when you get stuck, use surfaces! · 2019. 4. 25. · solidworks surfacing tools are incredibly...

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When You Get Stuck, Use Surfaces!

SOLIDWORKS has powerful solid modeling tools that can help you create virtually any shape or design you can imagine. However, sometimes you may get stuck trying to accomplish something and all the solid modeling tools you have tried won’t do the trick. In times like these, use the Surfacing tools! SOLIDWORKS Surfacing tools are incredibly useful when solid modeling just isn’t enough. However, it can get very messy very fast. Surfacing tools should be used sparingly and only when necessary. However, they can be a niche solution in a tight spot. In this piece, I will show simple examples of 3 useful surfacing tools to incorporate into your modeling. Hopefully they will spark your interest in further exploring the SOLIDWORKS Surfacing features.

Finding the SOLIDWORKS Surfacing Tools Rather than go through a menu for every feature, enable the surface features tab in your SOLIDWORKS CommandManager by right clicking any of the tabs and checking ‘Surfaces’.

Figure 1, Enabling the Surfaces features tab in the CommandManager


It is also useful to set your Surface and Solid Bodies folders to always show in the feature manager. Go to Tools -> Options > FeatureManager and set the Solid Bodies and Surface Bodies folders to ‘Show’:

Figure 2, SOLIDWORKS System Options window


In your FeatureManager, you will now see this:

When you begin to incorporate hybrid modeling, your end result should always be a solid body. Ensuring that the Surface Bodies folder always shows will be an easy check to know that you have successfully transitioned back to a solid body.

Figure 3, FeatureManager now showing Solid Bodies and Surface Bodies


Copy Surface to Analyze Internal Geometry There are many ways to create features of internal geometry. One useful surfacing tools is the Copy Surface feature. For example, I have this part:

I want to to create a male part and calculate the internal volume.

Figure 4, Example part


1. To start, I insert the Offset Surface feature and select all internal faces:

a. When I set the distance to zero, the Offset Surface feature changes to Copy Surface.

This is exactly what I want.

2. Now that I have copied the internal faces, I hide the solid body. Now only the recently created surface body should be visible.

Figure 5, Offset Surface changes to Copy Surface


3. Next, I need to complete the surface so it encloses a volume. In this example, all I need to do is

add two planar surfaces to both openings. I insert the Planar Surface feature and then select all the bounding edges.

a. In other applications when the surface is not planar, you may want to insert a Surface

Fill feature and make the edges tangent to the edges you select.

Figure 6, Inserting surfaces to enclose the volume


4. Now all that is left to do is to knit the surfaces together and create a solid. I insert the Knit

Surface feature and select all the surfaces. If I have done it right, there will be an option available called ‘Create solid’.

a. If you do not see the option, this indicates that you have an open surface. You can use

the Check feature in the Evaluate tab and check the option ‘Open surface(s)’ to locate it.

Figure 7, If you have a surface body that encloses a volume, the ‘Create solid’ option will appear.


5. If done correctly, I now have a perfect male part. I can use the Mass Properties tool on the Evaluate tab to calculate the volume of the solid:

a. You will notice that the Surface Bodies folder is empty and we are left with a solid

body.

Figure 8, A completed male part of internal geometry that allows us to compute the volume.


Removing Geometry With No Trace: Delete Face In some cases the desired result is to remove geometry from a part and leave no trace of its existence. This can be done by rolling back and deleting the original features, but this may cause trickle-down problems with subsequent features. In this instance, the Delete Face feature is a niche tool. In this example, I will use this part:

Figure 9, Example part: snowmobile hood


1. For some reason, I want to remove the left air scoop and leave no traces that it ever existed. To do so, I insert the Delete Face feature:

a. Most importantly, I change the option to ‘Delete and Patch’. This takes the surrounding edges and extends them. Then SOLIDWORKS will trim and knit them together all in one step.

b. Ensure that ALL faces relating to the geometry are selected.

Figure 10, Inserting the ‘Delete Face’ feature and changing the function to ‘Delete and Patch’


2. The result is a face with no traces of the geometry:

a. Because this face was continuous, it was simple for SOLIDWORKS to extend the edges

and knit them together. In other instances, the feature may fail because there is no logical way SOLIDWORKS can extend, trim, and knit the edges. In this case, you will need to patch the surface manually.

Figure 11, The face was patched with no trace of the geometry.


Editing Imported Geometry: Move Face Although the Move Face feature is not on the Surfaces tab by default, it is still a surfacing tool. This tool comes in handy when you need to modify imported geometry with no feature history. For this example, I will use this baffle:

The only feature I have is the ‘Imported1’.

Figure 12, Example part: baffle


1. My goal is to extend the faces of the baffle for a new fitting. To start, I will insert the Move Face command through the menu:

Figure 13, Inserting the ‘Move Face’ command via the ‘Insert’ menu.


2. I then select the faces that I want to extend and set the distance to 2.00”:

Figure 14, Inserting the ‘Move Face’ command via the ‘Insert’ menu.


3. My result is a modified part with the beginnings of a feature tree:

Figure 15, The desired end result.


Final Comments Hybrid modeling can be a very niche tool when you get stuck with solid modeling. As I mentioned before, surface modeling should be use sparingly and only when necessary, but when used appropriately, it can help solve seemingly impossible modeling tasks. To learn more about surfacing, check out our YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/user/goengineer/search?query=surfacing If you need other assistance, call GoEngineer Tech Support at 888.559.6167 or email [email protected].

https://www.youtube.com/user/goengineer/search?query=surfacing

mailto:[email protected]

when you get stuck, use surfaces! · 2019. 4. 25. · solidworks surfacing tools are incredibly...

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