Abstract
This paper proposes a method for generating a 3D gear aggregate model that approximates the shape of a specified 3D model. Unlike a 3D gear aggregate model generated by traditional methods, the 3D gear aggregate model generated by the proposed method consists of many engaged 3D gears of different size. Moreover, it is possible to rotate all engaged gears if one of them is rotated. In this paper, involute spur gears are used. The outline of the method is as follows. First, a specified 3D model is divided into multiple planar cross-sections. Then, each cross-section is filled with gears, by placing the gears one by one according to a defined score. The score of a gear is calculated according to its engagement and size.
