Multi-Resolution Mesh for Sculptured Surface Machining

Abstract

Multi-resolution display of highly detailed mesh models has been gaining considerable interest in recent years. However, most researches today are only focus on the geometric similarity. The mesh quality and machining acceptability are less concerned. In this paper, a multi-resolution mesh generation algorithm for sculptured surface machining is presented. The lower-resolution mesh can be used for rough-cut, and the higher-resolution mesh for finish-cut in machining. The proposed algorithm uses iterative edge collapse to simplify the input mesh. The approximation error is controlled by a local error metric VIV (Vertex Importance Value), and a global error bound. This multi-resolution mesh is capable of generating faithful approximations of the original model with high-quality mesh, and also capable of generating rough-cut models with simple geometric complexity and incremental volume, which is suitable for material removal process.