Geometric abstractions to support disassembly analysis

Determining whether an assembly can be constructed from its components at t he design stage potentially reduces downstream assembly problems. This dete rmination can be accomplished by performing a disassembly analysis of the a ssembly's geometric model. This paper presents two abstractions derived fro m the assembly's geometric model that can determine the validity of the ass embly: (1) the Assembly Topology Graph (ATG); and (2) the set of boundary c omponents. The first abstraction, the ATG, is a graph whose nodes represent the components in the assembly and whose edges represent a non-null inters ection of the convex hulls of component pairs. The second abstraction, the set of boundary components, represents components that intersect the bounda ry (or convex hull) of the assembly. These boundary components are typicall y the ones most accessible with respect to disassembly. This paper also dis cusses an algorithm, which utilizes the ATG to determine pair-wise interloc king components. If such component pairs are absent, then the disassembly s equence for the removal of components in the assembly is determined by anal yzing the set of boundary components for disassembly. This procedure is rep eated until all the components in the assembly are disassembled (for a vali d assembly).