Geometric and Engineering Drawing. DOI:
© 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.2010
10.1016/B978-0-08-096768-4.00014-0
Developments
There are three basic ways of fashioning a piece of material into a given shape. Either
you start with a solid lump and take pieces off, you can cast or mould an appropriate
material or you can bend sheet material as required.
It should be obvious that, if the last method is used, the sheet material must first
be shaped so that, after it is bent, you have the correct size and shape. If, then, a
component is to be made of sheet material, the designer must not only visualise and
draw the final three-dimensional component, but also calculate and draw the shape of
the component in the form that it will take when marked out on the two-dimensional
sheet material.
The process of unfolding the three-dimensional ‘ solid ’ is called ‘ development ’ .
The shapes of most engineering components are whole, or parts of, prisms, pyra-
mids, cylinders or cones, so this chapter deals with the development of the shapes.
Prisms
Figure 14.1 shows how a square prism is unfolded and its development obtained.
Note that where there are corners in the undeveloped solid, these are shown as
dotted lines in the development.
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Figure 14.1 Developing a square prism.