CADRec-Net: Reconstruct CAD Design From B-Rep to Support Reuse and Redesign

In the computer graphics field, most previous 3-D reconstructions try to reconstruct geometric models. Geometric models are dumb models, which are not (or very difficult) to edit, reuse, and redesign. Therefore, the reconstruction of parametric computer-aided design (CAD) models has enormous significance for the modern CAD/CAM industry. The challenges of reconstructing parametric CAD models involve capturing the design history, design intent, and design semantics, which are more complex and difficult than reconstructing geometric models. To address this problem, this article presents CADRec-Net, which takes a B-Rep model (STEP format, industry standard) and reconstructs its design history for engineering reuse and redesign. To support potential industry applications, we compare our approach with recent approaches on public datasets. The experiments demonstrate the superiority of the proposed CADRec-Net. Furthermore, for the industry integration experiment, we also successfully integrated the reconstructed design history into mainstream CAD software for reuse and redesign.