8 Replies Latest reply on Oct 13, 2017 8:48 AM by Bjorn Hulman

Coincident or interfering geometry when saving assembly to STL

Ram R. Sep 30, 2017 5:48 AM

I'm using Solidworks to design parts to be 3d-printed.

I've noticed that if I'm making an assembly, where one part has features that touch other parts, then when I try to save that assembly as an STL for printing, I'll get a dialog from Solidworks saying "This assembly has coincident or interfering geometry that may be unsuitable for some rapid prototyping systems." If I save it, then this STL later causes problems when trying to print it.

What can I do? I'd like to be able to print my assemblies.

Here is a very simple example assembly where you can see this phenomenon. Part 1 is just a simple cube, and part 2 is another simple cube that is flush with part 1.

Interference test.SLDASM.zip 91.0 KB

Re: Coincident or interfering geometry when saving assembly to STL

Ram R. Oct 5, 2017 3:54 AM (in response to Ram R.)

I see that nobody answered yet... Maybe someone here knows the answer? It would really help me.
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- Re: Coincident or interfering geometry when saving assembly to STL
  
  Ram R. Oct 12, 2017 9:35 AM (in response to Ram R.)
  
  Will sell my kidney for an answer to this question. Great condition, barely used.
  
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  - Re: Coincident or interfering geometry when saving assembly to STL
    
    Bjorn Hulman Oct 12, 2017 10:29 AM (in response to Ram R.)
    
    Hi Ram,
    Do you need the parts to be separate bodies? Or are you after one solid 3d printed part? If you want things to move you need to design in clearances. If you want a solid part, try saving assemblies as part files first. Combine the bodies, then save out as STL.
    
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    - Re: Coincident or interfering geometry when saving assembly to STL
      
      Ram R. Oct 12, 2017 10:48 AM (in response to Bjorn Hulman)
      
      Thank you so much for answering, Bjorn!
      
      I tried it and it worked, woohoo!
      
      But then I tried it for a different assembly where I have bodies that overlap with each other, and it failed. It failed when loading the saved sldprd file, with this error:
      
      "Part contains overlapping solids. FeatureWorks can not proceed further."
      
      Is there a way to fix this without redesigning my part? I mean, if the solids are overlapping, is there a way to merge them together to one big solid? I tried "Combine" but it wouldn't work.
      
      In any case, your reply answers most of my question so I marked it as the correct answer.
      
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      - Re: Coincident or interfering geometry when saving assembly to STL
        
        Bjorn Hulman Oct 12, 2017 11:29 AM (in response to Ram R.)
        
        You should get a prompt asking to run feature works when you open the part. Decline it. It's only useful when you import parts you need to edit.
        
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        Re: Coincident or interfering geometry when saving assembly to STL
        
        Ram R. Oct 13, 2017 8:46 AM (in response to Bjorn Hulman)
        
        I tried choosing "exterior components" and when opening the new sldprt file, saying no to the FeatureWorks dialog. But then the Solid Bodies folder has 49 different bodies. I tried selecting them all and pressing Combine, but then it says "Unable to create this feature because it would result in zero-thickness geometry". Any idea what to do here?
        
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        Re: Coincident or interfering geometry when saving assembly to STL
        
        Bjorn Hulman Oct 13, 2017 8:48 AM (in response to Ram R.)
        
        With that many bodies, you may need to perform a number of combine bodies. It will require some trial and error as to how many you can combine at once.
        
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      - Re: Coincident or interfering geometry when saving assembly to STL
        
        Bjorn Hulman Oct 12, 2017 11:46 AM (in response to Ram R.)
        
        Also, when saving assembly as part, do not use the save external faces option. Exterior components is likely the best option to use.
        
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