System, method, and computer program product for determining wall thickness in graphic model

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product for measuring wall thickness. After an internal body topology of the model is generated, the topology is traversed between wall elements to determine wall thickness.

1 . A method for determining the thickness of a wall of a graphic model, comprising:
 loading a graphic model;   generating a surface mesh on the faces of the model;   generating an internal body topology of the graphic model, corresponding to the surface mesh;   identifying a first element in a first wall side of the graphic model   traversing the internal body topology to identify a second element in a second wall side of the graphic model;   measuring the distance between the first element and the second element; and   storing a wall thickness, the wall thickness corresponding to the measured distance.   
   
   
       2 - 3 . (canceled) 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the traversal direction is along the normal vector of the mesh element using the 3D grid mapping topology for efficient searching. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the traversal range is guided by the normal vector of the mesh element and is within a range of angles using the 3D grid mapping topology for efficient searching. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mesh points are projected onto the faces to achieve accurate results. 
   
   
       7 - 10 . (canceled) 
   
   
       11 . A data processing system having at least a processor and accessible memory, comprising:
 means for loading a graphic model;   means for generating a surface mesh on the faces of the model;   means for generating an internal body topology of the graphic model, corresponding to the surface mesh;   means for identifying a first element in a first wall side of the graphic model   means for traversing the internal body topology to identify a second element in a second wall side of the graphic model;   means for measuring the distance between the first element and the second element; and   means for storing a wall thickness, the wall thickness corresponding to the measured distance.   
   
   
       12 - 13 . (canceled) 
   
   
       14 . The data processing system of  claim 11 , wherein the traversal direction is along the normal vector of the mesh element using the 3D grid mapping topology for efficient searching. 
   
   
       15 . The data processing system of  claim 11 , wherein the traversal range is guided by the normal vector of the mesh element and is within a range of angles using the 3D grid mapping topology for efficient searching. 
   
   
       16 . The data processing system of  claim 11 , wherein the mesh points are projected onto the faces to achieve accurate results. 
   
   
       17 - 20 . (canceled) 
   
   
       21 . A computer program product tangibly embodied in a machine-readable medium, comprising:
 instructions for loading a graphic model;   instructions for generating a surface mesh on the faces of the model;   instructions for generating an internal body topology of the graphic model, corresponding to the surface mesh;   instructions for identifying a first element in a first wall side of the graphic model   instructions for traversing the internal body topology to identify a second element in a second wall side of the graphic model;   instructions for measuring the distance between the first element and the second element; and   instructions for storing a wall thickness, the wall thickness corresponding to the measured distance.   
   
   
       22 - 23 . (canceled) 
   
   
       24 . The computer program product of  claim 21 , wherein the traversal direction is along the normal vector of the mesh element using the 3D grid mapping topology for efficient searching. 
   
   
       25 . The computer program product of  claim 21 , wherein the traversal range is guided by the normal vector of the mesh element and is within a range of angles using the 3D grid mapping topology for efficient searching. 
   
   
       26 . The computer program product of  claim 21 , wherein the mesh points are projected onto the faces to achieve accurate results. 
   
   
       27 - 30 . (canceled)