218

Reverse Engineering and CAE∗

Masashi ENDO∗∗

Existing CAE is based on CAD data and is mainly applied to design and development.
Product-based CAE to acquire data from actual products and implement CAE based on the
derived data is being actively studied now. The present paper describes the important points
in using reverse engineering that acquires data using noncontact 3D measuring instruments
and generates CAD and CAE models based on the derived data. The present paper further-
more introduces the uniquely developed automatic surfacing tool, Clay Galaxy, for use in
reverse engineering. The effectiveness of reverse engineering and Product-based CAE is also
explained.

Key Words: Reverse Engineering, CAE, CAD, Automatic Surfacing, STL, FEM, Noncon-
tact 3D Shape Measuring Systems

However, further improvements are necessary with regard

1. CAD- and Product-Based CAE
to detailed deformation modes and acceleration, and the
Product development by 3D CAD has been estab- strain and stress of individual parts. This is because the
lished in many manufacturing industries. As a result, users require such a high level of analysis accuracy where
CAD-based CAE, which uses 3D line, surface and volume intrinsic errors of finite elements are significant. The other
data generated by 3D CAD, is generally accepted at this reason is the difference in deformation mode and charac-
time at the beginning of the 21st century. There are, how- teristics between analysis models and actual cars arising
ever, many aspects where human resources must be used, from different shapes and material characteristics. This
even when CAD cleanup technology is fully utilized, such means that for CAE to continually develop in the 21st cen-
as the necessity of adjusting CAD for use in CAE. tury, the shape and material characteristics of actual cars
Analysis software and computing hardware are also must be precisely reflected in the finite element models, or
developing steadily. The accuracy of analysis has dramat- the establishment of Product-based CAE.
ically improved in the past 10 years. The development Speaking of car development, the national safety reg-
period has been reduced to 3 or 4 months for many au- ulations must be met, but it is also important to demon-
tomobiles and household electrical appliances. The con- strate the impact absorbing characteristics to protect oc-
ventional development style of manufacturing prototypes cupants and pedestrians for the differentiation of products
following analysis and developing products using actual and the assertion of advantage over competitors. Impact
products and CAE simultaneously is no longer appropri- characteristics of interior equipment and exterior plastic
ate for this very short development time. Future product parts (bumpers, headlights, etc.) must be precisely repro-
development requires the use of digital prototyping where duced. To analyze plastic parts precisely, the shape of an
main product models are created using only the results of actual machine must be precisely represented to reproduce
CAE analysis. This method still needs further enhance- deformation mode. A shape model faithful to the actual
ment of analysis accuracy and shortening of the analysis machine must be generated based on Product-based CAE.
period. The recent dissemination of mobile phones and digi-
In terms of analysis accuracy, vibration analysis, tal cameras has provided opportunities for people in gen-
stress endurance analysis and impact analysis are satis- eral to use precision equipment. The new function of im-
factory to some extent with regard to the absolute defor- pact endurance is now an important design theme. CAE
mation such as deformation of major parts of a product. technology required for precision digital household elec-
∗
trical appliances calls for high accuracy different in nature
Received 10th December, 2004 (No. 04-4240)
∗∗ from that of cars. In this case also, Product-based CAE by
Fuji Technical Research Inc., 1–19–17 Tennocho,
Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 240–0003, Japan. reverse engineering is no less effective than the conven-
E-mail: [email protected] tional CAD-based CAE. (Fig. 1)

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2. Usefulness of Digital Prototyping

In the actual development and design activity, a de-
sign to satisfy regulations and product requirements with-
out prototyping is required against the background of the
above-mentioned shortened development period. This ne-
cessitates the practical application of prototyping by CAE
(hereafter called “digital prototyping”). Digital prototyp-
ing requires that both mesh generation, a preparatory stage
for analysis, and mesh modification to execute a parame-
ter study must be finished in a short time period of, say,
one week. Considering the current high-performance and
sophisticated general-purpose CAE systems, this require- Fig. 1 CAD data created with reverse engineering
ment is only met by inputting as much manpower as re-
quired, making it doubtful whether digital prototyping is
the best solution for all manufacturers. Analysis special-
ists also find it difficult to conduct a necessary and suffi-
cient analysis in time that satisfies the requirements of the
designers.
Mesh generation and its preparatory stage of CAD
editing, which are important in reducing the total job time,
can be performed effectively by using an auto-mesh gener-
Fig. 2 Two distinct surfaces A and B are assumed to be a single
ator or its fully automatic batch processing system. Many surface using the tolerance between edges and face angle
defects of discontinuity and duplication exist in the CAD as the parameters.
data prepared by designers because the data are not in-
tended to be used as analytical CAD data or simply be-
cause of lack of time. These defects constitute the most virtual zone. Given these conditions, the virtual zone is
critical impediments to the use of an auto-mesh generator. defined inclusive of the defects absorbed. A mesh is au-
A number of healing software programs are available tomatically generated in the virtual zone, and the resultant
to correct the defects present in the CAD data prepared by mesh is free from the effect of CAD defects. The virtual
designers but these programs are not meant for exclusive zone is a virtual geometry and does not modify or alter
use in CAE. These programs are highly functional to in- the original CAD data. A mesh is automatically gener-
clude, for example, a function to correct errors of CAD ated by absorbing the defects while maintaining the CAD
data down to approximately 1/100 mm. They are thus originality. The idea of virtual geometry facilitates the au-
not suitable for use in automatic mesh generating batch tomatic generation of meshes and significantly reduces the
systems; a program with specially designed accuracy and time period required for product development.
functions must be developed. Such a program should not The Clay Divider Manager is a tool for continuous
be designed to correct all defects on CAD but correct them automatic process or batch process with parameters input
after generating a mesh to prevent the algorithm from be- in advance. The new tool allows the user to successively
coming complicated. The quality of a mesh depends on process the specified series of files including the creation
the level of the relevant CAD data, and thus the genera- of virtual zones through to the automatic generation of
tion ratio should not be unduly increased but the defects meshes simply by entering and executing (Fig. 3) the file
to be corrected later should be as few as possible. This is names to be processed, conditions for the virtual zones and
because manual correction by engineers cannot be spared mesh generation standards on the spread sheet displayed
however skillfully the algorithm is refined. on the GUI screen (Figs. 4 and 5).
Problems encountered in mesh generation and the The batch processing function of the Clay Divider
batch system are described below using our Clay Divider Manager is not limited to mesh generation. It is used to
and Clay Divider Manager as examples. convert CAD data to any other type of CAD data, and de-
The CAE tool Clay Divider has a virtual geometry tect and automatically correct errors affecting mesh qual-
function called Virtual Zone. A mesh is generated fully ity peculiar to certain analysis solvers (e.g. length of a
automatically in the virtual zone (Fig. 2), where two or specified element affecting time step). The combined use
more surface data are healed under certain conditions to of these tools allows the user to automatically generate and
treat them as a single virtual surface dataset. Face angle, correct an analysis model of a car comprising a great num-
CAD edge tolerance and other conditions are added to the ber of parts, thereby contributing to significant shortening

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Fig. 3 Image of Screen on Clay Divider Manager

Fig. 5 Image of output file

Fig. 4 Images of input files

of the development period and the resultant cut in man-

power cost.
To enhance perfection of the batch system, the result
of analysis made with the meshes generated by this sys-
tem is compared with the result of analysis conducted by
skilled analyzers in the past. If any difference emerges,
the mesh pattern of the batch system is improved to make
the difference minimal.
In some cases, 3D CAD data may not have been cre-
Fig. 6 Reverse engineering data series
ated, or they are not available within the company be-
cause the development is outsourced. Even in these cases,
Product-based CAE can be effectively used: 3D CAD data of software programs, for example, reverse engineering
are created by reverse engineering of the product, and is negatively defined as an act to reversely analyze soft-
meshes are generated with the batch function. By follow- ware, including elucidation of the relation among modules
ing this course of automation, appreciation of the useful- and analysis of basic specifications of a system. How-
ness of digital prototyping is expected. ever, reverse engineering is used not only in a negative
sense of reverse analysis and copying of other makers’
3. Reverse Engineering
products, but also in a positive sense of analysis of own
Reverse engineering generally means to clarify the products to facilitate product development. This under-
structure, specifications, purposes, components, and ele- standing directly leads to the concept of Product-based
ment technologies of software or hardware. In the field CAE proposed by us. Thanks to the recent development

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of rapid prototyping technologies, prototypes of parts, if mately 0.1 mm or above. Furthermore, it is less expensive
products are not yet possible, are produced without nec- than other systems. The CCD camera measuring method
essarily manufacturing dies once 3D CAD is completed. is described in the rest of this paper.
Product-based CAE is basically different from the exist- 3. 2. 2 Cleaning and degreasing The cleaning
ing CAD-based CAE which generates CAE meshes af- and degreasing process is indispensable in measurement
ter generating CAD. The usefulness of CAE will be fur- with CCD cameras. Dust, dirt, chips, grease and other oils
ther enhanced by developing and applying Product-based and fats must be fully removed to achieve high-precision
CAE typically represented by reverse engineering. The measurement. These impurities, if present, will also be
Product-based CAE backed by reverse engineering creates measured and reflected in the point group data. Halation
highly accurate 3D data and promises effective utilization occurs easily to decrease accuracy.
of CAE in the development and design activity. Product- 3. 2. 3 Marking Reference points of an identical
based CAE technology will become a future technology shape are pasted to the target subjects after cleaning. The
indispensable to all manufacturers. shooting range with one shot of the measuring instrument
The data derived from reserve engineering are, like is fixed according to the conditions so that the subject to
those derived from CAE, effectively used in the inspec- be measured is adjusted in position and direction and shots
tion and quality control activity. The data are used, for are synthesized to generate the shape. The measured point
example, for checking differences between design and fin- group data are synthesized relative to the reference points.
ished products in terms of radius shape, plate thickness, When the target subject is relatively small and complex,
the amount of springback after pressing, etc. The impor- some contrivance is necessary such as fixing the subject
tant points for using reverse engineering are (1) selection on an auxiliary subject that serves as the reference and
of a measurement method according to purpose, (2) ac- pasting the reference points to the auxiliary subject.
quisition of accurate measurement data using adequate fil- 3. 2. 4 Prevention of halation Halation is a
ters, (3) efficient surfacing and concrete techniques, and blurred bright patch around a highly illuminated area.
(4) generation of data on shape and analysis models ac- Spraying of fine powder medicines, if possible, is recom-
cording to purpose (Fig. 6). mended for the prevention of halation caused by a projec-
3. 1 Selection of measurement method according to tor’s light at the time of measurement. Prevention of hala-
purpose tion enhances measurement accuracy and enables the user
3. 1. 1 Purpose of measurement The measured to acquire effective data from the widest possible single-
point groups and STL data are used in two ways: (1) ana- shot measurement range. Prevention of halation is par-
lyze own and other products (design) and (2) confirm ac- ticularly important when measuring subjects with glossy
curacy of own products (inspection). Design purpose is surfaces or materials through which the projector light will
further divided into (1) create a 3D mockup to shorten penetrate. Spraying of fine powder medicines is also effec-
the development period and (2) when own products in- tive for other materials because they keep the irradiating
clude some purchased parts, for which 3D data are not light uniform at all times and enhance the work efficiency.
available, use as CAD data to implement analysis. Inspec- 3. 2. 5 Calibration Calibration is used to set nu-
tion purpose is further broken down into (1) inspect plate merical standards for measuring instruments and the sub-
thickness in the pressing process, (2) check the amount of ject to be measured. Detailed procedures of calibration
springback and (3) check the level of shrinkage and warp differ with the measuring instrument. Generally, the sub-
in the plastic forming process. ject that serves as the reference is measured and a numer-
3. 2 Data acquisition ical standard is set. Calibration is indispensable for estab-
3. 2. 1 Measurement method Noncontact 3D lishing the standard for measurement data and stabilizing
shape measuring systems include a pattern projection accuracy.
system using CCD cameras, a CT scanner system and 3. 2. 6 Measurement The shooting range with a
an FM laser system. The CT scanner type features a single shot of the measuring instrument is fixed so that
short measurement time but introduction cost is high and to measure the target subject in its entirety the subject
many restrictions apply to the installation location. The is moved and/or gradually rotated to continue measure-
laser type is more popular but the introduction cost is still ment until the entire shape is represented. Each shot in-
higher than the CCD camera type. The laser type has the cludes at least three reference points that are included in
highest freedom for the size of the target subject. the preceding shot. The method of synthesis varies with
Means of measurement must be carefully selected to the measuring instrument. Generally, the shots are succes-
match the purpose and the subjects to be measured be- sively synthesized with the help of the minimum three ref-
cause the accuracy of point group data varies with the sys- erence points that are shared among the shots. When the
tem. Measurement by CCD cameras is generally accurate. target subject is large or long, some suitable contrivance
The CCD camera system features an accuracy of approxi- should be used to assure accuracy such as by simultane-

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ously measuring a standard piece. When using a measure- 3. 4 Preparation of analysis model according to
ment method having directivity such as a CCD camera, purpose
undercuts, deep holes or bag-like shapes are difficult or For an analysis model assuming reverse engineering,
impossible to measure. In these cases, the part is disas- a full investigation including surfacing is necessary con-
sembled, or the shape of the deep hole is copied using sidering the purpose and computing technique. The shape
resins or other suitable auxiliary materials to measure the of a target subject, whether it be a single mold or a welded
inverted shape. Then the entire shape may be restored by assembly, can be perfectly reproduced but material prop-
joining the shape data thus derived with the original data. erties and mechanical structure are not reflected. It is im-
Importantly, the auxiliary materials to be used should be portant to check to which extent the mechanical structure
carefully selected by checking the material properties. and weld zones are reflected in the analysis model. It is
3. 2. 7 Output of point group data The derived also important to set adequate boundary and loading con-
data are preferably output after being converted into a data ditions taking material properties into consideration.
format suitable for the succeeding stage using an appropri-
4. Clay Galaxy — Surfacing Tool for Reverse Engi-
ate processor. Currently, however, the majority of avail-
neering
able tools are satisfactory for data format containing only
point group data (x, y and z coordinate values) and STL Many manufacturers focus on digital mockups that
(triangular data) so that these data formats must be con- produce virtual products in an attempt to improve qual-
verted or processed as required. Measurement data cap- ity, shorten the production period, and cut costs. CAD
tured by CCD cameras contain fewer variations from the systems are sequentially switched to solid-base systems.
actual shape than other systems and no high-level filtering The current high-end CAD system requires representation
is required. Naturally, apparently improper data must be of a very accurate 3D space and does not assume use of
removed. the derived data in reverse engineering. Furthermore, the
3. 3 Efficient surfacing shape is generated by complex mathematical procedures,
3. 3. 1 Compression of point group data Data resulting in a tremendous amount of data being consumed.
obtained by CCD cameras are point groups consisting of A new surfacing tool is therefore required that uses CCD
synthesized shots. The data size can be enormous. A cameras, CT scanners, FM lasers or other noncontact 3D
small dataset contains several tens of megabytes and a measuring instruments to measure point group data and
large dataset easily exceeds 1 GB. Large datasets by far convert them into STL data with triangular patches. In the
exceed the memory area of a working machine. Pretreat- new tool, noise caused by overlapping measuring ranges is
ment is necessary such as compression or thinning using removed, and missing data caused by measuring errors are
software programs or various general-purpose tools. Sev- adequately complemented. We have independently devel-
eral types of compression procedures should be available oped the surfacing tool for reverse engineering called Clay
for selection according to the purpose of use (emphasis on Galaxy. The features of the new tool are described below.
accuracy, uniform array of point groups, etc.). 4. 1 Lightweight point group data
3. 3. 2 Definition of surfacing standard Defini- Not all of the several thousand to several million point
tion of preparation standards for surfacing is important to group data that are measured are necessary for surfacing.
enhance work efficiency and accuracy. Preparation accu- Omission is necessary to enhance work efficiency. The
racy is a function of what the prepared surface data are new tool provides several kinds of data compression pro-
used for. When the data are used, for example, in the cedures including designation of the rate of reduction, des-
design department to check design, surfacing should be ignation of the curvature maintenance rate and retention of
carefully performed especially for feature lines and sur- edge length.
face continuity. At least C1 continuity is required. When 4. 2 Editing point group data and STL data
analysis is the main purpose, finish with a high accuracy The point group data measured by a noncontact 3D
of about, say, 0.1 mm is required depending on the type of measuring instrument do not necessarily cover the re-
analysis, the part to be evaluated and the size of the tar- quired parts completely (e.g. start and stop points and
get subject. In other cases, non-evaluated areas may be the center point of a curve or a surface). The new tool
finished in a simplified form. Generally, an exact model is provided with a function to correct omissions using
is required in analyses where plastic stress and strain are point group data around the omission while maintaining
to be studied in particular. In contrast, accuracy is not so the original data quality.
important in an overall rigidity analysis. In any case, work 4. 3 Generation and edition of line and surface
efficiency can be improved if surfacing standards suitable data
for the purpose of work are set before starting operation. Lines and surfaces are generated using the point
group data. Some functions provided are the same as those
of the high-end CAD. Projection onto point group data is

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Generated CAD surface and STL are checked on the contour diagram
Fig. 7 Display of tolerance between STL and CAD, and contour

practical use expected in the near future. The generated

surface data can be directly converted into any high-end
CAD.
As discussed in detail above, the new tool features
those functions that are most earnestly required in reverse
engineering. It is provided with many other functions to
enhance work efficiency. A single tool is used to process
point groups and then generate meshes in succession. This
is a great advantage of the tool, and we may add that this
is the most suitable tool in this field.
5. Conclusions
Measuring methods and surfacing tools have been de-
Fig. 8 Automatic surfacing scribed as they relate to reverse engineering. The methods
and tools introduced above are effective for manufacturing
also possible. rather than engineering. Any engineer engaged in devel-
4. 4 Visible clearance level opment and production can use the tool, not to mention de-
When CAD exists, a contour of difference of data be- signers. Products with enhanced quality can be developed
tween CADs and between CAD and STL can be displayed and produced in a shorter time period if the application
to facilitate the verification of errors between design and range of reverse engineering is enlarged. Our company is
prototype/product (Fig. 7). committed to the promotion of technology and tool devel-
4. 5 Automatic surfacing opment to assist in the continued enhancement of product
The most important feature of the new tool is that quality in the future.
CAD surfaces are automatically generated from the de-
References
rived STL data by batch processing. Automatic surfacing
is available at the present moment but feature lines are not (1) Hagiwara, I., Tokyo Institute of Technology, Current
yet completely generated. An algorithm for reproducing Status of Reverse Engineering Including Large-Scale
feature lines is already developed and the program mount- Point Group Processing and CAD Formation, October,
FTR Seminar, (2003).
ing procedure is in the final stage of development with its

JSME International Journal Series C, Vol. 48, No. 2, 2005