Solid ImportUser Manual

Gibbs and Associates323 Science Drive

Moorpark, CA 93021

May 2006

ProprietaryNoticeThis document contains propriety information of Gibbs and Associates and is to be used only pursu-ant to and in conjunction with the license granted to the licensee with respect to the accompanying Gibbs and Associates licensed software. Except as expressly permitted in the license, no part of this document may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual or otherwise, without the prior expressed written permission from Gibbs and Asso-ciates or a duly authorized representative thereof.

It is strongly advised that users carefully review the license in order to understand the rights and obli-gations related to this licensed software and the accompanying documentation.

Use of the computer software and the user documentation has been provided pursuant to a Gibbs and Associates licensing agreement.

© 2000-2006 Gibbs and Associates. All rights reserved. The Gibbs logo, GibbsCAM, GibbsCAM logo, CAM von Gibbs, Virtual Gibbs, Gibbs SFP, SolidSurfacer, MTM and “Powerfully Simple. Simply Powerful.” are either trademark(s) or registered trademark(s) of Gibbs and Associates in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trade-marks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Contains Autodesk® RealDWG by Autodesk, Inc., Copyright © 1998-2006 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgements:

Written by Will. Gaffga

Thanks to Bill Gibbs and the entire GibbsCAM development team for their input and assistance.

Printed in the United States of America

Modified: May 31, 2006 12:30 pm

Table of Contents

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 1

Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Text Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

SOLID IMPORT 5

Working With Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Solids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Taskbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Main (Top Level) Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Solid Modeling Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Multiple Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Body Bag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Body Menu Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Modify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Context Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Body Bag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Display Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Render Faceting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Extracting Geometry from Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

TUTORIALS 19

Exercise 1: Gear.x_t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Opening the Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Controlling Import Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Extracting the Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Extracting Edges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Extracting Face Boundaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Exercise 2: flange.x_t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Opening the Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Controlling Import Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Extracting the Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Placing a Body in the Body Bag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

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Table of Contents

Connecting Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Exercise 3: ANC101.x_t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Extracting Geometry to CS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27XY Hole Extraction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27The YZ plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Compound Chain Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29The XZ Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Exercise 4: Revolve.igs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

INDEX 35

ii

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

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CHAPTER 1

: I n t r o d u c t i o n

The Solids Import option allows users to read files that contain solid and surface models, make minormodifications to the model and extract geometry from the model in order to create machiningoperations. This manual is composed of two types of sections: reference and tutorial. It isrecommended that the user briefly review the reference material and then move on to theaccompanying instructional exercises.

Users should familiarize themselves with the basics of the system which are outlined in GeometryCreation, Mill Module and Advanced CS manuals before reviewing this manual. Advanced CSis not required but adds more complete functionality to Solids Import. This manual assumes a level ofproficiency with geometry creation, coordinate systems and basic machining.

DEFINITIONSThe terms and definitions provided below are used to describe objects and elements used by thesystem, and throughout this manual.

Body: The term “body” is a generic term that refers to both solids and sheets. A solid body can bethought of as a bowling ball, while a sheet body is more like a balloon with an infinitely thin wall.

Face: A face is one surface of a solid or sheet. A Sheet face includes the positive and negative sides whilea solid only includes the positive side. Faces are surfaces that have knowledge of the surfaces thatsurround them. For example, one side of a cube would be considered a face. Each face is bound byloops. A simple face is bounded by one loop.

Surface: A surface is either a face, group of faces (depending on how the surface was created) of a solidor side of a sheet. Sheets have two surface sides and a solids have only one.

Solid: A solid is a body composed of faces and the area enclosed by the faces. Solids have volume. Solidsbodies are used as the building blocks in creating part models in GibbsCAM. Unlike sheets, solids onlyhave a positive side.

Sheet: A sheet is an surface with two sides, positive and negative. A sheet has no volume or thicknessassociated with it.

Edge: An edge is a curve/line between two faces. An edge of a solid must have exactly two facesconnected to it. Note that more than two faces at an edge produces an invalid solid. The edge of asheet can have a single face connected to that.

Loop: A loop is a series of connected edges that outline a face.

Vertex: A vertex is an endpoint of an edge.

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Introduction

TEXT CONVENTIONSIn this and all other GibbsCAM manuals you will find a number of standards used in the text, knownas conventions.

Screen text: Any text you see like this is referring to text you will see in GibbsCAM or on your monitor.Typically this is a button or text for a dialog.

Keystrokes: Words that appear like this refer to a keystroke or mouse action, such asright-click or Ctrl+C.

Term: Words that you see like this followed by a colon refer to a word or phrase used in GibbsCAM.

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SOLID IMPORT

Solid Import

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CHAPTER 2

: S o l i d Imp o r t

WORKING WITH BODIES

A 3D body can be made up of solids or sheets. Bodies can have geometry extracted from them formachining. The Solid Import option allows users to import bodies and machine them without theSolidSurfacer option. In this first section we will discuss the interface items and details of 3D models.In the second section we will discuss the tools to extract geometry to machine the model.

SolidsSolid models have volume. Solids can either be viewed as wireframe drawings but only renderedobjects can be selected.

SheetsSheets do not have any thickness or volume. A sheet has knowledge of the neighboring sheets thatsurround it. Sheets may have either one face or several faces. Similar to solids, sheets may also bedefined as a part, stock, or fixture. When a surface files is imported, each surface entity is brought inas a single sheet.

Lumps: Each body is either a single conjoined object called a lumps or a disconjoined single object,called a multi-lump body. Multi-lump solids can be separated to create single lump bodies. See theSeparate function on the following page.

WORKSPACEBodies exist in the workspace or the Body Bag (when visible). Bodies are not contained in workgroups.Bodies are assigned to the coordinate system it was created in.

TaskbarThe Taskbar contains six items that are part of the Solid Import interface. For more detailedinformation on these Taskbar items see the Interface section in the Getting Started manual.

Show Solids: This button will show and hide all bodies, including sheets.

Render/Wireframe: Render fully shaded objects or simple wireframe.

Indicate Sheet Side: Indicate the positive and negative sides of a sheet.

Face Selection: Enable/disable face selection mode.

Edge Selection: Enable/disable edge selection mode.

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Main (Top Level) PaletteTwo buttons in the Top level palette are part of the main functionality ofSolid Import. The Surface and Solid Modeling palettes help to create andmodify bodies and the Body Bag is an organizational container for bodies

Solid Modeling PaletteClick the Solid Modeling button inthe main palette to open the SolidModeling palette. All of the modeling

functions that are used with solids areaccessed from this palette. The Solid Importoptions allows the use of slicing andseparating solids and sheets.

Slice: This function slices selected solids or sheets into separate entities. The slicing entity caneither be the current Coordinate System (CS) or a selected sheet. When using a sheet as theslicing tool, the sheet must extend all the way through the target. If a solid and sheet are

selected when this button is clicked, the body will be sliced into two separate bodies where theselected sheet intersects the body. Likewise, if two sheets are selected, the first sheet selected will besliced where the second intersects the first. Slicing a solid with a sheet is a type of Boolean operation;therefore, the sheet will be destroyed or deleted once the slicing operation is complete. The slicingfunction also works only if a solid or sheet is selected. In that case, the solid or sheet will be sliced withthe current coordinate system. It is recommended that slicing operations be performed as early in themodeling process as possible due to the fact that coordinate systems and planes act as very big(potentially infinite) knives when slicing and may unintentionally slice other entities.

Separate: This function will separate a selected multi-lumped bodies.

Solid Modeling

Body Bag

1 - Slice 2 - Separate

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PROPERTIESThe Properties dialog isaccessed from the bodycontext menu (see page 14).It contains items that applyto the selected body. Theuser can change the nameof the solid or sheet andenter a comment. Thecoordinate system that theselected solid or sheet waslast modified in will bedisplayed at the top of thedialog.

Solids and sheets can bedesignated as Part, Fixture orStock. When solids andsheets are created, they willbe designated as a Part bydefault unless the setting ischanged in this dialog.Solids or sheets designatedas a Fixture will be renderedin red and will be used asconstraints when creatingmachining operations. Solids and sheets designated as Stock will be rendered in dark blue and will beused as the initial stock condition when creating machining operations.

This dialog also contains a Chord Height (See “Display Preferences” on page 16. for more information)for the faceting of the selected solid or sheet. Click the Apply button to change the chord height basedon the value entered. This value will only be applied to the selected solid or sheet.

The Properties dialog can also be used to view bodies. When this dialog is open, different bodies can beselected and the contents of the Properties dialog will change to reflect the new body selected. Bodiescontained in the History list can be viewed in the Properties dialog by selecting the cube icon in theHistory list.

There is also a Physical Properties section which provides surface area calculations for solids and sheets,volume calculations for bodies, and surface periphery calculations for sheets. Within the PhysicalProperties section is an Accuracy slide bar and a Calculate button. The Accuracy slide bar designates theamount of processing time and effort the system will allocate for the calculations. With the slide barcloser to the negative end of the spectrum, the calculations will be less accurate and vice versa. It

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Solid Import

should be noted that all calculations fall within a certain set range of accuracy regardless of the settingof the accuracy slide bar.

The percentage values do not directly correlate to the calculation, in that a 0% accuracy is still goingto provide a reasonably accurate calculation. The Accuracy setting affects the calculation processingtime; as bodies become more complex, the calculation time increases. In those cases, it may bedesirable to designate a lower accuracy in order to speed up the process. The system will alwaysprovide the +/- accuracy tolerance so that the user can determine whether the calculation is accurateenough for its purposes.

The following are conversion values for taking the volume in cubic inches (as is shown in theProperties dialog) to such measurements as ounces and liters.

1 cubic inch = 0.55409 oz.1 oz. = 29.57353 ml

Figure 1: Solid Properties measurements

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Solid Import

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Multiple PropertiesThe Multiple propertiesdialog appears when morethan one body is selectedwhen the Propertiescommand is chosen. Thisdialog helps to assignproperties to many bodiesat one time.

Add or change bodies inthe dialog by changing theselection. Quickly set allbodies in the dialog as aPart, Fixture, or Stock type aswell as their Chord Heightand a Comment. Apply To Allmust be pressed in order toapply the new settings to allthe bodies in the dialog.

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Solid Import

BODY BAGThe Body Bag is used to store bodies duringpart creation in order to organize the

Workspace.

Double-click a body to move it from theworkspace to the Body Bag. Bodies can also bemoved with the Body and Body Bag contextmenu. Items that are placed in the Body Bag arestill considered active as long as the Body Bag isopen they can be selected, modified, machined,etc. Bodies in the Body Bag are represented asicons which can be moved, resized and selected.

Figure 2: Resized Icons in the Body Bag

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Solid Import ❖

BODY MENU ITEMS

EDITSelect: The Select menu containsSolids, Sheets, and Edges items sothat users can select only thesolids, sheets, and edges in a partfile. The Walls From Selected Edgesitem selects all faces that aretangent to the selected edges andperpendicular to the current CS.By Body Name and By BodyComment allow users to selectbodies by entering their name orcomment in the respectivedialogs. All Profiles selects all theavailable profiles found by theProfiler and Faces From SelectedProfiles selects all faces that toucha selected profile.

Deselect: The Deselect menucontains the same items as theSelect menu but act by deselecting(instead of selecting) entities.

MODIFYShrinkage: Shrinkage compensates for the rate at which an injectionsubstance will shrink in a mold cavity. It performs a uniform or axialreduction or enlargements on selected solids. The range of shrinkageis -10% to 10%. Shrinkage can also be applied differently in each axis.

Final Size = (100 - Shrinkage%) * Start Size /100

Toggle Sheet Side: This item is useful when solidifying sheets into solidsusing the Offset solidify option. When sheets are converted into solidsby offsetting, the offset must be calculated from one side of the sheet or the other. The Max and Min

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offset values are referenced from one side of the sheet. To offset the sheet from the other side, selectthe sheet and then select the Toggle Sheet Side item.

CONTEXT MENUSMenus accessed by right-clicking on certain items in the system are referred to as context menus. Thefollowing dialogs have context menus that are accessed by right-clicking on the title bars of the dialogs.

BodyThe body context menu is accessed by right-clicking on a body orhistory entry.

Properties: The Properties dialog contains information on theselected solid or sheet. See “Properties” on page 9 for moreinformation.Bag It/Un-Bag It: Bag It will place a selected body into the BodyBag. If the body is in the Body Bag, Un-Bag It item will place it inthe workspace. This function does not work on multipleselections, see “Body Bag” on page 15 for multiple selectionfunctions.

The following items for selecting and deselecting faces are onlyavailable when the system is in Face Selection mode. Theseoptions are useful when multiple faces must be selected formodeling or machining functions, and frees the user from havingto select one face at a time.

Tangent Faces: This will select/deselect the target face and all ofthe faces reachable by a tangency. Faces Above: Neighboring faces will be selected/deselected if theyhave an upper boundary that lies above the upper boundary ofthe target face. Next it will branch out to the adjoining faces ofthe neighboring faces and repeat the selection/deselection usingthe neighbors upper boundary as the condition (rather than thetarget face). A special condition exists for flat faces that neighborthe target face. They will be selected/deselected based on thelower boundary of the target face.Faces Below: Neighboring faces will be selected/deselected if theyhave an lower boundary that lies below the lower boundary ofthe target face. Next it will then use the adjoining faces boundaryand repeat the selection/deselection. However, adjoining flat faces will be selected/deselected basedon the upper boundary of the target face.Floor Faces: Selects/Deselects all floor faces connected to the target face. A floor face is approximatelynormal to the depth axis of the current CS; the approximation is set by the Floor/Wall Angle Tolerancevalue set in File > Preferences > Selection.

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Solid Import ❖

Wall Faces: The target face will be selected/deselected and any connected face that is parallel to thedepth of the current CS. Angled walls that fall within the Floor/Wall Angle Tolerance value set in File >Preferences > Selection will also be selected.3D Faces: This will select/deselect faces connected to the target face that are not defined as a floor orwall. Next it will branch out to the adjoining faces and select/deselect them using the same logic.Transition Faces: This will select/deselect all transition faces connected to the target face. A transitionface is a smooth blend that is connected to a wall and floor face.Fillets: This will select/deselect all constant radius fillet faces that are connected to the target face. Thetarget face will also become selected. The system will only select fillets that have the same constantradius as the target face if the target face is a fillet).

EdgeRight-click a selected edge to access options that affect edge selection. When anedge is double-clicked, the system tries to build a closed loop of edges startingwith the selected edge. The 2D Chain and 3D Chain options affect how thesystem chooses the next edge to be connected at each vertex.

2D Chain: When this option is selected, double-clicking an edge will attempt to select a loop ofedges that are planar to the current CS (or those closest to it), therefore resulting in a 2D loop. Ifthere is more than one possible choice for an edge at a vertex, the system chooses the one that isclosest to the same direction.3D Chain: When this option is selected, double-clicking an edge will attempt to select a loop ofedges that are normal to the current CS (or those closest to it), therefore resulting in a 3D loop.

Body BagThe context menu contains the items Clean Up Body Bag, Resize AllIcons, Bag Selected, Un-Bag Selected, Snap to Grid, Select Body Bag,Select Workspace, Deselect Body Bag and Deselect Workspace. The CleanUp Body Bag item will reorganize the Body Bag icons so that all iconscan be viewed and none overlap. The Resize All Icons item allows theuser to modify the size of the Body Bag icons. This item is active whenan icon is selected in the Body Bag. When this item is selected, a boxthat can be dragged and resized will be drawn around the selectedicon. All the icons in the Body Bag will be resized accordingly. The BagSelected item places any solids or sheets that are selected in thedrawing window into the Body Bag. The Un-Bag Selected item willtake any selected Body Bag icons and place the solids/sheets back intothe drawing window from the Body Bag. The Snap to Grid item caneither be checked on or off. When on, Body Bag icons that are moved will snap to a grid for alignment.The Select/Deselect Body Bag items selects/deselects all the bodies in the Body Bag, and the Select/Deselect Workspace items selects/deselects all entities (including bodies and geometry) in theWorkspace. These last few items are very useful when analyzing surface files by providing a methodfor isolating problem areas.

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DISPLAY PREFERENCESThe File > Preferences dialog contains settingsthat affect the graphic display of bodies. Theoverall part chord height is controlled here. Thechord height determines the faceting resolutionwhen bodies are rendered. Bodies can bedisplayed as rendered solid objects or aswireframe drawings. The Render/Wireframebutton in the Task Bar determines whethersolids and sheets will be rendered objects orwireframe drawings. The Wire Drawing settingdefines whether it displays edges or facets of bodies. For more information about other elements ofthis dialog, refer to the Common Reference manual.

Chord Height: The chord height will be applied to all bodies that are imported. A number can be enteredin the text box or the slider can change the value by moving it left and right. Click the Apply buttonto finalize the change to the faceting tolerance for bodies.

Render FacetingWhen bodies are rendered, they are faceted. Facets are small planar surfaces that compose therendered model. The more facets drawn, the closer the model resembles the actual mathematicalmodel and the more time it takes for the system to render the model. Faceting affects the quality ofthe rendered bodies. It also affects overall system performance and speed. The faceting chord heightshould be set at a value that balances the quality of the model with system performance.

The number of facets used to render a model isdetermined by the chord height. A chord is a straight linethat joins any two points on an arc or circle. The chordheight is the distance from the chord to the arc or circle(Figure 3). The smaller the chord height, the closer thefacet will be to the arc or circle, resulting in a betterrendered image of the solid or sheet (this is a 2D description of chord height; the system uses a 3Dchord height for the faceting of solids and sheets, but the general idea is the same).

A different faceting chord height can be applied to individual bodies in the Properties dialog. See“Properties” on page 9 for more information.

Figure 3: Chord Height

Chord Height

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Solid Import ❖

EXTRACTING GEOMETRY FROM SOLIDSGeometry from Solids: The GeometryCreation palette contains a palette forextracting edges and holes.

Geometry Extraction: Extractinggeometry from selected faces or edges of a body is basedon a Tolerance. Connected shapes will be created if theselected edges create a closed loop. Click Do It in theGeometry Extraction dialog to create the geometry.

Tolerance: If a resulting spline can be converted to lines or circles within the tolerance, it will beconverted. A large tolerance value will convert more of the edge splines to lines and circles,while a tight tolerance will keep the entities as they are defined in the part model. A toleranceof zero is recommended when extracting geometry that is definitely a circle or a line.

Hole Extraction: To create a circle from a hole in a bodybased on the Circularity Tolerance select the inner face ofthe hole or select the entire model to extract all holesthat can be defined in the current CS.

When using this function, either a solid or sheet can be selected and the system will scan the faces ofthe selection and find all holes. A hole must have walls which are perpendicular to the current CS.Additionally, the edge loop of the hole must be either a circle or a spline—it cannot be a polyline (linesegments approximating a circle). When hole extraction is performed, the resulting geometry will allbe circles. Any hole edge loops which are splines but fall within the Circularity Tolerance specified willbe extracted as circles. Edge loops which are splines that do not approximate a circle within the giventolerance will not be extracted. The depth of the extracted geometry will be based on the bottom ofthe hole(s), making it easy for the user to determine the depth for the drilling operation.

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18

TUTORIALS

Tutorials ❖

CHAPTER 3 : Tu t o r i a l s

Tutorials

These tutorials provide instruction for extracting geometry from solids and sheet models inpreparation for machining on a basic mill or lathe without solid machining capabilities. Usersshould be familiar with creating geometry in GibbsCAM. Some exercises also touch on basicconcepts in discussed in more detail in the Advanced CS manual. These exercises do notcontain any machining instructions.

EXERCISE 1: GEAR.X_T

OPENING THE PART� In the Open dialog choose Parasolid (*.x_t, *.xmt) from the Files of Type menu.

� Open the file Gear.x_t.

This file is located in the part files of the installation CD in the solid tutorial files section.

Controlling Import Data� Set the options shown and press the OK

button.

� Switch to the isometric view (Ctrl+I).

EXTRACTING THE GEOMETRYExtracting Edges

� Turn on Edge Selection.

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–ExtractingEdges

� Double-click the edge shown.

� Open the Geometry From Solids palette.

� Open the Geometry Extraction dialog.

� Extract the geometry.

We will now extract thegeometry for the keyhole slot.

� Zoom in to the area shown.

� Right-click any edge and ensure that edge selection is in the 2D Chain mode.

� Double-click the edge shown.

� Extract the geometry.

Our last step will be to extract the geometry we would need to define the recess of the gear.

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–ExtractingFaceBoundaries

� Ctrl+click the last three edges shown.

� Extract the geometry.

We now have enough geometry tomachine. But lets take a look at aneven faster method.

� Delete all of the geometry.

Extracting Face Boundaries

� Turn off Edge Selection.

� Turn on Face selection.

� Select the faces shown.

� Extract the geometry.

With this method you actually getmore geometry. Face selections willextract the boundary edges of theface.

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OpeningthePart–

ControllingIm

portData

EXERCISE 2: FLANGE.X_T

This exercise will introduce the concept of slicing a solid using a coordinate system. Once thebody is sliced we will extract geometry to create a lathe part.

OPENING THE PART� In the Open dialog choose Parasolid (*.x_t, *.xmt) from the Files of Type menu.

� Open the file flange.x_t.

This file is located in the part files of the installation CD in the solid tutorial files section.

Controlling Import Data� Set the options shown and press the OK

button.

� Change the machine to a horizontal lathe.

The first thing we will do to thispart is slice it to extract thegeometry of the flange’s profile.We will use the ZX plane as aslicing plane.

� Open the Solid Modeling palette.

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–ConnectingGeom

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� Click the Slice button.

The part is now separated into two distinct bodies.

EXTRACTING THE GEOMETRYPlacing a Body in the Body Bag� From the isometric view, double-click the selected

half in Y+ side.

This places the front half in the Body bag as shownand we have a clear view of the part’s profile. Notethat the body is still selected.

We will now extract geometry from the exposedprofile. You may find it helpful to turn off theCoordinate System grid for this.

� Turn on Face selection.

Use the Ctrl key while selecting multiple faces.

� Extract the geometry from the faces shown.

Connecting GeometryThe profile geometry is in multiple pieces. For thispart to be machined we will need to fix this.

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� Place the other half of the body in the Body Bag. (double-click)

� Delete the points and lines shown.

We will now connect the geometry.

� Connect the lines shown.

� Connect the line and the circle shown.

We now have a fully connected profile of theflange that is ready to be machined.

An alternate method for this extraction would be to select theholes interior face as well, extracting all geometry. This wouldcreate splines that could be forced to a depth of Y0, and thenchanged to fall in the XYZ rather than HVD. However, usingsplines for the geometry may be inappropriate for some uses.

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XY

HoleExtraction

EXERCISE 3: ANC101.X_T

This exercise is designed to give the user an understanding of creating coordinate systems fromsolids. In addition to creating the coordinate systems they will be modified to be of greater use.Users should be familiar with the Advanced CS module and its exercises before starting thisexercise.

EXTRACTING GEOMETRY TO CSXY Hole Extraction� Locate and open the file named anc101.x_t

The first thing we will do is extract the geometry that is in the XY plane. As there will begeometry in several different coordinates systems, the screen can get cluttered very quickly.Workgroups can help us keep things organized. We will need to be sure to rename eachworkgroup we create to reflect the geometry that will be in it.

� Open the Workgroup list.

� Name Workgroup 1 “XY”.

� Open the Hole Extraction dialog.

� Select the model.

� Extract the holes as shown.

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TheYZ

plane

Now we will continue to extract the XYgeometry. Be sure that the Show Edgesbutton is depressed.

� Turn on Face selection.

� Extract the geometry from the faces shown.

Edges could have been used to extractthe geometry also.

The YZ plane

� Create a new workgroup and YZ CS.

You may wish to label these.

� Select the face shown.

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Com

poundChainSelections

� Right-click the Align CS Plane button and choose Align Plane Through & Move (Alt).

We need to rotate it into place.

� With the Face selected click the Align CS button 3 times.

Each click rotates the CS 90 degrees counterclockwise.

The selected face acts as a normal vector to rotatethe CS.

Compound Chain Selections� Right-click any edge and ensure that edge selection is

in the 2D Chain mode.

� Ctrl+double-click the edges shown.

� Extract the geometry for these edges.

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TheXZ

Plane

The XZ Plane� Switch to the XY CS.

� Create a new workgroup and XZ CS.

� Extract the geometry for the hole edge and pocket face shown.

Both the edge of the hole and thepocket floor to easily obtain cut depths.

� From XZ CS create a new workgroup and XZ CS.

This will be the backside XZ CS.

� Switch to the alternate front view (Ctrl+Alt+F) and select the face shown.

� Right-click the Align CS Plane button and choose Align Plane Through & Move (Alt).

� Click the Toggle Depth button.

� Click the Align CS button.

This will rotate the CS to aZH position.

� Extract the geometry for this face.

We will now align a CS tothe face of the cylinder andextract the geometry.

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toCS–

TheXZ

Plane

� From CS1 XY create a new Workgroup and CS.

� Select the cylinder face as shown.

� Right-click the Align CS Plane button and choose Align Plane Through & Move (Alt).

� Click the Toggle Depth button.

� Extract the geometry shown.

The geometry may be extractedwith a combination of edge and faceboundary extraction on the top ofthe cylinder.

� From CS3 XZ create a new CS.

� Change the CS Origin as shown.

� Open the Solid Modeling palette.

� Slice the Model with the CS.

� Place the selected slice in the Body Bag.

Note that at the bottom of the angledcylinder is a modeled drill tip. The lowercircle indicates the depth the full diameterof a drill may go.

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EXERCISE 4: REVOLVE.IGS

This exercise is designed to give the user some experience in extracting geometry from sheets. Thefunctionality of the Solids Import module for solids and sheets is identical. Sheets however can bemore challenging to work with as sheets have no depth, from a certain angle you may not see asheet. Additionally, there can easily be hundreds of sheets for what would be a single solid, makingyour workspace cluttered.

If you do not have a lathe MDD you can still do this exercise. The primary difference will be thatyou will be working in the XY plane as opposed to the ZX plane.

� Open the Revolve.igs file.

Ensure the Surfaces option is selected in theFeatures list.

Although this part can be solidified andgeometry easily extracted from a sliced face.We will assume the file can’t be solidified.

� Choose Edit > Select > Sheets.

Select All (Ctrl+A) will also work.

� Slice the sheets with the CS.

� Open the Body Bag and right-click the title bar and choose Bag Selected from the context menu.

This action will send all bodies and sheets that are selected to theBody Bag. This can be very helpful when dealing with manyitems.

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� Turn on Show Edges so we can begin extracting geometry from these sheets.

It may be more difficult to see exactly what isbeing selected when working with sheets.

� Extract the geometry that is along the sliced edges of the sheets.

Note that the smaller “wheel” has a tiny fillet between thevertical wall and the arc. Be sure you select this as well.

When the geometry is extracted a single closed shape willappear.

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INDEX

Index ❖

I n d e x

NUMERICS

2D Chain: 15

3D Chain: 15

3D Faces, Body Select context item: 15

B

Bag It, Body context item: 14

Bag Selected: 15

Body: 8definition of: 3

Body Bag: 7, 15button: 8

Boundary: 14

C

Chord Height: 9, 11, 16

Circularity Tolerance: 17

Clean Up Body Bag: 15

Commenting Bodies: 9

Coordinate Systems: 7

D

Deselect: 13Body Bag: 15

Tangent Faces: 14

Wall Faces: 15

Workspace: 15

E

Edge: 7

definition of: 3

Edge Loop: 15, 17

Edge Selection2D & 3D: 15

Enlarge Solid: 13

F

Face: 7definition of: 3

Face Selection: 14

Faces Above, Body Select context item: 14

Faces Below, Body Select context item: 14

Faceting Tolerance: 16

Facets: 16

Fillets, Body Select context item: 15

Fixturesdesignating body as: 9, 11

Flat Face: 14

Floor Faces, Select, Body context menu: 14

Floor/Wall Angle Tolerance: 14–15

G

GeometryFrom Solids: 16

Geometry Extraction: 17

H

Hole Extraction: 17

L

Loopdefinition of: 3

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Lower boundary: 14

M

Main palette: 8

Multi-lump bodies: 8

Multiple Body Properties dialog: 11

N

Naming Bodies: 9

Neighboring faces: 14

O

OffsetSolidifying: 13

P

PalettesMain (Top level): 8

Part, body definition: 9

Part, designating body as a: 11

Physical Properties of a solid: 9

ProfilerSelection options: 13

Properties dialog: 9–10, 16

Properties, Body Context menu: 14

R

Reduce size of solid: 13

Render Shaded Objects: 7

Render/Wireframe button: 16

Resize All Icons: 15

S

SelectAll Profiles: 13

Body Bag: 15

Faces From Selected Profiles: 13

Tangent Faces: 14

Wall Faces: 15

Workspace: 15

SelectingBy Body Comment: 13

By Body Name: 13

Edges: 13

Sheets: 13

Solids: 13

Walls From Selected Edges: 13

Separate function: 8

Sheet: 7definition of: 3, 7

Toggle Side: 13

Sheet Side: 7

Show Solids: 7

Shrinkage: 13

Slice function: 8

Snap to Grid: 15

SolidDefinition of: 7definition of: 3

Solid Modeling: 8

Solid Modeling palette: 8

Solids Button: 8

Splines: 17

StockDesignating body as: 9, 11

Stock, designating body as: 9

SurfaceDefinition of: 3

Surface Area, calculating: 9

Surfaces button: 8

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Index ❖

T

Tangent Faces, Body Select context item: 14

Target Face: 14

Taskbar: 7

Top Level palette: 8

Transition Faces, Body Select context item: 15

U

Un-Bag It, Body context item: 14

Un-Bag Selected: 15

Upper boundary: 14

V

Vertex: 15definition of: 3

Volume, calculating: 9

W

Wall Faces, Body Select context item: 15

Wireframe View: 7

Workgroups: 7

Workspace: 7

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❖ Index

40