Product category:
CAD solid modelling software
News Release from: ICEM | Subject: Surf
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 08 July 2004
Diana memorial design underpinned by
ICEM
ICEM software underpins design development of 'Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain'.
ICEM Ltd announced today that its advanced surface modelling, analysis and visualisation software, ICEM Surf, was used by digital surface modelling specialists, Surface Development and Engineering Ltd (SDE), throughout the design development and subsequent production and construction of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 15 Jul 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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The memorial was officially unveiled today in London's Hyde Park by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth ll.
The memorial to the late Diana, Princess of Wales occupies a site measuring 80m x 50m and took some two years to complete.
The ring-shaped fountain is no ordinary water feature.
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Water enters at the fountain's highest point and then runs down in opposite directions along two gently-sloping semi-circular channels.
These channels incorporate a variety of features to make the water behave in different ways before it ends its journey in a large, tranquil pool where the two rings re-join.
(More information at www.royalparks.gov.uk).
Early in the memorial's design development, SDE, of Basildon in South East England, was asked by the designers, the London-based Anglo-American architectural landscape design team, Gustafson Porter, to apply their experience of using advanced surface modelling software to develop high quality, complex free-form shapes, to the task of turning the original 2D design drawings and model into 3D reality.
The transition from the designers' original drawings and model to the final, physical fountain was driven by computer-based 3D surface modelling technology more commonly found in the automotive design and manufacturing industry.
As such, it marked a 'first' in architectural landscape design and construction.
"The work that SDE has done with ICEM Surf has been fundamental to our ability to meet the various deadlines and design requirements of this project," said Neil Porter of Gustafson Porter.
"Not only have we been able to view the model on the computer and to make changes to the design and see the results immediately, but the accuracy of the 3D surface model and the fact that the data generated could be used directly in the cutting of the granite for the fountain was an enormous benefit during the construction stage." Drawing on its experience in developing highly accurate 3D digital surface models of automotive vehicle exteriors and interiors for companies like Ford and Nissan, SDE used ICEM Surf to develop a digital surface model of the whole of the fountain, creating a seamless computer file, which became known as the Jelly Mould.
This digital model could be manipulated and viewed from different angles, on-screen, as photo-realistic visualisations.
With there being no room for error, the use of ICEM Surf enabled SDE and Neil Porter to work together to refine the digital model - which incorporated not only the detailed design cues but also all the engineering and technical restraints, particularly with reference to the flow and height of the water.
This enabled the team to ensure that the fountain not only met various physical demands but that it also met the original design intent.
Once the digital surface model was complete, SDE then used ICEM Surf to divide it into some 550 'blocks' representing the individual stones that make up the fountain.
The resulting digital files accurately defined the cut lines and the top and bottom surfaces of each block, taking into account foundation levels, the aesthetics of joint lines, drainage locations and the machining techniques used by the stonemasons.
AS SDE completed them, these 'virtual stones' were supplied to the stonemasons, S.
McConnell and Son, who used the data to develop the numerical control (NC) machine tool cutter paths required for cutting the Cornish granite from which the fountain is made.
As testament to the accuracy of the digital model, all the stones were delivered directly to the site as they were finished and then slotted accurately into their allocated positions.
Once on-site construction of the fountain had been completed, the ICEM Surf digital model data was used again, this time as a visual reference for the final landscaping of the memorial site.
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