Advanced Surfacing
Advanced Surfacing
(OP)
Hi folks!
I've been given the joyous task of trying to create a solid model from an Excel file of points (1943 points). This is the first time I, or anyone in the company, have ever had to deal with a surfacing task.
I have managed to import the point cloud and surface it. I have also created the surface of the flat base. I now have a varying band between the two surfaces to fill so that I can create a solid. I have tried everything, but no luck.
Reading the help files, it sounds to me like "Knit" should do what I need, but it will not work. I have tried "loft", "sweep", "extrude"...I have tried every button on the Surface toolbar.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Casey
I've been given the joyous task of trying to create a solid model from an Excel file of points (1943 points). This is the first time I, or anyone in the company, have ever had to deal with a surfacing task.
I have managed to import the point cloud and surface it. I have also created the surface of the flat base. I now have a varying band between the two surfaces to fill so that I can create a solid. I have tried everything, but no luck.
Reading the help files, it sounds to me like "Knit" should do what I need, but it will not work. I have tried "loft", "sweep", "extrude"...I have tried every button on the Surface toolbar.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Casey






RE: Advanced Surfacing
If I understand you correctly, you have two faces that need "sidewalls between them. You could make the sidewalls using Surface --> Extrude.
Make the surfaces long enough to extend past the two original surfaces. Trim surfaces to size using Surface --> Trim. You can trim an knit simultaneously using the "mutual trim" option. Otherwise, for Knit to work, the trimmed surface edges have to match up nearly perfectly.
http://www.EsoxRepublic.com-SolidWorks API VB programming help
RE: Advanced Surfacing
I'm new to Eng-Tips too. How do I post a picture?
RE: Advanced Surfacing
The problem is between the geometric green and the nasty red.
RE: Advanced Surfacing
RE: Advanced Surfacing
If you don't mind losing some of that red data, you could extrude a surface from the bottom plane (the base of the 'mountain', and make sure you intersect both the red and green surfaces. you would then trim the three surfaces so they meet at clean edges, and then knit them together. I think this was Tick's idea, so I'm just plagarizing him.
RE: Advanced Surfacing
Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reality is no respecter of good intentions.
RE: Advanced Surfacing
The fill command will not work either. As for losing some data, that can't happen. This was measured data that we have to reproduce and test equipment to. The project requires that the data be made into a solid model, have over 2000 precision hole machines through it then put in a mockup for testing. We need to get the holes and profile CNC'd, that's why I'm having to make the model.
alolesen & Theophilus:
There is a large gap between the surfaces. I'm off for the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, so I will try to do the suggested extrude on Tuesday morning.
Thanks for the help everyone. Any other ideas are surely welcome if this doesn't work.
RE: Advanced Surfacing
1)Do a Radiated Surface from the edges, parallel to the platen. Then Knit the surfaces together and extrude to surface. Somewhat as if you were creating tooling for one side of the surface
2) Surface Extrude. I am not sure if the white surface is data. If it is not, then 3D Sketch>Convert Entities on the lower edge of the red surface, pick the green plane (or top plane) as a direction vector and extrude the curve down. Mutually trim the platen and side wall, and add a cleaner wall on the outside of the "dirty" wall
If the whit wall is data, then knit white and red. Convert entities on the red surface edge and either extrude along the direction vector of the white wall edge or sweep it along the edge.
3)Ruled Surfaces might be an option as well.
RE: Advanced Surfacing
RE: Advanced Surfacing
RE: Advanced Surfacing
Thanks again for all the help. Now I'm off to add the 2000+ holes...oh joy!!
RE: Advanced Surfacing
Wondering what macro you used to import this massive excel point cloud. Is the cloud still linked to the excel file??
And finally could you post a link to the macro.
Thanks a million.
And happy halloween everyone!
Overkill
RE: Advanced Surfacing
I used "mm_24.zip" from http://swtools.cad.de/macros.htm
The cloud points are not linked to the Excel file.
RE: Advanced Surfacing
What was the best way you found to apply a surface to these points?
Thanks again.
RE: Advanced Surfacing
Yes, please tell us how this was done, I am eager to know.
RE: Advanced Surfacing
My data happened to be in straight rows. I put a "Curve Through Reference Points" for ewach row of data (I had 44 rows, so 44 curves). I then made a Loft surface using the curves in order.
Hope that helps.
RE: Advanced Surfacing
Don't get me wrong. This was A LOT of work.
My data happened to be in straight rows. So that made it easier. We weren't worried about deviation. Our purpose only requires a rough approximation of shape, not an exact replica.
RE: Advanced Surfacing
Red, a polygon surface with verticies seen in black.
Exported verticies and imported into solidworks.
Used selection filter to grab each row and create the curves.Lofted curves with surface loft.
Imported polygons in as stl graphic (don't try to do as surface or solid with large polygon files, you'll sit for a while and it won't do over 100K polys) And you can see the surface is a good representation of the polygons. Reverse Engineering with Solidworks is possible, you just need fairly ordered data.