Rationalization of Triangle-Based Point-Folding Structures

dc.contributor.authorZimmer, Henriken_US
dc.contributor.authorCampen, Marcelen_US
dc.contributor.authorBommes, Daviden_US
dc.contributor.authorKobbelt, Leifen_US
dc.contributor.editorP. Cignoni and T. Ertlen_US
dc.date.accessioned2015-02-28T06:55:31Z
dc.date.available2015-02-28T06:55:31Z
dc.date.issued2012en_US
dc.description.abstractIn mechanical engineering and architecture, structural elements with low material consumption and high loadbearing capabilities are essential for light-weight and even self-supporting constructions. This paper deals with so called point-folding elements - non-planar, pyramidal panels, usually formed from thin metal sheets, which exploit the increased structural capabilities emerging from folds or creases. Given a triangulated free-form surface, a corresponding point-folding structure is a collection of pyramidal elements basing on the triangles. User-specified or material-induced geometric constraints often imply that each individual folding element has a different shape, leading to immense fabrication costs. We present a rationalization method for such structures which respects the prescribed aesthetic and production constraints and finds a minimal set of molds for the production process, leading to drastically reduced costs. For each base triangle we compute and parametrize the range of feasible folding elements that satisfy the given constraints within the allowed tolerances. Then we pose the rationalization task as a geometric intersection problem, which we solve so as to maximize the re-use of mold dies. Major challenges arise from the high precision requirements and the non-trivial parametrization of the search space. We evaluate our method on a number of practical examples where we achieve rationalization gains of more than 90%.en_US
dc.description.seriesinformationComputer Graphics Forumen_US
dc.description.volume31
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/j.1467-8659.2012.03040.x
dc.identifier.issn1467-8659en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8659.2012.03040.xen_US
dc.publisherThe Eurographics Association and John Wiley and Sons Ltd.en_US
dc.titleRationalization of Triangle-Based Point-Folding Structuresen_US
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