because they blend boundary curves to form one surface. For cubic
blending functions the form given below is valid
P1(u, ν) = (2u3 – 3u2 +1)P(0, ν) + (-2u3 – 3u2)P(1, ν)

P2(u, ν) = (2ν3 – 3ν2 +1)P(0, ν) + (-2ν3 – 3ν2)P(1, ν)
Bilinear Surface
A bilinear surface is derived by interpolating four data points, using linear equations in
the parameters u and v so that the resulting surface has the four points at its corners,
denoted by P00, P10, P01 and P11.
P0v = (1 -v)P00 + vP01
P1v = (1 -v)P10 + vP11
Similarly P(u,v) can be obtained by using P0v & P1v :
P(u,v) = (1-u)P0v + uP1v
By replacing P0v and P1v into P(u,v):
P(u,v) = (1-u)[(1-v)P00 + vP01] +u[(1-v)P10 + P11]

Bilinear Patch
• As blending functions are not linear unlike bilinear surfaces it is possible to

model nonlinear surface forms
• Extension of cubic curve
• 16 unknown coefficients – 16 boundary conditions
• Tangents and “twists” at corners of patch can be used
• Like Lagrange and Hermite curves, Bilinear patches are difficult to work with
Bilinear Patch
•
Bicubic Patch
F - surface patch
This special surface is useful in design and machining applications

Bicubic patch
• Advantages
• Boundary curves are Hermite curves
• Interior points can be controlled
• Disadvantages
• It is not easy to sense the effect of twist vector (Ferguson patch twist vector is 0)
• Cannot be used with higher order polynomials.
Triangular patches
• Used when the data points of a surface form a triangle or if a surface cannot
be modeled by rectangular patches only and may require at least one
triangular patch.
• u, v, w are called the

“barycentric coordinates”.
• W is independent of u and v.
• u + v + w = 1 for any point in
the domain
Triangular patches
•
Triangular patches
FEATURE
TECHNOLOGY
Chapter – 6
Feature
◦ Feature - A shape and an operation to build parts
◦ Shape is a 2D sketch
◦ Sketch orientation – 3D modelling space
◦ Operation is an activity that converts a sketch into a 3D
entity
Steps in Feature Modelling:

1. Select a plane or a surface
2. Make a 2D sketch
3. Convert into 3D
Example - Flange
Features:
1. The base cylinder
1
2. The circular groove
2
3. The central hole
3
4. The other holes
Each feature might require a

separate sketch!
The 2D Sketch – a profile or a Cross section
Select a plane
Click on Sketch tool
This can done from the
workspace itself if convenient
Go to Sketch View
The 2D Sketch – contd….
• Select a tool from the panel and make a sketch
• Click on scroll wheel button to exit the tool and change
the dimensions
Note: A sketch should always be a closed sketch. No 3D conversions is possible with an open sketch!
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities - Extrude

The ways to 3D
Feature Entities - Extrude

◦ Used to create solid models of 2 ½ D objects with uniform thickness
◦ Requires a Cross section
◦ A plane of extrusion
◦ Extrusion vector
◦ Length
◦ Direction
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities - Revolve

◦ Used to create solid models of axisymmetric 2 ½ D objects
◦ A plane of Revolution
◦ Revolution Vector
◦ Axis
◦ Angle of Revolution
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities - Sweep

◦ Generalisation of extrusion
◦ Guide curve
◦ 3 types
◦ Linear
◦ Non Linear
◦ Mixed
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Swept Blending

◦ Sweep with multiple cross sections
◦ Blending of two curves
◦ 2 Cross sections in different planes
◦ Guide curve
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Helical Sweep

◦ Used to create solid models of axisymmetric 2 ½ D objects
◦ Guide curve
◦ 3 types
◦ Linear
◦ Non Linear
◦ Mixed
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Loft

◦ Generalisation of Sweep
◦ Used to blend multiple cross
sections
◦ Requires
◦ Profiles
◦ Guide Curves
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Boss, Shaft

◦ Boss ◦ Shaft
◦ An extruded or revolved part added ◦ Extruded feature with circular cross
to a base feature or an existing solid section
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Pipe

◦ Sweeping circular cross section
(solid or hollow) along a guide curve
(Pipe axis)
◦ Require
◦ Axis
◦ Diameter
◦ Wall thickness (in case of hollow pipe)
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Cut, Hole

Cut Holes
◦ Feature opposite to boss feature ◦ Subtracting cylinders from the solids
◦ Extruded or revolved feature ◦ Various types depending on the depth of the holes and
subtracted from an existing extrusion the end conditons
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Slot
◦ Similar to holes
◦ Removal of material
◦ 5 types
◦ rectangular slot
◦ Ball end slot
◦ T slot
◦ U slot
◦ Dovetail Slot
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Pocket, Shell

◦ Pocket ◦ Shell
◦ Cavity in the existing body ◦ Create hollow solids by carving material out.
◦ Can have any profiles ◦ Uses offset operation tool
◦ Blind slot ◦ Wall thickness is to be specified
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Fillet, Chamfer

◦ Fillet ◦ Chamfer
◦ Smoothen sharp edges by Creating
◦ Smoothen sharp edges by rounding the
bevelled edges on selected edge.
edge
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Draft

◦ Used in the injection moulding process of plastic products
◦ It is the angle between the direction of ejection of a part from the mould and surface of the part.
◦ To facilitate easy removal of the part.
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Rib

◦ It is a stiffener.
◦ Special type of extrude
◦ Add material to the existing feature.
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Flange

◦ Adds material to ends of pipes or other revolved features.
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Neck

◦ Opposite of a flange.
◦ Removes material from an existing revolved feature.
◦ It acts a revolved cut.
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Pattern

◦ Linear Pattern ◦ Circular Pattern
◦ Object to be pattern ◦ Object to be pattern
◦ Direction and plane ◦ Axis of patterning
◦ Spacing between the objects ◦ Radius/angle of patterning
◦ Number of objects ◦ Number of objects
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Mirror

◦ Requires
◦ Object to be mirrored
◦ Plane of Mirroring
◦ Steps to be followed
• To mirror a feature, a centreline need to
be defined.
• So first define a centreline(s) by clicking on
2 points on the required line
• Click scroll wheel button
• Select the feature, click on mirror and
select the above defined centreline
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Spiral, Spring

◦ Spiral ◦ Spring
◦ Special case of sweep ◦ Spiral with circular cross section
◦ Requires
◦ Profile
◦ Sweeping Curve
◦ Guide curve must be perpendicular to profile
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Dimple

◦ Small depression in a face of a solid.
The ways to 3D
Feature Entities – Thread, Tweak,

Intersect
◦ Thread feature creates ◦ Tweak is a feature to ◦ Intersect implements
threads on the cylindrical modify surface Boolean operation.
faces of holes, bosses,
cylinders or sweeps of
circular curves
Constraints
◦ Geometric condition that relates two or more sketch entities.
◦ Add intelligence to a sketch to maintain design intent as the designer modifies the model.
Constraints…
Constraints…
Part Modelling Tutorial
New File 2
2
1
4
ME3301 – Manufacturing Technology Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

Interface 3
Tools
Working Space
Model Tree

The Point of Mouse 4
• Left Mouse Button – Selection

o Left Top Selection Box – The complete Selector (Solid line box)
o Right Top Selection Box – The partial selector (Dotted line box)
• Right Mouse Button – Options
• Zoom in and out - Scroll Wheel (Up and Down)

• Rotate the workspace – Scroll Wheel Button (Press and drag)
• Pan through the workspace - Shift + Scroll Wheel Button (Press and drag)
• Select multiple items – Ctrl + Left Mouse Button

The Cycle of Steps 5
3 Steps in Part Modelling:
1. Select a plane or a surface

2. Make a 2D sketch
3. Convert into 3D
Repeat….

Example : A flange 6
Features:
1 1. The base cylinder
2 2. The circular groove
3 3. The central hole
4. The other holes
Each feature might require a separate sketch!

The 2D Sketch 7
Select a plane Click on Sketch tool

This can done from the workspace
itself if convenient
Go to Sketch View

The 2D Sketch 8
• Select a tool from the panel and make a sketch

• Click on scroll wheel button to exit the tool and change the
dimensions
Note: A sketch should always be a closed sketch. No 3D conversions is possible with an open sketch!

Sketch Tools 9
Line Chain Line Tangent

Sketch Tools 10
Center Rectangle Center and Point Circle

Sketch Tools 11
Arc Ellipse

Sketch Tools 12
Spline

Sketch Tools 13
Fillet
Circular Circular
Fillet Fillet Trim
Elliptical Elliptical
Fillet Fillet Trim

Sketch Tools 14
Chamfer
Chamfer
Chamfer
Trim

Sketch Tools 15
1
Mirror 4
• To mirror a feature, a
centreline need to be
defined.
• So first define a
centreline(s) by clicking
on 2 points on the
required line
• Click scroll wheel button
3
• Select the feature, click on
mirror and select the 2
above defined centreline 5

Sketch Tools 16
Delete Segment
• Trimming an arc or segment between any two features
• Difference between the options in fillet and chamfer lies in trimming

Sketch Tools 17
Constrains
Tangent Constrain

The ways to 3D 18
Extrude

The ways to 3D 19
Revolve

The ways to 3D 20
Sweep

The ways to 3D 21
Helical Sweep

The ways to 3D 22
Swept Blend

The 3D tools 23
Round Chamfer

The 3D tools 24
Draft

The 3D tools 25
Shell

The 3D tools 26
Rib

Example : Nut 27

Practice 28
1 2

Exercise 29

30
THANK YOU

Feature Technology
-Assembly
2
Contents
Assembly
1. The basics
2. Flange Coupling Example
3. Constrains Available
4. Exploded View
Drawing
5. The basics
6. Views
7. Sectional Views
8. Bill of Materials

3
ASSEMBLY

New File 4
2
1
4
3
5

Assembly – The process 5

Assembly – The process 6
Base part
Edge of Part 2
constrained
to be
coincident
with
Edge of Part 1
The next part

Assembly Steps 7
1. Choose Base Part

2. Choose the next Part
3. Make Constraints
Repeat steps 2,3
Note: Make constraints to

restrict the non-required
degrees of freedom of the part

Example : Flange Coupling 8

Constraints 9
1. Default : Sticks to the plane and restricts all 6 DOF

Constraints 10
2. Coincident :
• Makes the surfaces to lie on the

common plane or the surface
profile or line/axes to lie on
same line
• In the given figure, this
constrain restricts the linear
motion along the central axis
and rotation about two axes

Constraints 11
3. Distance:
• Sets distance between selected

entities to a particular value
constrain restricts the linear
motion along the central axis
and rotation about two axes

Constraints 12
4. Angle Offset:
• Sets the angle between

the selected entitles to a
value
constrain restricts the
rotation about two axes

Constraints 13
5. Parallel
• Makes the selected

entities parallel to each
other
rotation about two axes

Constraints 14
5. Normal
• Makes the selected

entities normal to each
other
rotation about one axis

Constraints 15
6. Coplanar
Makes the entities to be on same plane
7. Centered
Centers pairs of conical surfaces, spherical surfaces, and toroidal surfaces.
8. Tangent
Makes one tangent to the other
Automatic :
• Creo identities the type automatically!
• Doesn’t work right always!

Exploded View 16
Go to: View → Exploded View

17
DRAWING

New File 18
1 4
2
6

Creating a View 19
To create a View,
• Click on General View
• Click anywhere on the sheet. Drawing View dialogue
box appears
• Select the view(Top, front, left, default etc.) in View
Type Tab
• Give the scale in Scale Tab
• Selection any sections(if required). This requires
definition of a section in the part/assembly file.
• Select View Display as No Hidden
To move the view through the drawing, unselect

Lock View Movement Button

Sectional View 20
To create a Sectional View,

• Go to the part/assembly file
• Create a section.(Note the planes/axes
nearby to confirm your section in
drawing)
• In drawing view dialogue box, under
Sections tab, select this section, get the
correct view type. Click OK
• Disable all planes, axis etc. to make the
view more clear

Bill of Materials 21
• Bill of materials requires the user to give the information in the corresponding files. Eg: The material,
heat treatment and all that jazz of a part should be specified in the corresponding part file at:
File → Prepare → Model Properties
• In the drawing sheet, create a table with 2 rows
• Type the column names in the first row
• Set the 2nd row as a repeating region. Click on
Repeating Region → Add → Click on first and last cells → Done
• Click on Switch Symbols. Double click each cell to add the variable.
o Sl. No : rpt → index
o Component Name : asm → mbr → name
o Material : asm → mbr → ptc_material → PTC_MATERIAL_NAME
o Quantity : rpt → qty
• Click on Update Table and then Switch Symbols
• To see the quantity column, Click
Repeating Region → Attributes → Click on the quantity cell → No Duplicates → Done

Dimensions and Notes 22
To add a dimension,
• Go to Annotate → Dimensions
• Click on the entity whose dimension is to be show.
If we need distance between two lines, click on 1st line, press Ctrl and click on 2nd line.
If we need length of line/ Radius of a circle, just click on them
Once dimension appears on the screen, to place it on the sheet, move the cursor to the
required location, and then click on middle mouse button
To add more text,

Go to Annotate → Note → Select the type of Note → Place on the sheet → Word Skills!

Bingo! 23

24
THANK YOU

1
3D Printing
Introduction 2
• Additive Manufacturing: Instead of removing material to create a part, the process
adds material in successive patterns to create the desired shape.
• 3D printing include all production

technologies that are based upon the
automated and computer-controlled
formation of three-dimensional objects
from one or more starting materials,
either liquid or solid, through an
additive process based upon
solidification.
Historical commercial Milestones in 3D Printing 3
Advantages and Limitations 4
Applications of 3D Printing 5
• Aerospace and Défense.
o Concept modeling and prototyping
o Manufacturing low-volume complex parts (electronics, engine parts, etc.)
o Manufacturing replacement parts anywhere
o Manufacturing structures using lightweight, high strength materials
• Automotive.
o Testing part design to verify correctness and completeness
o Parts for race vehicles, luxury sports cars, antique cars, etc.
o Replacement of parts that are defective or cannot be purchased
o Manufacturing structures using lightweight, high strength materials
• Electronics.
o Embedding Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices embedded
inside solid materials
o Short lead time electronic products
o Polymer based, three-dimensional micro-electromechanical systems
o Microwave circuits fabricated on paper substrates
• Tool and Mold Making.
o Universal tool holders with standardized pocket sizes
o Die casting forms
o Injection molding tooling
o Tooling for prototyping of short lead time surgical devices
• Medical Applications.
o Design and modeling methods for customized implants and medical devices
o Processes for fabrication of “smart scaffolds” and for construction of 3D biological and
tissue models
Steps in 3D Printing 8
1. Generation of 2. Converting 3D
Virtual 3D Model, 3. Slicing the 3D
Model to STL file 4. G Code file
model
or VRML file
6. Post
5.3D printing
Processing
1. Generation of Virtual 3D Model 9
• Virtual 3D Model are developed by,
• Commercial Computer-aided design (CAD) programs.
• CAD Programs are the predominant means to generate 3D models, which can
be easily extended, developed, and customized by the user, without great deal
of technical expertise.
• CAD programs hold information about the shape and size of an object.
• Using Scanning Data.
• Mathematical Equations.
2. Converting 3D Model to standard STL or
VRML File 10
• CAD models cannot be directly interpreted by a 3D Printer.
• CAD models are converted to Standard Tessellation Language (STL) file.
• STL file is created by tessellating a 3D model with small triangle (facets) and
recording the vertices and components of the unit normal vector of the triangles in
ASCII or binary formats.
• STL files store objects
geometry.
• Lack information on object
colour.
• STL files can only used for
monochromatic printing.
• Multi colour printing
requires Virtual Reality
Modelling Language (VRML).
3. Slicing the 3D Model 11
Slicing Software
STL (or) Slices the 3D
G- Codes
VRMl Files Models in to 2D
Layers
• 3D Printers is accompanied by slicing software that slices the 3D models obtained

from STL or VRML files into 2D layers.
• Layer thickness is defined by the step size (Z-resolution) of the printer.
• Some of the well known slicing software’s: Ultimaker Cura, Super Slicer, Prusca
Slicer, Slic3R, REAL Vision .
4. G-Code file. 12
• The information about each layer is coded in NC part program , G Code File.
• It directs the various components of 3D Printer : Print heads, Lasers, Build
platforms, and extruders to move in a defined and synchronised paths.
• Some of the important G-Codes are shown in the table.
5. 3D Printer 13
NC Part Program or 3D Printed product

G-Code followed by post
processing
3D Printer
6. Post Processing of 3D Printed Product 14
• Post Processing of 3D printed part include
1) Cleaning:
• Removing support material.
• Powder removal ( in case of powder based fusion).
• Washing: With post processing washing machines using isopropyl alcohol .
2) Fixing:
• Filling unwanted holes or cracks in the printed object.
• Glueing and welding, when separately printed parts need to be attached together.
3) Curing:
• Heating the models after they have been printed enhances mechanical properties.
• It enhances the aesthetic characteristics.
6. Post Processing of 3D Printed Product 15
4) Surface finishing:
• To remove the unwanted material on the surface and to make look model
aesthetically nicer.
• Sanding : Layer lines, where support structure was attached to the model can be
removed by carefully sanding.
• Automated polishing replaced manual sanding in many applications for better finish.
• Vapour or Chemical smoothing: chemicals or vapours which react with outer layer
of the surface are used smoothening of the model surface.
• Acetone and Tetrahydrofuran (THF) are often used.
5) Coating and painting:
• 3D models can be printed using coloured material or sometimes can opt to colouring
during post processing.
3D Printing Techniques 16
1. Stereolithography (SL).
2. Inkjet Printing.
3. Selective Laser Sintering and Melting (SLS/M).
4. Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM).
1. Stereolithography (SL).
17
• SL technique is based on the spatially controlled photo polymerization of liquid
resins using a laser.
• The basic principle of stereolithography is the selective curing of Photo Polymer
(Resin) using a UV laser.
• Resin is a light reactive thermoset materials.
• There are two major Forms of Stereolithography (Sl):

• 1.1. Direct Laser Writing.
• 1.2. Mask Based Laser Writing.
1.1. Direct laser Writing 18
• The laser directly raster's on the
surface of a resin reservoir.
• Resin exposed to laser is
polymerised to form the solid
components of the layer.
• Unexposed Resin acts as support
material for consecutive layers.
• The common name for Direct
Laser Writing is SLA Printing.
Direct Laser Writing

1.2. Mask Based Laser Writing.
19
• A digital light projection (DLP)
and a digital projection mirror
casts an image on the surface of
the resin reservoir.
• The resin exposed to pixels of
light is polymerized to form the
solid component of the layer.
• The common name for the mask
based laser writing is DLP
printing.
Mask based laser writing
2. Selective Laser Sintering and Melting (SLS/M)
20
• Layer of powder particles are exposed high

energy laser, increasing the local bed
temperature to either below melting point
for sintering or above melting point for
melting of powder particles.
• The sintered or melted particles fuse
together to form solid components.
• SLS and SLM printers can print with a
variety of materials, such as polymers,
metals, ceramics, and glass.
3. Inkjet Printing.
21
• Spatial jetting of inks from their respective print heads.

• A liquid binder, photopolymer or a thermo material is supplied layer by layer
fashion.
• Based on type of inks used 3D Inkjet printers are classified as Binder Jetting, Photo
Polymer Jetting, Thermo Material Jetting.
• Operations:
• Fine layer of powder is rolled on to a build platform.
• The powder layer is then selectively exposed to a binder liquid as per the desired layer
geometry.
• The binder liquid binds the required powder particles together to form the solid
components of the layer.
3. Inkjet Printing 22
a) Binder jetting printer b) Photopolymer Jetting Printer

4. Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM)
23
• Based on the extrusion and layer by layer
deposition of thermoplastics.
• Thermoplastic filaments are fed through
rollers in the print heads followed by thermal
extrusion through fine nozzles and deposition
from the print heads onto build platform.
• Multiple extruders are used for one or more
materials for each build.
• Cheapest 3D printing option.
Slicing in 3D Printing
Prof. G L Samuel
Metal 3D Printing
• Metal 3D printing also known as Metal Additive

Manufactruing (AM) and Direct Metal Laser
Sintering (DMLS)
• It is the process by which parts are

manufactured by laser fusing together high
performance metals layer by layer.
Printing Types
• Selective Laser Sintering

• Uses a laser to fuse layers of metal powder together
• Selective Laser melting

• Goes a step further than fusing the powder together and actually
melts powder.
• This works well with composites mades of one material like pure
titanium or steel vs many mixed together like most plastics
• Fuse Despositon Method

• Uses a laser to fuse layers of metal powder together.
Process
• Uses Powder Bed Fusin (PBF) method

• Laser increases the temperature of the powder in the areas where
the design is to be built
• Thereby fusing the metal powder and creating a solid layer
• PBF method involves 3 different techniques
• Selective Laser Sintering
• Selective Laser Melting
• Fuse Deposition Method
3D Printing
SLICING ALGORITHMS
What is Slicing?
► Additive Mfg requires an input computer-aided design (CAD) model of the part
which may be designed in a CAD system, or obtained from reverse engineering such
as 3D scanners.
► The act of converting a 3D model into a set of instructions for the 3D printers is called Slicing.
► Once the CAD model is completed, it is converted to the standard STL format, which
is most commonly used to represent 3D CAD models in additive manufacturing
What is Slicing?...
► It is the intermediate and most important step in the process of 3D printing.
► it ‘slices’ the 3D model into thin layers, and further determine how each layer should be printed (the
tool path) to get minimum time, best strength, etc.
What is Slicing?...
► Three major types of settings that can be controlled in a slicer software —

1. Print Settings: layer heights, shells, infill per cent, and speed
2. Filament Settings: filament diameter, extrusion multiplier, the temperature of the
extruder, and print bed.
3. Printer settings: nozzle diameter, print bed shape (L x W), and Z offset.
Components of a Slicing Software
► It is important to understand how data flows in the 3D printing process.
Components of a Slicing Software…
Components of a Slicing Software…
► GUI is the graphic user interface.

► It has all the tools that help the user interact with the 3D model. the graphic user
interface enables the user to move, scale, rotate, and change the settings for the 3D
model.
► The main function of the slicing software is to work with the STL format file.
► It has information regarding the surface geometry of the model.
► Example of STL file format and its model.
Uni-direction slicing
► Uni-direction slicing algorithm slices the STL model into a variety of 2.5D layers parallel to
the build direction.
► Figure shows an STL model and various cutting planes for uni-direction slicing; and the
resulting slicing layers which are polygons.
a). STL Model with slicing layers

in uni-direction.
b). Resulting layer boundary
polygons.
Uni-direction slicing…
► Uniform slicing method slices CAD model with a constant thickness.
► The accuracy of the additively manufactured parts could be controlled by altering the
layer thickness.
► The smaller the layer thickness, the higher the accuracy will be obtained. Also, the
deposition rate or productivity is highly relevant to the sliced layer thickness.
► Adaptive slicing approach is based on the surface geometry of the model and adjusts
automatically the layer thickness to improve the accuracy or to improve the build time.
► As with increasing size of STL file , major challenge is to maintain the efficiency, this is taken
care by tolerant Slicing algorithm.
► Stage 1: Preprocessing stage- Regarding optimum orientation of the part.
► Stage 2: Slicing stage- Generating slices from STL model
► The orientation of the STL model is usually user defined or obtained with respect to the
optimal build time, the surface quality, support structures required, or other criteria.
Flowchart of the tolerance slicing algorithm
► For each layer construction in slicing, the method scans the STL file to extract one
facet at a time sequentially and compares the z-coordinates of its three vertices to the
z-height of the slicing (cutting) plane.
► Through setting a small value bound tolerance, the possibilities of intersection of a
facet with a cutting plane can be divided into the following cases.
Line segment of neighboring facets

Line segment due to intersection of cutting
plane with the facet
An engineering STL model and Resulting slices
Multi-direction slicing
► Most of the current Additive mfg processes involve slicing a 3D CAD model into a set of
2.5D layers with a constant or adaptive thickness along the build-up direction as
mentioned in previous slides.
► However, to fabricate parts with complex shapes the unidirectional slicing strategies are
generally limited by the need for support structures to deposit overhangs.
(a) The component and its usual build direction B.

(b) support required (parts colored in orange)
(c) Multi-direction slicing and various build
directions B1, B2, and B3
Multi-direction slicing…
► The application of multi-direction deposition could eliminate or significantly decrease
the usage of supports for complex components.
► A key challenge in multi-direction additive is to develop robust algorithms capable of
automatically slicing any 3D model into a set of layers which satisfy support-less and
collision-free layered deposition.
► some existing mult-idirection slicing strategies:
1. Silhouette edges projection
2. Transition wall
3. Centroid axis extraction
Silhouette edges projection
► This strategy firstly identifies the unbuildable surface features of a model by
projecting silhouette edges along the user defined original build direction.
► Then the part is decomposed into buildable and unbuildable sub-volumes using the
silhouette-edge based method.
► For the unbuildable sub-volume, a new suitable build direction is determined using
the Gauss and Visibility maps.
(a) Model
(b) Decomposition tree
(c) Supports
Transition wall
► The key idea of this strategy is to identify the overhang layers by computing the
difference between the current layer and the previous layer.
► Then, as shown to build an overhang structure, the machine is turned 90° to start
depositing a transition, namely thin wall.
► After the deposition of the first few layers, the wall is finished and the subsequent
overhang structures can be deposited in the vertical direction again.
Illustration of building the transition wall through rotating

90 degree.
(a) Overhang
(b) Vertical deposition
(c) Horizontal deposition
Centroid axis extraction
► The first step in this strategy is to extract the centroid axis of the model, which
provides a global perspective on the geometry, allowing the slicing procedure to be
conducted on an optimal sequence.
► Through analyzing the topological information from the centroid axis, the splitting
surface is identified and the subsequent decomposition operation is conducted.
► For each subcomponent obtained from decomposition, multi-axis slicing is performed
and the collision-free slicing sequence is finally generated.
Example
a) Solid model Break links c) Centroidal axis with solid model

b) Centroidal axis
Prof. G L Samuel
Introduction
• Additive Manufacturing: Instead of

removing material to create a part, the
process adds material in successive
patterns to create the desired shape.
• 3D printing include all production
technologies that are based upon the
automated and computer-controlled
formation of three-dimensional objects
from one or more starting materials,
through an additive process based upon
solidification.
History
Advantages and Limitations
Applications
• Aerospace and Défense.
• Concept modeling and prototyping
• Manufacturing low-volume complex parts (electronics,
engine parts, etc.)
• Manufacturing replacement parts anywhere
• Manufacturing structures using lightweight, high strength
materials
• Automotive.
• Testing part design to verify correctness and completeness
• Parts for race vehicles, luxury sports cars, antique cars,
etc.
• Replacement of parts that are defective or cannot be
purchased
• Manufacturing structures using lightweight, high strength
materials
Applications
• Electronics.
o Embedding Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices
embedded inside solid materials
o Short lead time electronic products
o Polymer based, three-dimensional micro-electromechanical
systems
o Microwave circuits fabricated on paper substrates
• Tool and Mold Making.
o Universal tool holders with standardized pocket sizes
o Die casting forms
o Injection molding tooling
o Tooling for prototyping of short lead time surgical devices
Applications
• Medical Applications.
o Design and modeling
methods for customized
implants and medical
devices
o Processes for fabrication of
“smart scaffolds” and for
construction of 3D
biological and tissue models
Steps in 3D Printing
1. Generation of 2. Converting 3D
Virtual 3D Model, 3. Slicing the 3D
Model to STL file 4. G Code file
model
or VRML file
6. Post
5.3D printing
Processing
Generation o Virtual 3D Model
•Virtual 3D Model are developed by,

• Commercial Computer-aided design (CAD) programs.
• CAD Programs are the predominant means to generate 3D
models, which can be easily extended, developed, and
customized by the user, without great deal of technical
expertise.
• CAD programs hold information about the shape and size of an
object.
•Using Scanning Data.
•Mathematical Equations.
3D Model to STL or VRML File
• CAD models cannot be directly interpreted by a 3D
Printer.
• CAD models are converted to Standard Tessellation
Language (STL) file.
• STL file is created by tessellating a 3D model with
small triangle (facets) and recording the vertices and
components of the unit normal vector of the triangles
in ASCII or binary formats.
• STL files store objects geometry.
• Lack information on object colour.
• STL files can only used for monochromatic printing.
• Multi colour printing requires Virtual Reality Modelling
Language (VRML).
Slicing in 3D Model
• 3D Printers is accompanied by slicing software that slices the 3D

models obtained from STL or VRML files into 2D layers.
• Layer thickness is defined by the step size (Z-resolution) of the
printer.
• Some of the well known slicing software’s: Ultimaker Cura, Super
Slicer, Prusca Slicer, Slic3R, REAL Vision
Slicing Software
STL (or) Slices the 3D
G- Codes
VRMl Files Models in to 2D
Layers
G Code File
• The information about each layer is coded in NC part program , G Code File.
• It directs the various components of 3D Printer : Print heads, Lasers, Build
platforms, and extruders to move in a defined and synchronised paths.
• Some of the important G-Codes are shown in the table.
3D Printer
NC Part Program or 3D Printed product

G-Code followed by post
processing
3D Printer
Post Processing
• Post Processing of 3D printed part include

1) Cleaning:
• Removing support material.
• Powder removal ( in case of powder based fusion).
• Washing: With post processing washing machines using isopropyl alcohol .
2) Fixing:
• Filling unwanted holes or cracks in the printed object.
• Glueing and welding, when separately printed parts need to be attached together.
3) Curing:
• Heating the models after they have been printed enhances mechanical properties.
• It enhances the aesthetic characteristics.
Post Processing
4) Surface finishing:
• To remove the unwanted material on the surface and to make look model
aesthetically nicer.
• Sanding : Layer lines, where support structure was attached to the model
can be removed by carefully sanding.
• Automated polishing replaced manual sanding in many applications for
better finish.
• Vapour or Chemical smoothing: chemicals or vapours which react with
outer layer of the surface are used smoothening of the model surface.
• Acetone and Tetrahydrofuran (THF) are often used.
5) Coating and painting:
• 3D models can be printed using coloured material or sometimes can opt to
colouring during post processing.
3D CAD Slicing
• Additive Mfg requires an input

computer-aided design (CAD) model of the
part which may be designed in a CAD system,
or obtained from reverse engineering such as
3D scanners.
• The act of converting a 3D model into a set
of instructions for the 3D printers is
called Slicing.
• Once the CAD model is completed, it is
converted to the standard STL format, which
is most commonly used to represent 3D CAD
models in additive manufacturing.
What is Slicing?
• It is the intermediate and most important step in the process of 3D printing.

• It ‘slices’ the 3D model into thin layers, and further determine how each
layer should be printed (the tool path) to get minimum time, best strength,
etc.
3D CAD Slicing
• Requires Computer Aided Design model of the

part. CAD Model
• Converted to standard STL format

• In a standard ASCII STL file, the model is STL format
represented using triangular facets.
• Triangular facets are described using
XYZ Vector pointing
• X, y, z co-ordinates of the 3 vertices
coordinates of outside the
• A unit vector to indicate the normal direction pointing vertices facet
outside the facet.
• STL models also contain redundant information
like model name, facet normal and vertex. Redundant data
Components of Slicing Software
• It is important to understand how data flows in the 3D printing

process.
• GUI is the graphic user interface.

• It has all the tools that help the user interact
with the 3D model. the graphic user interface
enables the user to move, scale, rotate, and
change the settings for the 3D model.
• The main function of the slicing software is to
work with the STL format file.
• It has information regarding the surface
geometry of the model.
Example of slicing
Unidirectional
Slicing
Unidirectional Slicing
• Slices the STL model into varieties of 2.5D layers

parallel to the build direction.
• Slicing the CAD model with a constant thickness.
• Accuracy of the 3D printed part depends of layer
thickness.
• Lower thickness results in higher accuracy.
• Deposition rate/ productivity is related to layer
thickness.
• Adaptive slicing – variable thickness.
• Layer thickness depends on surface geometry
• Improves accuracy and build time
Unidirectional Slicing (Algorithm)
Scan the STL file to find the properties of Yes
the model
PREPROCESSING Finish the

Rotation, transition or scaling model?
No
Optimized? to orient the model
No Yes
Define the cutting
plane at Z height
Intersect Increase the Z-height and
with the Post slicing operations
cutting
reset pointer to the STL
Define the cutting such as hatching, etc
plane file
plane at Z height
No Yes
No Slicing the facet to

calculate and store
Finish the
line segment for
layer?
construction of
SLICING layer contours
Yes
• Large STL files – higher computation time. Scan the STL file to find the
properties of the model
• To counter the challenge.

• Two stage process is utilized
1. Preprocessing stage (optimum orientation)
2. Slicing stage (generating slices)
Rotation,
No transition or
Optimised
• Orientation of the STL model scaling to orient
• Depends on Build time, surface quality, support the model
structures
PREPROCESSING
• Slicing Stage Define the cutting

• Scan the STL file to extract one facet plane at Z height
at a time Intersect with
the cutting
• Compare the z-coordinate with the Define the cutting plane
z-height of the slicing plane plane at Z height
No Yes
• By setting a small value bound
tolerance Slicing the facet to
No
• Intersection of a facet with a cutting calculate and store
plane is divided into 4 Classes. Finish the
line segment for
layer?
construction of
layer contours
Yes
Slicing Stage (Intersection possibilities)
• Class 1 –
• Facet intersects with the cutting plane without one
vertex lies on the plane.
• Two intersecting points are calculated by the
intersection of the plane and the triangular facet.
• A line segment is generated by connecting the
intersection points and stored for constructing the
slice layer contour
Slicing Stage (Intersection possibilites)
• Class 2 –
• One vertex lies in the cutting plane while the
two remaining vertices lie in different sides of
the cutting plane.
• One vertex lies in the cutting plane while other
vertices lie in the same side of the cutting
plane.
• There will be no intersection line segments
calculated
• Class 3 –
• Two vertices of the facet lie in the cutting
plane
• The remaining vertex can be either above or
below the cutting plane.
• A concurrent case in a valid STL model that
results in one duplicated line segment and
either one should be ignored
• Class 4 –
• All three vertices lie in the cutting plane.
• The whole triangular facet lies in the cutting
plane and will not contribute any line
segments to the contour of the slice layer.
Slicing Stage
• After all the possible intersection line segments have been

calculated and stored, the contour of the slice layer is constructed
through head-to-tail connecting of the line segments
An engineering STL model ------ Resulting slices A Great Wall STL Model ------ Resulting Slices
Multidirectional Slicing
• Unidirectional Slicing is limited by

the need of support structure to
deposit overhangs.
• Deposition of support structures
results in the wastage of materials
and the removal of the supports
require Post processing.
• Deposit materials along multiple

directions eliminating or
decreasing the usage of supports Deposition in multi directions such as B1, B2 and B3
for complex components. without support structures
• Key challenge
• Developing robust algorithm capable of automatically slicing 3D
model into a set of layers which satisfy support-less and collision
free later deposition
STRATEGIES
• Silhouette edges Projection strategy
• Transition wall strategy
• Centroid axis extraction
• Adaptive slicing
• Offset slicing
• Skeleton method
• Modular boundary decomposition
Multidirectional
Printing
Silhouette edges Projection
• Project the silhouette edges along the user

defined original build direction and identify the
unbuildable surface features
• Part is decomposed into buildable and unbuildable
sub-volumes. (Silhouette – edge – base method)
• A new suitable build direction is determined for
unbuildable sub-volume.
• The implementation is complicated and a). Model, b). Decomposition tree, c).
computationally expensive for complex Supports
components with inner cavities.
Transition wall
• Identify the overhang layers by computing the

difference between the current layer and the previous
layer.
• To build an overhang structure, the machine is turned
90° to start depositing a transition, namely thin wall
• After the deposition of the first few layers, the wall is
finished and the subsequent overhang structures can
be deposited in the vertical direction again.
• Although this strategy is simple, it is only suitable for a

subset of part geometries. a). Overhang, b). Vertical Decomposition,
• Possibility of deposition nozzle collision. c). Horizontal Decomposition
• Extract the centroid axis of the model

• The topological information from the centroid axis
is analysed to identify the splitting surface and
subsequent decomposition operation is conducted.
• Multi-axis slicing is performed for each sub
component from decomposition and the
collision-free slicing sequence is finally generated
• This method decomposes the component by

detecting the change of centroid of presliced
layers. Example for Centroidal Axis Extraction
• Challenge: Centroid axis does not always indicate
the change of the geometry.
Holes hamper
implementing multiple
direction slicing algorithm
Decomposition regrouping method
• This method is not focused on optimum volume

decomposition strategy unlike other
approaches.
• A model simplification step is introduced before
CAD decomposition to significantly enhance the
capability of the proposed multi-direction
strategy.
• The CAD model is then decomposed into
sub-volumes using a simple curvature-based
volume decomposition method. a) Volume Decomposition, b) Sub-volume
• Consequently, a depth tree structure based on regrouping, c) Slicing in Multiple directions
topology information is introduced to merge
them into ordered groups for slicing.
2D Path Planning
• Development of an elaborate path planning

strategy is an important step.
• Path planning for powder-based AM processes
is somewhat independent of geometric
complexity.
• Path planning for AM processes that have
coarse and large-sized deposits is influenced
by geometric complexity.
• The property of the deposited shape will be
influenced by the deposition path trajectory.
Raster path
• Based on planar ray casting along one

direction.
• 2D regions are filled by a set of scan lines
with finite width.
• Commonly employed in commercial AM
systems due to its simple implementation
and suitability for almost any arbitrary
boundary
Zigzag path
• It fills geometries line by line along one

direction like the raster approach, the zigzag
approach combines the separate parallel lines
into a single continuous pass.
• Significantly reduces the number of tool-path
passes.
• Improves the productivity of the AM process by
reducing the required transition motions of the
machine.
• The outline accuracy of the part due to

discretization errors on the edges which are not
parallel to the tool motion direction.
Contour path
• This method can address the above

geometrical quality issue effectively
by following the geometrical trend of
the boundary contours
• Optimal tool-path patterns for
sculptured parts with a single island
and no seriously non-convex shape
Spiral Path
• Used especially for 2D pocket milling and

uniform pocket cutting.
• Solves the problems of zigzag tool paths in AM
process, but is only suitable for certain special
geometrical models
Hybrid path
• A combination of contour and zigzag pattern is

commonly developed to meet both the
geometrical accuracy and build efficiency
requirements.
• The planned approach includes one inner zigzag
path which is faster and more universal, and one
outline vector path which is very helpful for
maintaining the surface accuracy and quality.
• Mixed tool-path algorithm to generate contour
and zigzag tool path for AM of biomedical models
Hybrid path
• The zigzag tool path is employed to fill the

interior area of the part to improve the
efficiency
• While the contour tool path is used to
fabricate the area along the boundary of the
contours to improve the geometrical quality
of the model
Continuous path
• Useful in reducing shrinkage during AM fabrication

processes.
• The large number of path direction turning motions
that are produced by using this strategy are not
suitable for AM.
• Simulated annealing method developed by Wasser et Hilbert filling curve
al, is able to generate filling patterns that allow the
continuous deposition of a single path to fill
arbitrarily shaped areas.
• The area to be deposited is firstly decomposed into
nodes, with the number of the nodes determined by
the accuracy requirement of the AM process
Fractal-like build
style
Continuous path - Challenges
• When the area to be filled is large and the accuracy

requirement is high, the processing time required
would be unacceptably long.
• Highly convoluted paths may result in accumulation
of heat in certain regions, therefore inducing
Hilbert filling curve
excessive distortion of the part
Fractal-like build
style
Hybrid and continuous path
• A continuous path planning approach

developed by Dwivedi et al, which combines
the merits of zigzag and continuous path
patterns.
• The 2D geometry is firstly decomposed into a
set of monotone polygons.
• For each monotone polygon, a closed zigzag
curve is then generated. (1) Hybrid continuous
path (zigzag and continuous); (2) Hybrid continuous
• A set of closed zigzag curves are combined path (zigzag and contour an continuous)
together into an integrated continuous torch
path.
Medial axis transformation (MAT) path
• Using the medial axis transformation (MAT) of the

geometry to generate the offset curves.
• Starting at the inside and working toward the
outside, instead of starting from the boundary
and filling toward the inside.
• This approach is able to compute paths which can
entirely fill the interior region of geometry as the
paths are generated from interior to the Illustration of path generated from
boundary. MAT
• Avoids producing gaps by depositing excess
material outside the boundary
• The extra material can subsequently be removed

by post-processing.
• The traditional contour path patterns from
outside to inside is natural for machining
• MAT path starting from inside and working toward
the outside is suitable for AM of void-free
components.
Illustration of path generated from
MAT
• The steps followed to generate the MAT-based

paths
• Compute the medial axis.
• Decompose the geometry.
• Generate path for the domain.
• Complete the deposition paths.
• MAT path is particularly preferred for void-free

AM MAT
Adaptive MAT path
• To avoid internal voids, the MAT path was introduced

and its extension for complex geometries was
developed.
• MAT paths are generated by offsetting the medial
axis of the geometry from the center toward the
boundary.
• Void-free deposition is obtained at the cost of
creating discontinuity of the path and extra
deposition at the boundary.
• Post-process machining must be used to remove the
extra materials and improve the accuracy at the cost
of material and energy wastage.
Adaptive MAT path
• Step-over distance, which is defined as the distance

between the next deposition path and the previous
one, is always constant for both contour path
patterns and MAT path patterns.
• Wire feed AM process is capable of producing
different widths of deposits within a layer through
varying travel speed and wire feed rate, while
maintaining a constant deposit height.
Adaptive MAT path
• Is able to automatically generate

path patterns with varying step-over
distances by analyzing geometry.
• Information to achieve better part
quality (void-free deposition),
accuracy at the boundary, and
material efficiency.
Conclusions
• Uni-direction slicing method is normally used for current

commercial AM machines due to its robustness and simplicity. But,
supports are required for some complex geometries with
overhangs which reduce the accuracy and the building speed of
products.
• Multidirection slicing strategy enhances the ability of AM and
reduces the usage of supports.
• Ample software are available to generate zigzag, or contour paths
for AM process, but the geometries are usually not fully covered by
these paths, therefore left the built geometrywith voids or gaps
Applications of 3D Printing
3D printing Applications - Construction
• Useful for prototyping and for the manufacture of

geometrically complex components.
• A 3D digital model of the item is created, either by
computer-aided design (CAD) or using a 3D scanner.
• The printer then reads the design and lays down
successive layers of printing medium (this can be a
3D printed wall
liquid, powder, or sheet material)
• The media are joined or fused to create the item.
• The process can be slow, but it enables almost any
shape to be created.
3D printed house at IIT Madras

3DP applications
• Aerospace
• Part precision is critical for aircraft, aerospace engineers have taken to 3D
printing inspection tooling to reduce costs for low-volume parts.
Bio Mimicry
• Unique ability to create artificial tissue that

closely resembles native tissue in form and
function from basic biological building blocks.
• Foam Inks can be build of not only ceramics
3D printed Footwear
but also metals and polymers.
• 3D printed midsoles and insoles:
• 3D scan the customer’s feet for the ultimate 3D printed tissue
personalization of the shoes
• 3D printed parts are made with Selective Laser
Sintering (SLS).
• The design of nature’s herringbone structure
to manufacture sever parts of airplanes or
powerful armor Bio Armour - Shrimp 3D printed Foam inks
Development of flexible tissues
• Electrospinning of collagen fibers.
• Used as the blood vessels.
• Treatment of ruptured blood vessels.
• Veins and Arteries can be replaced.
• Alternatives for metallic stents.
Applications of 3DP
• Bio-3D Printing
• The first medical application of 3DP was in the early 2000s
for the production of custom dental prostheses.
• A polymer gel scaffold containing cells of specified origin
with the potential to print fully functional artificial organs.
• In 1988, an inkjet printer was used to deposit cells in a
pattern labeled “cyto-scribing” marking the first recorded
use of bio-printing.
• In 2001, cyto-scribe technology was used to seed
patient-sourced cells into a bladder-shaped scaffold.
• The first fully printed functional organ was a miniature
kidney in 2003.
Applications of 3DP
• In Drug delivery
• The first 3DP drug was approved for usage in 2015 for
treating epilepsy.
• Develop multiple layers with variable drug content and
shape.
• Polypills can provide more personalized drug
combinations for ease of consumption, the freedom to
combine different drugs.
3D Slicing Softwares
Ultimaker Cura
• Open Source Software

• STL, 3MF, and OBJ file formats
• It will show a toolpath, printing
time, and material estimates.
• Over 200 settings to optimize
• Handles huge STL files
moderately fast
Netfabb Standard
• Costs $240 - $13400

• Mainly used for model optimization
and preparation for manufacture.
• Optimized for metal powder bed
fusion and directed energy
deposition processes.
• Has the ability to minimize and
account for warping and shrinking
parts.
PrusaSlicer
• Also known as Slic3r Prusa

• Suitable for both FDM and SLA/DLP 3D
printers
• Completely open-source
• PrusaSlicer is easy to navigate, and
provides handy extras like the ability to
repair models
• Custom supports, or scarily precise
estimated print times
Simplify 3D
• Requires subscription
• The import of STL, OBJ, or 3MF files is
very fast, and even huge meshes are
displayed in no time.
• Settings can be saved in so-called
“Processes”.
• Helps in experimenting with different
settings, 3D printer nozzles, or different
filaments.
Octoprint
• Open source software.

• The application itself is installed on a
Raspberry Pi.
• 3D printing jobs can be loaded onto the
printer without the shuffling of SD
cards.
• Only requires a STL file, the slicing is
automatically taken care.
Slic3r
• Open source 3D slicer software.

• Ability to add bleeding-edge features not
found on other softwares.
• Has features like
• multiple extruders, brim, micro layering,
bridge detection, command line slicing,
variable layer heights, sequential printing,
honeycomb infill, mesh cutting, object
splitting into parts.
MatterControl
• Integrated modeling software.

• Has a list of primitives that you can
use for modeling.
• Provides basic and advanced feature
optimization.
• Has a cloud-based repository for
designs and projects, with the ability
for you to save your projects and
access them from another computer.
MakerBot print
• Cater to a broad range of 3D

printers,
• Automatically arrange meshes
across one or more build plates.
• Has a special feature known from
OctoPrint.
• Can monitor and control the 3D
printer via webcam built into the
printer.
Repitier
• Multi-extruder support (up to 16

extruders), multi-slicer support via
plugins
• Supports FDM 3D printer.
• Repetier Host also offers remote
access features, via Repetier
Server
Raise3D - IdeaMaker
• Natively-compiled, multi-threaded,
64-bit slicing engine that enables fast
slicing speeds
• Supports FDM 3D printer.
• Automatic support generation
• Repair for lackluster models,
• Auto-layout for multiple files in a
single print job.
• Automatically separate parts in
assemblies.
Prof. G L Samuel
3D CAD Slicing
• Requires Computer Aided Design model of the

part. CAD Model
• Converted to standard STL format

• In a standard ASCII STL file, the model is STL format
represented using triangular facets.
• Triangular facets are described using
XYZ Vector pointing
• X, y, z co-ordinates of the 3 vertices
coordinates of outside the
• A unit vector to indicate the normal direction pointing vertices facet
outside the facet.
• STL models also contain redundant information
like model name, facet normal and vertex. Redundant data
• Slices the STL model into varieties of 2.5D layers

parallel to the build direction.
• Slicing the CAD model with a constant thickness.
• Accuracy of the 3D printed part depends of layer
thickness.
• Lower thickness results in higher accuracy.
• Deposition rate/ productivity is related to layer
thickness.
• Adaptive slicing – variable thickness.
• Layer thickness depends on surface geometry
• Improves accuracy and build time
Unidirectional Slicing (Algorithm)
Scan the STL file to find the properties of Yes
the model
PREPROCESSING Finish the

Rotation, transition or scaling model?
No
Optimized? to orient the model
No Yes
Define the cutting
plane at Z height
Intersect Increase the Z-height and
with the Post slicing operations
cutting
reset pointer to the STL
Define the cutting such as hatching, etc
plane file
plane at Z height
No Yes
No Slicing the facet to

calculate and store
Finish the
line segment for
layer?
construction of
SLICING layer contours
Yes
• Large STL files – higher computation time. Scan the STL file to find the
properties of the model
• To counter the challenge.

• Two stage process is utilized
1. Preprocessing stage (optimum orientation)
2. Slicing stage (generating slices)
Rotation,
No transition or
Optimised
• Orientation of the STL model scaling to orient
• Depends on Build time, surface quality, support the model
structures
PREPROCESSING
• Slicing Stage Define the cutting

• Scan the STL file to extract one facet plane at Z height
at a time Intersect with
the cutting
• Compare the z-coordinate with the Define the cutting plane
z-height of the slicing plane plane at Z height
No Yes
• By setting a small value bound
tolerance Slicing the facet to
No
• Intersection of a facet with a cutting calculate and store
plane is divided into 4 Classes. Finish the
line segment for
layer?
construction of
layer contours
Yes
Slicing Stage (Intersection possibilities)
• Class 1 –
• Facet intersects with the cutting plane without one
vertex lies on the plane.
• Two intersecting points are calculated by the
intersection of the plane and the triangular facet.
• A line segment is generated by connecting the
intersection points and stored for constructing the
slice layer contour
• Class 2 –
• One vertex lies in the cutting plane while the
two remaining vertices lie in different sides of
the cutting plane.
• One vertex lies in the cutting plane while other
vertices lie in the same side of the cutting
plane.
• There will be no intersection line segments
calculated
• Class 3 –
• Two vertices of the facet lie in the cutting
plane
• The remaining vertex can be either above or
below the cutting plane.
• A concurrent case in a valid STL model that
results in one duplicated line segment and
either one should be ignored
• Class 4 –
• All three vertices lie in the cutting plane.
• The whole triangular facet lies in the cutting
plane and will not contribute any line
segments to the contour of the slice layer.
Slicing Stage
• After all the possible intersection line segments have been

calculated and stored, the contour of the slice layer is constructed
through head-to-tail connecting of the line segments
An engineering STL model ------ Resulting slices A Great Wall STL Model ------ Resulting Slices
• Unidirectional Slicing is limited by

the need of support structure to
deposit overhangs.
• Deposition of support structures
results in the wastage of materials
and the removal of the supports
require Post processing.
• Deposit materials along multiple

directions eliminating or
decreasing the usage of supports Deposition in multi directions such as B1, B2 and B3
for complex components. without support structures
• Key challenge
• Developing robust algorithm capable of automatically slicing 3D
model into a set of layers which satisfy support-less and collision
free later deposition
STRATEGIES
• Silhouette edges Projection strategy
• Transition wall strategy
• Centroid axis extraction
• Adaptive slicing
• Offset slicing
• Skeleton method
• Modular boundary decomposition
Multidirectional
Printing
Silhouette edges Projection
• Project the silhouette edges along the user

defined original build direction and identify the
unbuildable surface features
• Part is decomposed into buildable and unbuildable
sub-volumes. (Silhouette – edge – base method)
• A new suitable build direction is determined for
unbuildable sub-volume.
• The implementation is complicated and a). Model, b). Decomposition tree, c).
computationally expensive for complex Supports
components with inner cavities.
Transition wall
• Identify the overhang layers by computing the

difference between the current layer and the previous
layer.
• To build an overhang structure, the machine is turned
90° to start depositing a transition, namely thin wall
• After the deposition of the first few layers, the wall is
finished and the subsequent overhang structures can
be deposited in the vertical direction again.
• Although this strategy is simple, it is only suitable for a

subset of part geometries. a). Overhang, b). Vertical Decomposition,
• Possibility of deposition nozzle collision. c). Horizontal Decomposition
• Extract the centroid axis of the model

• The topological information from the centroid axis
is analysed to identify the splitting surface and
subsequent decomposition operation is conducted.
• Multi-axis slicing is performed for each sub
component from decomposition and the
collision-free slicing sequence is finally generated
• This method decomposes the component by

detecting the change of centroid of presliced
layers. Example for Centroidal Axis Extraction
• Challenge: Centroid axis does not always indicate
the change of the geometry.
Holes hamper
implementing multiple
direction slicing algorithm
Decomposition regrouping method
• This method is not focused on optimum volume

decomposition strategy unlike other
approaches.
• A model simplification step is introduced before
CAD decomposition to significantly enhance the
capability of the proposed multi-direction
strategy.
• The CAD model is then decomposed into
sub-volumes using a simple curvature-based
volume decomposition method. a) Volume Decomposition, b) Sub-volume
• Consequently, a depth tree structure based on regrouping, c) Slicing in Multiple directions
topology information is introduced to merge
them into ordered groups for slicing.
2D Path Planning
• Development of an elaborate path planning

strategy is an important step.
• Path planning for powder-based AM processes
is somewhat independent of geometric
complexity.
• Path planning for AM processes that have
coarse and large-sized deposits is influenced
by geometric complexity.
• The property of the deposited shape will be
influenced by the deposition path trajectory.
Raster path
• Based on planar ray casting along one

direction.
• 2D regions are filled by a set of scan lines
with finite width.
• Commonly employed in commercial AM
systems due to its simple implementation
and suitability for almost any arbitrary
boundary
Zigzag path
• It fills geometries line by line along one

direction like the raster approach, the zigzag
approach combines the separate parallel lines
into a single continuous pass.
• Significantly reduces the number of tool-path
passes.
• Improves the productivity of the AM process by
reducing the required transition motions of the
machine.
• The outline accuracy of the part due to

discretization errors on the edges which are not
parallel to the tool motion direction.
Contour path
• This method can address the above

geometrical quality issue effectively
by following the geometrical trend of
the boundary contours
• Optimal tool-path patterns for
sculptured parts with a single island
and no seriously non-convex shape
Spiral Path
• Used especially for 2D pocket milling and

uniform pocket cutting.
• Solves the problems of zigzag tool paths in AM
process, but is only suitable for certain special
geometrical models
Hybrid path
• A combination of contour and zigzag pattern is

commonly developed to meet both the
geometrical accuracy and build efficiency
requirements.
• The planned approach includes one inner zigzag
path which is faster and more universal, and one
outline vector path which is very helpful for
maintaining the surface accuracy and quality.
• Mixed tool-path algorithm to generate contour
and zigzag tool path for AM of biomedical models
Hybrid path
• The zigzag tool path is employed to fill the

interior area of the part to improve the
efficiency
• While the contour tool path is used to
fabricate the area along the boundary of the
contours to improve the geometrical quality
of the model
Continuous path
• Useful in reducing shrinkage during AM fabrication

processes.
• The large number of path direction turning motions
that are produced by using this strategy are not
suitable for AM.
• Simulated annealing method developed by Wasser et Hilbert filling curve
al, is able to generate filling patterns that allow the
continuous deposition of a single path to fill
arbitrarily shaped areas.
• The area to be deposited is firstly decomposed into
nodes, with the number of the nodes determined by
the accuracy requirement of the AM process
Fractal-like build
style
Continuous path - Challenges
• When the area to be filled is large and the accuracy

requirement is high, the processing time required
would be unacceptably long.
• Highly convoluted paths may result in accumulation
of heat in certain regions, therefore inducing
Hilbert filling curve
excessive distortion of the part
Fractal-like build
style
Hybrid and continuous path
• A continuous path planning approach

developed by Dwivedi et al, which combines
the merits of zigzag and continuous path
patterns.
• The 2D geometry is firstly decomposed into a
set of monotone polygons.
• For each monotone polygon, a closed zigzag
curve is then generated. (1) Hybrid continuous
path (zigzag and continuous); (2) Hybrid continuous
• A set of closed zigzag curves are combined path (zigzag and contour an continuous)
together into an integrated continuous torch
path.
• Using the medial axis transformation (MAT) of the

geometry to generate the offset curves.
• Starting at the inside and working toward the
outside, instead of starting from the boundary
and filling toward the inside.
• This approach is able to compute paths which can
entirely fill the interior region of geometry as the
paths are generated from interior to the Illustration of path generated from
boundary. MAT
• Avoids producing gaps by depositing excess
material outside the boundary
• The extra material can subsequently be removed

by post-processing.
• The traditional contour path patterns from
outside to inside is natural for machining
• MAT path starting from inside and working toward
the outside is suitable for AM of void-free
components.
MAT
• The steps followed to generate the MAT-based

paths
• Compute the medial axis.
• Decompose the geometry.
• Generate path for the domain.
• Complete the deposition paths.
• MAT path is particularly preferred for void-free

AM MAT
Adaptive MAT path
• To avoid internal voids, the MAT path was introduced

and its extension for complex geometries was
developed.
• MAT paths are generated by offsetting the medial
axis of the geometry from the center toward the
boundary.
• Void-free deposition is obtained at the cost of
creating discontinuity of the path and extra
deposition at the boundary.
• Post-process machining must be used to remove the
extra materials and improve the accuracy at the cost
of material and energy wastage.
Adaptive MAT path
• Step-over distance, which is defined as the distance

between the next deposition path and the previous
one, is always constant for both contour path
patterns and MAT path patterns.
• Wire feed AM process is capable of producing
different widths of deposits within a layer through
varying travel speed and wire feed rate, while
maintaining a constant deposit height.
Adaptive MAT path
• Is able to automatically generate

path patterns with varying step-over
distances by analyzing geometry.
• Information to achieve better part
quality (void-free deposition),
accuracy at the boundary, and
material efficiency.
Conclusions
• Uni-direction slicing method is normally used for current

commercial AM machines due to its robustness and simplicity. But,
supports are required for some complex geometries with
overhangs which reduce the accuracy and the building speed of
products.
• Multidirection slicing strategy enhances the ability of AM and
reduces the usage of supports.
• Ample software are available to generate zigzag, or contour paths
for AM process, but the geometries are usually not fully covered by
these paths, therefore left the built geometrywith voids or gaps
CAD Data
Exchange and
CAD standards
Prof. GL Samuel
Why ?
◦ Fundamental incompatibilities
◦ Usage of different representation techniques
◦ Parametric representation
◦ NURBS representation
◦ Transfer of data between dissimilar CAD/CAM systems

◦ Embrace the complete description.
◦ Types of Modelling Data

◦ Shape data
◦ Non-shape data
◦ Design Data
◦ Manufacturing Data
◦ Evolution of IGES, STEP, ACIS, AutoCAD DXF
ME5303 - CAD in Manufacturing 2

How?
◦ Types of translators
◦ Direct solutions
◦ Indirect solutions
◦ Direct Solution
◦ Translates the modelling data directly from one CAD/CAM format to another in one step.
◦ Converts the data format from one native format to another.
◦ Indirect Solution
◦ Neutral database structure (neutral file).
◦ Independent of any existing or future CAD/CAM system.

Direct translators
◦ CAD/CAM data conversion softwares
◦ Dedicated translation programs
◦ 2 translators – system pair as indicated by the dual direction arrows.
◦ 2 translators – to transfer data between System 1 and System 2.

Indirect translators
◦ Utilises neutral file format, reflecting the neutral database structure.
◦ Has its own pair of translators to translate data to and from the neutral format.
Total number of Translators Preprocessor

Native Neutral
format format
N = 2n Postprocessor

IGES
Preprocessor
Native Neutral
format format
Postprocessor

IGES (Geometric Entities)

IGES (Annotation entities)

IGES (Structure Entities)

IGES (File Structure)
Flag section
(optional)
Start Section (S)
Global Section (G)
Directory Entity
Combined in Section (D)
compressed
ASCII format Parameter Data
Section (P)
Terminal Section (T)

STEP

Native Neutral
format format

ACIS & DXF

Native Neutral
format format

Processors

Native Neutral
format format

Processors
(Design and implementation)

Native Neutral
format format

Processors
(Testing and Verification)

Native Neutral
format format

Processors
(Error Handling)

Native Neutral
format format

CAD Data Exchange and CAD Standards
• The rise of such global efforts has created the need for sharing information among vendors
involved in multi-disciplinary projects.
• So transfer of data is becoming very necessary:
for example, one organization can be involved in developing a CAD model, while other
performing analysis work, at the same time a third organization is responsible for manufacturing
of the same product.
Data transfer fills the need to satisfy each of these functions in a specific way.
Typical Situation:
Major supplier uses I-DEAS Partner uses Unigraphics
Major company uses CATIA
Small Supplier uses Small Supplier uses Solide

AutoCAD Edge
CAD Data Exchange and CAD Standards…
• Transferring data between various CAD systems must embrace the complete product
description stored in its database.
• This includes the geometric data, metadata (non-graphic data), design intent data, and
application data.
1. Geometric data: Discussed earlier.
2. Design intent data: Discussed earlier
CAD Data Exchange and CAD Standards…
3. Metadata: Information (e.g. time stamps and the owner of the data) about a particular data. This
data is used to facilitate the understanding, use and management of core CAD data.
4. Application data: Any information related to the final manufacture and application of the design,
e.g. tooling, NC tool paths, tolerancing, process planning etc.
• At some instances, data can be used in part or fully whereas in others it can be used with
combination of different types.
CAD KERNELS
• CAD data formats are governed by the (solid) modelling kernels that the CAD systems were
built upon.
• A modelling kernel is a collection of classes and components comprised of mathematical functions that
perform specific modelling tasks.
• A modelling kernel may support solid modelling, generalized cellular modelling and freeform
surface/sheet modelling. It may contain functions such as model creation and editing feature modelling
support, advanced surfacing, thickening and hollowing, blending and filleting and sheet modelling.
CAD KERNELS…
• Most of the kernels also provide graphical and rendering support, including hidden-line,
wire-frame and drafting, as well as tessellation functionality and a suite of model data inquiries.
• Parasolid® modelling kernel as an example, which provides 3D digital representation
capabilities for NX™, Solid Edge, Femap and Teamcenter solutions.
• The 3D-based application interacts with Parasolid® through one of its three interfaces:
Parasolid® Kernel (PK) interface, Kernel Interface (KI) and Downward Interface (DI).
DATA INTEROPERABILITY
Inconsistencies occur when differing solid modelling kernels are used. Consequences of these
inconsistencies can mean anomalies in data. Experiences gained by some Parasolid® customers
showed that up to 20% of models imported from a different kernel contain errors that have to be
mixed.
CAD
Viewing
CAD CAD
Automation Translation
CAD Interoperability
CAD
CAD
comparison
Model
and
Repair
validation
Different Types of Data Translation/Conversion
• Different companies handle CAD conversions in different ways. When a product model received follows
the neutral data exchanging formats such as STEP (Standard for Exchange of Product data model) and
IGES (Initial Graphic Exchange Standard) (IGES), the company may opt to “re-establish” or re-create the
features based on the received data model.
• This exercise is called “re-mastering” a model. Re-mastering is necessary because currently STEP and
IGES can only describe a model’s pure geometric and topological data minus all other product-related
data such as design features and tolerances.
Different Types of Data Translation/Conversion…
• Alternatively, the company may just leave it as it is since it can be a costly exercise to
re-master the model. When a vendor proprietary data model (often containing feature
information) is received, companies may chose to re-master or send the data to other companies
for re-mastering.
• There have been different technique-oriented approaches being explored by different
companies and software developers. Use of dual solid modelling kernels is one option. Use of
so-called direct data translators is another.
Dual Kernel CAD Systems
• Unique type of CAD system with two differing kernels built into one system.
example: IronCAD®, formally an ACIS®-only system, has now been twinned with
Parasolid® to become the first dual-kernel system.
• IronCAD® uses both kernels simultaneously, switching back and forth when needed.
• The principal benefit is obviously the ability to work on models developed under either
kernel, even to the extent of combining data from either kernel into a single model.
Dual Kernel CAD Systems…
• The switch from one kernel to the other in IronCAD® only happens when problems are
encountered in one - say, complex bends - that can only be handled by the other.
• This option is efficient when ACIS® and Parasolid® are the data formats involved. It has
though proven to be extremely difficult to build such a system.
Direct Data Translators
• Provide a direct solution which entails translating the modelling data stored in a product
database directly from one CAD system format to another, usually in one step.
• There usually exists a neutral database in a direct data translator.
• The structure of the neutral database must be general, governed by the minimum required
definitions of any of the modelling data types, and be independent of any vendor format.
CAD Translation
Authority CAD Data Derivative CAD Data
CAD Validation
Direct Data Translators…
• Example: CADporter from Elysium™, CADporter is not CAD software for making models,
but rather a CAD file reader.
• This product can read several different formats of CAD files from various vendors.
• However, as the CAD model gets more complicated the chances that the translation breaks
down increase.
• When this happens, the model needs to be simplified or re-modelled.
Common/Neutral Translators
• The true type of common translator converts a proprietary CAD data format into a neutral data
format and vice versa, and this neutral data is made available to the users.
• This neutral data format may be of an international or industry accepted data format or a
proprietary data format.
• Popular industry standards:
1. DXF (Drawing eXchange Format) (DXF, 2007)
2. PDES (Product Data Exchange Specification) (PDES, 2007)
3. IGES (Initial Graphic Exchange Standard) (IGES, 2007)
4. STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product model data) (ISO 10303-1, 1994)
5. XML (Extensible Markup Language) (XML, 2007)
6. 3DXML (3D Extensible Markup Language) (3DXML, 2007)
Other formats
DXF
• It is the AutoCAD®’s CAD data file format, developed by Autodesk® as their solution for
enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD® and other programs.
• It provides an exact representation of the data in the AutoCAD® native file format, DWG
(Drawing), whose specifications have never been published.
DXF…
• This format has been the very first of the data transfer formats used in CAD. DXF is
primarily a 2D-based data format.
• As AutoCAD® becomes more powerful and supports more complex object types,
DXF has become less useful.
• This is because certain object types, including ACIS® solids and regions, cannot be easily
documented using DXF files.
IGES
• It is still one of the viable methods of transferring CAD data. The file format defined by this
Specification treats the product definition as a file of entities.
• Each entity is represented in an application-independent format, to and from which the native
representation of a specific CAD/CAM system can be mapped.
• The entity representations provided in this Specification include forms common to the
CAD/CAM systems currently available and forms which support the system technologies
currently emerging.
IGES…
• Entities are categorized as geometry and non-geometry. Geometry entities represent the
definition of a physical shape. They include points, curves, surfaces, solids and relations (collections
of similarly structured entities).
• Non-geometry entities typically serve to enrich the model by providing:
a). a viewing perspective in which a planar drawing may be composed.
b). an annotation and dimensioning appropriate to the drawing.
• Non-geometry entities further serve to provide specific attributes or characteristics for individual or
groups of entities.
IGES…
• An IGES file consists of 5 sections, Start, Global, Directory Entry, Parameter Data, and
Terminate. It may include any number of entities of any type as required to represent a product.
• Each entity occurrence consists of a directory entry and a parameter data entry. The directory
entry provides an index and includes descriptive attributes about the data. The parameter data
provides the specific entity definition.
IGES…
• IGES provides for groupings whose definitions will be found in a file other than the one in which they are
used. Attributes for the geometric entity are defined in the directory segment.
• IGES is a popular method of data transfer, it lacks a means of transferring solid objects. This leads to users
spending more time to build the solid object on the receiving end.
PDES
• PDES was designed to completely define a product for all applications over its expected life
cycle.
• Product data include geometry, topology, tolerances, relationships, attributes, and features
necessary to completely define a part or assembly of parts for the purpose of design, analysis,
manufacture, test, inspection and product support.
• PDES is designed to be informationally complete for all downstream applications and to be
directly interpretable by these applications.
PDES…
• The main types of data which are used in PDES to describe a product include:
Administrative and Control data
Geometry such as points, curves and surfaces
Topology such as vertices, loops and faces
Tolerances
Form Features
Attributes such as surface finish
Material Properties
Part Assemblies
STEP
• The development of PDES under the guidance of the IGES organization and in close
collaboration with the International Organization for Standardization, led to the birth of
STEP.
• STEP is intended to support data exchange, data sharing and data archiving. For data
exchange, STEP defines the form of the product data that is to be transferred between a pair of
applications.
• STEP supports data sharing by providing access of and operation on a single copy of the same
product data by more than one application, potentially simultaneously.
• As in product data sharing, the architectural elements of STEP may be used to support the
development of the archived product data itself.
STEP…
• Another primary concept contributing to the STEP architecture is that the content of the standard
is to be completely driven by industrial requirements.
• This, in combination with the concept that the re-use of data specifications is the basis for
standards, led to developing two distinct types of data specifications.
a). first type - reusable, context-independent specifications - are the building blocks of the
standard.
b). The second type - application-context-dependent specifications (application protocols).
• This combination enables avoiding unnecessary duplication of data specifications between
application protocols.
Components of STEP
The architectural components of STEP are reflected in the decomposition of the standard
into several series of parts.
Components of STEP…
Description Methods
• Description methods are common mechanisms for specifying the data constructs of STEP.
They include the formal data specification language developed for STEP, known as
EXPRESS.
• A main feature of EXPRESS is the possibility to formally validate a population of data
types, i.e. to check for all the structural and algorithmic rules.
Implementation Methods
• Implementation methods are standard implementation techniques for the information
structures specified by the only STEP data specifications intended for implementation,
application protocols.
• Each STEP implementation method defines the way in which the data constructs specified
using STEP description methods are mapped to that implementation method.
Data Specifications
• There are four part series of data specifications in the STEP documentation structure, though
conceptually there are three primary types of data specifications: integrated resources,
application protocols, and application interpreted constructs.
• Integrated application resources represent concepts related to a particular application context
that supports common requirements of many other product data applications.
example: drawing sheet revision, drawing revision, and dimension callout. These constructs
may be used by any application that includes drawings.
• Application protocols are the implementable data specifications of STEP. APs include an
EXPRESS information model that satisfies the specific product data needs of a given application
context.
Conformance Testing
• Conformance testing is covered by two series of 10303 parts: conformance testing
methodology and framework, and abstract test suites.
• The conformance testing methodology and framework series provide an explicit framework for
conformance and other types of testing as an integral part of the standard. This methodology
describes how testing of implementations of various STEP parts is accomplished.
• An abstract test suite contains the set of abstract test cases necessary for conformance testing of
an implementation of a STEP application protocol. Each abstract test case specifies input data
to be provided to the implementation under test, along with information on how to assess the
capabilities of the implementation.
IGES VS STEP
Data Quality
• Product data quality can be addressed intrinsically and extrinsically. The intrinsic aspect
of product data quality refers to the fundamental issues of product data modelling.
• Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) defines product data quality in the following
Way:
Quality Product Model Data is constructed accurately, completely representing the
geometric model (math data), and accurately and completely representing all additional
information in a way that can be shared and used by multiple users and managed with a
minimum effort.
• Design data, when converted from one type to the other, may also suffer from quality
problems. This is the extrinsic aspect of product data quality. These problems are often
related to topological errors, i.e., aggregate errors, such as zero-volume parts, duplicate or
missing parts, inconsistent surface orientation, etc., and geometric errors, i.e., numerical
imprecision errors, such as cracks or overlaps of geometry.

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1 Course Content

7. Feature Technology: Feature definition, Feature taxonomy, Feature Representation Schemes,

8. Slicing Algorithm (3D-Printing)

9. Computer-Aided Process Planning and Mfg

Teaching Assistant : Mohammad Sohail

Blueprint of army tank

Manual Drafting Computer Aided Engineering Drawing

Manual Drafting Geometric Tools in AutoCAD

• Software: the computer program(s)

manipulated by the software

• Library Data • Database

Wire Frame Surface Modelling Solid Modelling

A. it is hard to comprehend complex geometry through a 2D form of

2D Drawing of Engine Assembly

C. it is considered unfit for the modern manufacturing industry in

• As manufacturing rapidly enters into the digital era, the emphasis is on

• In order to meet the above discussed needs, an accurate, efficient and

• The scheme is still particularly useful in certain applications involving

Curve entities can be divided into two categories

The various representation schemes of curves in a CAD system

It is important to represent them effectively and efficiently so that

Mathematically, there are two ways of describing a curve, using

L = [x, y]T = [x = t, y = t + 1]T T = transpose.

• Nonparametric equations of curves can be further divided into

• The explicit nonparametric representation of a general 3D curve is

L = [x, y, z]T = [x, f(x), g(x)]T

L = position vector of the point L in the 3D space.

• In the parametric form, each point on a curve is expressed as a function of a

x = X(t), y = Y(t), and z = Z(t).

• The parametric equation for a 3D curve takes the form of,

Point classification is easy Axis independent

b. Other examples include the fuselage, wings, and propeller blades of an

• Bézier curves on the contrary, are based on approximation techniques that

• A Bézier curve does not require first-order derivative.

3. The curve is symmetric with respect to u and (1-u)

Convex hulls of a Bezier Curve

? The B-spline basis functions are given as

Figure a. Local control of B-spline curves.

Figure b. Effect of degree of B-spline curve on its shape.

Figure c. Effect of point multiplicity of B-spline curve on its shape.

where Pi are the control points, forming a control polygon, the wi

allows us to write the NURBS equation in the form

• Rational B-splines (RBSs) are generalizations of B-splines. More

not have inner details

look more real

• Defined as an unbounded, geometric description of a faces. Surface is a pure geometric

• Surface representations are not, however, without their drawbacks. In general

Surface models of spray gun with

• This is the simplest surface

• It can be used to generate cross-sectional views by intersecting a surface

• Ideal to represent surfaces that do not have any twists or kinks

of symmetry a certain angle

• The plane of the curve is

• It is used to generate surfaces that

• It is a useful surface to use to speed up surface

• Offset surface command becomes very efficient Offset

• For example, to create a hollow cylinder, the

Explicit equation in surface representation

V = [x, y, z] T = [x, y, f(x, y)] T

• The variable point coordinates x, y, z are directly defined.

• The z coordinates of position vector of variable points are defined by x and y

• Mathematically, the only difference between a Hermite surface patch and a

• By holding one parameter constant at a time, a mesh of curves can be