Extrude a curve along a surface

[JoachimAlly]

Hi colleagues,

I have a specific question that is best explained by this screenshot in attachment. I want to do the following. I drew a closed curve on top of the skull surface. Now I want to extrude this closed curve along the Z-axis with the shape of the skull surface. So I want to draw 'a cap' on top of the skull, with a fixed height. I cannot extrude this closed curve, however I think what I want is fully constrained. Can someone help me for a workaround for this specific problem?

Kind regards,
Joachim

 

[carlharr]

Hi,

On your screenshot you are in Sheet Metal, I would use Modelling.

Few methods I can think of depending on what you need:
- draw a straight line up, and then use "sweep along a guide"
- project the shape onto another plane, draw guides between the two shapes, and then create a "sweep" between the two
- or you could extract an associative copy of the surface, trim it to the curve, then use offset surface

You could create a simplified version of this and then try them out.

Regards, Carl

http://www.jcb.com

NX 8.5 with TC 8.3

 

[JoachimAlly]

Hi Carl,

Many thanks for your advice. I have a new attachment =)

What I did now is the following:
[ul]
[li]I made a intersection curve out of a plane parallel with the XZ-plane and the top of the skull.[/li]
[li]This intersection curve was projected than 'in the air' specifying the thickness of the cap I want.[/li]
[li]What I now hope to do is to put this cap on top of the skull with all the same thickness, so the top of the cap has the same shape as the top of the skull. [/li]
[/ul]

After your help, I think I am closer to the solution, but can you help a little bit further please?

PS: Do you know how to change from the Sheet Metal to the Modelling view? I know that you can choose it in the beginning, but if you already started Sheet Metal (because of the skull) can you still 'downgrade' to Modelling?

Kind regards,
Joachim

 

[jerry1423]

if I was you I would focus on utilizing (extruding) the 2D curves above the skull and trim (and make other edits) to the solid body.Don't worry about how to project curves onto the skull.

 

[JoachimAlly]

Yeah, I think I am almost there, as you can see in the attachment, thanks to your help. =)

What I did know is the following:
[ul]
[li]Extrude the top face of the skull with a height of 20 mm (because my cap needs to be 20 mm in this case) [/li]
[li] Make an intersection curve of a plane (parallel with the XZ-plane) and the top face of the skull. [/li]
[li] Extrude this curve to a random height of 100 mm [/li]
[/ul]

The only thing I know wanted to do is make an intersection of this two extrudes in order to have exactly what I want, the cap!
But I have an alert ( Trough face does not intersect path of the tool ) without knowing why, can someone help me out please?

 

[JoachimAlly]

Ok I fixed my problem. The problem was that one extrude was not long enough, and there was no real intersection. You can call it a stupid mistake, for sure.

But just to contribute to this forum, I show in attachment my intersection step and result.

THANK YOU GUYS! =D

 

[carlharr]

Hi Joachim,

Sorry for the delay, time differences!

Looks like you managed to switch into modelling, and also get where you wanted.

Good stuff, Carl

http://www.jcb.com

NX 8.5 with TC 8.3

 

[Toost]

There is a simpler solution to this case. In Modeling. Use Divide Face and divide the underlying faces , then extrude using the selection rule option face Edges, pick all the new faces . done.

Regards,
Tomas

 

[JoachimAlly]

Hi Tomas,

Thank you for the additional advice. But how to switch in my case from Sheet Metal to Modeling? I think I don't know how to do it? Can you please help me out?

Kind regards,
Joachim

 

[cowski]

You can switch applications in the File tab or you can add the Application ribbon tab to do it there. To add the tab, right click in the ribbon bar whitespace, a 'customize' pop up menu will appear, make sure the "application" ribbon option is checked.

www.nxjournaling.com

 

[Toost]

Ctrl+M is the hotkey for Modeling. It's one of the ones to remember
as well as Ctrl+Shift+D for drafting.

Regards,
Tomas

 

[JoachimAlly]

OK. Thanks, Cowski, I addded the ribbon tab Application. Toost, I tested the hotkey successfully.
Thank you for helping me out guys!