How to Cut a Hole Thru ANY point on SPHERE

[BKF]

Hi All,

I have spherical shell that I made in Creo 2. Now, I need to cut circular holes in the thin shell of the sphere. How do I set up a plane(s) to draw a circle so that I can subsequently cut/extrude that circle's profile down into the spherical shell at any weird angle I desire? In other words, I need to execute cuts not just along the X, Y and Z axes, but I need to be able to arbitrarily define my own cut directions. Plus, those directions will need to be "tilted".

Or, is thare another way to do it? See attachment for an idea of what I am trying to achieve.

Thanks

[Inoram]

Maybe either a few planes + axes + points.

Or maybe project a curve on the sphere.

[Dale_Rosema]

Are the cuts always through the center of the sphere or is this not necessarily the case?

[BKF]

Hi,

The hole will not necessarily be directed toward the sphere's center.

Thanks

[Patriot_1776]

Simple geometry comment: If a hole is cut in a sphere, and an axis thru the center of it is normal to the surface of the sphere (i.e. the axis also passes thru the center), the hole will create a perfect circle on the surface of the sphere.

There arny number of ways to create a hole that is not normal to the surface. You can creat a set of offset planes and use those for an extruded cut or hole. Or offest a CS. You do not need to have a point on the surface of the sphere itself.

[BKF]

Hi. Thanks for your response. One follow up question. I was considering creating a plane that is offset from a plane tangent to the sphere's surface OR just use a tangent plane to sketch a circle. To make the tangent plane I was going to a) create a line, along the desired cut direction, that intersects the sphere's surface. b) I could then make a plane perpendicular to the line created in step a). Do you have an idea of how to make a plane perpendicular to a line?

Finally, what do you mean by "offest a CS"?

Thanks

[Patriot_1776]

Hmmm, I don't believe you can make a plane tangent to a sphere, but I've not tried it. I'm not even more than 50% sure you can make one tangent to a cone, though you should be abe to.

Coordinate System. What you can do also is make a datum curve feature before the sphere, and use that to drive the location and radius of the sphere, and also use to locate the planes to start your holes. I often do this type of thing, do an "internal skeleton" to drive all or most of the interrelated features in a part.

Don't be afraid to experiment different techniques to get the best result.

Good luck!

[ptc-4916427]

First of all create points on the surface where you want to create hole.

After that create an axis from the centere of the sphere/ball to the point you just created.

now select plane and give reference 1)Axis 2)surface of sphere.

the plane you have just created is exactly tangential to the surface.

on this plane sketch a circle for your required dimeter and extrude cut to make hole on surface of ball/sphere.

This step might help you

[Patriot_1776]

Well, sure, if you want to do a bunch of intermediate steps....

[TomD.inPDX]

Yep, spherical CSYS would make the most sense to manage positions on a sphere.