Research On Algorithm Of Ladderlike Division Based On STL File

Rapid Prototyping Manufacture (RPM) has greatly developed in the processing, materials and qualities of products from its initial stage. As the key technology in the field of RPM, data processing has great influences on the efficiency and adaptability of the manufacture. Basing on the environment of Visual C++ 6.0, this research developed a data processing software which can not only display the STL model but also take lots of operation on it such as ladderlike division, edition, combination and so on.To improve the rate of computing and avoid the mistakes caused by data redundancy, the topology structure will be reconstructed after the STL model being read into the program. Using the open graphic-processing tool of OpenGL, the software can show us the STL model vivid. All operations have good user interfaces and comfortable man-machine communicating ability.To solve the problem of limitation caused by large size of product in rapid-prototyping field and the difficulty of combining, a method for ladderlike division for model based on STL file format was given. The principle and approach for ladderlike division were described in detail including cutting, closing and triangularization. All kinds of critical instances were discussed, and the solve method was given to ensure the result's correctness. Using this method, the large product can be divided to several small parts for rapid-prototyping making, at the same time,high precision of combining is insured. It broadens the applicable range and improves the efficiency of rapid-prototyping system.To save the material and time on manufacture, it is needed to modify the unit, scale, position and relative location of one or more STL models. The influence on efficiency caused by combining was analyzed; the base theory of edition and combination was expatiated.At last, an example of using this software and some expectations on correlative technology were given.