CAST: Cast-Admissible Generative Design and Shape Optimization with Paired Depth Images

Jihoon Kim, Yongmin Kwon, Namwoo Kang

Deep generative design can produce complex geometries, but unconstrained representations may create undercuts that prevent release from a two-part mold. We present CAST, which reformulates three-dimensional shape generation under a selected mold-opening constraint as a two-dimensional image generation problem using paired top and bottom depth images. Each valid depth pair defines one material interval along a selected mold-opening direction, so reconstructions exclude undercuts in that direction by construction. Diffusion models generate candidate shapes in this representation, and a finite element analysis (FEA) guided optimizer refines the same two boundaries. We evaluate diffusion-based generation with limited training data comprising 211 SimJEB bracket designs. On SimJEB brackets, FEA-guided refinement with a volume penalty reduced compliance in 193 of 200 generated candidates. The median reduction across all candidates was 36.8 percent in the optimization FEA model. Reconstruction of existing brackets revealed a mass--stiffness trade-off: filling occluded regions increased material volume and reduced displacement under the evaluated loads. Paired depth images thus connect…