LONG-TERM ARCHIVING OF EXACT 3D-CAD GEOMETRY WITH JT

The technology of Computer Aided Design (CAD) has been in use for 3D design for more than 30 years. Still today, the result of the 3D design process is usually a 2D engineering drawing. Thus, many downstream processes in the industry are dependent on engineering drawings. Nowadays, many companies are replacing their engineering drawings with 3D CAD models and transforming their drawing-based processes into model-based processes. Consequently, these 3D-CAD models have to be archived and new methods to do so have to be implemented. The standardization of the Jupiter Tessellation (JT) file format specification as ISO 14306 could be an opportunity to use a single data format for both purposes: downstream processes and long-term archiving of exact 3D CAD geometries. This paper describes an approach for long-term archiving of exact 3D-CAD geometries. Initially the state of the art in long-term archiving methodology and archiving systems is analyzed. In order to enable an investigation from a technological point of view, the ISO JT data format is examined subsequently. The formal and technological requirements for a JT-based approach are then derived from these analyses. The next step is to introduce a conceptual process for long-term archiving of exact 3D-CAD geometries with the JT data. As a proof of concept, this approach is implemented prototypically. Through a comparison of the representation of exact 3D-CAD geometries in the JT and STEP data formats, the conditions for responsible long-term archiving using JT are defined. As a conclusion, this paper provides an overview of the advantages and the associated risks of long-term archiving with the ISO JT data format for exact 3D-CAD geometries.