Automatic interpretation of

engineering drawings for 3D

surface representation in
CAD
T H Richards and G C Onwubolu
A program has been developed to interpret conventional
engineering drawings of plate/shell structures as surface
models. A package has been implemented on the Hewlett
Packard mode/9845B desk top computer for which a drafting program had already been produced,
drafting, interpretation, surface modelling
One of the possible ways of specifying the geometry of
mechanical parts in CAD follows a two-step procedure.
The first step is to a graphics-oriented 2D representation
corresponding to the orthographic views, and the second
is to interpret this data to give an explicit 3D description,
Assuming that the user has already 'drawn' the orthographic
views on a computer screen, we concern ourselves here
with the problem of automating the interpretation step.
Work on this type of problem has so far concentrated on
3D solid objects 1-s and emphasis has been on polyhedral
parts; we are concerned in this paper with plate/shell type
fabricated structures for which the geometries are described
by middle surfaces and thicknesses,
Generally, available 3D surface modellers require the
user manually to define the coordinates of the boundary
curves for a surface and to input this data to a computer via
the keyboard or a digitizing table. This data is then manipulated as necessary until the desired model is obtained.
This paper presents a new approach for the automatic
construction of surface models from the orthographic
projections of conventional engineering drawings: the
B~zier technique for surface representation is used. This
approach, using either a Bernstein polynomial 6 or B-spline
functions as a basis~, requires the construction of 'control
nets': we employ the Bernstein polynomial approach to
approximate a given surface once the control nets have
been generated from the drawing views,
The basic concepts and a description of the developed
algorithm are presented below. Further particulars may'
be found in Onwubolu 8.

the elevation in the x-z plane), preferably along its lowest

edge. The user defines the reference line by digitizing two
points on the lowest edge of the selected view. In order to
define a surface in 3D space, the x, y, z coordinates are
required. Each orthographic view has only two of these
space coordinates at the nodes, so that the third has to be
found from another view. The reference line (considered
tO lie on the x axis of the x-z plane) is considered as the
datum and the z-coordinates of all nodes are measured
from it (see Figure 1 ).
Cyclic symmetry
Rotationally periodic structures consist of identically
coupled substructures positioned symmetrically about an
axis. Examples of structures which possess such cyclic
symmetry include fah impellers, bladed turbine discs and
centrifugal pumps. In these structures, one can recognise
a repetition of geometry. If the geometry of the structure
is defined for any radial or axial position at some angle 8,
it will be identical at (0 +ng0), where 0o is 27r/N; n and N
being integers, and N is structure dependent (the number
of identical substructures that constitute the structure).
If a geometry is completely defined for an angular segment
of 2~T/N, then the remainder can be generated by repeated
rotation of the segment through 2r/N radians. In geometric modelling terms, the sector is replicated N times.
For surface modelling purposes it is only necessary to
consider a typical segment when a cyclically symmetric
s~ructure is interpreted. The view of the XO Y plane in
Figure 2 shows that the impeller enjoys cyclic symmetry
with N = 6.
Matching
Sub-parts of a total object are interrelated via some topological matching conditions which follow from the object's
shape and from the rulesgoverning the preparation of engineering drawings. For instance, a match between graphical

5"B"

2"~"
Z

L_ '''~ ..... v,

BASIC CONCEPTS

The concepts summarized here are useful in understanding

the subsequent discussions.
Reference line

It is necessary to define a 'reference line' on one of the

views, later referred to as I/2 (the view considered to be
Mechanical Engineering Division, Aston University, UK

156

]'~"
II,

-'
""....

i ' t "a

~
,40
~G / /

~i~4

1! y

,'

a< ........ /../,

4/'" , / ,

=
,~

=.

(~

~b~

Figure I. Orthographic views (/eft) and 'faces' interpreted

(right,). (see Figures 3 a n d 4)

0010-4485/86/030156-05 $03.00 1986 Butterworth & Co (Publishers) Ltd

computer-aided design

!
-" ........

Forther.,n, progr
musedn.s.or" annterface

1 i!

......... r - ~_-Z::. . . . . 2,2 ?

_L
. . . . . .
- - - ~ ,. [3 ..... "I
---

ro,ram hasbeenwrtten., ch,e0ara,e,,,eortho,raph c

views and organizes the data into a form suitable for the
interpreting module. A summary of the relevant steps is
given below.

Boxing' round a view

Before the geometry of a chosen view is isolated, a box or
window is drawn round the view. The user only needs to
digitize the coordinates of diagonal corners of the box.

. ..-----I'---.- - -.r."

" ......
~

/ ,"

]/

",,

,
I

\'

'

"~
Jl

'

t 4L~ ':l,

/'

,, ..

"" ii:.

- ".... /

,.,

/ ' f'

',,
',.'X

'
""

,~
'

"'-..... . . . . G:':45 inc. I ir, cd

b i ,~ d c -;
,%

-imP---- ........",; .......

,-.....

/"

",.,

" ,"

'~,::

.,

......

./

I
I

/"

/' "/

'"

\.

I'

l t'
,

2.

tw-o.

..~.~

jJ

.,"

-. ..

"4.."~/

_..f

'/"

,,....

-..
" ....

.--""

""

,,,'

pe

? FL
/"~

'' '
"'-,.,." /
.

3
Figure 2. Orthographic views of the fan impeller

II ,

i. ~

,~

,~2 ,/~

.4d'I.

entities (lines or arcs) P1 and P2 in two different views

can be defined by

.,j. I .o

,/
"
"'.

The input data is organized by separating the drawing

(lines,int
vieWSarcs)andineachestablishingview,the number of entities

By considering the reference line to lie on the x-axis of

the x-z plane in view I/2, the z-coordinates of all the
points in view I/2 are obtained. The x,y,z coordinates
of all the vertices of 'faces' are obtained by associating
the nodal points of view I/2 with those in other views.
The matching of entities in the different views is used
to identify the substructures of an object. Where
appropriate, any symmetry, cyclic or otherwise, is
exploited to reduce computational effort and storage
requirements.
Representation of the drawing as a surface model is
obtained by construction of the Bdzier nets for each
identified substructure,
engineering

"-,.. y

oi ,:

L/ "- ~

Figure 3. BEzier nets o f surface in Figure 1

The interpretation of a drawing as a 3D surface represenration will be complete when each subunit in a structure
is identified and the 'key' coordinates defining such substructures are found. The steps showing how the program
is organized are as follows:

Separating

' ,.
'%.

where AB5 denotes the absolute length of the entity that

the two views have in common.
THE APPROACH

j.i

'" d'"'
~ /"

P, = P2 if ABS(P,) = ABS(P2)

drawing

views

Before beginning the interpretation of an engineering

drawing, the 2D drafting data must be suitably organized.

volume 18 number 3 april 1986

./~
. I~."

,
./'l
, ~
/i'"" ~

I
'"~

i~" I

.,,. i

~,.,

,""'~1

'~t'! ' '~'~

\'-.

,~;;/

,:"
~ ,.
, ,,.' --.
,"
,,.' ,,
~ ,,. I
~.,.
/ "-...
,,~J
,,.,. ~
~,
.,,<.... . . . /.
/-....
/~,,,f
,~
~ ,., ~,
I ,/
.,.,...
,/
,,...~t/~/
1
7.
~
"'"~ /
. . . . -. ," /~;]./
~ .,'~
,
"-.':
/
"--" , ~','/
~ ."" '
I':'
/
"~"
/ .R'~J
t,,
I~ .,.,. --.. -.,, ,.
/ ~,~.~.,
.'~;,'r,.'
/. .' "~. .;~.
~
II,,'
.," "'.. /
/ ,.~.~
'~~. ,""-"'-..," "
,"~.'f~
,'"7"-"-- //' ,/,V/.'"
~, ,,"
"/-...
/
"2-~.,'~'~
"-"
.". . . . ;,'-"
/ " ~'X"..
""--.,:':
g:../J.

......
//' "~:' '.../
...."""

.7

,,

;/~
-I/- - - -

Figure 4. B~zier surface o f Figure 1

157

~Imz i ~ r
pc, 1y~or,

~ : B z l e~.

B t ' - _------Z-...-~, C: . ~

i pol',,gan

........

Az

',
"

E ! c
D
'-- B--zi r

"l-s

G LJ t" "v" 6~

Figure 5(b). The same polygon distorted unt// points

become co/linear

Figure 5(a). Bdzier contro/ polygon and curve

P4 ] , - - - ~ - - - - ~ - - - C '4 4
1
_~F'3 4
.......

P 3 i Tj~..... ----~-

~,
II

/II

P ~ .]____..~
1
~'1 1 <

[111

~i.~ )

R ~ or', ~. r ~ I
p,:, I ::,',-3z,r,

Ir-T--2-T
/
I ~---,

~l

Ii

~,

( t:, ~ .ez i e r

r,~

I'l'J----dr--

, [I

fI

I~

Identifying 'faces'

_<___ .~P
I 24
I
,~ p 1~4

~ - - ~ - - ~ ~1, Ii
~--4-' ---~--~,-1 t ~ e : - ; , J ] t i n g

surface to be constructed from the views. Figure 1 (left)

shows vertices labelled as I ', 2' etc.

F] a l

..a

Figure 6. Flat straight edge possible with Bdzier technique

The way the faces are identified is that each item in view
V; is considered in turn and its end-point coordinates are
compared with the list of nodes obtained in the previous
section. In this way, equivalent nodes are found which
form possible faces. For example in Figure ] (left) the list
of nodes which define the z-coordinates of thge' object to
be reconstructed is ( l ' 2' 3 ' , 4 ' , 5 ' , 6 ' , 7 ' ,
)inview
V1. The view V~ is projected onto view
and considered
to be placed along the reference line so that its z-coordinates
correspond to those at ( 1 ', 2 ', 3 ', 4' ). By associating
vertices ( 1 ', 2 ', 3 ', 4' ) with ( 5 ', 6 ', 7 ', 8' ), the following
faces are identified as shown in Figure 1 (left) :

Vi

The program then automatically calculates the remaining

(1265)

corner coordinates and draws a dashed line to represent

the perimeter of the box.

(2376
(3487)

Isolating the d a t a f o r a view

Once a view is windowed, the program removes details in

the view which may complicate the interpretation of the
object. The program is able to identify and extract geometric data (by making use of codes in the drafting module
for distinguishing entities) related to a view and to ignore
items such as labels, centre lines, dimension lines etc. The
start and finish points of the relevant entities are tested to
see if they are completely enclosed by the 'box' drawn
around the view under consideration. Those wholly enclosed within the 'box' are then stored sequentially in the
order in which they were drawn,
Storing

the data for a view

To store the data for a view, the program creates a temporary file to accommodate the number of items and the

The control nets and surface model of Figure I are shown

in Figures 3 and 4 respectively.
PREPARING

CONTROL

The Bezier surface technique adopted for the work reported here requires that the control nets referred to above be
R4 1=13 R~
__---X~'X~
I ~ 13i< 132 133 D4

~___~~ FI~
B[

geometric data of the view that has been isoJated.

The first three steps are repeated for other views.

~__~
~

158

~,-~/~-"~ ~.,~

Identifying vertices
The geometric data for the view where the reference line
has been defined (denoted by view V~ and corresponding
to the x-z plane) is transformed to obtain the z-coordinates
in this view by making use of the reference line as a datum.
All coordinates in V2 are measured from the reference line
and represent the z-coordinate for view V1 . The program
then considers the other view and distinguishes between
lines and arcs. For a line, the end-point coordinates are
checked against all the end points in an adjacent view for
a match. The matching concept already discussed is used
but now P is a point rather than the length of a primitive.
For a circle, the parameter P used in the matching concept
represents end-point coordinates (projected onto the other
views) of the diameter. In this way, the program extracts
the z-coordinate values for all points that make up the 3D

NETS FOR

SURFACE REPRESENTATION

_~"~" --"I---~

B3/

/ 1

~C3

B4

C4

Z
/

Figure 7. Flat curved edged shape possible with Bdzier

technique (left) shape to be modelled and (right) Bdzier
net in dashed lines

,'~,>';~]"-j[-~

I -~L:-'-~

--I

Figure 8. Flat curved shape without hole possible with

Bdzier technique

computer-aided design

, . "I"

,__ Cr,mm:-;-sec:t. i o n
,',# r'ur,..'ed .--'ur~'a,-e
I',,.'~I P :-= in
j
,.,1~.ual l z l r , ct
\,t
7 - ' v a r. i a i on"
i
l

,
,__
~
/
I I I IIi ~
~
I
,
[]
~ ~t
I I, ',,.. ',.
|

~"%..

II
I

"

%%

'%"

"

cone:si~e.et_
I

_....:,~ -

"

blade

'~
l
-~;

L,

~'-~

_.._

!
....~.

z
-,,
-

Figure 9(b). B~zier mesh of Figure 9(a)

A 4 . . . D4 are shown. A 1 . . . D1 is the first characteristic
polygon while A 4 . . . D4 is the last. The B~zier net is
completed by constructing the radial lines which intersect
the arcs as shown in Figure 7(right). A designer controls
the dimensions of the arcs (and also the inner and outer
radii of the disc) by adjusting the control polygons.
The method of constructing the characteristic polygons
for a disc without a hole is similar to that of a disc with a
hole except that the vertices of the inner polygon of
Figure 7(right) are now considered to coincide at the centre
of the disc as shown in Figure 8.
Curved surfaces
The preparation of the data for the characteristic polygons
of curved surfaces is more complex than for the cases dis-

.__

cussed so far. The profile of a curved surface is obtained

._

....

Figure 10. BEzier nets for the fan impeller

prepared. Once a substructure is fully identified, its corresponding Bdzier net data needs to be calculated. We illustrate the processes by considering some $hapes which are
handled by the program and which are useful in applications to plate and shell structures. The B,zier nets for these
shapes are also constructed. All the shapes considered here
are represented by degree 3 Bernstein polynomials.

Flat and straight edged surfaces

A control polygon (Figure 5(a)) can be distorted to give
the shape of the curve desired; in the special case of a
straight line, all the vertices on a control polygon are
merely collinear (Figure 5(b)). It is not necessary to space
the control vertices equally along the distorted polygon.
The start and finish points only can be used fully to define
the characteristic polygon. By making all the vertices of a
B~zier net coplanar, a flat straight edged object can be
fully defined as in Figure 6.
Flat disc with/without a hole
Consider a half-disc (with a hole) of radius R measured
from the centre as shown in Figure 7(left). The surface
may be mapped out by means of a number of enclosing
rectangles which represent the characteristic polygons for
various concentric arcs from near the centre outwards as
shown in Figure 7(right). For a constant value of the ycoordinates (normal to the disc), arcs are obtained which
have increasing diameters from near the centre towards the
outer diameter. For example the arc A 1 . .. D1 has a radius
R1, which is the smallest and represents the hole; the radii
of various other arcs up to a maximum value of R4 for arc

volume 18 number 3 april 1986

%'

"

Figure 9(a). Cross-sectional curve makes any axisymmetric

shape possible with B~zier technique

!ili

L-.ro~.-me~.ti,n
,-,# r-ur~,eH ~ u r f ' a r e
l', e 1 P
in
,.,'l,-~Ui~l l z l r ~
"7
, -" .
- - v ~ r- i ~ . i or',

~...... :

......~ :/: y
',
',,
'
,,,
~~
' ,,
',
_
~
~'L/'T-~----'-----~'--'~'"
]
/L.

'~!-.V' . . . . . . .

,x

/
/
i
z

Figure 1 I. Geometric model of the fan impeller

~, > _ _
/!~i:'~.._~.~.... ?.....
~:-~"~";~'~" ~..... 1
"'-~..~..::.,',,:-,.~, . V,
\, ~'"-k~i'i!..~..
il "
i .'~,
~," ~,
I
~, I ", ~ . ~i
_~...~.-,~,M[,L-;.~.
~.:~--~~ T
- - - T ~ - -.~_
- .~..,~--y
~--,~
'~ ,~
~
.."-_~---/ / ,.,"-..~.~

/
z
Figure 12. Finite element model of the fan impeller

159

from the side view of the orthographic projection. The

surface profile gives us an idea of how the z-coordinate
varies. Consider the cross-section of a 'conical' shell as
shown in Figure 9(a). The cross-section enables us to
visualize how z varies for given x and y values. The Bezier
net can then be constructed with the z coordinates varying
according to the graph of the cross-section as shown in
Figure 9(b).
Figures 2, 10 and 11 show the various stages involved
in preparing the surface models for a sector of a fan impeller. Figure 12 shows the surface mesh which may be further
represented as a finite element mesh. This latter process is
described elsewhere l. Here, it is sufficient to state that the
Bezier technique provides the coordinates of the mesh
nodes directly; identification of element nodal connexions
is then all that is necessary to interpret the information as
a finite element mesh. The midside nodes are obtained by
interpolation to define either 8-node quadrilateral or
6-node triangular elements.

CONCLUSIONS
A procedure for interpreting, as surface models, the orthographic views of engineering drawings of plate/shell structure has been described. The structures so treated can be
quite complex, as illustrated by the fan impeller, but they
are geometrically describable by two conventional orthographic views. The process has been incorporated in a linked
CAD system which allows finite element data, and hence
a structural analysis, to be performed automatically from
an 'engineering drawing' stored in digital form in acomputer. Extensions of the work to handle more complex
systems is in hand.

160

REFERENCES
I

Sutherland, I E 'Three-dimensional data input by tablet'

Proc. IEEE Vol 62 (1974) pp 453 461

2 Idesawa, M 'A system to generate a solid figure from a

three view' Bu/I. JSME Vol 16 (Feb 1973) pp 216 225
3 Preiss, K and Kaplanasky, E 'Solving CAD/CAM problems by heuristic programming' Comput. Mech. Eng.
(September 1983) pp 56- 60
4 Adelfeld, B 'On automatic reconstruction of 3D structures from 2D representations' Comput.-Aided Des.
Vol 15 No 2 (March 1983) pp 5 9 - 6 4
5 Lafue, G 'Recognition of three-dimensional objects
from orthographic views' Proc. 3rdAnnua/Conf. on
Computer Graphics, Interactive Techniques, Image Proc.
ACM/SIGGRAPH, (July 1976) pp 103-108
6 B~zier, P Numerical Control - Mathematics and
Application John Wiley, London, UK (1972)
7 Barnhill, R E and Riesenfeld, R F (Eds) Computer Aided
Geometric Design Academic Press, New York, NY, USA
(1974)
8 0 n w u b o l u , G C 'Linking finite-element analysis and
computer-aided drafting processes' PhD Thesis, The
University of Aston, Birmingham, UK (1985)
9 Cooley, P 'Mechanical drafting on a desk top computer'
Comput.-AidedDes. Vol 11 No 2 (March 1979)
pp 7 9 - 8 4
10 Richards, T H and Onwubolu, G C 'Linking plate/shell
finite element analysis and engineering drafting by
means of meshed surface modelling' Forthcoming

computer-aided design