Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
(OP)
I received a model from a customer as a step file. The original models were created in UG. After importing the step file and putting it thru Feature Works I'm left with an imported shape and a ton of fillets. If I were to construct this from scratch I would whittle this out using lofted features and a few fillets.
My question, is there a way to reverse engineer lofted features from an imported step file? This part has flowing curvy surfaces with even thickness throughout like sheetmetal. Could I select the filleted feature edges to use as guidlines for a loft?
Prior to downloading their step file I created my own model using an undimensioned print as a visual reference. I used several lofted features and other extrusions and fillets and it came out great. Now that I have their model I need to update mine, or reconstruct a new one to be dimensionally the same as theirs.
thanks,
Tom..
My question, is there a way to reverse engineer lofted features from an imported step file? This part has flowing curvy surfaces with even thickness throughout like sheetmetal. Could I select the filleted feature edges to use as guidlines for a loft?
Prior to downloading their step file I created my own model using an undimensioned print as a visual reference. I used several lofted features and other extrusions and fillets and it came out great. Now that I have their model I need to update mine, or reconstruct a new one to be dimensionally the same as theirs.
thanks,
Tom..






RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
Once this is done you can cut cross sections through the imported part at the locations of your loft sections and use these as references (not in the SWX sense) for your own sections.
You could use the cross section curves directly to reconstruct a new part, but if the part has any organic shape to it you will undoubtedly get splines - not a show stopper but sometimes harder to fully constrain. Maybe this isn't a concern to you.
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
Also, you can open a native UG file in Solidworks directly.
What exactly are you trying to do?
Jason
UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2005 SP5.0 on WinXP SP2
SolidWorks 2006 SP1.0 on WinXP SP2
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
tom...
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
Regards,
Scott Baugh, CSWP
www.scottjbaugh.com
FAQ731-376
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
Interesting stuff, but I would much prefere a dimensioned print rather than a model from our customer. Actually both would be best. Unfortunately for us most of our customers just give us their model geometry and let us work it out.
tom..
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
MERRY CHRISTMAS
(Unabashedly Politically Incorrect)
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
Tom..
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
Since the files came from UG, try to stick with parasolid or native UG files. These will best preserve surface definitions. IGES and STEP are likely to alter underlying surface definitions.
To get to the "root" of the imported surface, try using "untrim". This removes all trimmed edges and reveals the full extent of the surface definition. Use the untrimmed surface like a free-form datum: make copies as needed, use it to replace faces; extrude "up to surface"; offset, etc.
Try "delete face" to remove imported fillets and see if the modeler can fill in the gaps so you can construct new fillets in SW.
http://www.EsoxRepublic.com-SolidWorks API VB programming help
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
The simplest way to find out how/if it works is to try it, and if you do, please let us know the results.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
(Unabashedly Politically Incorrect)
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
Sorry if I misinterpreted your post. It sounded to me like you were suggesting that opening a UG .prt file would yield something different than opening a STEP file of the same part.
I don't have UG here, but I remembered that I have a couple UG files from an old project, so I opened one (in SW2006). The part comes in as an imported body. You can then use FeatureWorks to convert the body into something with a feature tree.
Seems the only benefit to doing this is not having to go through the intermediate neutral file. Depending on the geometry of the part, this could be a significant benefit, especially in cases like this where some surfacing has been done on the original part. For prismatic parts I don't imagine you'd see much difference between the 2 methods.
Hope this helps.
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
For this scenario, I would open the UG file which creates the imported body, then hack away at this to get what you need. When the UG file gets updated, edit the imported feature and reload the UG file. I think there is an option in the import settings to keep face IDs so associativity is maintained.
Hacking the model may not seem to be the best way, but at least you can update the imported feature easier. Plus Solidworks gives you a lot of tools to assist with this. (Delete Face, Fill surface, Flex, etc.)
Jason
UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2005 SP5.0 on WinXP SP2
SolidWorks 2006 SP1.0 on WinXP SP2
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
Interesting about maintaining possible associativity to the original UG model. With the amount of changes I need to apply, I doubt if that would be reliable.
Tom..
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
Jason
UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2005 SP5.0 on WinXP SP2
SolidWorks 2006 SP1.0 on WinXP SP2
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
Jason
UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2005 SP5.0 on WinXP SP2
SolidWorks 2006 SP1.0 on WinXP SP2
RE: Reverse Engineer Lofted Surfaces from imported step file??
KM