CopyCAD

Getting Started

By Delcam plc

Issue 5.0 20/02/03 09:08

Information contained in this guide is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment by Delcam plc. The software described in this guide is furnished under licence agreement and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such licence. No part of this guide may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the express permission of Delcam plc. Program 1996 2003 Delcam plc Important Notice Delcam plc has no control over the use made of the software described in this guide and cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage howsoever caused as a result of using the software. Users are advised that all the results from the software should be checked by a competent person, in accordance with good quality control procedures.

Contents
Introduction 1
Overview.......................................................................................1 Printing the Getting Started Tutorials ..................................1

Alloy Wheel Tutorial

Alloy Wheel Tutorial - Overview ..................................................3 What Does This Tutorial Show? ....................................................3 Importing the Digitised Point Data ................................................5 Before you begin .................................................................6 Manipulating the View ........................................................8 Tidying up the Scan Data ..............................................................8 Using the Triangulation wizard ................................................... 10 Opening the Triangulation wizard ..................................... 10 Limiting the Triangulated Model....................................... 15 Deleting the Vertical Edge................................................. 18 Deleting models........................................................................... 19 Processing the Points Manually ................................................... 20 Generating Scanlines ......................................................... 20 Offsetting the Model.......................................................... 21 Limiting the Model............................................................ 23 Deleting the Vertical Edge................................................. 28 Tolerancing the Model....................................................... 29 Stripping the Scanlines ...................................................... 31 Generating a Triangle Model ............................................. 32 Deleting the Triangles on the Base .................................... 33 The Surfacing Process ................................................................. 35 Generating Curves from Boundaries.................................. 35 Creating Cross Section Curves .......................................... 37 Creating a Curve Network ................................................. 38 Generating a Surface using Curves .................................... 40 Creating a Surface using Guidepoints................................ 42 Shading the Surfaces ......................................................... 44 Reversing a Surface........................................................... 44

CopyCAD Getting Started

Contents i

Creating more Surfaces ..................................................... 45 Completing the Model ................................................................. 48 Saving the Surfaces ..................................................................... 49 Saving the Session....................................................................... 50 Summary ..................................................................................... 51

Surfacing Tutorial

53

Surfacing Tutorial - Overview ..................................................... 53 What Does This Tutorial Show? .................................................. 54 Importing the Triangle Data ........................................................ 55 Manipulating the View ...................................................... 56 Deciding the Surfacing Strategy .................................................. 56 How do I Surface the Buggy? ............................................ 56 Creating the Four-Sided Surfaces ................................................ 57 How Can I Create Surface Boundaries?............................. 58 Tips for Sketching Surfaces............................................... 58 Sketching the Four-Sided Surfaces .................................... 59 Basic Principles of Surfacing............................................. 66 Creating Curves........................................................................... 67 Importing Curves............................................................... 67 Sketching the Bonnet Boundaries ...................................... 68 Generating the Inlet Wall Curves....................................... 70 Creating the Bonnet Trimmed Surface......................................... 74 Creating the Air Inlet Surfaces .................................................... 76 Measuring the Air Inlets .................................................... 76 Opening PS-Surfacer ......................................................... 78 Creating an Extruded Surface ............................................ 79 Delete the Wireframe Curves............................................. 82 Extend the Base Surface .................................................... 82 Create the Fillet Surfaces................................................... 84 Checking the Model .......................................................... 88 Returning to CopyCAD ..................................................... 88 Saving the Surfaced Buggy Model .............................................. 89 Saving the CopyCAD Session ..................................................... 89 Summary of Tutorial ................................................................... 90

ii Contents

CopyCAD Getting Started

Introduction

Overview
This "Getting Started" is intended as a guide to new users of CopyCAD. It contains two tutorials, which show you step-by-step how to produce complex CAD surfaces from digitised point data. In the first "Alloy Wheel Tutorial" you are shown how to prepare point data for an alloy wheel, triangulate it and create a few basic surfaces. In the second "Surfacing Tutorial", you build up your understanding of CopyCADs surfacing techniques to create a CAD model of a car bonnet. You are also recommended to make full use of the CopyCAD Reference On-line Help: this guide is designed as a supplement to help you in "getting started".

CopyCAD Getting Started

Introduction1

Alloy Wheel Tutorial

Alloy Wheel Tutorial - Overview

This "Getting Started: Alloy Wheel" tutorial is intended as a starting point for new users of CopyCAD. It shows the two main stages in creating a surfaced model from point data: Creating a triangulated model from a points file Surfacing the triangulated model The digitised data can come from conventional co-ordinate measuring machines, tracing machines or laser scanners, and it is assumed that you already know how to acquire the original point data. This tutorial describes two ways to carry out the first stage. Firstly, you are taken through the process using the Triangulation wizard. This asks you questions about the points file and then triangulates the model based on your answers. Secondly, the tutorial describes the stages needed to process the file manually. This will help you understand CopyCADs processes, including scanline generation, tolerancing, filtering, offsetting and triangulation. When you have created your triangulated model, you can start surfacing the model. Surfacing is covered in more detail in the second tutorial in this guide, "Getting Started: Surfacing".

What Does This Tutorial Show?

Here is the original point data that you will start with. It is one spoke in an Alloy Wheel:

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 3

There are four main stages in generating surfaces from point data: 1. Importing the digitised data. 2. Processing the data, including generating a Scanline Structure, offsetting the Scanlines to account for the probe radius and reducing the number of points. 3. Generating a triangle model. 4. Generating the surfaces. The tutorial will go through each of these stages, to guide you through the process of surfacing the alloy wheel model. At the end of this tutorial, you will have produced the following surfaces:

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Importing the Digitised Point Data

After starting CopyCAD, load in the digitised data file. 1. Select the File - Examples menu option.

The following dialog box appears:

2. Choose the file alloy.asc from the dialog box, and click on Open. This file contains the point data and the model appears in the Graphics window. The view shown is from the Z direction, and this needs to be changed to see the model more clearly. 3. Select the View - ISO - ISO 1 menu option to get the view shown in the diagram below.

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 5

Before you begin

It is good practice to make sure that the View toolbar and Draw toolbar are displayed. The tools available on these toolbars make it easier to control the view, and the entities that are drawn on screen later on in the process. 1. Select View Toolbars from the menu bar. 2. Make sure that there is a tick next to the Main, View and Draw options, so that CopyCAD will these toolbars at the edges of the Graphics window.

The toolbar is displayed at the right hand side of the Graphics window as follows:

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The buttons on this toolbar are described further in the CopyCAD on-line help. Tooltips also describe the function of each button. The Draw toolbar is displayed at the bottom of the Graphics window as follows:

You use the Draw toolbar buttons to control the CopyCAD components displayed. The buttons are toggles, so selecting a button once will draw an entity, pressing the button again will undraw the entity. The buttons on this toolbar are described further in the CopyCAD on-line help.
CopyCAD Getting Started Alloy Wheel Tutorial 7

Manipulating the View

Before continuing the tutorial, it is a good idea to familiarise yourself with manipulating the view. This can be done using the commands on the toolbar. You can also change the viewpoint using the mouse as follows: Middle mouse button click and drag on the model to rotate the view Middle mouse button + Shift Pans the model (moves at the same size to a different position in the Graphics window) Middle mouse button + Shift + Ctrl Zooms to box Middle mouse button + Ctrl - Zooms in and out. Most of the diagrams in this guide are shown using the View ISO 1 button on the toolbar.

Tidying up the Scan Data

The model shown is the original scan data, and therefore has lead-ins, which must be removed. 1. Click on the Point Editing button Point Editing side toolbar appears. on the Main toolbar. The

In ISO 1 view you can see two of the lead in points that you need to delete.

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2. Select the points individually by dragging a box around them using the Left mouse button. The selected points turn red. 3. Click on the Delete Points toolbar. button from the Point Editing side

4. Click on the View ISO 3 button to display the other two lead in points that you need to delete.

5. Select them, then click on the Delete Points

button.

You are now ready to start getting the model ready for triangulation. This tutorial describes two ways of carrying out this process: Firstly, using the Triangulation wizard, which guides you through the process. This is described in "Using the Triangulation wizard" on page 10. Secondly, manually carrying out each task needed to get the model ready for triangulation. This is described in "Processing the Points Manually" on page 20. By repeating this main stage, you will get an understanding of the range of CopyCADs functionality and how it can be used. The Triangulation wizard is very useful when you are starting to use CopyCAD. However, to get the most out of this powerful reverse engineering package, you need to have a more in-depth knowledge of how CopyCAD works.

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 9

Using the Triangulation wizard

The Triangulation wizard helps you carry out the exact steps needed for triangulating a points file. It also speeds up the process, reducing the number of buttons and menu options you need to select.

Opening the Triangulation wizard

In this tutorial, you have the points model already open and displayed in the Graphics window. Note: If you open a points file using the Open File button Triangulation wizard automatically opens. 1. Click on the Triangle Generation button to display a side toolbar. , the

on the Main toolbar

2. Click on the Triangulation Wizard button . After a few seconds, CopyCAD displays the Step 1 of the Triangulation wizard. Note: If you select the Non-contact option, the Wizard displays a picture of a laser digitiser on the left

3. The Alloy.asc points file was created using a Touch probe so leave this option selected and click on Next.

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4. Type 2.0, the diameter of the probe used when creating the Alloy.asc points file, then click on Next. Note: This Step and the next one are displayed because the Alloy.asc was created using a Touch probe, and needs offsetting

5. Click on Probe Centre, as this is how the probe was set up when creating Alloy.asc, then click on the Next button.

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 11

6. Leave the default of Single ordered raster scan, as this was the scanning method used, then click on Next. Note: If you select one of the other options a picture of that method is shown on the left.

7. Select Bi-directional raster scan, as this was the scanning strategy used, then click on Next. Note: You can tell that this was a bi-directional scan by looking at the model it has one continuous scanline that zig zags back and forth, so must be bi-directional.

8. Type 0.5, as this is the stepover between scanlines in the Alloy.asc, then click on Next. Tip: Zoom in on the end of two scanlines, then select two points on the model in neighbouring scanlines. Click on the button on the Point Editing toolbar to display the distance in X or Y between the two points.

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9. By default, CopyCAD makes the triangulation grid the same as the maximum stepover. Click on Next to accept this.

10. By default, CopyCAD sets triangulation tolerance to a tenth of the grid size specified in the previous step. Click on Next to accept this.

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 13

11. The final step is to remove points that you do not want to be included in the triangulation. As you have already carried out this stage, click on Next.

12. Check the settings you have specified in the summary, then click on Finish. CopyCAD automatically processes the data based on the answers you have given to the wizards prompts. This processing will include scanline generation, tolerancing, offsetting and triangulation. The progress of each of these stages will be shown in the Status bar, but further user interaction is not required in the triangulation process. When the triangulation is complete, CopyCAD displays the following model:

If you now look in the CopyCAD Explorer, you can see that a new triangulated model has been created, tri_alloy.

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Note: Each CopyCAD process creates a new model in CopyCAD. To see the processes carried out by the Triangulation wizard, select Options-Input/Output then click on the Keep wizard intermediate models check box to select it. If you then repeat the triangulation of the Alloy.asc file, you will see that the final model has been toleranced, offset and triangulated.

Limiting the Triangulated Model

Before you can start surfacing the model that the Triangulation wizard has produced, you must trim off the unwanted areas. As part of the triangulation process, the model has been offset, and this has created edges that need to be removed. You must also remove the base plane, which represents the surface on which the alloy wheel was placed during scanning. 1. Click on the Model Editing button display a side toolbar. 2. Click on the Limit Model button dialog box: on the Main toolbar to to display the following

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 15

3. Make sure that the default options are as follows: Plane in the Limit To area, Other Side in the Keep area, Create for the Task option and Set for the Trim option. 4. Click on the Define Limiting Plane button to display the Define Plane dialog box.

5. Select X Plane for the Type, and fill in 99.0 for the X value, Click on the Accept button to close the Define Plane dialog box. A yellow representation of the limiting plane is displayed on the model. This moves if you change the plane definition, or click on the model to position the plane by eye. 6. Click on the View from Back (Y) button to see the area of the model that will be removed by this limiting operation.

7. In the Limit Model dialog box, click on the Apply button.

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When the limiting is complete you can see that you have trimmed back the triangles to the yellow line. This has limited one side. To limit the second side, change the options as follows: 1. In the Limit Model dialog box, change the Keep option from Other side to Normal side. 2. Click on the Define Limiting Plane button to display the Define Plane dialog box. 3. Change the X value to -99.0. Click on the Accept button to close the Define Plane dialog box. The yellow representation of the plane moves to the new position on the model. 4. Click on Apply. To limit the third side, change the options as follows: 1. In the Define Plane dialog box, change the Type to Y Plane. The X value will become greyed out, and the Y value option becomes available. Enter the value 1.0 into this box, and leave the other options unchanged. The yellow representation of the plane moves to the new position on the model. 2. Click on View from Right (X) button be trimmed. 3. Click on Apply. The Z plane now needs to be limited to remove the base plane. 1. In the Define Plane dialog box, change the Type to Z Plane, and leave the default value of 0.0 in the Z value box. 2. Click on the Accept button to close the Define Plane dialog box. The yellow representation of the plane moves to the new position on the model: 3. Click on Apply. 4. Click on Accept to close the Limit Model dialog box. 5. Click on the View ISO 1 button this: . The model will now look like , to see the area that will

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 17

Deleting the Vertical Edge

The last thing you need to do to the model produced by the Triangulation wizard, before you can surface it, is to delete the triangles that make up the vertical edge on the outside of the spoke. 1. Click on the Triangle Editing button to display its side toolbar. from the Main toolbar

2. Click on the View From Back (Y) button , then drag the view down using the Middle mouse button so that the required points are visible. 3. Select the points by dragging a box around them using the Left mouse button as shown below. The triangles turn red to show that they are selected. The selection process may take a some while, as you are selecting a fine mesh of triangles. Note: All the triangles can be deselected using the Undo button or you can de-select the rogue points holding down the Ctrl key as you click.

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4. Click on the Delete Triangles button

on the side toolbar.

When you have deleted these triangles, the model is ready for surfacing. This tutorial now describes how to get the alloy file ready for surfacing manually. The first step is to delete the models created by the Triangulation wizard. You can then follow the steps that describe how to process the points file manually.

Deleting models
This section describes how to delete the models created by the triangulation process. It is good practice to delete unwanted models, as each time a new model is created, CopyCAD names it using the last model name and the operation just carried out. When you have created four or five models, the names become very long. You can rename models at any time, to make the name shorter and more meaningful. After carrying out the steps described in "Using the Triangulation wizard", the CopyCAD Explorer should look like this:

To delete the models created by this process: 1. Double click on the icon to the left of the first model, alloy. This selects the model, turning on its light bulb. This can be fiddly if you are not used to it. Make sure that the lamp icon is properly lit . 2. Select Delete All Other Models from the menu bar. 3. At the Confirmation Box displayed, click on Yes to confirm that you want to delete all models except the selected one, alloy. CopyCAD now deletes all the models you dont need any more, leaving you with the alloy model. The CopyCAD Explorer should now only contain one model and look like this:

We will now look at how to process the points manually.

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 19

Processing the Points Manually

Rather than using the Triangulation wizard, you can carry out the steps needed to create a triangulated model manually. This tutorial takes you through these steps so that you know how to process files, should the Triangulation wizard be unsuitable for your points file. The steps are as follows: Generating Scanlines Offsetting the Model Limiting the Model Deleting the Vertical Edge Tolerancing the Model Stripping the Scanlines Generating a Triangle Model Deleting the Triangles on the Base.

Generating Scanlines
You can now use the digitised data to generate a Scanline structure. At the moment the model has one continuous scanline, which needs to be split up and the links between scans need to be removed. 1. Click on the Scanline Generation button toolbar. The following dialog box appears: on the Main

2. Choose the following options:

20 Alloy Wheel Tutorial CopyCAD Getting Started

 Bi-Directional in the Scanning Strategy area Both as the Clean-up option leave the default Z Axis as the Digitising Axis leave the default Tolerance value of 0.1. 3. Click on Apply. The following Scanline structure is produced.

If you click on the Zoom to box button , then draw a box around the ends of one side of the model, you will see that the end links between Scanlines have been removed. This is shown below.

4. Click on Accept to close the Scanline Generation dialog box.

Offsetting the Model

The scanlines must now be offset by the Probe Radius. When a part is scanned and a digitised model is created, the points are recorded at either the probes tip or centre. The actual contact point with the surface is unknown.

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 21

When the probe is recording points where the probe contact point is the same as the probe tip then the point taken is on the true surface. However, when the probe runs over a corner or other feature, the contact point is on a different position on the hemisphere. You must offset the points by the probe radius to recreate the true surface data. You specify the probes diameter in the Offset Model dialog box and CopyCAD offsets the model by its radius. 1. Click on the Model Editing button display a side toolbar. 2. Click on the Offset Model button display following dialog box. on the Main toolbar to on the side toolbar to

3. Choose the Centre option for the Probe Datum, and fill in a Probe Diameter of 2.0 and a Tolerance of 0.1. 4. Click on Apply. You can see the progress of the offsetting on the status bar.
22 Alloy Wheel Tutorial CopyCAD Getting Started

5. When the offsetting process is complete, click on the View ISO 2 button , and the model will look like this:

6. Click on Accept to close the dialog box. Although the model appears unchanged, if you Zoom In on the ends of the scanlines indicated in the figure above using the Zoom to box button , you will see that the scanlines have all been offset and "radii" have been created at the ends of the digitised data.

As these "radii" were not part of the original data, they must be removed. This is done by limiting the model.

Limiting the Model

First, three sides of the model will be limited to remove these "radii" and then the Z=0 plane will be limited to remove the base plane.
CopyCAD Getting Started Alloy Wheel Tutorial 23

1. Click on the Resize to Fit button , to view the whole of the model again, then click on View ISO 1 button . on the Model Editing side 2. Click on the Limit Model button toolbar. The following dialog box appears:

3. Select Plane in the Limit To area, Other Side in the Keep area, Create for the Task option and Set for the Trim option 4. Click on the Define Limiting Plane button to display the Define Plane dialog box.

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5. Select X Plane for the Type, and fill in 99.0 for the X value, Click on the Accept button to close the Define Plane dialog box. A yellow representation of the limiting plane is displayed on the model. This moves if you change the plane definition. The position values of the limiting planes that you select depend on the size of the model and the probe radius, as this distance produced the unwanted "radii" during the offsetting process. You can see the size and the extents of the model by clicking on the plus sign next to its icon in the CopyCAD Explorer. In this case, you are trimming 1mm from the Min X, Max X, and Min Y extents and making the Min Z extent be zero.

6. In the Limit Model dialog box, click on the Apply button. This has limited one side. To limit the other sides, the options need to be changed as follows:

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 25

1. In the Limit Model dialog box, change the Select option from Other side to Normal side. 2. Click on the Define Limiting Plane button again to redisplay the Define Plane dialog box. 3. Change the X value to -99.0. Click on the Accept button to close the Define Plane dialog box. 4. Leave the other options unchanged. The yellow representation of the plane moves to the new position on the model:

5. In the Limit Model dialog box, click on the Apply button. 6. Redisplay the Define Plane dialog box, and change the Type to Y Plane. The X value will become greyed out, and the Y value option becomes available. Enter the value 1.0 into this box, and leave the other options unchanged. 7. Click on the Accept button to close the Define Plane dialog box. The yellow representation of the plane moves to the new position on the model:

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8. In the Limit Model dialog box, click on the Apply button. The Z plane now needs to be limited to remove the base plane: 1. In the Define Plane dialog box, change the Type to Z. and type 0.0 in the Z value box. Leave the rest of the options unchanged. The yellow representation of the plane moves to the new position on the model:

2. In the Limit Model dialog box, click on Apply. The model will look like this:

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 27

The base plane has not been completely removed, because the scanlines cannot have gaps in them. If you Zoom In on the ends, you will see that the "radii" have now been removed. 3. Click on Accept to close the Limit Model dialog box.

Deleting the Vertical Edge

To tidy up the model, you now need to delete the vertical edge on the outside of the wheel spoke. This is done easily by deleting the points on the bottom of those scanlines. 1. Click on the Point Editing button Point Editing side toolbar appears. on the Main toolbar. The on the

2. Display the points by clicking the Draw Points button Draw toolbar at the bottom of the screen.

3. Rotate the view using the Middle mouse button so that the required points are visible, then select the points by dragging a box around them using the Left mouse button as shown below. Note: Points can be deselected either using the Undo button selecting the rogue points whilst holding down the Ctrl key. or

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4. Click on the Delete Points button toolbar. The model will now look like this:

on the Edit Points side

Tolerancing the Model

You can now tolerance the model to reduce the amount of points, since the model was scanned at a finer tolerance than is necessary for surfacing. Reducing the amount of points will speed up subsequent operations. 1. Turn the Scanlines off by clicking the Draw Scanlines button then click on the View ISO 1 button . The model will look like this:

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 29

2. Click on the Model Editing button display a side toolbar.

on the Main toolbar to

3. Click on the Tolerance Model button on the Model Editing toolbar. The following dialog box appears:

4. Select the Scanlines option. 5. Enter a Tolerance value of 0.01. 6. Click on Apply. The points will look like this:

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7. Click on Accept to close the dialog box.

Stripping the Scanlines

Stripping the Scanlines is another way of reducing the amount of data. on 1. Redraw the Scanlines using the Draw Scanlines button the Draw toolbar, and undraw the points using the Draw Points button . 2. Click on the Strip Model button The following dialog box appears: on the Model Editing toolbar.

3. Strip the Scanlines to 1 in 2, by entering the values into the Strip Scanlines to area, as shown above. 4. Click on Apply. The model will look like this:

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 31

5. Click on Accept to close the dialog box. Note: When working with regular grid data as produced by laser scanners, CopyCAD will automatically reduce the amount of data when triangulating the model to the triangulation tolerance.

Generating a Triangle Model

Triangulation of the model is an essential step in surface creation. 1. Click on the Triangle Generation button to display a side toolbar. 2. Click on the Triangulation button 3. Click on the Ordered Scans tab. on the Main toolbar

on the side toolbar.

4. Make sure that None is selected as the Close Triangulation method, and that the other options are left unselected.
32 Alloy Wheel Tutorial CopyCAD Getting Started

5. Click on Apply. The model will look like this:

Note: If you cannot see the model, click on the Draw Triangles button on the Draw toolbar at the bottom of the Graphics window. 6. Click on Accept to close the dialog box.

Deleting the Triangles on the Base

You saw that limiting the model in the plane Z=0 did not remove the entire base plane. Therefore, the triangles on the base must now be deleted. 1. Click on the Triangle Editing button display its side toolbar appears. on the Main toolbar to

2. Click on the View From Top (Z) button on the toolbar, and Zoom In on the sections shown, using the Right mouse button while holding down the Alt key. 3. Select the base triangles on one side, by using the Left mouse button to drag a box around them as shown.

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 33

If the whole or part of a triangle is inside the box, it will be selected. The selected triangles turn red with stars in the middle of each triangle. 4. Select the base triangles on the other side. The model will look like this:

5. Click the Delete Triangles button side toolbar. The model will look like this:

on the Triangle Editing

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The model is now ready for surfacing.

The Surfacing Process

The triangulated model is now ready for you to start the surfacing process. In this tutorial we will generate curves to use when creating one type of surface, and then create the surfaces. When creating the surfaces, the model should be split up into "flattish" areas, vertical walls, and fillets. This creates a smoother surface set. This section describes, step by step, how to create four surfaces on the alloy spoke. A guide how to surface the remainder of the model is also provided.

Generating Curves from Boundaries

You are now ready to generate curves around the edge of the triangulated model. They will be used later to guide the direction of the surface boundaries during surface creation. 1. Click on the Curve Generation button display the following dialog box. on the Main toolbar to

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Alloy Wheel Tutorial 35

2. Make sure that the Boundaries option in the Generate From area is selected. 3. Leave the default values unchanged. 4. Click on Apply to create curves around the boundary of the triangle model. In the CopyCAD Explorer, double-click on the icon to the left of the Curves model to select it. This model contains all the Curves created in this CopyCAD session. As you create new curves, these are added to the model. Curves are available in all models in the CopyCAD Explorer. As the Draw Curves button is turned on, you can see the curve model in the Graphics window. 5. Click on the View ISO 1 button The curves will look like this: .

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6. Click on Accept to close the Curve Generation dialog box.

Creating Cross Section Curves

Next we will create two cross section curves through the part, which will be used in the surfacing process. Creating curves from cross sections removes the need to pick points by eye, and ensures an accurate curve as the sections match the contours of the part. This model needs to have two curves to use when surfacing the spoke, and these will be taken through the part as shown below.

1. Click on the View from Top (Z) button in a plan view.

, to display the model

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2. Click on the Curve Generation button

on the Main toolbar.

3. Click on the Triangle Model Cross Section option in the Curve Generation dialog boxs Generate From area. 4. In the Define Plane dialog box, select Y Plane from the Type list box, then type 130 in the Y box. This is the position of the first cross section curve you want to generate. 5. In the Define Plane dialog box, click on the Accept button. 6. In the Curve Generation dialog box, click on Apply to create the cross section curve. The curves are added to the Curves model and you can now create the second curve. 7. Click on the Define Section Plane button to redisplay the Define Plane dialog box. 8. Repeat the steps to create a cross section curve at Y=105. 9. Click on the Accept button to close the Curve Generation dialog box. The curves in the model should now look like the example below.

You can now convert the curves on the spoke into a curve network. This ensures that the intersecting lines have exact crossing points.

Creating a Curve Network

To create a curve network from the curves.

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1. Make sure that the curves are displayed and the model looks like this example.

2. If the model looks different, click on the Draw Curves button and click on the View ISO 1 button . 3. Click on the Curve Editing button to display its side toolbar. 4. Select the two curves you have just created on the spoke and then select the curves that they meet at the boundary of the model. 5. The curves turn red to show that they are selected:

6. Click on the Create Curve Network button , on the Curve Editing toolbar to display the following dialog box:

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7. Click on the Breakpoint Insertion to Tolerance check box to select it. This ensures that breakpoints, which are used to create internals during surfacing, are created along the curves. If you leave this check box deselected, breakpoints will be created only at intersections. 8. Click on the Apply button. 9. When CopyCAD has finished constructing the curve network, click on the Accept button. You can now use the construction curve network to create the first of the surfaces on the Alloy wheel.

Generating a Surface using Curves

The surfaces can now be created. Four corner points are needed to create a surface, and CopyCAD takes the shortest route between two points. The curves you have just created will be used as a guide to create the first surface. To do this 1. Click on the Surface Generation button to display its side toolbar. on the Main toolbar

2. Click on the Create Surface button on the side toolbar. This puts you in Surface Creation mode and opens the Curve and Surface Fitting Options dialog box. We are going to use the default settings in this dialog box to create our curves. Note: Advanced users can change the Curve and Surface Fitting options to suit the particular needs of a model. 3. Select the four points as shown in the next diagram, by dragging a box around them individually with the Left mouse button.

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The selected points are shown as yellow squares, with purple lines connecting them. 4. Reselect the first point. When you re-select the first point, the surface boundaries are closed and the first surface is created. The model will look like the one below. The surface has a surface marker on it, which you can use to select it.

5. Redraw the triangles using the Draw Triangles button Draw toolbar. The model looks like this:

on the

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Creating a Surface using Guidepoints

Now you will create a surface for the flat part of the outer centre of the wheel. This is done using Guidepoints between the four main points to guide the surface boundaries around the circular edges. If you select the points in a clockwise direction, CopyCAD will construct the surface facing the wrong direction, as you will see in this example. You can easily reverse surfaces that are wrongly orientated.

1. Change the view to a View From Top (Z)

2. Click on the Point 1 as shown in the diagram above, using the Left mouse button. 3. Hold down the Ctrl button to produce guidepoints, and click on points around the curve between Points 1 and 2, following the circular outlines of the triangles. Each guidepoint you enter appears as a red asterisk.

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Note: Use the Undo button

if you select a point you dont want.

4. Click on the Point 2 to create the first surface boundary. CopyCAD creates breakpoints (pink asterisks) on the curve you sketched using the guidepoints. 5. As you are using the default settings in the Curve and Surface Fitting Options dialog box, there will be three breakpoints inserted between the points. CopyCAD uses the breakpoints as the endpoints of surface internals, which govern the fit of the surface. 6. Click on Point 3 to create a straight surface boundary. 7. Select the guidepoints between Points 3 and 4. 8. Click on Point 4 to create the third surface boundary. 9. Reselect Point 1 to create a surface. 10. When CopyCAD has finished creating the surface, click on the Stop Creation button on the Surface Generation side toolbar. This takes you out of Surface Creation mode and closes the Curve and Surface Fitting Options dialog box. 11. Click on the Draw Triangles button see the surface more clearly The model now looks like this: on the Draw toolbar to

Again, the surface you have created may look different to that shown in the diagram.
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Shading the Surfaces

You can shade the surfaces to get a clearer idea of what the finished surfaces will look like. 1. Click on the View ISO 1 button on the View toolbar. on the Draw toolbar.

2. Click on the Shade Surfaces button

on the Draw toolbar to 3. Click on the Draw Surfaces button hide the surface boundaries and internals. The model will look like this:

As you can see the last surface you created is wrongly orientated. The surface is displayed in red, which means you are looking at the inside of the surface rather than the blue of the outside. In the next section we will reverse the surface so that they are both orientated the same.

Reversing a Surface
Depending on the order in which you select the corner points for the surface, you may need to reverse a surfaces orientation. Make sure that you can see the surface boundaries and internals, which you use to select the surface. 1. Turn off the surface shading by clicking on the Shade Surfaces button on the Draw toolbar. 2. Turn on the surface boundaries, internals and marker by clicking on the Draw Surfaces button on the Draw toolbar.

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3. Draw a box around some of the surface internals to select the surface. The surface boundaries and internals turn red to show they are selected. Note: If you cannot select the surface, you may still be in Surface Creation Mode: click on . 4. Click on the Reverse Surfaces button Generation toolbar. on the Surface

5. When the reversing process is complete, shade the model by clicking on the Shade Surfaces button . Turn off the surface boundaries by clicking on the Draw Surfaces button The model will now look like this:

Creating more Surfaces

Now you can create the flat surface in the centre of the wheel. This is also done using guidepoints. 1. Redraw the triangles using the Draw Triangles button Draw toolbar. 2. Change the view to a View From Top (Z) 3. Click on the Create Surface button . on the

on the side toolbar.

4. Click on the points as shown in the next diagram using the Left mouse button, and holding down the Ctrl button to produce guidepoints, roughly follow the circular outline of the triangles.

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5. Reselect Point 1 to create the new surface. 6. Turn off the triangles to see it more clearly and change the view to ISO 1. Click on the Draw Triangles button Click on the View ISO 1 button The model should now look like this: on the Draw toolbar.

on the View toolbar.

The surface you have created may look different to that shown in the diagram, as the surface internals created depend on the guidepoints you picked. Now you will surface the fillet joining these two flat, circular surfaces together. This is done using the existing surface boundaries. Guidepoints

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are needed to guide the direction of the new surface boundaries along the existing surface boundaries. 1. Select the first three points as shown in the next diagram, using the Left mouse button.

As the third side of the new surface uses an existing surface boundary that has two corner points in it, these must be selected as guidepoints, to guide the new surface boundary. 2. Hold down the Control button and drag boxes around the corner points between points 3 and 4 using the Left mouse button. The corner points will automatically be selected. 3. Click on Point 4 and reselect Point 1 using the Left mouse button to finish off the surface.

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Completing the Model

You can now continue in the same way to complete the surfaces over the entire model. A more complete set of surfaces for this particular model is shown below:

If you need to delete a surface, first select it and then delete it using the Delete Surfaces button on the Surface Generation toolbar. When you have finished creating surfaces select the Stop Creation button on the Surface Generation toolbar. Since the wheel is symmetrical, the surfaces for this one spoke will probably be copied and rotated. Therefore, only the necessary parts of the spoke need to be surfaced. A possible order of surfacing is shown below:

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When shaded, the model looks like this:

Saving the Surfaces

The surfaces can be saved separately as an IGES file, a DUCT command file, or a CADDS4X file, for output to another application. Here you will save them as an IGES file. 1. Select File Export Current Model Surfaces IGES from the menu bar. 2. The following dialog box will appear:

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3. Choose the folder where you want to save the file, and type a name in the File name box. 4. Click on Save. The file is now saved with a .igs suffix.

Saving the Session

The model can now be saved as a session file. This saves all the models created in the session as one file. 1. Select File Save Session from the menu bar. 2. The following dialog box appears:

3. Choose the folder where you want to save the file, and enter a name into the File name box. 4. Click on Save.

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The file is now saved with a .ccs suffix.

Summary
In this tutorial you have taken the alloy wheel model through the step-bystep process from scanned data to surfaced model. You will now be able to: Import digitised data Use the Triangulation Wizard Delete old models Generate Scanlines Offset the Model Limit the Model Reduce the amount of data in the model Triangulate the model Generate Curves Create a Curve Network Create Surfaces Shade the Surfaces Reverse Surfaces Save the Surfaces Save the Session. This tutorial is now complete.

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Surfacing Tutorial

Surfacing Tutorial - Overview

This "Getting Started: Surfacing" tutorial is intended as a guide to surfacing triangle models in CopyCAD. Using the example of a car bonnet and wings, it shows step-by-step how you can create CAD surfaces on a triangle model. This tutorial shows how you should use the different methods of creating surfaces in CopyCAD. It explains first how you examine the model to decide where you will place the surface patches. You then are shown the steps needed to create four-sided untrimmed surfaces. It then shows you how you can create trimmed surfaces which can include internal trim boundaries to surface awkwardly shaped areas. In this case, we will create just one surface over an area that using foursided surfaces would need 21 surfaces to create a smooth finish. Finally, the tutorial shows a few of the extensive CAD surfacing solutions available in the PS-Surfacer editing module. With these you can easily create accurate surfaces over the regular features of the air inlets in the middle of the bonnet.

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What Does This Tutorial Show?

Here is the original triangle data for the Delcam buggy sample model, shown with shaded triangles.

After you have created the four-sided surfaces, the buggy will look like the example below.

After creating the curves needed for the remaining surfaces, you fit a trimmed surface over the bonnet area, excluding the air inlets.

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The surface model is complete when you have created air inlet surfaces using the PS-Surfacer module. The example below, shows a complete, shaded surface model.

Importing the Triangle Data

CopyCAD constructs surfaces over a triangle mesh. This can either be created through triangulating point, scanline or grid information or by importing a triangle model. In this tutorial, we will import a readytriangulated model. To import the triangle data: 1. After starting CopyCAD, select File Examples from the main menu bar. 2. In the Open Example dialog box, double-click on the Surfacing folder to open it. 3. Click on the Bonnet_Triangles.dmt file, then click on the Open button. This file contains the triangle model for the Delcam buggy design.

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Manipulating the View

Before continuing the tutorial, it is a good idea to familiarise yourself with manipulating the view. This can be done using the commands on the View toolbar, which is displayed on the right of the CopyCAD window. You can also change the viewpoint using the mouse as follows: Middle mouse button click and drag on the model to rotate the view Middle mouse button + Shift Pans the model (moves at the same size to a different position in the Graphics window) Middle mouse button + Shift + Ctrl Zooms to box Middle mouse button + Ctrl - Zooms in and out.

Deciding the Surfacing Strategy

When surfacing a triangle model, you must first examine it carefully and decide where you need to position the surfaces. You will achieve the smoothest and most accurate model by first surfacing flattish areas, which are four-sided. You can then create the filleted areas between the flat areas and areas with high curvature. Creating the surfaces in this order allows you to reuse existing surface edges and set the tangency required across the models surfaces. You can maintain tangency to blend the model across the surfaces. Alternatively, you can turn off tangency if you require a sharp edge. Where the positioning of four-sided surfaces results in an three-sided or multiple sided area, you can fit a trimmed surface. If you require surfaces with a fixed width or radius, you can use PSSurfacer, the surface editing module, whose tools provide the accuracy of a CAD package.

How do I Surface the Buggy?

Looking at the triangle model for the Delcam buggy, you can quickly identify the areas that are easy to surface with four-sided patches. These are the wings of buggy. We can also create a rough four-sided surface on the base of each inlet.

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For the main bonnet area, we can create a trimmed surface, excluding the islands of the air inlets. This avoids the need to create a large number of four-sided surfaces, as shown in the examples below. Four-sided solution Trimmed surface solution

For the air inlets, we can use PS-Surfacer to create accurate CAD surfaces, rather than creating freehand CopyCAD surfaces. To do this, we must first find out the draft angle on the walls, and the fillet radius at the top and base of the inlets. For the air inlet walls, we can create extruded surfaces from a curve. To surface the base of the inlets we can extend the edges of the previously created four-sided surface. We can then create fillet surfaces around top and bottom of the air inlet walls, linking them to the bonnet and the base surfaces.

Creating the Four-Sided Surfaces

You can place four-sided surfaces over areas that are roughly square or rectangular. Within these areas, you should create a new patch for each area of regular curvature.

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On the buggy model, we will create two surfaces over each wing. At the base of each air inlet, we will create a rough four-sided patch, which can then be extended in PS-Surfacer to cover the whole of the base. Before we start, we will look at some of the ways you can create surfaces, and some of the techniques you can use to ensure that the surfaces are of good quality.

How Can I Create Surface Boundaries?

You can create the four boundaries for each surface as follows: Use an existing curve. You can automatically generate curves to use from the open boundary of the model, from horizon lines, from cross sections or from discontinuities in the model. Alternatively, you can sketch or import curves. Sketch the boundary, defining the internals and tangency using the options on the Curve and Surface Fitting Options dialog boxs Standard tab. By default, CopyCAD projects the curve down the current view of the part shown in the Graphics window. If you want to guide the surface boundary around the part, you can hold down the Ctrl button as you click to create guidepoints. Note: The Curve and Surface Fitting Options dialog box provides extensive options, see the on-line help for more details. Use existing surface boundaries, already created for neighbouring surfaces.

Tips for Sketching Surfaces

Zoom in on the model as much as possible, so that you can pick points with more accuracy. Like This Not This

Use the view wherever you can - spin the model so that the boundary will be projected down the current view onto the model. In this way it will follow the models curvature automatically.
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 Dont put boundary points or control points right on the edge of a triangle model. If you do, there is a danger that the boundary will move off the model when you select the next point. Use the Crosshair Cursor. This helps you to line up the corner points. It also shows you the line that will be projected down the current view, so you can see if the boundary will move off the edge button of a model. To turn on the Crosshair Cursor, click on the on the Draw toolbar at the bottom of the CopyCAD window.

Make sure that the four-sided surfaces are as near rectangular as possible in the current view. This means that parallel internals will be created and smoothness and accuracy will be increased. Make sure that you pick the points in an anti-clockwise direction to ensure that the surface is correctly orientated. If you pick the points clockwise, the surface will be reversed. Reversed surfaces are shaded red when you click on the Shade Surfaces button on the Draw toolbar. Make sure that you can see the region to surface clearly, otherwise you might pick points on the wrong part of the model.

Sketching the Four-Sided Surfaces

We will now create two surfaces over each wing of the buggy. Note: If you want to use an imported set of surfaces, and practice sketching surfaces later, the four-sided surfaces are provided in the Bonnet_4SidedSurfs.dgk file in the Examples\Surfacing directory. If you import the surfaces, you must append the surface
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model to the triangle model before you continue As you must pick the surface boundary points in an anti-clockwise direction, make sure that you follow the steps exactly.

Sketching the First Four-Sided Surface

To sketch the first left hand wing surface: 1. Make sure that the model is shown in plan view by clicking on the View from Top (Z) button, . 2. Use the Zoom to Box tool , to zoom in on the top of the left hand wing area as shown below.

3. Click on the Surface Generation button to display its side toolbar. 4. Click on the Create Surface button Creation mode.

on the Main toolbar

to go into Surface

5. Set the following values in the Curve and Surface Fitting dialog box: Number of T breakpoints (side 1 and 3) = 12 Number of U breakpoints (side 2 and 4) = 7 You can leave the other settings as we want to use the default options. This means that surface boundaries will be projected down the current view, tangency will be maintained with neighbouring curves and surfaces and that breakpoints for internals will be inserted evenly.

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6. Click on the model as shown below to insert the first surface corner point.

7. Zoom in on the top area and click on Point 2, as shown above. CopyCAD uses the Z view to project the first surface boundary along the curved wing. 8. Click on the View from Left button model is in the view shown below. , then zoom in so that the

9. Hold down the Ctrl key and click to position guidepoints for the second boundary as shown above, then click on Point 3, making sure that the point is positioned just beside the triangle model boundary. 10. Click on the View from Top button the top left of the wing. , then zoom in again on

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11. Click on Point 4, making sure that the point is positioned just beside the triangle model boundary. 12. Click again on Point 1 to project the final surface boundary down the current view and complete the surface. 13. Click on the Resize to Fit button model as shown below. , to see the whole of the

This view shows the shaded surface. To check its accuracy, click on the Shade Errors button, . If there are large areas of red shading, delete the surface using the button, and try again. Tip: You can see the problem areas by rotating the model to see if the surface boundary has fallen off the triangle model.

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Sketching the Second Four-Sided Surface

To sketch the second left hand wing surface: 1. Zoom in on the bottom of the left hand wing area. 2. If you are not already in Surface Creation mode, click on the Create Surface button . 3. Leave the current settings in Curve and Surface Fitting dialog box as we want to use the same number of internals, that is, 12 along the long boundary, and 7 on the short boundary to match the internals used for the first surface. 4. Click on the first two points as shown below. This uses a corner point from first surface and projects the first boundary along the curved wheel arch.

5. Rotate the model so that the bottom curve looks like a straight line, as shown below.

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Note: If you want, you can use the Crosshair Cursor, , to line up the points. This has the drawback however that you must position the view so that the surface boundary is horizontal in the view. 6. Click on Point 3, as shown above. CopyCAD uses the current view to project the surface boundary along the curve. 7. Click on the View from Top button model is in the view shown below. , then zoom in so that the

8. Hold down the Ctrl key and click to position guidepoints for the third boundary as shown below, then click on Point 4, which is a corner point from the first surface. 9. Click on Point 1 again to share the first surfaces boundary.

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10. Click on the Resize to Fit button model as shown below.

, to see the whole of the

This view shows the shaded surface. To check its accuracy, click on the Shade Errors button, . If there are large areas of red shading, delete the surface using the button, and try again.. Tip: You can see the problem areas by rotating the model to see if the surface boundary has fallen off the triangle model. You can now sketch the surfaces on the other wing. Make sure that you select the corner points in an anti-clockwise direction so that the surface is correctly orientated. Also, you should ensure that you pick the long surface boundaries first and third, so that the correct number of breakpoints are used for each boundary.

Sketching the Inlet Base Surfaces

Finally, we will sketch a rough four-sided surface on the flat base of the each air inlet. We will use zero breakpoints as we want to create a single patch surface (one with no internals). Dont try and fit the surface to match the boundaries, as we will extend the surface to cover the whole of the base, then trim it back using PS-Surfacer. To create the inlet base surfaces: 1. Zoom in on the air inlets. 2. If you are not already in Surface Creation mode, click on the Create Surface button . 3. Change the settings in Curve and Surface Fitting dialog box as follows: Number of T breakpoints (sides 1 and 3) = 0 Number of T breakpoints (sides 1 and 3) = 0
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This will create a planar surface with no internals. 4. Click on the corner points as shown below to create a surface.

5. Click on the Shade Errors button surfaces should be perfectly green.

, on the Draw toolbar. The

6. If there are any yellow or red areas, delete the surface and recreate it, making sure that you pick points away from the filleted corners. 7. Repeat the steps to create a surface on the base of the other inlet. Make sure that you pick the points in an anti-clockwise direction You have now created all the four-cornered surfaces needed for the buggy model. Next we will look at the basic principles of surfacing.

Basic Principles of Surfacing

Before you start creating surfaces on a new model, you should consider the following: Do you want the neighbouring surfaces to be tangent? How many internals do you need to constrain the surface to the underlying triangles? Is it possible to match internals in neighbouring surfaces? Can you generate curves to use from the open boundary of the model, from horizon lines, from cross sections or from discontinuities in the model? Can you sketch curves to use as surface boundaries? Can you use the orientation of the model to determine exact location of the surface boundaries?

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 Will you need to use guide points to define the curves used as surface boundaries?

Creating Curves
We will now create the curves needed to create the other surfaces on the buggy. First, we will import already sketched curves around the top of the air inlets. Next, we will sketch curves to link the two wings at the top and bottom of the bonnet. These will be used as boundaries for the trimmed surface over the bonnet Finally, we will generate cross-section curves at the base of the inlets to use when creating an extruded surface for the inlet walls. When you have finished creating the curves, your model should look like the example below.

Importing Curves
We will now import a set of already sketched curves around the top of the inlets. These will be used as internal trim boundaries for the bonnet trimmed surface. Important: You must import curves before sketching or generating any curves on the model. If you import curves afterwards, the new Curves model overwrites all existing curves

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To import the internal trim boundaries: 1. Select File Examples from the menu bar. 2. From the Surfacing directory, select the inlet_curves.ccc file. 3. Click on the Open button to import the curves into your CopyCAD session. Your model should now look like the example below.

Note: If you want to sketch these yourself, use the following values: sketch the short sides first with 4 breakpoints each; then sketch the hypotenuse with 8 breakpoints; next sketch corners to link the sides using 4 breakpoints on each corner. You should sketch the curves in this order so as to maintain tangency around the corners. For more information about sketching curves, see Sketching the Bonnet Boundaries on page 68.

Sketching the Bonnet Boundaries

The bonnet is currently bounded on its two sides by surfaces. In order to create a trimmed surface, we need to create curves that enclose the bonnet on the other two sides. We will use a simple curve fitting option to create a smooth curve that follows the edge of the bonnet closely. To sketch the curves: 1. Click on the Curve Editing button on the Main toolbar.

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2. Click on the Sketch Curve button

3. In the Curve and Surface Fitting Options dialog box: in the Standard Options tab, set the set the Curve Parameterisation option to Breakpoint Insertion to Tolerance. in the Advanced Curve Fitting Options tab, set the Curve Fitting option to Simple Curve Fitting (through polyline segments). 4. Click on the View from Top button . 5. Click on the corner point of the surface boundary, as shown in the example below.

6. Ctrl-click two guide points as shown in the example. 7. Click on the surface corner point on the other side to create the first curve. 8. Hold down the Shift and Alt keys and rotate the model using the left mouse button, so that the lower two surface corner points are in line.

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Tip: To rotate the model evenly around the X axis, use Shift-Alt-Left Mouse button. To rotate around Y, use Shift-Alt-Middle Mouse button. To rotate around Z, Shift-Alt-Right Mouse button. 9. Click on each corner point to create a curve between them. As CopyCAD is using the Project User Defined Path Onto Model option (set on the Curve and Surface Fitting Options dialog boxs Advanced Sketching Tab), the curve will follow the curvature of the bonnet. You can see this when you return to the plan view (from the top, down the Z axis).

Generating the Inlet Wall Curves

As the base of the inlets are on a Z plane, we can generate a line around the walls using a Z plane cross section. These curves will be used to create extruded surfaces for the walls. To find out the Z height needed, we will first use the Measurer to find a point at the base of the wall. The points set for the buggy is irregular, so it is a good idea to generate a cross section through the part. This creates a line of points that we can use to find out more information about the air inlets.

Creating a Cross Section Line

We will create a cross section through the triangle model to create a polyline. We can then use the points on this line to find out more about the air inlets. Initially, we will use the line to find the Z height of the base of the inlet walls. To create a cross section line: 1. Click on the Triangle Modelling button 2. Click on the Section Triangles button Modelling side toolbar.
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3. In the Section Triangles dialog box, click on the Define Sectioning Plane button. 4. In the Define Plane dialog box, select X Plane from the Type list box. 5. Click on the middle of one of the inlets to define the cross section, as shown in the example below.

6. In the Define Plane dialog box, click on the Accept button. 7. Leave the default of 1 in the Number of sections box, and click on the Apply button to create a new model containing the cross section line of points. 8. Click on the Accept button to close the Section Triangles dialog box. CopyCAD creates a new model called section_Bonnet_Triangles and selects it in the CopyCAD Explorer to the left of the main Graphics window. Note: If you cannot see the cross section, click on the Draw Points button on the Draw toolbar.

Measuring a Point
Now that we have a regular set of points through an air inlet, we can find the Z height of the base of the wall. To measure a point:

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1. Click on the Draw Curves button to turn the curves off, then click on the View ISO 1 button on the View toolbar. This allows you to see the points clearly in the cross section. 2. Click on the Zoom to Box button , then click and drag to zoom in on the inlet wall area, as shown in the example below.

3. Click on the Measurer button

on the Main toolbar.

4. In the Measurer dialog box, click on the Point tab. 5. Find a point at the base of the wall, just before the fillet that joins it to the base of the inlet, and click on it. 6. Make a note of the points Z height, as displayed in the Point tabs Z box. This should be about 61.

Generating Cross Section Curves

We will now generate curves just above Z height found at the base of the inlet walls, using a cross section. First we need to reselect the triangle model we are surfacing, as the cross section model, section_Bonnet_Triangles, is currently selected. To generate the curves: 1. In the CopyCAD Explorer, double click on the icon to the left of the Bonnet_Triangles model name. 2. Turn off the points and turn back on the curves display, using the and the buttons on the Draw toolbar. 3. Click on the Curve Generation button
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on the Main toolbar.

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4. In the Curve Generation dialog boxs Generate From area, click on the Triangle Model Cross Section option. 5. In the Define Plane dialog box, select Z Plane from the Type list box. 6. Type 62 in the Z box, as this is just above the Z height of the point you selected on the inlet wall. 7. In the Define Plane dialog box, click on the Accept button 8. In the Curve Generation dialog box, click on the Curve Fitting Options button. 9. In the Curve Fitting Options dialog box, enter the following values: In the Curves Parameterisation list box, select Even Breakpoint Insertion in 3D Number of breakpoints = 24 Curve Fitting Tolerance = 0.05 Leave the other default values. 10. In the Curve Generation dialog box, click on the Apply button, then the Accept button. Finally, we need to delete the extra curve created through the bonnet that is not part of an inlet. 11. Click on the Curve Editing button on the Main toolbar. 12. Click on the extra curve, as shown in the example below.

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13. On the Curve Editing side toolbar, click on the Delete Curves button . Now you have created all the curves needed for the remaining surfaces, you can create a trimmed surface over the main part of the bonnet.

Creating the Bonnet Trimmed Surface

Trimmed surfaces differ from usual four-sided CopyCAD surfaces. When you create trimmed surfaces, CopyCAD generates a larger surface (roughly rectangular) and then uses trim boundaries to trim this surface back to the required region. This makes this method of surface creation very suitable for filling many sided or triangular areas. In addition to the outer trim boundary, you can select surfaces or curves to use as internal trim boundaries. This allows you to create cut-outs in the surface. In this tutorial, we will create a trimmed surface over the bonnet of the buggy, using the curves you imported as internal trim boundaries. These exclude the air inlets from the bonnet surface. To ensure an accurate surface we will use 8 surface patches and a surface fit of 0.05. The number of surface patches determines the number of internals for surface, and the fit determines how closely the external trim boundary is fitted to the underlying triangles. To create the trimmed surface: 1. Click on the Surface Generation button on the Main toolbar. on the Surface

2. Click on the Create Trimmed Surface button Generation toolbar.

3. Follow the instructions in Step 1 of the Wizard to select the outer trim boundary for the surface. Make sure that you pick the four corner points in an anti-clockwise order. Click on Next. 4. With Step 2 of the Wizard displayed, click on Next as you do not want to use surfaces as internal trim boundaries. 5. Follow the instructions in Step 3 of the Wizard to select the curves around the top of the inlets as internal trim boundaries. Make sure that you dont select the curves at the base of the inlets. Click on Next.

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6. With Step 4 of the Wizard displayed, leave 25 as the percentage of point data to use for the surface fit. Click on Next. 7. With Step 5 of the Wizard displayed, move the slider bar to 8 to create eight surface patches. This will provide enough internals to maintain a close fit to the underlying triangles. Click on Next. 8. With Step 6 of the Wizard displayed, leave 3 as the surface degree. This will give a smooth surface within each surface patch. Click on Next. 9. With Step 7 of the Wizard displayed, leave 0.2 for the surface fit tolerance. This is the maximum acceptable deviation between the surface and the underlying triangles. If the deviation is greater than this tolerance, CopyCAD displays a message box informing you. Click on Preview to see what the surface will look like. 10. If you are happy with the surface, click on Accept. The construction of the trimmed surface and associated error may take a few minutes, depending on the processing power of your computer. If the surface fit is out of tolerance, CopyCAD displays a warning box telling you the deviation between the surface and the underlying triangles. Click on OK to close the box. When construction is complete, the buggy should now look like this.

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To check its accuracy, you can click on the Shaded Errors button on the Draw toolbar.

Creating the Air Inlet Surfaces

We are now ready to create the surfaces for the air inlets. The first step is to find out the draft angle of the inlet walls and the fillet radius used at the top and bottom of the walls to join them to the other surfaces. To find out this information, we can use the points in the cross section model that you created in "Creating a Cross Section Line" on page 70. Next, we will open PS-Surfacer and create an extruded surface for the walls. Fillet surfaces can then be created to blend the top of the walls to the bonnet, and the bottom of the walls to the extended base surface.

Measuring the Air Inlets

Before we open PS-Surfacer and create the surfaces for the air inlets, we must first find out the inlets dimensions. We need to know the draft angle for the inlet walls. This is the angular difference between the wall and the Z plane normal. This can be measured by picking two points at the top and bottom of the wall to create a line using the CopyCAD Measurers Line tab. Next we need to measure the radius of the fillet at the top and bottom of the inlets. This can be measured using the Measurers Circle tab, by picking three points on the fillet to construct a circle.

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To find out this information, we can use the points in the cross section model that you created in "Creating a Cross Section Line" on page 70.

Finding the Draft Angle

We can find the inlet walls draft angle using the points in the section_Bonnet_Triangles model. To find the draft angle: 1. In the CopyCAD Explorer to the left of the Graphics window, double-click on the icon next to the section_Bonnet_Triangles model. 2. If you cannot see the cross section, click on the Draw Points on the Draw toolbar button to turn the curves off, then 3. Click on the Draw Curves button click on the View ISO 1 button on the View toolbar. This allows you to see the points clearly in the cross section. 4. Click on the Zoom to Box button , then click and drag to zoom in on the inlet wall area, as shown in the example below.

5. Click on the Measurer button

on the Main toolbar.

6. In the Measurer dialog box, click on the Line tab. 7. Click on two points on the straight section of the wall, one at the top and one at the bottom, keeping away from the fillets. 8. Make a note of the angle displayed in the Line tabs Elevation box. This should be about 75 degrees.
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As the draft angle is calculated from the Z normal rather than the Z plane itself, this represents a draft angle of 15 degrees.

Measuring the Fillets

We can now use the same cross section to find out the fillet radii at the top and bottom of the inlet walls. To find the fillet radii: 1. Zoom in again on the points, drawing a box around the top fillet. 2. In the Measurer dialog box, click on the Circle tab. 3. Pick three points on the fillet, making sure that they are evenly spaced over the curve.

Note: The curve of the circle should be over the points in fillet. If they are not, pick another point, then click on the Refresh button on the View toolbar, then pick the remaining two points. 4. Make a note of the value displayed in the Circle tabs Radius box. This should be about 2mm. 5. Repeat the steps to measure the bottom fillets radius. Make a note of the radius value, which should be about 1mm.

Opening PS-Surfacer
You are now ready to create the inlet surfaces using PS-Surfacer. First we must reopen the Bonnet_Triangles model, which contains the existing surfaces. Important: Once you have opened PS-Surfacer, you must not work in the CopyCAD window. If you change the CopyCAD model or close the CopyCAD window, PS-Surfacer will be unable to transfer the surfaces back to CopyCAD at the end of the PS-Surfacer session To open PS-Surfacer:

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1. In the CopyCAD Explorer to the left of the Graphics window, double-click on the icon next to the Bonnet_Triangles model. 2. Click on the Surface Editing button to transfer the curves and surfaces to the PS-Surfacer module. PS-Surfacer opens in a different application window.

PS-Surfacer contains a wide range of curve and surface creation options. To see the different types of surfaces you can create: 1. Click on the Surface button changes from a Selection tool on the Main toolbar. to a Surfacing tool . You will see that the drop-down button at the end of the toolbar 2. Click on the drop-down button to display buttons for the range of surfaces you can create with PS-Surfacer. If you hover the mouse over each one, you will see a tool-tip describing the type of surface it creates.

Creating an Extruded Surface

First, we will create the walls of the inlets using extruded surfaces. 1. Click on a curve at the bottom of an air inlet wall to select it. Note: If you cannot select a curve as the whole model is selected, click on the background to de-select the model first.
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2. Click on the drop-down button next to the Surface option list to display the available surface types. 3. Click on the Extrusion button . PS-Surfacer creates an extruded surface of a default length. 4. To view the extruded surface more clearly, click on the ISO 1 button .

5. Double-click on the extruded surface to display the Primitive Extrusion dialog box.

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6. Change the following values for the extruded surface: Length = 15 Draft Angle = 15 Reverse check box = selected Note: Setting a length of 15 ensures that the walls are higher than the bonnet, ready to be filleted and trimmed back. Note: You need to reverse the extruded surface, otherwise it will be wrongly orientated with the reverse of the surface on the inside of the inlet. This can be seen if you shade the model by clicking on the Shaded View button on the View toolbar. 7. Click on the Accept button. on the View toolbar to 8. Click on the Shaded View button display the amended extruded surface as shown in the example below.

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9. Repeat the steps to create an extruded surface for the other air inlet, with a draft angle of 15.

Delete the Wireframe Curves

We now need to delete all the curves in the model that were created in CopyCAD. This allows us to create new composite curves around the air inlets. Composite curves store the details of a surfaces tangency. Using composite curves created in PS-Surfacer instead of the curves created in CopyCAD, allows us to create a smooth blend between the bonnet and the top fillet of each inlet. 1. Click on the Quick Select Wireframe button down button list. from the drop-

All the wireframe curves in the model turn yellow to show that they are selected. 2. Press Delete on the keyboard to delete the curves.

Extend the Base Surface

In order to create the fillet surface at the bottom of the inlet, we must first extend the surfaces on the base and the wall surfaces so that they intersect. 1. Click on the View from Top button base surfaces clearly. , so that you can see the

2. If you have the shading turned on, return to the wireframe view by clicking on the button. 3. Click on the Zoom to Box button , then click and drag to zoom in on one of the base surfaces. 4. Click on the surface to select it.

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5. Click on the Edit Toolbar button 6. Click on the Point limit button

on the Main toolbar. on the Edit toolbar. .

7. Move the cursor over one of the surfaces boundaries until the cursor looks like a magnet with the word, On, next to it,

8. Click and drag the boundary until it extends past the wall surface. 9. Repeat this step to extend all four of the surfaces boundaries, as shown in the example below.

10. Now, rotate the model using the middle mouse button so that you can see the extruded wall surface clearly. 11. Extend the walls downward using the same method so that the base and wall surfaces intersect in all directions. 12. Shade the model and rotate it to make sure that the two surfaces intersect, as shown in the example below.

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13. Repeat the steps to extend the other inlets walls and base.

Create the Fillet Surfaces

We are now ready to create the fillet surfaces for the air inlets.

Creating the Top Fillet

The top fillet will link the bonnet to the inlet walls. We know that it has a radius of 2mm, as this was measured from the original triangle model. First, we need to create a composite curve around the internal trim curve of the bonnet surface. We will then create the fillet surface. To create the top fillet: 1. Click on the ISO 1 button clearly. , so that you can see the surfaces , then click and drag to

2. Click on the Zoom to Box button zoom in on one of the inlets.

3. Hold down the Alt key and click on the edge of one of the bonnets internal trim boundary. A composite curve is created around the boundary, marked by a yellow line with blue points.

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Tip: It is easier to pick the internal trim curve if just the bonnet surface is displayed. To blank the extruded surface, click on it and press Ctrl-J. When you have created the composite curve, unblank the surface by pressing Ctrl - L 4. With the composite curve selected, click on the Surface button on the Main toolbar. 5. Click on the drop-down button next to the Surface option list to display the available surface types. 6. Click on the Fillet Surface button . 7. Click on the extruded wall surface to select it. 8. In the Fillet Surface dialog box, change the following values: Fillet Radius = 2 Convex option = selected The Selection area shows that the Primary selection is Surfaces (the extruded wall) and the Secondary selection is Wireframe (the composite curve). 9. Click on the Preview button to see what the fillet will look like. 10. If it is wrongly oriented, as shown in the example below, locate the arrow on the composite curve and click on it to reverse the curves direction.

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11. Click on the Preview button again to check the fillet surface, then click on the Accept button to create a surface like the example below.

12. Repeat the steps to create a fillet around the top of the other inlet.

Creating the Bottom Fillet

We can now fillet the intersecting surfaces at the bottom of the inlets. The measurements of the triangle model in CopyCAD showed that we need to use a 1mm radius for these fillets. To create the bottom fillet: 1. Click on one of the base surfaces to select it.

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2. Press Ctrl-F to display the Fillet Surface dialog box using its keyboard shortcut. 3. With the Fillet Surface dialog box displayed, click on the extruded wall surface to select it. 4. In the Fillet Surface dialog box, change the following values: Fillet Radius = 1 Concave option = selected 5. Click on the Preview button to see what the fillet will look like. PS-Surfacer displays a red curve to represent the fillet route. 6. Click on Accept to display the Select Fillet Route dialog box.

7. Click Accept to create the fillet. 8. Repeat the steps to create a fillet around the bottom of the other inlet.

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Checking the Model

You have now surfaced the air inlets and the model is complete. It is a good idea to examine the model now, to check that it is fully surfaced and that the surfaces are smooth. Note: If the join between the bonnet and top fillet isnt tangent, you can stitch these surfaces together, deselecting the Match across seam option to ensure a smooth transition. For more details, see the on-line help for the Stitch Surface button , which can be found on the Surface Editing toolbar. To check the model, click on the Resize to Fit button so that you can see the whole model, and rotate it to view it from all angles. The model should like the example below.

Returning to CopyCAD
Now that you have created the air inlet surfaces in PS-Surfacer, you can return to CopyCAD. 1. Select File Close and Return to CopyCAD from the menu bar. PS-Surfacer transfers the model to CopyCAD and closes. This process may take some time, as CopyCAD updates the errors on the model by default. If you want to stop the error update, press the Esc button.

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If you have the Shade Errors button on the Draw toolbar selected, the model should be predominantly green, showing an accurate surface. To check its smoothness you can turn off the shaded errors and click on the Shade Surfaces button on the Draw toolbar.

Saving the Surfaced Buggy Model

You can now save the completed buggy model The surfaces can be saved separately as an IGES file, a DGK file, a DUCT command file, or a CADDS4X file, for output to another application. Here we will save them as an IGES file. 1. Select File Export Current Model Surfaces IGES from the menu bar. 2. The following dialog box will appear:

3. Choose the folder where you want to save the file, and type a name in the File name box. 4. Click on Save. The file is now saved with a .igs suffix.

Saving the CopyCAD Session

You can save the whole CopyCAD session. This means that all the models created in the session are saved in one file. 1. Select File Save Session from the menu bar.

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2. The following dialog box appears:

3. Choose the folder where you want to save the file, and enter a name into the File name box. 4. Click on Save. The file is now saved with a .ccs suffix.

Summary of Tutorial
In this tutorial you have taken the buggys bonnet model and surfaced it using the different methods provided by CopyCAD. You now know how to: Import triangle data Decide on a Surfacing Strategy Create Four-Sided Surfaces Create Curves Create Trimmed Surfaces Create CAD surfaces using a range of tools in PS-Surfacer Save the Model Save the CopyCAD Session. This tutorial is now complete.

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