Developable mesh segmentation by detecting curve-like features on Gauss images

Developable surfaces are widely used in Computer-Aided Design (CAD), computer graphics, architecture geometry and manufacturing. In this paper, we present an approach to segmentation and approximation of an input triangular mesh with developable patches. First, exact developable regions are detected and extracted from the input mesh. Then the non-developable region is further segmented and approximated also by developable patches. The parametric equations for all obtained developable patches are simultaneously computed, whose iso-parameter curves can serve directly as the milling paths in CNC machining. Examples and comparisons with existing works are provided.