GEOMETRIC MODELING OF SHEET DEFORMATION WITHIN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

International audienceIn this paper we present a real-time, computationally inexpensive environment for on-screen,accurate simulations of thermoplastic sheet materials on a conventional Personal Computer. A pseudoimmersivevirtual environment is constructed to handle the implementation of a real-time aestheticallyaccurate deformation algorithm called MaSSE: Mass-Spring Simulation Engine. The motion of the sheetis controlled by gravity and by using a mouse-pointing device to manipulate the sheet within theenvironment. An application for the environment is centered on, although not restricted to, mechanicalengineering-based real-time simulations of heat-sensitive sheet materials