unable to thicken surface...

[tsorel]

OK, the search function isn't working right now on this site so I thought I can ask something that has probably been asked before:
Every once in a while when I am creating a lofted surface, mirrored the surface, and knitted them, I can't thicken the surfaces. I don't see any geometry limitations and the "I-can't-do-this" box doesn't show me any errors or reasons why not. Is there something I'm missing? Thanks
-todd

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Can you thicken the surface before using the mirror function?

 

[tsorel]

Why yes I can. It's just that the thickened edges are never normal to the surface (they bunch and crunch just like real material) so it creates small gaps after it is mirrored.
I just tried thickening it from the center (instead of out or in) after it was mirrored and it works fine but who measures a part from the middle of the material? I guess I will have to go back and adjust all of my dimensions to account for the thickening. Thanks for the help.
-todd

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I'm not too familiar with using surfaces, but can you use a "heal" function after mirroring, to eliminate any gaps or overlaps? The thickening might then work the way you expected.

 

[Theophilus]

This is a hack solution, but should work.

If you're mirroring across a plane (which you are), create the surface, thicken it, cut away the material that crossed the mirror plane, and then mirror the body/feature. Should remain a nice solid.

If it's a gap instead of a tresspassing volume, extend the edge of your surface, then trim it with your plane or a planar surface--then try to mirror and thicken. If that doesn't work, thicken before mirroring, trim, and then mirror the body/feature.

Jeff Mowry
Industrial Designhaus, LLC

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

 

[tsorel]

Thanks a bunch. I think you've both helped me. I've come up with a few more errors since ("Failed to merge the newly generated body with the work piece") but I think I can work around them now.
-todd

 

[SBaugh]

That error indicates that you have merge bodies on. For some reason SW is unable to merge the bodies together. Example - If they are just touching on an edge, then SW will not be able to merge 2 bodies together. The bodies must intersect before SW will merge them together.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP
3DVision Technologies

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376
faq559-716 - SW Fora Users

 

[TheTick]

From the sounds of it, there is a problem with the surface edge that lies on the symmetry plane. Most likely, the surface normals are not parallel to the symmetry plane along the entire length of the edges on the symmetry plane. You may need to reconstruct your surface.

When making lofts, it is possible to constrain the surface edge "normal to profile" (tangency constraint). If you loft to a sketch on the symmetry plane, use this.

Sometimes thickening needs to be done by brute force, by offsetting surfaces and connecting sides with ruled or lofted surfaces. Sometimes, if an offset isn't possible, it needs to be created from scratch on its own.

"Customer satisfaction, while theoretically possible, is neither guaranteed nor statistically likely.--E.L. Kersten

http://www.EsoxRepublic.com

 

[tsorel]

Thanks all, this has been most helpful. I didn't use the normal to profile constraint since that gave me a pretty funky loft. Probably because I only used two profiles; I could have added a couple more. In fact I will add them and change the tangency constraint since that seems the "correct" way to do it. I swear I learn more on this forum than by using solidworks!
-todd