Patent ID: 7539603

Claim:
A method for generating weld beads in a computer-implemented solid modeling system, comprising: (a) generating, in a computer, a parametric feature-based model of one or more components of an assembly; (b) determining, in the computer, whether there is a gap between the components in the model based on internal loops in the components in the model, wherein the gap is a component hole gap between first and second components in the model where one or more of the internal loops of the first component in the model fully or partially encircles the second component in the model; (c) generating, in the computer, a parametric feature-based model of a weld bead that fills the gap between the components in the model using the internal loops of the components in the model; and (d) storing, in the computer, the parametric feature-based model of the components of the assembly, including the parametric feature-based model of the weld bead, for later use in further analysis or modeling.