10 Replies Latest reply on Apr 19, 2012 6:25 PM by 1-4EQZK9

Making a solid body out of many surfaces

Grace Chung Apr 18, 2012 7:11 AM

Hi,

I was given a bike model made up of many surfaces and was given the task to make it into one solid body with a thickness of 2mm. I tried to knit all the surfaces together and use the thickness command, and thickened individual pieces together and merged them, but there are still some pieces of the bike I cannot form into a solid body and/or give a thickness to. If someone could provide alternate methods to help me make the bike model into one solid body and have a thickness of 2mm it will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time,

Grace

S3 s56.SLDPRT.zip 6.4 MB

Re: Making a solid body out of many surfaces

1-4EQZK9 Apr 16, 2012 8:36 PM (in response to Grace Chung)

Hi Grace,

You might have success if you instead knit all the surfaces together and then cap the ends and make a knitted solid - then instead of thicken try to shell.

Regards

Mark
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- Re: Making a solid body out of many surfaces
  
  Grace Chung Apr 17, 2012 3:46 AM (in response to 1-4EQZK9)
  
  Hi,
  
  I have knitted into one piece but what you mean by cap the ends and make a knitted solid?\\Thanks
  
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  - Re: Making a solid body out of many surfaces
    
    Prasannaraj A Apr 17, 2012 5:14 AM (in response to Grace Chung)
    
    When he means cap ends it means close all open areas in the surface. for example if there is a surface like a tube, you have to close both the open ends of the tube.
    While knitting, there is a check box in the option saying try to form a solid, check that option and if there are no problems with your surface it will easily form a solid
    
    Regards
    Prasannaraj
    
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- Re: Making a solid body out of many surfaces
  
  Doug Seibel Apr 17, 2012 7:16 AM (in response to 1-4EQZK9)
  
  Mark's idea may work, but the result will not be what Grace has been asked to do. Bikes are not made from solid bars, they are made from tubing.
  
  Grace,
  Odds are you have some surfaces that have curvatures that are too small/sharp for SW to be able to offset/thicken them. If you can isolate the problem surfaces, you may be able to delete them and replace them with a smoother surface that SW can then offset/thicken.
  
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  - Re: Making a solid body out of many surfaces
    
    Glenn Schroeder Apr 17, 2012 8:06 AM (in response to Doug Seibel)
    
    Doug Seibel wrote:
    
    Mark's idea may work, but the result will not be what Grace has been asked to do. Bikes are not made from solid bars, they are made from tubing.
    That's why he said to shell it after making it a solid.
    
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- Re: Making a solid body out of many surfaces
  
  Roland Schwarz Apr 17, 2012 8:57 AM (in response to 1-4EQZK9)
  
  Mark is right. Shell is far more forgiving than Thicken, and the end result is the same. Shell includes processes o compensate for surface inconsistencies that Thicken does not. I have done this with complex molded shells recently.
  
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- Re: Making a solid body out of many surfaces
  
  Grace Chung Apr 18, 2012 7:12 AM (in response to 1-4EQZK9)
  
  Hi,
  
  I still can't seem to figure it out but I uploaded the bike file above, if anyone can take a look at it, it would be appreciated.
  
  Thanks
  
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  - Re: Making a solid body out of many surfaces
    
    1-4EQZK9 Apr 18, 2012 12:45 PM (in response to Grace Chung)
    
    Hi Grace,
    
    You need to click on the "Use advanced editor in the upper right corner of your edit reply window. Once you are in Advanced editor mode, you can then click on the button at the bottom of the window to upload your SW file and/or image files.
    
    Regards
    
    Mark
    
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    - Re: Making a solid body out of many surfaces
      
      Grace Chung Apr 19, 2012 2:19 AM (in response to 1-4EQZK9)
      
      Hi,
      
      Sorry I meant to say I did upload it. I was just wondering if you could take a look at it because methods have stopped working.
      
      Thanks
      
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      - Re: Making a solid body out of many surfaces
        
        1-4EQZK9 Apr 19, 2012 6:25 PM (in response to Grace Chung)
        
        Hi Grace,
        
        What CAD system is this originally done on? - If this is imported via iges, you need to go to your options when importing and make sure the option "try forming solid" is checkmarked. Also, use import diagnositcs if you see an exclamantion in the imported surface feature/s to attempt and close gaps etc.
        
        Regards
        
        Mark
        
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