Three-dimensional B-rep is often used to convey product models in computer-aided design, computer-aided engineering, computer-aided process planning, and computer-aided manufacturing systems. Meaningful shape features need to be recognized from the B-rep models for product re-design and manufacturing. In this article, a novel hint-based reusable shape feature recognition approach is presented. Its core objectives include (1) definition and classification of isolated generic shape features by analyzing the shape variation or hint for a Boolean operation in computer-aided design modeling; (2) recognition algorithm for isolated generic shape features by detecting such hints or shape variations for each kind of generic shape feature; and (3) recognition of hybrid generic shape features for complex parts by detecting containing, fusing, and intersecting relationships among available generic shape features. Finally, three engineering parts are used as examples to validate the capabilities of the presented approach.
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