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Heal geometry question...

DarrinHiebert
1-Newbie

Heal geometry question...

I've never used the heal geometry command before. Now we have a
situation, in which we've been given a solid model output as surfaces,
and I don't think that we'll ever be able to get a true "solid" model.
We've historically used these things as surfaces in the past, and that's
always served us well. Now, in this instance, we'd like to convert this
to solid geomety.

I'm getting pretty adept at getting around in heal geomety, and "fixing"
geometry, and getting it to do what I want it to do. However, I've
still been unable to get the model to solidify, and I'm almost certain
that's because I've got gaps or holes somewhere. There are a TON of
surfaces on this thing, so finding the holes is quite an undertaking.

I've used Info/Geom Check, and that finds some, but I suspect that
there's still more that I don't know about. Are there any tools inside
of Pro/E that I don't know about that I could use to find these "holes"
or gaps?, or any other tools that I might be able to use to figure out
why this thing won't solidify?

WF 2.0 M220...

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7 REPLIES 7

Use the search tool, set like this:



That will find all the one sided edges, clicking them in the list will
highlight them on screen. Of course, if they are tiny, they'll be
impossible to find, but this will at least give you an idea of how many
open edges you are dealing with.

The trick to actually locating them is to create a flat surface, offset
form a default datum, that intersects the entire part. Merge that with
your large surface, keeping one side or the other, it doesn't matter.
Now, try to solidify the resulting quilt. If it solidifies, your
problem is in the other half. Move the flat surface into that side
until it won't solidify anymore, you've then found your problem area, or
at least one of them.

You may need to extrude a L section to isolate a small corner of the
model, moving each leg to find every hole in the model.

Tedious, but effective.

Doug Schaefer
--
Doug Schaefer | Experienced Mechanical Design Engineer
LinkedIn

I don't know of any tools that point out holes in surface models.
However, a few tricks I have used for situations like this:

1. Change the color of one-sided (outer) edges back to the old
yellow color, or something with good contrast against the dark purple of
two-sided (inner) edges. (I have no idea why PTC changed the color of
one-sided edges from yellow to magenta, it makes it much more difficult
to deal with surfacing to have two slightly different shades of purple
for surface edges). This makes it easier to locate the problem areas.
2. Reduce the accuracy in your model, then redefine the import
feature. This can help a lot when there is a small hole that is
difficult to locate visually, by letting Pro/E close the small gaps for
you. In many cases you will only have to do a Zip Gaps after this, or
just check off Make Solid in the feature properties, you will be all
set. Try increasing the accuracy setting in small steps and then
Zip/Make Solid.
3. Change your accuracy before you import the model. Sometimes the
initial translation from the neutral file is the killer, and if your
accuracy is too tight, you will be stuck with an import feature that is
disconnected all over the place. I believe using absolute accuracy
instead of relative accuracy can make a big difference here, too.
4. I'm sure you are a Zip Gaps veteran, but I'll mention it anyway.
Use Zip Gaps and increase the MaxGapDist value manually, sometimes this
will get even small holes to zip up when it seems like they should have
already.



Best Regards,

Also, be sure you're using the Pre-Wildfire color scheme. Free edges are
yellow and merged edges are purple. I always use Pre-Wildfire, one of
those things that wasn't broken but they "fixed".



Rob Reifsnyder

Mechanical Design Engineer/ Pro/E Librarian

L

Maritime Systems & Sensors (MS2)

497 Electronics Parkway

Liverpool, NY 13088

EP5-Quad2, Cube 281

Hello,

I am in the application development area for some years now, but in earlier times I faced some problems like this...

WithWildfire 1 and newer versions I used this to find open edges of a quilt (I don't have the English menues in mind, but it should be something like this):

Insert / Sweep / Surface... then the option "Select boundary" and then select the surface/quilt. Next option is "select loop"; then "from-to" or something like that.

Then Pro/E displays selectable points at the open boundaries.

In Pre-Wildfire versions this could be done with copying composite curves, but this option was gone because of the new selection methods in WF I think....

Andreas

__________________________________

Andreas Hellmann
MCAD Services Pro/E & Pro/E customization
Frankfurt/Germany

phone: +49 6145 598296
mail: -

If you can, you might try using WF4... PTC made a TON-O-IMPROVEMENTS to
the heal geometry functionality! I'm thinking you could "fix" it, then
step it out and back into WF2... In THEORY, at least, it should still
be fixed... This is probably a last ditch effort type solution... The
other reply's covered more of the "standard" issue procedures...
good luck!

Paul Korenkiewicz
FEV , Inc.
4554 Glenmeade
Auburn Hills, MI, 48326-1766

Darren,



I agree wholeheartedly with the folks who have responded and their
suggestions, especially Paul's thoughts on using Import Data Doctor in
Wildfire 4.0. Another suggestion - once you have used the heal geometry
functions, even if you can't get it to solidify, try saving it out as a
new IGES file, then re-import it back into a fresh part file. I have
had experiences where Pro/E performs additional "fixes" to the IGES
geometry during the output/re-input process that will allow you to get
around your remaining gaps/holes.



I've even had situations where I've been able to fix portions of the
model, output as a new IGES file, bring the new one back in, fix some
more, and repeat as necessary, and this has allowed me to finally attain
a solid model.



Mike Brattoli

Moen Incorporated

Engineering Systems Administrator

25300 Al Moen Drive

North Olmsted, OH 44070

Darrin,
A suggestion to try, that has not been mentioned yet, is to assembly the
part into a new assembly and then save it as a merged solid shrinkwrap.
This operation will in some cases solidify a quilt model with very small
gaps as in your case.

Bjarne



"Darrin Hiebert" <->
05-05-2009 16:09
Please respond to
"Darrin Hiebert" <->


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[proecad] - Heal geometry question...






I've never used the heal geometry command before. Now we have a
situation, in which we've been given a solid model output as surfaces, and
I don't think that we'll ever be able to get a true "solid" model. We've
historically used these things as surfaces in the past, and that's always
served us well. Now, in this instance, we'd like to convert this to solid
geomety.

I'm getting pretty adept at getting around in heal geomety, and "fixing"
geometry, and getting it to do what I want it to do. However, I've still
been unable to get the model to solidify, and I'm almost certain that's
because I've got gaps or holes somewhere. There are a TON of surfaces on
this thing, so finding the holes is quite an undertaking.

I've used Info/Geom Check, and that finds some, but I suspect that there's
still more that I don't know about. Are there any tools inside of Pro/E
that I don't know about that I could use to find these "holes" or gaps?,
or any other tools that I might be able to use to figure out why this
thing won't solidify?

WF 2.0 M220...

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