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Converting topography scan (AFM/profilometry) data into 3D solid body (not surface) for FEM

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SNIreaPER

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I have topography data (AFM scans) of a rough surface, represented as a matrix, with each element representing its height above the surface (z) and the row and column positions representing its x and y coordinates.

I can import this surface and plot it in MATLAB, but I am unable to create a 3D solid body out of it. Ideally, what I want to do is extrude the surface down to a plane, such that it looks like a elevation map with a flat base and flat sides, which I can then use for FEM analysis (in ABAQUS).

Can someone who has experience with this help me with how this can be achieved?

 
I am able to mesh it/create a surface from the point cloud data using Solidworks. However, what I want to do is create a solid 3D body (not just a surface); almost like extruding the 3D surface along a certain direction. However, Solidworks is not recognizing the surface at all, thus not allowing me to extrude it too.
 
Seems to me that there should be a number of ways to get there. While extruding the surface downward ought to work, there are other operations such as extruding a base upwards through the surface and using the surface to section the extruded base into two parts might be doable.

However, I'm a bit dubious that you can actually specify a surface using that complicated a point cloud, which should look something like an egg carton bottom; while the individual peaks and valleys are fairly simple, to get a closed form solution for an extended area would likely result in a fairly complex equation, which might be why the software isn't behaving. You might try and repeat the exercise with a much smaller area, say, only a couple of peaks and valleys in either direction and see if that works. If your AFM is of a uniform surface, it might be possible to simply chop out a smaller area, cover that that to a solid and then array the solid in both dimensions.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list
 
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