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

[SNIreaPER]

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?

 

[GregLocock]

Point cloud to mesh is usually done in a CAD like environment. Hypermesh can do it if prodded.

https://community.altair.com/community?id=community_question&sys_id=1696c07a1b2bd0908017dc61ec4bcbdc

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[SNIreaPER]

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.

 

[GregLocock]

So what does SW think the surface you have created is? I'm not an SW user. Extruding a surface to become a solid model sounds rather a straightforward operation.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[3DDave]

Perhaps this helps:

https://help.solidworks.com/2020/English/SolidWorks/sldworks/HIDD_DVE_FEAT_REPLACE_FACE.htm

There is also a mesh to surface function to provide the surface that is used to replace a face on a solid.

Create a block, import the mesh, covert to a surface, replace a surface on the block.

 

[IRstuff]

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.

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