Getting ready to generate a 3D mold mesh requires several steps, depending upon your starting point. In all cases, it is important to generate a mesh that is sufficiently fine on the internal surfaces adjacent to the part, feed system and cooling channels, yet sufficiently coarse on the outside edges to minimize the element count.
The mold internal edge lengths, that is the parts of the mold in contact with the part, the feed system and the cooling channels, should be sufficiently small that they define the shapes of the elements with which they are in contact.
- CAD mold models
- To prepare a CAD mold model for generation of a 3D mold mesh, set an appropriate global edge length for all internal surfaces, including the part, feed system and cooling channel. Then set longer edge lengths on external mold surfaces to reduce the element count. The 3D mold mesh can then be generated in a single step.
- STL mold models
- To prepare an STL mold model for generation of a 3D mold mesh, the first step is to generate a mold surface mesh. Once the surface mesh has been created, it should be checked for errors, then the mold external edge lengths should be increased relative to the internal edge lengths.
- Mold models represented by regions and curves
- Mold models generated by the Mold Surface Wizard, or imported from Autodesk Inventor Tooling are represented by regions and curves. To prepare the mold for generation of a 3D mold, the first step is to generate a mold surface mesh. Once the surface mesh has been created, it should be checked for errors, then the mold external edge lengths should be increased relative to the internal edge lengths.