Circle Covering Representation for Nesting problems with continuous rotations

Abstract This paper analyses distinct methods to represent a polygon through circle covering, which satisfy specific requirements, that impact primarily the feasibility and the quality of the layout of final solution. The trade-off between the quality of the polygonal representation and its derived number of circles is also discussed, showing the impact on the resolution of the problem, in terms of computational efficiency. The approach used to tackle the Nesting problem in strip packing uses a Non-Linear Programming model. Addressing these problems allows to tackle real world problems with continuous rotations.