A NEW STANDARD ISOMETRY OF DEVELOPABLE SURFACES IN CAD/CAM

This paper discusses a recent exact method by Clements and Leon [Marine Tech., 18 (1981), pp. 227-233] for the isometric mapping of developable surfaces into the plane, as needed in computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM), and some practical shortcomings of this method. A new exact method for that purpose is then presented that is free of those deficiencies. Of equal practical importance is the fact that, whereas the method by Clements and Leon requires the numerical solution of a second-order nonlinear ordinary differential equation (or of an equivalent first-order system), the present method involves only the evaluation of two single integrals.