디자인 피쳐에 의존하지 않는 솔리드 모델의 수정

With the advancements of the Internet and CAD data translation techniques, more CAD models are transferred from a CAD system to another through the network and interoperability is getting a common word in the CAD industry. However, when a CAD model is translated for an incompatible system into a neutral format such as STEP or IGES, its precious feature information is lost. When this feature information is lost, the advantage of feature based modeling is not valid any longer, and modification for the model is purely dependent on geometric and topological manipulations. However, the capabilities of the existing methods to modify these feature-independent models are limited as the modification involves a topological change in the model. To address this issue, we present a volumetric method to modify the solid models in neutral format. First, this method selectively decomposes the solid model to separate the portion of interest called feature volume. Next, the designer modifies the feature volume without concerning a topological change. Finally, the feature volume is united with the original solid model to complete the modification process. The results of test cases are presented to attest the usefulness of the proposed method.