PMI Visualization Technology

Stay ISO compliant and easily manage GD&T data

We can’t imagine a manufacturing industry today, even a small one, without using 3D design. For the widespread practices of 3D digital modeling, visualization software tools are quite in demand, as the design needs to be reviewed by a large number of stakeholders. In this regards, software vendors count not only on correct representation and display of geometry, but the most seasoned developers strive for compliant usage of the information associated with a 3D design — PMI (Product and Manufacturing Information). Leveraging its 20-year expertise in development of industrial solutions for 3D visualization, Open Cascade possesses its own proven technology — PMI Vizualisation* — assuring that PMI representations used in its software are supported by industry standards: geometrical tolerancing are implemented in accordance with ISO 1101:2012 and visualization of GD&T data in a 3D scene is performed in compliance with ISO 16792:2015. In some extent, compliant visualization of PMI guarantees digital continuity, ensuring that universal symbols and styles are used for PMI presentations, regardless the origin of the software system. Solutions built with the use of PMI Visualization module (3D visualization software and PMI data authoring) effectively handle PMI data coming from various third party software systems or 3D files:

• PMI entities imported from STEP AP242 (ISO 10303-242)
• JT format (ISO 14306:2017)
• Proprietary CAD formats

By making PMI visible in compliance with standards, Open Cascade extends the capacity of 3D visualization solutions by significantly reducing errors which can occur through misinterpretation of industrial data.

Supported presentations

PMI presentations can be created using a rich set of geometry combinations. It might be points, lines or surfaces.

• Angular, linear and radial dimensions, thicknesses

• Tolerance and datum features

• Notes and special notations

Implementations

PMI Visualization capacity has been successfully implemented in a number of customer products as well as in Open Cascade’s proprietary products. One of them is DMU Reviewer — software visualization tool designed for collaborative work on massive 3D data. Partial functionality of PMI Visualization is also available in CAD Assistant — free offline viewer and converter for 3D CAD files and meshes available on Windows, Linux, Android and IOS.   * The component is an example of Open Cascade capacities in PMI Visualisation. Start your project with Open Cascade