Skip to main content
H
hspaulding1-Visitor
1-Visitor
March 7, 2013
Question

solidifying a model

  • March 7, 2013
  • 5 replies
  • 5823 views
I have a model from a vendor that was created using surfaces. With the correct density applied to the model I still get a weight of 0.0000.
I tried to use the function "SOLIDIFY", but it is grayed out.
I need to somehow calculate the weight of this part.
Any suggestion?

Thanks in advance,
Herb

--
Herb Spaulding
Product Engineer
Miller Industries Towing Equipment, Inc.
8503 Hilltop Drive
Ooltewah, Tn. 37363
(423) 238-4171 x1236
herb@millerind.com<">mailto:herb@millerind.com>

This thread is inactive and closed by the PTC Community Management Team. If you would like to provide a reply and re-open this thread, please notify the moderator and reference the thread. You may also use "Start a topic" button to ask a new question. Please be sure to include what version of the PTC product you are using so another community member knowledgeable about your version may be able to assist.

5 replies

J
JonathanHodgson13-Aquamarine
13-Aquamarine
March 7, 2013
Herb,

It sounds like there are gaps in the surfaces. View the model in wireframe - do any coloured edges appear? ( I can't remember what the colours are in different versions - we still use pre-Wildfire colours which show 'joined' surface edges as purple and 'free' edges as yellow, I think.)

Unfortunately the only solution is to fix the gaps, either using Import Data Doctor (if you can work it out!) or manually, by creating surfaces and merging them in.

HTH,
Jonathan
N
nrollins1-Visitor
1-Visitor
March 7, 2013
Up to / including WF5 the joined edges are darker purple and the open edges
are magenta. (not sure of Creo colors.)



Think of the magenta edges as allowing the water to leak out - if everything
is purple, then the volume will hold water and you will be able to solidify
it.



If you look at the wireframe and don't see any magenta, it is probably just
really small. Keep looking. You can RMB on the import feature in the tree
and redefine it - this will bring up a highly intuitive user interface
(sarcasm intended.) that will give you tools to fix gaps - automatically and
manually. These tools, if they don't work for you, are at least likely show
you where the problem is.



If you know where the problem is, you can seal it up with a bit of CAD
putty. If the magenta edges are embedded in solid, the volume will hold
water and you will be able to solidify the quilt. So your goal is to seal
the edges with a minimum amount of "putty" so as not to drastically affect
your mass props.



So, import the STEP, IGES etc, into a start part that has default datums.
Build a datum near the gap(s) in your imported quilt. Create a solid extrude
feature that is teeny-weeny, but encompasses the magenta edges. Then you
can solidify the quilt. This works fine for volumetric / mass properties /
cartoons / presentations / interface design/ etc, etc. But I would not want
to use this hack-n-whack method for creating an SLA or some tooling for
production. You be the judge.



Happy Cadding.



-Nate


M
mpeterson1-Visitor
1-Visitor
March 7, 2013
To solidify a part or quilt you must select the quilt first and then the
solidify feature is available.



Mark A. Peterson


B
browns34131-Visitor
1-Visitor
March 7, 2013

Assuming you have selected the quilt before trying to select "solidify", you can easily troubleshoot your model to look for those small edges that are causing the headache. Build a flat surface that intersects the entire model using an offset datum plane as your sketching plane. Merge this surface into the model and keep the volume inside of the new flat surface and above or below the falt surface. Try solidifying the resulting quilt volume. If it solidifies you are in good shape. You can then adjust the value for the offset datum plane used for the flat surface until the solidify feature fails. The spot where it fails is where your gaps are located. If it is a large/complex model you can add a second flat surface perpendicular to the first and manipulate that in the same way.


If you have BMX you can do as I suggest above and have the software manipulate the offset datum for you, You can track the mass or volume of the part. The resulting graph for the volume will show where that calculation goes to zero. That is your problem spot.


Or you can old school it if you have good eyes. Set the working window background color to the same color as stitched edges in your quilt. You might be able to then see the edges that are a color other than the background color. This worked a bit better when seams were magenta and open edges were yellow.


I hope this makes sense...and helps.



Tom

N
nhanratty1-Visitor
1-Visitor
March 7, 2013
What can also help is to do a search for one sided edges using the search tool...

For 'Value' you have an option to search for Two-sided or One-Sided.

One-sided edges are those where typically you have a gap...

[cid:image003.jpg@01CE1B4A.A0D72FF0]

Regards,

Neal Hanratty
Engineering Systems and Standards Manager
Terex Materials Processing Group

T +44 (0)28 8241 8769
F +44 (0)28 8225 2740
M +44 (0)75 3495 2739
E neal.hanratty@terex.com<">mailto:neal.hanratty@terex.com>
    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement