Chapter 4
3D Geometry
DesignModeler
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3D Geometry
Contents Training Manual
• Bodies and Parts
• 3D Features
• Boolean Operations
• Feature Direction
• Feature Type
• Primitives
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3D Geometry
Bodies and Parts Training Manual
• DesignModeler is primarily intended to provide geometry to an
analysis environment. For this reason we need to see how DM
treats various geometries
• DesignModeler contains three different body
types:
– Solid body: body has surface area and volume
– Surface body: body has surface area but no volume
– Line body: body consists entirely of edges, no area, no volume
• By default, DM places each body into one part by
itself
Individual parts will always be meshed separately.
If bodies in separate bodies share faces, the meshes
on those shared faces will not be matched
– Multiple bodies in a single part will have matched
meshes on shared faces when meshed
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3D Geometry
Active and Frozen Bodies Training Manual
• By default, DM will merge new geometry with existing geometry
to maintain a single body.
• This can be controlled by working with either frozen or active
bodies
• You can toggle between frozen and active states for using the
Freeze and Unfreeze tools
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3D Geometry
Active and Frozen Bodies… Training Manual
• There are two body states in DM:
– Active:
• Body can be modified by normal modeling operations
(cannot be sliced) Active
• Active bodies are displayed in blue in the Feature Tree
View
• The body's icon in the Feature Tree View is dependent
on its type - solid, surface, or line
– Frozen: (>Tools>Freeze)
• Main Purpose:
– Provides alternate method for Assembly Modeling.
• A Frozen body is immune to all modeling operations
except slice, blend, chamfer, face delete and split Frozen
edges.
• To move all active bodies to the Frozen state, use the
Freeze feature (freeze applies to all)
• To move individual bodies from the frozen to active,
select the body and use the Unfreeze feature.
– Frozen bodies are displayed as transparent in the Tree
View.
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3D Geometry
Bodies and Parts… Training Manual
• Body Suppression:
– Suppressed bodies are not plotted.
– Suppressed bodies are not sent to other Workbench
modules for meshing or analysis, nor are they
included in the model when exporting to a Parasolid
file (.x_t).
– In the tree outline an “X” is shown for each
suppressed body
Unsuppressed
Suppressed
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3D Geometry
Bodies and Parts… Training Manual
• Parts:
– By default, the DesignModeler
places each body into one part
by itself.
– You can group bodies into parts
• Multibody parts contain
multiple bodies (volumes),
but have shared topology.
The meshes on shared faces
will match (conformal mesh)
– To form a new part, select two or
more (or RMB “Select All”)
bodies from the graphics screen
and use >Tools>Form New Part
– The “Form New Part” option is
available only when bodies are
selected and you are not in a
feature creation or feature edit
state.
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3D Geometry
Bodies and Parts… Training Manual
• Why multi-body parts?
• Example:
– In DM: 3 parts, 3 bodies consisting of 3
solids
– During Meshing: 3 solids, 3 bodies
– Each solid meshed independently
• Nodes are not shared
• Nodes do not line-up Mesh
– In Simulation: 3 solids with 2 contact
regions
DM
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3D Geometry
Bodies and Parts… Training Manual
• Example (continued):
DM
– In DM: 1 part, 1 body consisting of
1 solid
– During Meshing: 1 solid ,1body
– Entire solid meshed as one
– No Contact
Mesh
DM
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3D Geometry
Bodies and Parts… Training Manual
• Example (continued): DM
– In DM: 1 multi-body part,
3 bodies/solids
– During Meshing:1 multi-body part,
3 bodies/solids
– Each solid meshed independently but
node connectivity among solids is
preserved Mesh
DM
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3D Geometry
3D Features Training Manual
• You create 3D geometry from 2D sketches by using a 3D feature.
Common examples include:
– Extrude
– Sweep
– Revolve
– Skin/Loft
– Thin/Surface
• The effect of the feature creation is determined by the type of the
feature, the Boolean operations performed as it is created, and the
extent of the feature (fixed, to next, through all, etc.)
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3D Geometry
3D Features Training Manual
• Typically, the generation of a 3D feature (like Extrude or Sweep)
consists of two steps:
– (a) Choose the desired feature and specify its details
– (b) Click “Generate” to create the 3D feature body
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3D Geometry
Extrude Training Manual
• Extrusions:
– Extrusions include solids, surfaces, and thin-walled features
• To create surfaces, select “as thin/surface” and set the inner and outer
thickness to zero
– The active sketch is the default input but can be changed by selecting the
desired sketch in the Tree View
– The Detail View is used to set the Extrude depth, direction, and Boolean
operation (Add, Cut, Slice, Imprint, or Add Frozen)
– The Generate button completes the feature creation
– Note: the section on Feature Type shows various extrusion examples
To Create Surface
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3D Geometry
Revolve Training Manual
• Revolve:
– Active sketch is rotated to create 3D geometry
– Select axis of rotation from details
• If there is a disjoint (free) line in the sketch, it
is chosen as the default axis of revolution
– Direction Property for Revolve:
• Normal: Revolves in positive Z direction of
base object
• Reversed: Revolves in negative Z direction of
base object
• Both - Symmetric: Applies feature in both
directions. One set of angles will apply to both
directions
• Both - Asymmetric: Applies feature in both Sketch with Disjoint Line
directions. Each direction has its own angle
property
– The Generate button completes the feature
creation
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3D Geometry
Sweep Training Manual
• Sweep:
– Solids, surfaces, and thin-walled features can be created by using
this feature to sweep a profile along a path
– Scale and Turns properties can be used to create helical sweeps
• Scale: tapers or expands the profile along the path of the sweep
• Turns: twists the profile as it sweeps along the path
• A negative value for Turns will make the profile rotate about the
path in the opposite direction. +Turns: Rotates counterclockwise
• See documentation for other restrictions
– Alignment:
• Path tangent: reorients the profile as it is swept along the path to
keep the profile in the path's tangent direction
• Global: the profile's orientation remains constant as it is swept
along the path, regardless of the path's shape
– Examples to follow next
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3D Geometry
Sweep… Training Manual
• Sweep example 1:
Path Tangent alignment:
profile remains tangent to
path
Sketch1 = profile to sweep
Sketch2 = sweep path
Global Axes alignment:
profile orientation
remains constant
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3D Geometry
Sweep… Training Manual
• Sweep example 2:
Sweep details:
Scale = 0.5
Turns = - 4
Sketch1 = profile to sweep
Sketch2 = sweep path
• Scale and Turns restrictions:
– Scale: The sweep path must be an open chain AND smooth
– Turns: The sweep path must be smooth
• if the sweep path is a closed loop, then Turns must be an integer
• If the sweep path is an open chain, then any value for Turns is acceptable
– The default values for Scale and Turns are 1.0 and 0.0, respectively
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3D Geometry
Skin/Loft Training Manual
• Skin/Loft:
– Takes a series of profiles from different planes to create 3D geometry
fitting through them (must select two or more profiles)
• A profile is a sketch with one closed or open loop or a plane from a
face
• All profiles must have the same number of edges
• Open and closed profiles cannot be mixed
• All profiles must be of the same type
– Sketches and planes can be selected by clicking on their edges or
points in the graphics area, or by clicking on the sketch or plane in the
feature tree
– After selecting an adequate number of profiles, a preview will appear
showing the selected profiles and the guide polygon
– The guide polygon is a gray poly-line which shows how the vertices
between the profiles will line up with each other
– Skin/Loft operation relies heavily on RMB menu choices
• Examples . . .
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3D Geometry
Skin/Loft… Training Manual
• Skin/Loft example 1:
– Three 5 sided sketch profiles have been created on three offset planes
– After selecting each profile (hold CTRL key) the guide line is displayed
– RMB for guide line options
– Continue through all profiles
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3D Geometry
Skin/Loft… Training Manual
• Skin/Loft example 1:
– Add operation generates 3D solid
• Guide Lines:
– Use RMB options to realign if necessary
• Can result in unexpected shapes
when misaligned
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3D Geometry
Skin/Loft… Training Manual
• Skin/Loft reordering:
– During creation or when editing selections the order of the profiles may
be adjusted
– Highlight profile to reorder and RMB
– Choose from options menu
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3D Geometry
3D Feature Details (Extrude) Training Manual
Boolean
3D Feature Operations
Frozen
Bodies in
model?
It’s all in the details!
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3D Geometry
Boolean Operations Training Manual
• You can apply five different Boolean operations to 3D features:
– Add Material : creates material and merges it with the active bodies.
• It is always available
– Cut Material: removes material from active bodies
– Slice Material: slices frozen bodies into pieces.
• Available only when ALL bodies in the model are frozen
– Imprint Faces: Similar to Slice, except that only the faces of the bodies are split, and
edges are imprinted if necessary (no new bodies created)
– Add Frozen: Similar to Add Material, except that the feature bodies are not merged with
the existing model but rather added as frozen bodies
• Line bodies are immune to Cut, Imprint, and Slice operations
If frozen:
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3D Geometry
Boolean Operations… Training Manual
• Boolean Add:
Choose feature and
Boolean operation to be
performed on the active
sketch
Extrude – “Add Material”
shown here
Note: If bodies already exist, “add” results in merged geometry after “Generate”
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3D Geometry
Boolean Operations… Training Manual
• Boolean Cut:
Active Sketch
Existing solid (shown in
wire frame for clarity)
Revolve 90 deg. with “Cut
material” operation
Axis of revolution
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3D Geometry
Boolean Operations… Training Manual
• Boolean Imprint Faces:
– Imprint Face operation allows continuous surface to be segmented (see
below). Useful for applying FE boundary conditions at arbitrary
locations.
Active sketch to extrude
Extrude with Imprint Faces
operation.
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3D Geometry
Boolean Operations… Training Manual
• Boolean Add Frozen:
– Similar to add operation but results in separate bodies (or
single frozen body)
Active sketch to extrude
A frozen volume is added
Extrude with “Add Frozen”
operation
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3D Geometry
Boolean Operations… Training Manual
• Boolean Slice (all bodies must be frozen first in order to have
access to “Slice material” operation):
– Slices frozen bodies leaving new (frozen) body in the slice
region
New frozen body
Active sketch to Extrude
Extrude with “Slice Material”
operation
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3D Geometry
Feature Direction Training Manual
• Direction:
Direction is with respect to
the sketch plane
Some operations (e.g. cut)
result in automatic change
in direction
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3D Geometry
Feature Type… Training Manual
• Through All Type: will extend the profile through the entire model
– When adding material the extended profile must fully intersect
the model
Sketch
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3D Geometry
Feature Type… Training Manual
• To Next:
– Add will extend the profile up to the first surface it encounters.
– Cut, Imprint, and Slice will extend the profile up to and through the first
surface or volume it encounters
Sketch
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3D Geometry
Feature Type… Training Manual
• To Faces: allows you to extend the Extrude feature up to a boundary
formed by one or more faces
– For multiple profiles make sure that each profile has at least one face
intersecting its extent. Otherwise, an extent error will result
Sketch
– The “To Faces” option is different from “To Next”. To Next does not mean “to
the next face”, but rather “through the next chunk of the body (solid or sheet)”
– The “To Faces” option can be used with respect to faces of frozen bodies
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3D Geometry
Feature Type… Training Manual
• To Surface: option is similar to To Faces, except only one face can
be selected. The extent is defined by the underlying and possibly
unbounded surface of the selected face (see below).
– In this case a single face is selected and its underlying surface is used
as the extent. The underlying surface must fully intersect the extruded
profile or an error will result.
Sketch
Unbounded surface selected as extent
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3D Geometry
Primitives Training Manual
• Primitive Shapes: Create>Primitives
– Quickly create models by defining primitive shapes like
spheres, cylinders etc..
– Does not require sketches
– Requires a Base Plane and several point and / or direction
inputs
– Inputs can be defined by typing in coordinates or by selecting
existing geometry.
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3D Geometry
Primitives….. Training Manual
• Primitive Shapes Example:
Cylinder
– Select Base Plane
– Define Origin
– Define Axis (also defines the
height of the cylinder)
– Define radius
– Generate
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