CAD/CAM Systems Integration:

Addresses the need for a unified product information model and presents a new representation scheme for mechanical component modelling using shells as its principal geometric primitives for modelling form features. The representation scheme was implemented using the ACIS geometric modeller and C++ on a SUN SPARC/10 station. The advantage of using shells is that both surface and volume information of a form feature can be derived from a shell. Different levels of product data representation can be integrated into a single model. Therefore, it allows the user to model the geometry effectively and form features of a mechanical part on one system.