Feature-based simplification of boundary representation models using sequential iterative volume decomposition

• Simplifying the CAD models is needed for various engineering activities.
• A new feature-based simplification method of B-rep models is proposed.
• This method first generates a feature-based model from a B-rep model.
• Sequential iterative volume decomposition is applied for feature-based model generation.
• Feature-based simplification is then applied to the generated feature-based model.

When computer-aided design (CAD) models generated in the design phase are used for engineering activities such as engineering analysis, distributed collaborative design, and virtual prototyping, a process for simplifying the CAD models is needed. In this study, a feature-based simplification method of boundary representation (B-rep) models using sequential iterative volume decomposition is proposed. This method generates a feature-based model from a B-rep model by sequentially and iteratively applying the four volume decomposition methods (fillet, round, and chamfer decomposition; wrap-around decomposition; volume split decomposition; and cell-based decomposition). Then, feature-based simplification is applied to the generated feature-based model. To demonstrate the proposed method, a prototype system is implemented, and experiments with test cases are performed. Based on the experimental results, we verified that the proposed method successfully simplified B-rep models.

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