DEVELOPMENT OF SURFACES

In the industrial world, an engineer is frequently confronted with products or objects which are
difficult to manufacture by conventional manufacturing processes, because of their shapes and
sizes. In such cases, those objects are fabricated using the development technique and thus,
enabling an engineer to go ahead with the design and manufacturing processes.

For example, in sheet metal industry, development plays a vital role in enabling a mechanic to
cut proper size of the plate from the development and then to fold at proper places to form the
desired objects. For instance, a tailor first prepares a development drawing on a cloth to cut and
stitch the correct shape and size of a shirt.

A development gives the shape and plane area of the material which enables the cost to be
estimated. Development should be such as to allow the minimum waste of material when the
shape is cut out. Products or objects fabricated using the development technique include; boilers
shells & chimneys, utensils, buckets, domes, packing boxes & Cartons, cans, feeding hoppers,
air-conditioning ducts, pressure vessels, shovels, trays, large pipe sections, Body & Parts of
automotives, Ships, Aeroplanes etc.

Definition

When a solid is opened out/unfold/unrolled and its complete surface is laid on a plane, the
surface of the solid is said to be developed and the figure obtained is called a development of the
surfaces of the solid or simply development. In other words, development of the surface of an
object means the unrolling and unfolding of all surfaces of the object on a plane.” Called also a
pattern, the plane may show the true size of each area of the object.

Note:

Due to the fact that there is no distorting of the surface in the process of development, every line
on the development must necessarily show the true length of the corresponding line on the
surface which is developed. It is a coordinal principle which must always be kept in mind in
constructing all the true developments.

When the pattern is cut, it can be rolled or folded back into the original object.

Development is a graphical method of obtaining the area of the surfaces of a solid.

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A development is the unfold/unrolled flat / plane figure of a 3-D object.

Geometric solids

Geometric solids are bounded by geometric surfaces. They may be classified as follows:

(a) Solids bounded by plane surfaces such as tetrahedron, cube, prism, and pyramid.

(b) Solids bounded by single curved surfaces such as cone and cylinder (generated by a moving
straight line).

(c) Solids bounded by double curved surfaces such as sphere (surface of revolution generated by
curved line).

If a solid is wrapped by thin paper in such a way that the paper does not have wrinkles and also it
is not overlapping anywhere, then remove the paper and spread it on a plain surface. The shape
of the paper is called the lateral development of that solid or pattern. If the development of the
top and the bottom of the solid is also included, then it is called the total development of the
surface.