CAD Processor

Inconsistencies in 3D data resulting from different tolerance values used in different geometric modeling kernels may prevent the use of some transformation operators. Therefore, applying a set of pre-conditioning (repair) algorithms is often necessary to unlock further processing of the imported digital mockup. CAD Processor is reach in both automatic and manual repair operators. The face stitching functionality is used to reconstruct topological sharing between adjacent faces. The face removal utility attempts to delete an interactively selected face from a model and fill its place with extensions of the neighboring faces. Other healing features include gaps detection and filling, canonical geometry recognition, merging small edges and inverting parts.

Defeaturing allows elimination of specific CAD features in order to simplify models without losing the entire design intent. On the part level CAD Processor offers the following simplification operations: detection and suppression of holes and pockets, isolated features (pockets, engravings) removal, repatching and removing faces. Identification of fillet chains with subsequent defeaturing is a highly demanded functionality which is often utilized in mechanical, automotive and aerospace industries. Holes suppression allows to get rid of blind and through cylindrical holes. It works for isolated holes which can be composed of several patches. Defeaturing of holes helps to reduce the number of faces/facets radically.

CAD Processor includes a wide variety of tools for carrying out inspection of models both visually and numerically for evaluation of their condition, finding issues and tracking simplification results. The solution’s feature set encompasses inspection of contents, geometric tolerances, building bounding box to get a basic idea on the part spatial size. The open edges inspection utility displays the open edges of a selected model, the number of edges shared by one or less face and free boundaries. The mass-inertia checker outputs volume, surface area, center of mass and axes of inertia of the selected objects. These values can be copied to external software for further analysis. CAD Processor also allows checking CAD models for mesh quality, self-intersections or mesh-vs-part deviations.

CAD Processor allows for interplay between exact B-Rep geometry and polygonal representations. The following key operators are available for mesh models: facets visualization, surface and volumetric mesh generation, mesh decimation and smoothing (Laplacian smoothing). The polyhedrization algorithm allows reducing the number of facets while preserving the fiber-like shape of the input geometry. This operator works best for electrical harnesses simplification. Shrink wrapping is a way to generate computational-quality surface mesh eliminating possible imperfections of the model. Constructing a convex hull on the nodes of the cad-agnostic or visualization mesh can work in either part or assembly mode.

High precision sheet metal working requires CAD simplification and optimization solutions to work with any CAD data to edit geometry, clean up corrupt or complex data, and deliver high quality sheet metal functionality. CAD Processor sheet metal working related feature set allows recognizing flanges, bends, jogs, holes and cutouts in sheet metal parts, unfolding and validating precise flat patterns. Properties extraction (perimeters of holes, cutouts, lengths of cutting lines, etc.), thickness, bending allowances and radius calculation broaden the rich palette of algorithms. The solution enables optimizing product development and production processes, minimizing downtime on the shop floor and calculating fabrication costs automatically.