help with swept surfaces

[zukko]

hi,
i'm using Solid Edge V18,
when i create a swept surface, it apears in a green color (not in grey like the other features), and when i insert the part into an assembly, it doesnt show at all, when all the other features show normally...
help, anyone...?
thanks

 

[Gemnoc]

Hi zukko,

As I understand it, a surface is a construction element, this is why it's not visible by default in an assembly. It is used to shape or build a solid, and nothing else.

But a surface can be made visible in an assembly. You just have to right-click on the part which has the surface in the PathFinder, and in the contextual menu, select the Show/Hide component sub-menu, and finally select Surfaces.

The surface will show green, but you may be able to change its color with the Face style tool, not sure about that.

(Note that I use a non-english Solid Edge version, the tools names I used may not be exact)

 

[zukko]

hi Gemnoc,
thanks for the quick answer -
i have another question -
how do i make these surfaces into a solid then...?
thanks again, zzuko

 

[Gemnoc]

Hi zukko,

A surface has no thickness, by itself it can't make a solid. You could first create a solid extrusion, then slice one of its faces (or more) with a surface. Or if you make multiple surfaces that generate an enclosed space, you will get a solid. The surfaces need to be trimed to each other for that to happen.

I can't explain further for lack of time, plus I don't know the exact english names for the surfacic tools.

One suggestion, use the Help tool (the mouse pointer icon with interrogation mark) on the tools in the surfacic toolbar to get some information on their use. The online help on surface modeling is rather poor, so you'll have to experiment with the different tools like I did. In fact I'm still learning.

Also, did you do the surface tutorial?

And you could post an image of what you're trying to make (or what you've got so far), so people could tell you which method would work best.

P.S. The following link has a video tutorial on surface modeling. It's not exhaustive and the video resolution is poor, but it got me going. Even though it's been made for SEwST, I believe the tools haven't changed from V18.

http://soliddna.wordpress.com/surfacing-with-sewst-grand-grand-mother-of-st/

Good luck!

 

[beachcomber]

To make a solid from a SINGLE surface you really only have one option - the Thicken command.
This adds solid material of a uniform thickness around the surface.
If you have multiple surfaces they can be stitched together to form a solid providing the form a completely closed volume.
Alternativeley the surfaces can be used to add material to, or subtract material from a solid using the boolean operations, or used to split a solid.
There are some surface tutorials here

http://www.geocities.com/segurucool

bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.