Creates a Grill feature using the various patterns included in one or more 2D sketches.
Access
Ribbon:
3D Model tab
Plastic Part panel
Grill
Boundary
Specifies the closed extent of the Grill.
Profile One planar closed profile. The selection of the Boundary profile implicitly determines the Grill direction as the direction from the profile centroid to the closest point of the part along the profile plane normal. The Boundary profile is required to build the Grill.
Body To select the target body.
The parameters are:
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W: Boundary Thickness
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H: Boundary Height
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O: Outside Height offset of the Boundary top face with respect to the part surface
Island
An area filled with material, usually at the center of the grill. The island often has the same thickness as the shell.
Profile One planar, closed profile. The plane must be parallel to the Boundary plane (the profile can belong to the same sketch as the boundary). If no profile is selected, the Island is not present. It is not necessary to trim the Island profile at the boundary profile. This operation is automatically executed by the feature itself.
The Island has thickness as its only parameter. Its top and bottom limits correspond to the Boundary top and bottom faces. Ribs and Spars are trimmed at the profile of the island.
Ribs
One set of curves that fills the Grill area. The external faces of the ribs are flush or slightly recessed with respect to the boundary external face.
Profile One or more open or closed profiles belonging to the same sketch on a plane that is parallel to the boundary profile (can belong to the same sketch as the boundary). The profiles are the centered outlines of the ribs. It is not necessary to trim them at the boundary profile. This operation is automatically executed by the feature itself.
The parameters are:
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W: Rib Thickness
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H: Rib Height
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O: Rib Top Offset from the external face of the Boundary
Ribs can extend below the internal face of the target body.
Spars
A secondary set of curves, usually added to improve the stiffness of the ribs.
Profile One or more open or closed profiles belonging to the same sketch on a plane that is parallel to the boundary profile (can belong to the same sketch as the boundary). The profiles are centered outlines of the Spars. It is not necessary to trim them at the boundary profile; this operation is automatically executed by the feature itself.
The parameters are:
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O1: Top Offset from the top face of the ribs
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O2: Bottom Offset from the bottom face of the ribs
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W: Thickness
Draft
The draft angle for the grill requires only two parameters:
- A draft angle (no sign).
- (Optionally) the offset from the Boundary Outside of the parting surface.
If you input the draft angle, the software chooses the “best practices” draft configuration. If you define the parting element (as the offset from the Boundary external face of the parting surface), then the draft is modeled accordingly without any verification of the manufacturability.
The “best practice” draft is defined as the following:
- The parting is as far as possible from the “Outside” defined by the position of the Boundary profile (to minimize the aesthetic damage of the parting lines).
- Minimization of the double draft (to simplify manufacturing).
- The neutral always coincides with the “Outside” face of each element (to have the nominal dimensions on the visible part of the Grill).
In practical terms, the parting element contains the inside faces of either the Boundary or the Spar.
Alternatively, define the parting element as the part surface (before the application of the Grill) at a given Offset O from the Boundary outside face. By changing the offset amount, you can position the parting element where deemed necessary. The outside faces remain neutral.
