Abstract
Set-theoretic operation in solid modelling is a basis for various applications in design and manufacturing such as interference detection and NC tool path verification. However, evaluating set-theoretic operation is one of the most time consuming process in solid modelling. Considerable amount of time is required for performing boolean operations on complex objects consisting of large amount of geometric data. It is thus desirable to increase the speed of set-theoretic operations in order to widen the scope of applications of solid modelling systems. This paper presents a method for distributing various entities of two solid models in an array of processors for parallel intersection tests in evaluating set-theoretic operations. A recursive spatial subdivision technique is adopted for partitioning and distributing entities for parallel intersection computation. Parallel algorithms are developed for distributing entities among an array of processors which are mapped to a set of 3-D rectangular regions in the object space. Test results on an experimental system implemented on a DECmpp 12QQQ/Sx/8K distributed memory SIMD computer show that the data partitioning and distribution process requires O(N) time on the average, where N is the number of entities involved.
