NX 7.5 Extrude Solid Bodies From One section 2

[SDETERS]

We are coming over from I-Deas. I think this is how the nx software works but I was hoping maybe for a switch or option I have not found.

Is there a way to Extrude in NX two sections that do not touch and make them into one solid body?

In I-Deas we were able to Extrude two different sections that did not touch and the end result would be one part.

Please see pics.

 

[SDETERS]

I did not find a way to put in multiple attachments. OOPS here is the other screen shot.

Thanks

 

[JohnRBaker]

Be careful that you don't confuse 'parts' with 'bodies'. In NX we have no problem supporting multiple (i.e. distinctive) solid bodies in the SAME 'part' file. And in the case of an extrude, while your scenario will indeed result in TWO separate solid bodies, it does result in a SINGLE parametric 'feature', which will be more obvious if you place your cursor over some 'white space' in the Part Navigator, press MB3 and toggle ON the 'Timestamp Order' option.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

UG/NX Museum:

http://www.plmworld.org/p/cm/ld/fid=209

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[SDETERS]

This is what I thought No way of making those into one single solid body from two sections that do not touch.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[cowski]

I'm curious, what practical use have you found for modeling in this way?

 

[SDETERS]

One example is modeling of a die cast housing during the concept phase. We will extrude, sweep and or revolve many different features to get a rough housing around our assembly. Most of the time we are after a very rough housing. To simulate space taken up. Most of the times the features we work on are not next to each other. When we move some assembly parts far enough away from each other, The part feautres should follow the assembly component move. Now the part solid bodies do not touch. Then we get multiple bodies wich in turn we get rebuild errors.

In I-Deas we would still have one part with out any errors and or model crashes. The gaps would just be gaps until we would fill it in later with different geometry.

I guess we are working on a die cast housing in different sections at a time.

I get what you are saying though. To make a solid part the surfaces should intersect and be one body. Makes sense. We are just used to be able to model a different way in I-Deas.

I like the NX approach and got used to the solid body way of doing things. I am still able to model the inside of the casting and the outside of the casting. Then cut the inside from the outside.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Actually, while the changes that we made in this behavior (prior to NX 5.0, multiple loops in a sketch/profile would have resulted in multiple FEATURES as well as multiple bodies) was initially motivated by our need to be able to convert Ideas models to NX models while losing as little of the original design intent as possible, we also recognized that taking the single-feature result approach would also improve the reliability and robustness of any future model update and so we opted for this albeit somewhat unexpected (at least for old time UG/NX users) approach to what sort of feature is actually being created.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

UG/NX Museum:

http://www.plmworld.org/p/cm/ld/fid=209

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[cowski]

I get what you are saying though.

I wasn't trying to 'say' anything with my post, it was an honest question because I have never even tried that maneuver with the extrude command. I figured you had a good reason for asking, and I'm always up for learning something new.

 

[SDETERS]

Sorry cowski. It is different way of modeling that is for sure. Usually we have three to four different areas in our assmeblies. For example we would have the axle shaft area modeled all as one part. Then we would have the input area built as one part. We would detail out these areas with draft, extrudes ECT. but they would never touch each other until we worked on the middle of the housing or other features. Think of it as breaking your assembly up in groups. Then we move those groups around all over the place in the assembly until we find a good spot for all the components in the assembly. Really more for concepting work and making many different arrangments and configurations at one time. Thanks for the feedback. As we move more into NX I will have more questions like this for sure.