Surfacing help
Surfacing help
(OP)
I've always used SE for modeling metal profiles and sheetmetal.
I'm a little out of my depth here.
I'm trying to model a shape that's like a water drop (or an egg) cut in half.
How would I go about it?
I'm unable to make anything with a sweep. It tells me geometry is self-intersecting.
Am I wrong assuming that for a surface sweep, the path cannot touch both ends of a profile?
Solidworks' sweep feature seems more powerful. If you'll look at this spoon modeled in SW, the guide curve touches both ends of the path. Is there a way to accomplish this in SE?
Any help will be greatly appreciated!
BTW Matt Lombard's blog is really an interesting read. It's a pity he's on Solidworks!
I'm a little out of my depth here.
I'm trying to model a shape that's like a water drop (or an egg) cut in half.
How would I go about it?
I'm unable to make anything with a sweep. It tells me geometry is self-intersecting.
Am I wrong assuming that for a surface sweep, the path cannot touch both ends of a profile?
Solidworks' sweep feature seems more powerful. If you'll look at this spoon modeled in SW, the guide curve touches both ends of the path. Is there a way to accomplish this in SE?
Any help will be greatly appreciated!
BTW Matt Lombard's blog is really an interesting read. It's a pity he's on Solidworks!





RE: Surfacing help
something like this one? It's based on an eliptical sketch
converted to a curve and then put into shape. Volume as well
as surface body included (V20)
dy
RE: Surfacing help
Sorry for not getting back earlier. This project is having me jump through hoops.
I'll say this, you truly are a "quick person". Quick to find a solution, quick to act on it.
I wouldn't have though of a revolve. Doh! But I'll file it for future reference, because unfortunately, I wasn't clear in my description. The shape is actually squished and can't be revolved.
Here's what I did for now. Two revolved surfaces of curves, and joined together with other sweeps. It doesn't satisfy me because even when the four different surfaces are stitched, the joint lines stay there...
RE: Surfacing help
Unfortunately I've done only very simple things with that function
so my experience is rather low on this -- it's not that easy to
master ...
dy
RE: Surfacing help
Yeah, I tried to play with BlueSurf. I can make a few paths and cross-sections, but I have no way to get the shape (contour) that I want on the base plane.
I haven't gotten back on that part yet, working on something else at the moment.
The local VAR offers 2-day courses on surfacing, but they need to have enough registrations for it - and I need the knowledge yesterday! (this piece is about the simplest I have to work with) Oh well...
RE: Surfacing help
I'm having a hard time with modifying paths or cross-section. With any other tool in SE (extrude, cut, revolve, etc.) I can delete a profile and draw a new one for a given feature, and the feature will update without trouble.
I'm unable to do that with a sweep, be it a solid or surface feature. I've tried, and I can't find a way to select a new path or cross-section. I end up having to delete the feature and do it again, which is a major PITA because a lot of features downstream then fail (I use sweeps early on to build the first body feature).
Why I need to make so many changes? Well I'm still at the conceptual stage and the customer wants to see multiple variations. But it takes forever if I have to practically rebuild the part all over again...
Am I doing it wrong, or the sweep feature is that unforgiving?
Thanks for your input.
RE: Surfacing help
There are some surfacing & bluesurf tutorials here
http://www.geocities.com/segurucool/
Although the site is dated you may find your answer.
RE: Surfacing help
Thanks for the link, I already found it posted by beachcomber in another thread.
I visited the site yesterday. There are many tutorials that I found useful, but I'd like to find more... It's very unfortunate that there are so few resources for SE, compared to any other MCAD program.
RE: Surfacing help
I have a theory that Solid Edge is brought by Engineers for Engineers, hence they specialise in their own field and being real Engineers we find work-around methods and get by in our own little environments.
Other main stream Mcad products popular to masses are brought by Purchasing Departments, due to branding and sales pitches. Once introduced nobody has a clue hence the mass of literature and video tutorials (supply and demand).
With the advent of ST, if the branding is correct and the sales pitch honed there will be a glut of tutorials for ST good and bad. Because to be honest to an untrained eye a demo of ST looks really cool and unsuspecting Purchasing Departments will be hooked. Which if I suspect correctly is where Siemens want to be, grab a sale and walk-on-by
:)
RE: Surfacing help
It's a good theory in regard to ST.
I have my own on SE in general.
SE is not as widely known as its arch-rival, SW. The last one is more tought (as in teach? not sure of the correct tense) in technical colleges and universities. At least that's the case, here in eastern, french-speaking Canada. That's why you can find so many SW books and so few for SE.
As for surfacing, I guess SE is mostly used for machine design and less for consumer product design. The tools are there, it's just that not many use them. Or they don't visit Eng-Tips!
RE: Surfacing help
It's versatile and seems to generate better surfaces than the sweep command. It can also make lofts. Maybe that's why the loft command was left out from the Surfacing tab in the ST ribbon bar...
BTW Since Yahoo is closing GeoCities at an unspecified date later this year, I hope Segurucool's author moves its content elsewhere. It would be a pity if this unique SE content was lost, even if it's dated.
RE: Surfacing help
That would be shame if the content disappears. I have learned more (what little I know) about surfacing from the Segurucool site than from anything provided by Siemens or Solid Edge. If it looks like it will disappear for good, I may just have to print out the pages and keep them for reference.
Kyle
RE: Surfacing help
RE: Surfacing help
Kyle
RE: Surfacing help
http://www.jasonnewell.net/
Solid Edge V20
RE: Surfacing help
Remember that a POINT can be used as one of the cross-sections.
The attached image shows how I created it - 2 profiles for the sweep paths and point-profile-profile-point for the cross-sections.
I just ceated 1/4, but you could do the whole thing in one go.
bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.
RE: Surfacing help
I'll try your method, it looks nicer than what I did.
RE: Surfacing help
The trick is to get tangencies where you want them.
It can involve a bit of construction with spline curves etc.
If you want a more detailed explanation of my construction let me know.
bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.
RE: Surfacing help
I figured out how to constrain/dimension spline curves, if that's what you mean: making sure they start perpendicular from the base plane, ending tangent at the top.
Any other tip would be welcome. I might return to this component tomorrow.
Thanks!
P.S. Are these points at the ends, or bluedots?
RE: Surfacing help
Yes that's the sort of thing I mean.
Sorry, I don't really have any other surfacing tips - when I do it it's often a case of trial and error to get the best shape.
I don't think SE has enough control over surfaces, but then it's never really targetted that area.
The end points are created from the Intersection Point command on the surfacing menu.
bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.
RE: Surfacing help
Thanks for the Intersection Point Command tip.
I've come back to this component and although your way is THE way to do this (it considerably better than the example I posted, with one almost smooth surface instead of 4 stitched ones), I still have some trouble with the point cross-section. It ends in a sunken area, like it's pinched.
See jpeg attachment.
I'm thinking of making my BlueSurf larger by offsetting my guide curves and points to the outside, afterward when I extrude my bean shape to the surface, the sunken points will be outside.
Any better ideas would be welcome.
Thanks!
And now to my 41st try on this BlueSurf!!! (yep, the last one was numbered BlueSurf 40)
RE: Surfacing help
See attachment showing the BlueSurf (along with cross section and guide curves) and the protrusion.
RE: Surfacing help
After looking at your images, I came up with this solution that seems to give a pretty smoth surface.
I split the top-view profile into 2 then created 2 spline curves across from each end of the straight sides to an intersection point of the centre curve with a plane normal to each end of the straight sides.
Hope the image explains.
http://f
bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.
RE: Surfacing help
thanks for your help. You've spent some of your time to make this example, (and on a Sunday at that!) and I really appreciate it.
I've repeated what you did, but I want to be sure. Looking at my jpeg showing top view, have I done the path sections #1 & 2 right? Because if I make halves separated by the cross-section curve #2, the system doesn't accept them as they do not touch all the cross-sections. Making the intersection points doesn't seem to help. Also, the way I did it, I'm not sure either side of the BlueSurf is the exact mirror of the other.
Thanks again, and
Best regards,
Norm AKA Gemnoc
RE: Surfacing help
RE: Surfacing help
Have another look at my pic.
My path curve is a spline from the end of one straight side, to the centre curve, then to the end of the other straight side.
I'm away at work all week now but I'll re-create it and post the model - could be a couple of days though.
bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.
RE: Surfacing help
I figured as much after posting last night, but your jpeg says that the path curve is on a normal plane to the cross-section #1. Since the straight side is not parallel to the cross-section #2's plane, it would mean that at the other end, it's not normal anymore (refer to my jpeg). How do you manage that?
BTW after close inspection, the BlueSurf is indeed different if no path sections are used.
RE: Surfacing help
As I posted last reply in wrong thread, here it is again.
bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.
RE: Surfacing help
Again, thanks for your help.
Last night, I found some interesting reading material from a search for "Solidworks surfacing". They are Powerpoint slides used for presentations at SolidWorks World. Although it is made for SWX, the basics are universal.
I thought it would be a good idea to post the link here for anyone interested in surface theory. I hope it is all right with the administrators.
ht
Look for the presentations named "Curvy Stuff", as well as "Surfacing for Blockheads". And as they request, please restrict downloading to outside business hours (Central time).
So far I've looked at intro of Curvy Stuff 101 and 102. It explains B-REP, analytic surfaces, the basics of loft.
This is something I would have expected to find in Solid Edge Help...