Similarity-Based Retrieval of CAD Solid Models for Automated Reuse of Machining Process Plans

It is a well known fact that most of the new designs are modified versions of previous designs. In an attempt to reuse as much possible of the previous investments, engineers spend a lot of time searching for similarly shaped designs and modifying them to generate new designs. This process of searching and modifying similar designs is an extremely time consuming task when it is done manually. In this work we propose techniques and algorithms for automated retrieval of similar designs from a database of old designs. Features and the spatial relationships between the features form a signature. Using this signature we develop an indexing scheme to store and speedily retrieve digital part/component searching.