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Design
Application Translates 2-D Graphics to 3-D Surfaces
Computer Technology
Originating Technology/NASA Contribution
When it comes to solving some of NASA’s most challenging
technical problems, the mathematical minds that make up the
Computational Sciences Branch at NASA’s Glenn Research Center
are ready and waiting to crunch some numbers. Calculating
complex algorithms and mathematical equations like it’s child’s
play, the group has worked out many technical issues for
NASA over the years.
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One
of the technical challenges faced by the Computational
Sciences Group at Glenn Research Center was creating
software that was able to accurately flatten a 3-D
surface into a 2-D surface. |
Bruce Auer was a member of the Computational Sciences Branch
for 43 years until he retired in 2005. When he started in
1962, he worked on a wide variety of problems in the fields
of aeronautics and space technology. A key component of his
job was developing complex algorithms that contributed to
solving mathematical problems and modeling chemical and physical
phenomena. Early on, the projects ranged from solving difficult
heat equations for rocket nozzle technology used to prevent
nozzles from burning up with multiple restarts, to studying
cutting-edge turbulent flow theories.
In the late 1980s, Glenn started developing technologies
for designing and manufacturing carbon graphite composite
turboprop fan blades and turbofan inlet fan blades, ranging
in size from 2.5 inches to 30 inches. (Glenn specializes
in the development of jet engine and turbomachinery technology.)
Some of these projects required making hollow blades with
internal passages to dampen jet engine noise. Several years
later, in 1994, Auer’s group was called on for help when
one of these projects, a joint Glenn-Pratt & Whitney
experimental turboprop fan blade project, was not going as
expected, because the experimental blades being designed
and manufactured at Glenn were failing to meet Pratt & Whitney’s
specifications during testing.
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Fabric
Images Inc. has the difficult task of designing the
graphics for complex displays before it can see the
actual, complete, 3-D displays come together. |
The technical shortcomings experienced in this joint project
were traced to three-dimensional (3-D)-to-two-dimensional
(2-D) commercial flattening software, which was not able
to accurately flatten a 3-D surface into a 2-D surface. Flattening
software of this nature
is required, because the fan blade was being made from 50
to 250 separate 2-D carbon graphite composite sheets, or
plies, that were cut and stacked in a mold where
heat and pressure was applied to create a solid carbon graphite
blade.
According to Auer, to determine any one 2-D pattern, first
a 3-D surface internal to the blade had to be computed. Then,
this 3-D surface had to be flattened into its corresponding
2-D pattern. When the Glenn engineers making the fan blades
could not find a commercial vendor who could supply accurate
3-D-to-2-D software, they came to Auer for a solution. Specifically,
the engineers asked Auer to write a 3-D-to-2-D flattening
program that could accurately flatten any 3-D ply internal
to a blade whose external surfaces had complex, continuously
changing double curvatures.
Auer went to work on writing an optimized, 3-D-to-2-D blade-flattening
software program that could address the fan blade engineers’
needs. By taking several mathematical algorithms and weaving
them together with “tight logic,” he came up with a solution:
a program that could handle any 3-D surface fed into it.
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Fabric
Images Inc. impresses its clients with intricate
and innovative displays and designs. |
Auer considered the outcome to be both simple and sophisticated
for flattening. It could be used in either a very straightforward
or advanced manner, depending on the user and his or her
requirements and applications. He stated that the advantages
of the program are that it is highly accurate, fast, and
robust. Furthermore, he noted that it can address stretching
and shrinking issues, which are inherent in some manufacturing
processes.
The software program was successfully put to use in designing
and manufacturing blades for the Glenn-Pratt & Whitney
joint project, as well as in several other blade-manufacturing
projects from other departments
within Glenn over the years. All of the great results were
adding up and, in 2002, several blade engineers recommended
that Auer seek commercial applications for his software program.
Auer agreed with this assessment, so he pursued commercialization
of his software through Glenn’s Commercial Technology Office.
This office accepted his proposal and arranged for his software
program to be featured in the March 2002 issue of NASA
Tech Briefs, thus giving it exposure to the outside engineering
community.
Partnership
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NASA
helped overcome the unique design challenges of creating
3-D designs out of 2-D materials. |
In the spring of 2005, Joseph Settipani was combing the Internet
in an effort to track down a software program that could
help with the flattening of fabric surfaces and, therefore,
help the company cut down production time and limit the waste
of materials. During his Internet search, he came across
information on Auer’s software for optimal flattening of
fan blade
patterns. After several correspondences with Auer, Settipani
recognized the potential for the NASA software to bolster
his Elgin, Illinois-based Fabric
Images Inc. fabric-design
process.
Additional Internet research brought Settipani to the Great
Lakes Industrial Technology Center (GLITeC), which works
with regional companies to acquire and use NASA technology
and expertise, especially from Glenn. A meeting was arranged
between Settipani and Auer.
For the meeting, Auer visited the Fabric Images manufacturing
plant and learned all about the company’s design and manufacturing
processes. Auer saw the value that his software could bring
to Fabric Images and determined that the company was a great
fit as a commercial partner. GLITeC subsequently facilitated
an agreement that would entitle the company to utilize the
NASA software code as a resource for its commercial applications.
Product Outcome
Fabric Images specializes in the printing and manufacturing
of fabric tension architecture for the retail, museum, and
exhibit/trade show markets. The company has the difficult
task of correctly designing 2-D graphics for 3-D surfaces.
Since the displays it assembles serve as advertisements for
its clients, there is the necessity of making sure the words
and logos are visually correct on the 3-D surfaces.
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Since
the displays Fabric Images Inc. assembles primarily
serve as advertisements for its clients, there is
the necessity of making sure the words and logos
are visually correct on the 3-D surfaces. |
The goal in the design process is to achieve 2-D template-based
production, based on the corresponding 3-D surface geometry.
The advantages of template-based production are many, but
there are many variables involved that complicate the process,
as well. In order to control variables during actual production,
Fabric Images now relies on a novel and reliable flattening
process based on the NASA software.
Fabric Images’ fabric-flattening design process begins with
the modeling of a 3-D surface based on computer-aided design
specifications. The surface geometry of the 3-D model is
utilized in the formation of a 2-D template, similar to NASA’s
flattening process. This template or pattern is then applied
in the development of a 2-D graphic layout. To achieve the
desired visual graphic look on a 3-D surface, repositioning
and distortion of 2-D graphics is necessary. When printed
fabric graphics are not repositioned and/or not distorted
for 3-D construction, fabric is wasted and money is lost
in having to initiate graphic layouts and another production
run.
Fabric Images developed a 2-D template pattern-based production
process with the use of the NASA technology as a resource.
This eliminated an entire step from the actual fabric sewing/construction
process, creating
an 11.5-percent time savings per project. Additional benefits
included less material wasted and the ability to improve
upon graphic techniques and, thus, offer new design services.
Today, Fabric Images is wowing its business-to-business partners
and end-user clients with intricate and innovative displays
and designs, using the NASA technology. Partners include
Exhibitgroup/Giltspur (end-user client: TAC Air, a division
of Truman Arnold Companies Inc.), Jack Morton Worldwide (end-user
client: Nickelodeon), as well as 3D Exhibits Inc., and MG
Design Associates Corp.
Although the full potential of Auer’s “flattening math engine”
has yet to be fully realized by Fabric Images, Marco Alvarez,
the company’s president, believes the future of template-based
production will be bright.
“The 3-D-to-2-D templates have given us tools to take our
production to a new level of efficiency. They have also opened
a new avenue of business in providing graphics for difficult,
amorphic shapes,” stated Alvarez.
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