PARAMETRIC SOLID MODELING -

FUNDAMENTALS

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 SOLID MODELING
• Geometry and topology
• Solid entities
• Solid representation
• Fundamentals of solid modeling
• Half-spaces
• Boundary representation (B-Rep)
• Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG)
• Sweeps
• Solid Manipulations
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 Geometry and topology
• Geometry is the actual dimensions that define
the entities of the object. It is also sometimes
called as metric information.
• Topology (sometimes called as combinatorial
structure) is the connectivity and associativity of
the object entities.
With geometry;
without topology

With topology;
without geometry
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 CHARACTERISTICS SOLID MODELING
• Solids models are known to be complete, valid, and
unambiguous representations of objects.
Completeness:
• A complete solid is one which enables a point in space to be
classified relative to the object, if it is inside, outside or on
the object.
• This classification is called as spatial addressability or set
membership classification.
Validity:
• A valid solid should not have dangling edges or faces, then
only it will allow interference analysis, mass property
calculations, finite element modeling and analysis, CAPP,
machine vision, and NC part programming.
Unambiguousness:
Should give unique visualization of the shape of the object.
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Most commonly used representation schemes:

1) Half-Spaces
2) B-Rep (boundary representation)
3) CSG (Constructive Solid Geometry)
4) Sweeping
5) Analytic Solid Modeling
6) Cell decomposition
7) Octree Encoding
8) Spatial Enumeration
9) Primitive instancing
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 SOLID MODELING APPROACHES IN CAD PACKAGES
• All commercial CAD packages offer one or
both of two different solid modeling
approaches:
1) CSG
2) Brep
3) Sweeping

UNIGRAPHICS (EDS Technologies), CATIA

(Dassault Systems), I-DEAS (Structural
Dynamics Research Corporation) offer both
approaches.
SolidWorks (Dassault Systems), Pro/Engineer
(Parametric Technology Corporation).
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 SOLID ENTITIES
APPROACH ENTITIES

CSG Solid primitives (block,

cylinder, cone, sphere,
wedge and torus)
BRep Sketches of curves and
And surfaces; generatrix;
Sweeping directrix

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 CSG Modeling: Solid primitives

Block Cylinder
Cone

Wedge Torus
Sphere

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 PRIMITIVE BASED SOLID MODELING
• This approach allows designers to use
predefined shapes (primitives) as building
blocks to create complex solids.
• Designers must use Boolean operations to
combine the primitives
• This approach is limited by the restricted
shapes of the primitives.
A, B and C are primitive solids.
A = Block
C
B = Cylinder
B C = Cylinder
A–B–C=D :Boolean operation; Create block A and
A subtract two cylinders from it using primitives approach.
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D = Final solid
 FEATURE BASED SOLID MODELING
• This method is more flexible because it allows the construction of more
complicated objects and more elaborate solids more readily than the
primitive based modeling.
• Feature based modeling is in fact a generalization of primitives approach.
Boolean operations are still used, but are hidden from the user. For
example, creating a protrusion on the face of a cube is a Boolean union
and creating a cut in the cube is a Boolean subtraction. These operations
are must for creation of the final solid.
* Create a rectangle
* Subtract two circles
* Extrude the resulting feature
* The required solid is obtained
Alternatively,
* Create a rectangle
* Extrude the rectangle to create the block
* Selecting the top face of the block as
sketching plane, draw two circles
* Create through cuts by extrusion to
obtain the final solid
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 Elements of B-Rep models: Types of Objects
• Two types of objects:
1) Polyhedral objects
• Consist of plane faces and straight edges
2) Curved objects
• Consist of curvilinear general surfaces and
general curvilinear edges

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Elements of B-Rep models:
• Faces: Face is a closed, orientable and bounded
(by edges) surface.
• Edges: Edge is a bouded (by two vertices) curve.
• Vertices: Vertex is a point in E3.
• Loops: Loop is due to a protrusion or blind hole on
a face. It is counted for that face. Thus it may be
termed as a 2-D hole.
• Boundary Hole: A blind hole. Results in loop on
the boundary face it is open to.
• Interior Hole: A hole lying inside and having no
boundary on the surface of the solid
• Handles: Handle is a through hole in the solid. It
may be termed as a 3-D hole. The number of
handles in a solid is called as genus.
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 EULER OPERATIONS
• Euler in 1752 proved that polyhedra that are
homomorphic to a sphere, that is their faces are
non self-intersecting and belong to closed
orientable surfacse, are topologically valid if they
satisfy the following Euler-Poincare Law
equation:
F – E + V – L= 2(B – G)
F= Number of faces
E= Number of edges
V= Number of vertices
L = Inner loops on faces
B= bodies
G = genus (handles)
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 Valid solids through Euler-Poincare law

Euler Operations and Euclidean Calculations

• Topology is created by Euler operations

– Euler operations can be used to create,
manipulate, edit the faces, edges, and vertices
of a boundary model
– Euler operations, similar to Boolean operations,
ensure the validity (closedness, no dangling
faces or edges etc.) of B-rep models
• Geometry is created by the Euclidean
calculations
– Geometry includes coordinates of vertices, rigid
motion and transformation
 A tetrahedron is the simplest:
A cuboid is a simple solid:
F=4
F=6
E=6
E = 12
V=4
V=8
In this case F + V - E = 2.
In this case F + V - E = 2.

The given solid is simple:

F=8
E = 18
V = 12
In this case F + V - E = 2.

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 Valid solids through Euler-Poincare law

Elements of B-Rep models: Types of Objects

Two types of objects:

1) Simple Polyhedral objects
• Consist of plane faces and straight
edges
2) Curved objects
• Consist of curvilinear general
surfaces and general curvilinear
edges
Both are normally assumed
homomorphic to a sphere.
 Valid solids through Euler-Poincare law

Elements of B-Rep models:

• Faces: Face is a closed, orientable and

bounded (by edges) surface.
• Edges: Edge is a bouded (by two vertices)
curve.
• Vertices: Vertex is a point in E3.
• Loops: Loop is due to a protrusion on a face.
Thus it may be termed as a 2-D hole.
• Boundary Hole: A blind hole
• Interior Hole: A hole lying inside and having
no boundary on the surface of the solid
• Handles: Handle is a through hole in the
solid. It may be termed as a 3-D hole. The
number of handles in a solid is called as
genus.
 Valid solids through Euler-Poincare law

EULER OPERATIONS

• Euler in 1752 proved that polyhedra that are homomorphic to a

sphere, that is their faces are non self-intersecting and belong to
closed orientable surfacse, are topologically valid if they satisfy the
following Euler-Poincare Law equation:
F – E + V – L= 2(B – G)
F= Number of faces
E= Number of edges
V= Number of vertices
L = Inner loops on faces
B= bodies
G = genus (handles)
 Valid solids through Euler-Poincare law

A cuboid is a simple solid:

F=6
E = 12
V=8
In this case F + V - E = 2.
A tetrahedron is the simplest:
F=4
E=6
V=4
In this case F + V - E = 2.
The given solid is simple:
F=8
E = 18
V = 12
In this case F + V - E = 2.

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 Euler-Poincare law

Exercise

Check the validity of the following solid models.

Solution:
Vertices = 24
Edges = 36
Faces = 14
Genus (=Handles=Through holes) = 1
Bodies = 1 (no internal void)
Loops = 2
F-E+V-L=2(B-G)
F-E+V-L=14-36+24-2 = 38-38=0.
2(B-G) = 2(1-1) = 0.
Satisfied. Valid solid.
 Euler-Poincare law

Exercise

Check the validity of the following solid models.

Solution:
 Euler-Poincare law

Exercise

Check the validity of the following curved solid models.

Solution:
 Euler-Poincare law

Exercise
Check the validity of the following solid model.

Solution:
Faces:
Base block = 6; Pink block = 6-1=5; Green block = 6-1=5; Total faces
= 6+5+5=16.

Edges:
Base block = 12 =Pink block = Green block; Total edges =
12+12+12=36.

Vertices:
Base block = 8 = Pink block = Green block; Total vertices =
8+8+8=24.

Loops:
The upper face of the base block has one loop on it and right side
face has one loop. Hence Loops =2.

Bodies: There is only one body; B = 1.

Genus: There are no through holes; so no handles; G=0.

 Valid solids through Euler-Poincare law

Example:
A closed cylindrical object is equivalent to 2 Vertices, 3 Edges and 3
Faces as shown.
F=3; V=2; E=3; L=0; G=0; B=1.
F-E+V-L=3-3+2-0=2=2(B-G)=2(1-0)=2.
E Validity Proved.
2F V Note: (1) When this cylinder is a boundary hole in another
1 1
object, it has only lateral face and bottom face. Upper face is
absent.
F E
2 1 Note: (2) When this cylinder is a protrusion on another object, it
has only lateral face and top face. Lower face is absent.
F V
3 2 Note: (3) When this cylinder is a through hole in another object,
E
3
it has only the lateral face. Both lower and upper faces are
absent.
 Valid solids through Euler-Poincare law

Example:

F-E+V-L = 2(B-G)
F=Faces of block+Faces of boundary hole+faces of Through Boundary
through hole+faces of the protrusion hole hole
= 6+2+1+2 = 11
Protru
E=Edges of block+Edges of boundary hole+Edges of
through hole+Edges of the protrusion
sion
=12+3+3+3=21
V=Vertices of block+Vertices of boundary
hole+Vertices of through hole+Vertices of the
protrusion
=8+2+2+2=14
L=Loop on top face+Loop on bottom face+Loop on
the right face
=2+1+1=4.
B=1
G=1.
F-E+V-L = 2(B-G)
11-21+14-4=25-25=0=2(B-G)=2(1-1)=0. Validity
proved.
NON-UNIQUENESS

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 Fundamental Aspects of CAD Modeling

SOLID ENTITIES

APPROACH ENTITIES

Primitives based Solid primitives (block,

approach cylinder, cone, sphere,
wedge and torus)
Feature based approach Sketches
 Fundamental Aspects of CAD Modeling

Desirable properties of solid models

1) Rigidity: Shape of the solid model is invariant

2) Homogeneous 3-Dimensionality: No dangling portions, no
isolated portions, solid boundaries are in contact with the
interiors
3) Finiteness and finite describability: The two are different; a
(P, R, H) set describe a finite cylinder but may have infinite
faces to describe
4) Closure (kS=S) under rigid motion and Boolean operations:
Should produce valid solids
5) Boundary determinism: Boundary must clearly determine
the solid
CAD Representation Schemes or
Modeling Methods

Dr. Srinivasa Prakash Regalla, PhD

Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
 CAD Modeling Methods

Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG()

• The CSG primitives, the basic idea of CSG modeling and the CSG
Tree
 CAD Modeling Methods

Exercise:

Solution:
For the following A and B two-
dimensional primitives, apply
different Boolean operations and
indicate the result of each
operation.

A  B AB A-B B-A

A

B
 CAD Modeling Methods

BOUNDARY REPRESENTATION (B-Rep)

• One of the two most popular and widely used schemes (the
other being CSG)
• Based on the concept that a solid is made of a set of faces,
which are subsets of closed and orientable surfaces
• A closed surface is one that is continuous without breaks.
• An orientable surface is one where it is possible to
distinguish two sides by using the direction of the surface
normal to point inside or outside the solid model.
• Each face is bounded by edges and each edge is bounded
by vertices
 CAD Modeling Methods

B-Rep: Boundary Representation

 Boundary representation (B-rep) for solid modeling

 Very powerful method
 Topologically, each boundary face is enclosed by a loop of boundary curves, each of which
can again be a simple line segment or a free form curve
 CAD Modeling Methods

Topological data structure for B-rep solid modeling

• Any of the faces and any of the edges can be freeform in nature
 CAD Modeling Methods

Topological data structure for B-rep solid modeling with freeform features

ku, kv = degrees in two parametric directions

nu, nv = number of control points in each direction
knots in u-direction
knots in v-direction
control points in each u, v
directions
Other CAD Representation Schemes
or Modeling Methods

Dr. Srinivasa Prakash Regalla, PhD

Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
 Other CAD Modeling Methods

HALF SPACE METHOD – FORMAL DEFINITION

A half-space is that portion of an n-

dimensional space obtained by
removing that part lying on one side
of an (n-1)-dimensional hyperplane.
For example, half a Euclidean space
is given by the three-dimensional
region satisfying
x >0, ;
while a half-plane is given by the two-
dimensional region satisfying x >0 ,
 CAD Modeling Methods

Set based definition of half-space:

• A half-space is defined as a regular point set in E3 as follows:


H  P : P  E 3 and f ( P )  0 
where
P  point set in E 3
f ( P )  0 defines the surface equation of the
half - space boundaries .
 CAD Modeling Methods

Most widely used half-spaces

Planar half - space :


H  P : P( x, y, z )  E 3 and z  0 
Cylindrica l half - space :
n 

H  P : P( x, y, z )  E 3 and x 2  y 2  R 2  S   H i 
Spherical half - space :  i 1 

H  P : P( x, y, z )  E 3 and x 2  y 2  z 2  R 2 
Conical half - space :

H  P : P( x, y, z )  E 3 and x 2  y 2  [tan  / 2 z ]2 
Toroidal half - space :
 P : P( x, y, z )  E 3 
H  2

and x  y  z  R2  R1
2 2 2 2 2
2
 
 4 R 22 R12  z 2 
 CAD Modeling Methods

CHARACTERISTICS SOLID MODELING

• Solids models are known to be complete, valid, and

unambiguous representations of objects.
• A complete solid is one which enables a point in space to
be classified relative to the object, if it is inside, outside or
on the object.
• This classification is called as spatial addressability or set
membership classification.
• A valid solid should not have dangling edges or faces, then
only it will allow interference analysis, mass property
calculations, finite element modeling and analysis, CAPP,
machine vision, and NC part programming.
 CAD Modeling Methods

SOLID MODELING APPROACHES IN CAD PACKAGES

• All commercial CAD packages offer one or both of two

different solid modeling approaches:
1) Primitives based
2) Feature based

UNIGRAPHICS (EDS Technologies), CATIA (Dassault

Systems), I-DEAS (Structural Dynamics Research
Corporation) offer both approaches.
SolidWorks (Dassault Systems), Pro/Engineer (Parametric
Technology Corporation).
THANK YOU!

In our next session:

 End of the module
• Thank you!
• Any Questions?

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