Abstract
Integrating CAD/CAM processes is essential for higher productivity and better quality of products. The basis of the integration is to construct a product modeling system where information about products and their production are represented and managed throughout design and manufacturing activities. In this paper, treatment of dimensions is discussed as one of the major problems of the product model construction, since dimensions are significant for product information description. A new dimension description framework is introduced for solid models, based on the idea that dimensions impose geometric constraints on elements of solid models. This dimension description is formalized in the form of first order logic and is utilized for parametric design of solid models. In this design process, the shapes of solid models are parametrically modified by changing dimension values. The basic algorithm of this parametric design consists of 2 major steps ; (1) modifying all surface equations of the solid according to the modified dimensions, (2) calculating new curve equations and points of the solid by intersecting those modified surfaces. Details of this algorithm and its illustrative examples are shown.
