Maximum Volume Envelope

[joltinjohn]

Gentilmen,

One more question today. I need to create an envelope model from a real model. What I mean by 'envelope' is a maximum 'block' volume.

For instance if I have a part shaped like this:

_________
|
|
_________|

I need to create a prt that will look like

|------------|
| |
|_________|

I'm just looking for the outer most dimensions of a part. I used to do this by creating an extruded volume in the x y and z directions and then performing a boolean operator of intersect.

Any ideas in ProE?

Thanks in advance,
John

 

[mloew]

This is a good problem for Behavioral Modeling Extension (BMX) if you have that module. You can create an over-sized box and then create measures between each face and the part. Then create a relation analysis feature that will sum all the distance measures. Using an optimization feature you can then minimize the sum distance.

Best regards,

Matthew Ian Loew


Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[Guest0527211403]

If I understand correctly, you are enclosing the second volume in the first one.

One alternative to Matthew's suggestion is to copy the surfaces from the hollow part into a new part using copy geoms.

If the copied surfaces don't form a closed volume, you will probably have to create a new surface, merge this to the copied surfaces, and finally solidify the whole volume.

So you know where to start sniffing for these features, the copy geoms are located under Insert-->Shared Data, and the solidify tool is Edit-->Solidify.

The capping surface (if it is planar) can be made using an oversized sketch and then the Edit-->Fill command. Then pick the copied surface and the flat surface (use control to select them both) and then start the merge tool (essentially a boolean operator).

The resulting model will be an exact copy of the internal volume of your hollow part.

 

[3dlogix]

You can also create an associative Shrinkwrap model that will update as the parent part updates. You can also create shrinkwrap models of the part or assembly as it moves around.

I saw this with one customer who wanted to see the envelope of a complete flight simulator, so it wouldnt bash into the surrounding walls after it was build!.

Steve

http://www.sprdesign.com

http://www.3dlogix.com

 

[Hora]

John,

There are two functions in ProToolkit which can do this:

ProSolidOutlineGet()
ProSolidOutlineCompute()

-Hora