As an outline control and coordination method commonly used in the development of aircraft in recent years

aircraft template is still not replaceable in current aircraft development for its convenience

low-cost and technological maturity. However

in current digital environment with rapid development of intelligent technology

the design technology relying on 2D drawings has become an important factor that restricts the efficiency and cycle of aircraft development

for which research and development of 3D design technology based on 3D geometric models of parts has become an urgent need for the aviation industry at present. In view of the problem

the 3D design of outline template is studied

which is a large branch of template in sheet metal parts manufacturing. An algorithm of parts’ geometric information extraction and template rapid design is proposed

of which the main parts are as follows: infrastructure feature of sheet metal is defined and its extraction method is proposed. Flange feature are constructed and the geometric attributes required for the template design are calculated. The profile of the outline template are calculated according to the information and data extracted

and the adding are appended. The 3D model of outline template is finally generated. The feasibility and effectiveness of the algorithm are verified by case tests.