Feature based abstraction and meshing

1. A method comprising:

receiving a model of a part to be manufactured, wherein the model includes a plurality of original faces;

classifying each face in the model according to a relative face curvature according to classifications that include at least a high-curvature classification;

identifying sliver faces and narrow blend faces from the plurality of original faces, wherein a sliver face is a face whose area to perimeter ratio is below a first specified threshold, and wherein a narrow blend face is a face that is a sliver face at more than two times a specified minimum element size and is characterized by unidirectional or bidirectional curvature;

classifying any sliver faces and narrow blend faces of the plurality of original faces into zones based on faces surrounding the sliver faces and the narrow blend faces;

merging contiguous faces in each of the zones;

detecting special faces, wherein the special faces are faces that are four-sided fillets, beads, annuli, circular faces, locally narrow faces, narrow blend faces, sliver faces, or any combination thereof;

restoring original faces in the high-curvature classification except for the special faces;

processing shared edges of the restored original faces to produce merged faces;

merging together any merged faces that produce a locally narrow face or an isthmus face, wherein an isthmus face is a face having a narrow area below a second specified threshold, and wherein a locally narrow face is a face that is not as thin as a sliver face nor has an isthmus, but has a narrow tail; and

storing a modified model of the part to be manufactured.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the shared edges of the restored original faces to produce merged faces does not include merging shared edges that are G2 discontinuous.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the shared edges of the restored original faces to produce merged faces does not include merging shared edges that are shared by a sliver face or an isthmus face.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing the part to be manufactured.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising computing a maximum mean curvature of each face and a maximum curvature of all faces, and wherein the relative face curvature of each face is a ratio of the curvature of that face to the maximum curvature of all faces.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the classifications include the high-curvature classification, a medium-curvature classification, and a low-curvature classification.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing a process for identifying geometric discontinuous edges in the model.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing a feature abstraction process on the model.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing a feature identification process for generic beads in the model.

10. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause a data processing system to:

receive a model of a part to be manufactured, wherein the model includes a plurality of original faces;

classify each face in the model according to a relative face curvature according to classifications that include at least a high-curvature classification;

identify sliver faces and narrow blend faces from the plurality of original faces, wherein a sliver face is a face whose area to perimeter ratio is below a first specified threshold, and wherein a narrow blend face is a face that is a sliver face at more than two times a specified minimum element size and is characterized by unidirectional or bidirectional curvature;

classify any sliver faces and narrow blend faces of the plurality of original faces into zones based on faces surrounding the sliver faces and the narrow blend faces;

merge contiguous faces in each of the zones;

detect special faces , wherein the special faces are faces that are four-sided fillets, beads, annuli, circular faces, locally narrow faces, narrow blend faces, sliver faces, or any combination thereof;

restore original faces in the high-curvature classification except for the special faces;

process shared edges of the restored original faces to produce merged faces;

merge together any merged faces that produce a locally narrow face or an isthmus face, wherein an isthmus face is a face having a narrow area below a second specified threshold, and wherein a locally narrow face is a face that is not as thin as a sliver face nor has an isthmus, but has a narrow tail; and

store a modified model of the part to be manufactured.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions cause the data processing system to process the shared edges of the restored original faces to produce merged faces without merging shared edges that are G2 discontinuous.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further cause the data processing system to compute a maximum mean curvature of each face and a maximum curvature of all faces, and wherein the relative face curvature of each face is a ratio of the curvature of that face to the maximum curvature of all faces.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the classifications include the high-curvature classification, a medium-curvature classification, and a low-curvature classification.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further cause the data processing system to perform a process for identifying geometric discontinuous edges in the model.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a computing system to:

receive a model of a part to be manufactured, wherein the model includes a plurality of original faces;

classify each face in the model according to a relative face curvature according to classifications that include at least a high-curvature classification;

identify sliver faces and narrow blend faces from the plurality of original faces, wherein a sliver face is a face whose area to perimeter ratio is below a first specified threshold, and wherein a narrow blend face is a face that is a sliver face at more than two times a specified minimum element size and is characterized by unidirectional or bidirectional curvature;

classify any sliver faces and narrow blend faces of the plurality of original faces into zones based on faces surrounding the sliver faces and the narrow blend faces;

merge contiguous faces in each of the zones;

detect special faces , wherein the special faces are faces that are four-sided fillets, beads, annuli, circular faces, locally narrow faces, narrow blend faces, sliver faces, or any combination thereof;

restore original faces in the high-curvature classification except for the special faces;

process shared edges of the restored original faces to produce merged faces;

merge together any merged faces that produce a locally narrow face or an isthmus face, wherein an isthmus face is a face having a narrow area below a second specified threshold, and wherein a locally narrow face is a face that is not as thin as a sliver face nor has an isthmus, but has a narrow tail; and

store a modified model of the part to be manufactured.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions cause the computing system to process the shared edges of the restored original faces to produce merged faces without merging shared edges that are G2 discontinuous.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions cause the computing system to process the shared edges of the restored original faces to produce merged faces without merging shared edges that are shared by a sliver face or an isthmus face.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the computing system to perform a feature abstraction process on the model.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions cause the computing system to perform a feature identification process for generic beads in the model.