Three-Dimensional Visualization of Product Manufacturing Information in a Web Browser Based on STEP AP242 and WebGL

Commercial computer-aided design (CAD) software is often expensive. This paper examines the use of product manufacturing information (PMI) web visualization to address the challenges faced by production site personnel and external partners collaborating on product development. These individuals need to be able to view or query PMI in model-based definition models without having to install professional CAD software. A detailed analysis of the relationships between PMI entity attributes in standard for the exchange of product model data (STEP) AP242 files was conducted. An algorithm for the automatic parsing and mapping of PMI semantics to a web browser is presented. Using linear sizes as an example, this paper introduces a prototype system with the following features: PMI web visualization; automatic linkage of PMI to associated geometry; browser-native rendering without the need for dedicated applications; and integration of graphical presentation and semantic representation. The effectiveness and feasibility of the prototype system are validated through case studies. However, the system has limitations when handling large assemblies with compound tolerances, curved dimension placements, and overlapping annotations, which presents areas for future research.