Heterogeneous objects are composed of different constituent materials. In these objects, material properties from different constituent materials are synthesized into one part. Therefore, heterogeneous objects can offer new material properties and functionalities. The task of modeling material heterogeneity (composition variation) is a critical issue in the design and fabrication of such heterogeneous objects. Existing methods cannot efficiently model the material heterogeneity due to the lack of an effective mechanism to control the large number of degrees of freedom for the specification of heterogeneous objects. In this research, we provide a new approach for designing heterogeneous objects. The idea is that designers indirectly control the material distribution through the boundary conditions of a virtual diffusion problem in the solid, rather than directly in the native CAD (B-spline) representation for the distribution. We show how the diffusion problem can be solved using the B-spline shape function, with the results mapping directly to a volumetric B-Spline representation of the material distribution. We also extend this method to material property manipulation and time dependent heterogeneous object modeling. Implementation and examples, such as a turbine blade design and prosthesis design, are also presented. They demonstrate that the physics based B-spline modeling method is a convenient, intuitive, and efficient way to model object heterogeneity.

Issue Section:
Technical Papers
Keywords:
splines (mathematics), tensors, diffusion, CAD, mechanical engineering
Topics:
B-splines, Diffusion (Physics), Modeling, Physics, Materials properties, Diffusion processes, Design, Prostheses
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