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Tips for solid modelling

When creating a solid model, there are a few tips to consider, particularly when working with Parasolids:

  • If you want to Boolean an open solid (sheet) to an active solid, and re-trim the active solid to the edges of the sheet, do one of the following:
    • Extend the sheet through the active solid.

    • Form a closed solid from the sheet.

  • If you want to fill a hole in the active solid, use the (Solid Tools) Manage tab > Modify Face panel > Sew operation rather than a Boolean addition.

  • A scale transform causes a complete replay of the history tree. If the part has a complex tree, this may take some time.
  • Parasolid is particular about the wireframe you use for creating solids:
    • Ensure that there are no zero-magnitude points and that any point that is supposed to be tangent continuous, is continuous. If not, surfaces may be divided unnecessarily and operations (particularly thickening) may fail.
    • When creating extrusions or cuts/bosses from planar wireframe, always check that the wireframe is planar. Parasolid uses a much tighter tolerance than PowerShape when testing wireframe for planarity (flatness). If the wireframe is not planar, extrusions/cuts/bosses are not capped and may fail.
    • Always try to create wireframe from lines and arcs rather linear or arc-like Bézier spans.

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