Hello,
I have a drawing that I used the SPLINE feature in twice.....
exporting in parasolid.x_t option version 11 ....
importing into Mastercam 9.1 parasolid option Version 11
from reading other postings it seams Splines cause a bit of trouble...... I'm having that trouble.
I'm thinking I want to go BACK to my original sketch and try to figure a way to Change the SPLINE to a regular curve...
How do I do this? ..and keep the exact arc I already have?
Running SolidWorks Pro 2013
Thanks,
Ron
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Ronald,
I saw your original post a few days ago and was meaning to reply, but, work etc.
By regular curve I presume you mean a segment of a circle, easily defined and translated from one format to another. You are not going to get "the exact arc" you already have, but you should be able to get close enough (within manufacturing tolerances).
As I've said before in other posts here, there are programs out there that are supposed to be able to convert a spline or polyline into tangent arcs, but I have not seen or used any of them. SolidWorks does not have "one click" conversion process that I know of.
The only way I have ever successfully converted a spline into tangent arcs (I used to do it a lot for laser cut parts) is to manually trace over the spline with a combination of arcs and lines as required. You can eyeball "close enough" to get the look you need and/or measure how far off the spline you are getting if the deviation is critical. This is one of the few situations where I would use the "Fix" relation to help fully define the sketch.
I have most done this to convert hand sketched "art" (using the Sketch Picture... tool) into laser/water jet cuttable parts. But occasionally to translate a design where the designer calls for an ellipse but the laser operator wants arcs. In which case I put the required ellipse in as construction geometry and then trace over it with arcs. This sounds like what you will probably want to do. If your spline is complicated, save early and often as you go along.
The feature is called "Composite Curve".
Insert / Curve / Composite
2D or 3D Sketch
1 Sketch or Multiple as long as they are connected.
AH thanks for the help. I will try these suggestions an see where i can get to.
Scott can you elaborate a bit more on the one you are suggesting ?
My part is from a 2D sketch.
fyi I'm using 2013 SW Pro
I understand that some newer versions have even more features.
thanks
Ron
Ron,
I'm on 2015 but I can assure you that the "Composite Curve" Scott mentions has been around a lot longer than 2013. I'm not sure it's what you want for this problem, but have a look at least, it's good to know about the various tools available. As you say there are more and more features and some older, but still quite useful, ones seem to get lost in the crowd.
im sitting here now trying to figure this out.
The Composite curve is not lit up. Not sure what i am or am not doing right.
Hi Ronald,
Im not sure why you are having issues exporting?
Are you exporting a 3D part? if you are be sure to try IGES before parasolid
Im not sure exactly what you problem is but this may be able to help you
have a look at this http://http://www.mechanicad.com/composite-curve.pdf its may be able to help you
Can't be in a sketch. It makes a new feature called "Curve"
What would this feature be used for? Help as usual is no help.
We have a spline that we would like to convert because we are unable to dimension to it. Would this feature be able to help? how?
I'm wondering if a macro for converting splines to arcs would be of any help. It keeps the original sketch spline, and overlays an additional 3pt arc sketch. It wouldn't be related to a composite curve, but would allow for a conversion of the spline(s) to arcs, and later dimensions to those arcs.
How does one use the file provided?
Would this work for ellipses?
I've reattached the macro. This updated version checks for correct sketch conditions (must exit all sketch's prior to running, message box will appear if not and macro stopped), and alters the number of 3pt arcs added based on curve length.
Usage:
1) can be used on any curve (spline, ellipse, parabola, conic, circle, 3pt arc)
2) exit the sketch prior to running
3) pick curve, run macro
4) the curve will become construction geometry, ref pts will be applied to curve evenly distributed - the amount based on curve length, 3pt arcs will be overlain onto curve using those ref pts
5) works best on splines, ellipses. I found some minor end point issues using it on conics, parabolas.
Wow that is awesome! Thank you so much!
Is there a way to change the way the segments are created?
Currently they are all equal segments. Can we make them unequal?
So that there are more/shorter segments near the smaller ends of an ellipse and less/longer near the middle...
I was able to change the number of segments, but was not satisfied. See images below.
I could think of a couple ways to improve the situation.
1) split the curves where the curvature is high, and run those separately
2) hard coding
a) split the curve manually, detect the chain of curves and put them in a array, re-arc the curves in sequence via additional code
b) detect curvature, split the curve in the code, detect the chain of curves, re-arc in sequence
c) sounds like the code could get fairly involved.
John,
Please advise why I get the following errors when I run the macro.
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