D-Cubed Releases 2D DCM v44.0

6 March, 2003 - D-Cubed announces the latest release of the 2D DCM, the industry standard solution for 2D variational solving in most major CAD systems.

Extensions to spline curve constraints: The 2D DCM supports the fully variational control of the position and shape of a spline curve through the application of dimensions and constraints directly to the spline curve itself or to its construction geometries, such as the control and interpolation points. The previous release of the 2D DCM introduced the ability to specify conditions, such as tangent direction, tangent magnitude and curvature, at specific points on a spline curve.

The latest release of the 2D DCM enables the above conditions to be coupled between splines and other geometry types through the use of equal condition constraints. For example, two splines can be connected at their end-points by an equal tangent direction and magnitude constraint. The direction of the tangency can be straightforwardly flipped between the aligned and anti-aligned state.

An equal curvature constraint can be also added, meaning that the curvatures will be the same but the value can vary as a freedom during variational solving operations. If required, the curvature can be set to a particular value, perhaps zero, which would enable a pair of connected splines to be coupled with what are sometimes known as 'natural' end conditions. The technology can also be used, for example, to specify that a certain position on a spline will have the same curvature as an arc.

Some similar functionality is also available in a less sophisticated non-variational form in some of the traditional spline manipulation functions found in various CAD packages and other geometric applications. The key differentiator about the 2D DCM implementation is that these traditional spline manipulation techniques are fully integrated with the 2D DCM's variational solving technology.

It is planned that equivalent functionality operating on fully 3-dimensional spline curves will be available in the next release of the 3D DCM, Version 28. 0.

Enhanced solving: The 2D DCM has for sometime had a wide range of solving approaches that can be applied to different models. The default approach is to use algebraic (that is non-iterative/non-numerical) algorithms except on those sub-regions of a model which obviously require a numerical approach, such as dimensions to spline curves. It is recommended that applications use the default algebraic approach as much as possible, as it is much faster and more reliable than any numerical approach. However, some models must be solved numerically, even though they are seemingly very simple. The 2D DCM has a numerical solving option which can solve such models, but with the performance disadvantages mentioned above. Furthermore, these numerical special cases may only form a small sub-set of the overall model, so using a numerical solving approach on the whole model is inefficient. It is also inconvenient to have to manually switch from the default algebraic approach over to the numerical approach.

The latest release of the 2D DCM can automatically identify these numerical special cases, applying a numerical approach to just these sub-sets of the overall model. The more efficient algebraic algorithms are used on the remainder of the model.

About the 2D DCM

The 2D Dimensional Constraint Manager has been used in an increasing number of 2D and 3D CAD systems for over 10 years. In addition to driving the sketcher in most mainstream mechanical CAD products, applications as diverse as standard parts libraries, model translation, mold, ship and garment design have all benefited from the comprehensive, dependable and cost effective solution provided by the 2D DCM.

About D-Cubed Ltd.

Founded in 1989 in Cambridge, England, D-Cubed provides software components and technical consulting services to the CAD/CAM/CAE application development industry in all areas of geometric, solid and variational/parametric modelling. Most of the world�s leading CAD vendors have adopted one or more of D-Cubed�s widely respected component technologies for integration into their end-user applications. We have never developed, and do not intend to develop, our own end-user applications. This focus avoids any competitive conflicts of interest with our customers.

www.d-cubed.co.uk

 

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