The sweep-envelope differential equation algorithm for general deformed swept volumes

The Sweep-Envelope Differential Equation (SEDE) and some aspects of the Swe ep Differential Equation (SDE) approaches for characterizing swept volume b oundaries are extended to include objects experiencing deformation in this paper. For deformed swept volume, it is found that the structure and algori thm of the SEDE is surprisingly similar to those for rigid swept volumes. T he property of autonomous SDE for deforming swept volumes is completely des cribed. Finally, the effectiveness of the algorithm for deformed cases is v erified by applying it to some examples using the commercial geometric mode ling software Gems 5.0 developed by the CAD Center of Tsinghua University. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.