New ARTIST STUDIO algorithm for the creation of near-parallel curves on a CAD surface

The aim of our CAD-CAM software ARTIST STUDIO is to support engineers in the best possible way when designing Fiber Patch Placement (FPP) laminates. According to user defined laminate parameters and lay-up strategies, patches will be generated automatically by our software and distributed along so-called guide curves which cover the whole surface of the part. However, there is no industry standard yet for generation of such guide curves. Up to now, ARTIST STUDIO used a third-party CAM library for the “parallel offset” curve generation process. This limited the ability of our software developers to tailor the algorithm to our customer’s specific needs.

Cevotec collaborated with the Technical University of Munich to supervise a master’s thesis to develop an advanced algorithm for the generation of equidistant curves from a master curve on arbitrary surfaces. Users previously faced several restrictions when designing master curves for ARTIST STUDIO in their own CAD tools. Ideally curves were part of the surfaces (limiting flexibility) but were not too close to other edges (limiting design freedom).  Furthermore, they ideally also had to start and end exactly on the surface boundary to avoid unexpected behavior of the slave curves. With the release of the first version of the new parallel offset algorithm we’ve taken steps towards overcoming these limitations by offering a more robust solution with the goal of letting designers focus on their core task: developing great composites products. This new algorithm is able to solve certain cases where the third-party solution produces wrong or no results. This is the case when the master curve is not part of the surface for which curves have been created for, or for models where the mesh elements have the exact same size as the chosen offset distance. In terms of performance, the new algorithm is very memory-efficient and runs in comparable speed to the third-party solution, even faster if working with a well-chosen mesh density.

The parallel offset method in the context of ARTIST STUDIO is an implementation based on a mesh representation of the surface. The task of creating “parallel offset” curves for a general 3D geometry can be described as the creation of equidistant contours, where the considered distance is the geodesic distance along the surface. The process can be logically split into three stages, starting with the conversion of the master curve into corresponding distances, the computation of these geodesic distances and the creation of the resulting slave curves.

This new algorithm will be available for customers with the new ARTIST STUDIO release end of March 2023, which can be downloaded here: