Introduction to

Solid Modeling

Hongxin Zhang and Jieqing Feng

2007-01-15

State Key Lab of CAD&CG

Zhejiang University
 Contents

• Solid Representations: An Introduction

• Wireframe Models
• Boundary Representations
Š Manifolds
Š The Winged-Edge Data Structure
Š The Euler-Poincaré Formula
Š Euler Operators
• Constructive Solid Geometry
Š Interior, Exterior and Closure
Š Regularized Boolean Operators
Š CSG Design Examples
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 Solid Representations

• Solid Model: geometric object with interior,

such as cube, piston engine
• Solid representation: describe the
geometry and characteristics completely

What is a good solid representation?

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 Requirements for Solid
Representation

• Domain
• Unambiguity
• Uniqueness
• Accuracy
• Validness
• Closure
• Compactness and Efficiency

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 Requirements for Solid
Representation

• Domain
While no representation can describe all possible
solids, a representation should be able to
represent a useful set of geometric objects.
• Unambiguity
When you see a representation of a solid, you will
know what is being represented without any
doubt. An unambiguous representation is usually
referred to as a complete one.

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 Requirements for Solid
Representation

• Uniqueness
That is, there is only one way to represent a
particular solid. If a representation is unique,
then it is easy to determine if two solids are
identical since one can just compare their
representations.
• Accuracy
A representation is said accurate if no
approximation is required.

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 Requirements for Solid
Representation

• Validness
This means a representation should not create
any invalid or impossible solids. More precisely, a
representation will not represent an object that
does not correspond to a solid.
• Closure
Solids will be transformed and used with other
operations such as union and intersection.
"Closure" means that transforming a valid solid
always yields a valid solid
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 Requirements for Solid
Representation

• Compactness and Efficiency

A good representation should be compact
enough for saving space and allow for
efficient algorithms to determine desired
physical characteristics

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 About Solid Representations

• Designing representations for solids is a

difficult job
• The requirements may be contradictory with
each other
Š Compromises are often necessary

• Three classical representations

Š Wireframes
Š Boundary Representations (B-Rep)
Š Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG)

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 Wireframe Models

• Wireframe model consists of two tables

Š Vertex table: vertices and their coordinate
values
Š Edge table: two incident vertices of edges
• A wireframe model does not have face
information

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 Example of Wireframe Model

Vertex Table Edge Table

Edge # Start Vertex End Vertex
Vertex # x y z
1 1 2
1 1 1 1 2 2 3
2 1 -1 1 3 3 4
4 4 1
3 -1 -1 1
5 5 6
4 -1 1 1 6 6 7
5 1 1 -1 7 7 8
8 8 5
6 1 -1 -1
9 1 5
7 -1 -1 -1 10 2 6
8 -1 1 -1 11 3 7
12 4 8
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 Example of Wireframe Model

Wireframe model described by Wireframe model with curve

previous tables edges

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 Wireframe Models Are Ambiguous

• Examples: 16 vertices and 32 edges

All interpretations are right!

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 Application of Wireframe Models

• Preview the complex solid models

Š Shading is time-consuming
Š provide a general feeling of the final result

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 Boundary Representations

• Boundary Representation, or B-rep

Š Extension to the wireframe model by adding
face information
Š A solid is bounded by its surface and has its
interior and exterior

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 Boundary Representations

• Two types of information in B-rep

Š Topological information:
ƒ relationships among vertices, edges and faces
ƒ orientation of edges and faces
Š Geometric information:
ƒ equations of the edges and faces

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 Boundary Representations

• Orientation of face is important

Š Count Clockwise: normal points to the exterior
of model
Š Faces
ƒ Orientable
ƒ Non-orientable

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 Manifolds (Review)

• Manifold Solid Modeling

Š The surface of a solid is 2-D manifold
Š 2-D manifold
ƒ For each point x on the surface, there exists an
open ball with center x and sufficiently small radius,
so that the intersection of this ball and the surface
can be continuously deformed to an open disk
ƒ Open ball: x2 + y2 + z2 < r2
• Non-manifold Solid Modeling

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 Example of 2-D manifold

2-D manifold 2-D non-manifold

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 The Winged-Edge Data
Structure
• The winged-edge data structure uses
edges to keep track all information in the
solid model

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 The Winged-Edge Data
Structure
• In the following example, assuming
Š No hole in the face (can be extended later)
Š Edges and faces are line segments and
polygons (extended to curves and surfaces)
Š Description
ƒ Vertices Î upper cases (A, B, C)
ƒ Edges Î lower cases (a, b, c)
ƒ Faces Î digits (1, 2, 3)

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 The Winged-Edge Data
Structure
• Edge: a
Š Two incident vertices: X and Y
Š Two incident faces: 2(left) and 1 (right) in case a=XY

• Face: 1
Š Three ordered edges: a, c, b

• Edge: a
Š In face 1: X Æ Y
What information is important?
Š In face 2: Y Æ X

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 The Winged-Edge Data
Structure
• Vertices of this edge
• Its left and right faces
• The predecessor and successor of this
edge when traversing its left face, and
• The predecessor and successor of this
edge when traversing its right face

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 Edge Table

• Edge name
• Start vertex and end vertex
• Left face and right face
• The predecessor and successor edges
when traversing its left face
• the predecessor and successor edges
when traversing its right face

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 Edge Table
Edge Vertices Faces Left Traverse Right Traverse

Name Start End Left Right Pred Succ Pred Succ

a X Y 1 2 b d e c

Winged edge a: b, c, d, e are

the wings of edge a !

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 Complete Edge Tables

Edge Vertices Faces Left Traverse Right Traverse

Name Start End Left Right Pred Succ Pred Succ
a A D 3 1 e f b c
b A B 1 4 c a f d
c B D 1 2 a b d e
d B C 2 4 e c b f
e C D 2 3 c d f a
f A C 4 3 d b a e

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 Other Tables

• Vertex table: an edge • Face Table: an face

incidents to this vertex contains this edge

Vertex Incident Face Incident

Name Edge Name Edge

A a 1 a
B b 2 c
C d 3 a
D e 4 b

These tables are not unique!

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 The Adjacency Relation

• The Adjacency Relation

Š From edge Î vertex, face, edge ?
Š From face Î vertex, edge, face ?
Š From vertex Î edge, face, vertex ?

• The Winged Edge data structure can

accomplish these queries efficiently!

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 Face with Holes

• Two solutions
1. Introducing loops: reverse
direction of face edge order
2. Introducing auxiliary edges:
ƒ Identify the auxiliary edges: its left and right faces
are same

loops

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 The Euler-Poincaré Formula

• Euler-Poincaré Formula can be used for

check the validness of a solid

• A more elaborate formula: for potholes

and penetrated holes

V - E + F - (L - F) - 2(S - G) = 0

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 V-E+F-(L-F)-2(S-G)=0

• V: the number of vertices

• E: the number of edges
• F: the number of faces
• G: the number of penetrated holes (genus)
• S: the number of shells
Š A shell is bounded by a 2-manifold surface, which can
have its own genus value
Š The solid itself is counted as a shell
• L: the number of all outer and inner loops
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 Examples (1)

• A cube: eight vertices (V = 8), 12 edges (E

= 12) and six faces (F = 6), no holes and
one shell (S=1); L = F (each face has only
one outer loop)

V-E+F-(L-F)-2(S-G)
= 8-12+6-(6-6)-2(1-0)
=0

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 Examples (2)

• 16 vertices, 24 edges, 11 faces, no holes,

1 shell and 12 loops (11 faces + one inner
loop on the top face)
V-E+F-(L-F)-2(S-G)
= 16-24+11-(12-11)-2(1-0)
=0

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 Examples (3)

• 16 vertices, 24 edges, 10 faces, 1 hole

(i.e., genus is 1), 1 shell and 12 loops (10
faces + 2 inner loops on top and bottom
faces)
V-E+F-(L-F)-2(S-G)
= 16-24+10-(12-10)-2(1-1)
=0

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 Examples (4)

The following solid has a penetrating hole and an internal

cubic chamber as shown by the right cut-away figure. It has
24 vertices, 12*3 (cubes) = 36 edges, 6*3 (cubes) - 2 (top
and bottom openings) = 16 faces, 1 hole (i.e., genus is 1), 2
shells and 18 loops (16 faces + 2 inner loops on top and
bottom faces)

V-E+F-(L-F)-2(S-G)
= 24-36+16-(18-16)-2(2-1)
=0

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 Examples (4)

The following solid has two penetrating holes and no

internal chamber as shown by the right cut-away figure.
It has 24 vertices, 36 edges, 14 faces, 2 hole (i.e.,
genus is 2), 1 shells and 18 loops (14 faces + 4)

V-E+F-(L-F)-2(S-G)
=24-36+14-(18-14)-2(1-2)
=0

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 The Euler-Poincaré Formula
• Topological information and geometric
information should be consistent
• Checking validness of solid by Euler-Poincaré
formula
Š If the value of Euler-Poincaré formula is non-zero, the
representation is definitely not a valid solid
Š the value of the Euler-Poincaré formula being zero does not
guarantee the representation would yield a valid solid

10 vertices, 15 edges, 7 faces, 1 shell and no hole

V-E+F-(L-F)-2(S-G) = 10-15+7-(7-7)-2(1-0)=0

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 Count Genus Correctly

• The Euler-Poincaré Formula describes the

topological property amount vertices, edges,
faces, loops, shells and genus
• Any topological transformation applied to the
model will not alter this relationship

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 Sphere Punched by Three Tunnels

The Genus is 2

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 Euler Operators

• Euler Operators: modification of solid

model while keeping the Euler-Poincaré
formula tenable
V-E+F-(L-F)-2(S-G)=0
• There are two groups of such operators
Š the Make group: M
Š the Kill group: K

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 Euler Operators

• Euler operators are written as:

Š Mxyz: x,y,z are vertex, edge, face, loop, shell and
genus, e.g., MEV—adding an edge and a vertex
Š Kxyz: similar
• Euler operators form a complete set of modeling
primitives for manifold solids (Mantyla) ÍÎ
Every topologically valid polyhedron can be
constructed from an initial polyhedron by a finite
sequence of Euler operations

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 The Make Group of Euler Operators

• Adding some elements into the existing model

creating a new one: V-E+F-(L-F)-2(S-G)=0
Operator Name Meaning V E F L S G
MEV Make an edge and a vertex +1 +1
MFE Make a face and an edge +1 +1 +1

MSFV Make a shell, a face and a vertex +1 +1 +1 +1

MSG Make a shell and a hole +1 +1

MEKL Make an edge and kill a loop +1 -1

Note: adding a face produces a loop, the outer loop of that face

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 Example: construct a tetrahedron

Operator
Name
Meaning V E F L S G Result

MSFV Make a shell, a face and a vertex +1 +1 +1 +1

MEV Make an edge and a vertex +1 +1

MEV Make an edge and a vertex +1 +1

MEV Make an edge and a vertex +1 +1

MFE Make a face and an edge +1 +1 +1

MFE Make a face and an edge +1 +1 +1

MFE Make a face and an edge +1 +1 +1

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 Example: MEKL

• MEKL: make an edge and kill a loop

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 The Kill Group of Euler Operators

• The Kill group just performs the opposite

of what the Make group does
Operator Name Meaning V E F L S G

KEV Kill an edge and a vertex -1 -1

KFE Kill a face and an edge -1 -1 -1

KSFV Kill a shell, a face and a vertex -1 -1 -1 -1
KSG Kill a shell and a hole -1 -1

KEML Kill an edge and make a loop -1 +1

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 Constructive Solid Geometry

• Solids representation: Constructive Solid

Geometry, or CSG for short
• A CSG solid is constructed from a few
primitives with Boolean operators
• CSG solid
Š Representation
Š Design methodology, Design process

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 CSG Primitives

• Standard CSG primitives: block (cube),

triangular prism, sphere, cylinder, cone,
torus
• Instantiated primitives via transformation:
scaling, translation, rotation
Block: center (0,0,0), size (2,2,2)
instantiated block: center(3,2,3), size(5,3,3)
translate(scale(Block, < 2.5, 1.5, 1.5 >), < 3, 2, 3 >)

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 Boolean Operators

• Set operations between sets A and B

Š Union: all points from either A or B
Š Intersection: all points in both A and B
Š Difference: all points in A but not in B
• Example: A and B are two orthogonal
cylinders

∪ ∩ A-B B-A

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 Boolean Operators

• Bracket Model Example

Š scaling blocks and cylinder
Š (scaled block) union (scaled block)
or (block) difference (scaled block)
Š (union blocks) difference (scaled cylinder)
or (difference blocks) difference (scaled cylinder)

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 CSG Expressions

• use +, ^ and - for (regularized) set union,

intersection and difference

CSG Tree
CSG Expression

• CSG representations are not unique

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 Interior, Exterior and Closure

• A solid is a 3D object, so does its interior

and exterior, its boundary is a 2D surface

• Example
Š sphere: x2+y2+z2=1
Š Interior: x2+y2+z2<1
Š Closure of interior: x2+y2+z2≤1
Š Exterior: x2+y2+z2>1

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 Formal Definitions: interior

• int(S):
Š A point P is an interior point of a solid S if
there exists a radius r such that the open ball
with center P and radius r is contained in the
solid S.
Š The set of all interior points of solid S is the
interior of S , written as int(S)

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 Formal Definitions: exterior

• ext(S):
Š A point Q is an exterior point of a solid S if
there exists a radius r such that the open ball
with center Q and radius r does not intersect
the solid S.
Š The set of all exterior points of solid S is the
exterior of S , written as ext(S)

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 Formal Definitions: closure

• b(S): Those points that are not in the

interior nor in the exterior of a solid S
constitutes the boundary of solid S ,
written as b(S).
• closure(S): The closure of a solid S is
defined to be the union of S's interior and
boundary, written as closure(S)

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 Formal Definitions: some notes

• The union of interior, exterior and

boundary of a solid is the whole space.
• The closure of solid S contains all points
that are not in the exterior of S

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 Examples

C
A

A: interior point B: exterior point C: boundary point

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 Regularized Boolean Operators

• The Boolean operation of two solids is

always still solid?

intersection

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 Regularized Boolean Operators

• Let +, ^ and - be regularized set

union, intersection and difference
A+B = closure(int(set union of A and B)
A^B = closure(int(set intersection of A and B)
A-B = closure(int(set difference of A and B)

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 CSG Design Examples

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 Download courses

http://www.cad.zju.edu.cn/home/jqfeng/GM/GM08.zip

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 About project and report

• Deadline: 2007.03.01
• Compressed all files, which should include
1) Descriptions of your work: name, student number, master
or Ph.D student, grade, programming environment, report
topic, etc.
2) Source codes and report
3) File format: GM_ChineseName_StudentNum.rar
• Send email to: zhx at cad . zju . edu . cn

• Sincerely welcome comments on GM course to

{jqfeng, zhx} at cad . zju . edu. cn

01/15/2007 State Key Lab of CAD&CG 61

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