VXmodel Tutorial - Scan-to-CAD 2

May 2017

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Introduction

This tutorial is intended for users who need to become familiar with VXmodel. It will guide you on a
Scan-to-CAD workflow by cleaning and aligning the mesh, then extracting required entities in order to
transfer to CAD software.

Data File
Database associated with this tutorial can be downloaded directly from the Customer center via the
online resources (Tools menu / tutorials). A direct link is also available from the learn panel of
VXelements home page.

Session file can be found here after download: *\Downloads\Scan-to-CAD_Tutorial-2.zip\_Dataset

*The sample data for this tutorial is provided by Creaform. It is the property of Creaform and is used for informational purpose only.

After completing an acquisition, the Scan has to be transferred to the VXmodel node by clicking on
the Send to VXmodel button or by using the Tools menu.
Note that for this tutorial, the scan data has already been transferred to the VXmodel node of
VXmodel and the Scan and Positioning Targets nodes were removed.
When working on a session that shows scanning information, hide the Scan and Positioning Targets
node from the navigation window to avoid confusion.
To do so, click on the eye icon to hide or show.

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What will this tutorial cover?

Step 1.
Clean mesh data

Step 2.
Defeature detail

Step 3.
Create features for alignment

Step 4.
Align mesh

Step 5.
Create entities for reverse engineering

Step 6.
Export entities to CAD software

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Clean Mesh Data

Click on Mesh 1 to see VXmodel functions.

Click on the Clean mesh button .

Note: VXmodel will gather information about the mesh and analyze it to find any problematic triangles.

By default the Angle Bet. Triangles is set to 45°, Maximum

Bridge Width to 1 edge and all check boxes are checked.
Maximum hole size can be left untouched.
Note: The numbers found on the right indicate the triangle count for
each type of defect.
Note: Each type of defect for which the check box is active, related
triangles will be selected in the 3D view and will be processed by the
Clean Mesh tool once you click on Apply.

Leave default parameters and click Apply, then OK.

Note: Clicking on Cancel after Apply will cancel the whole operation.

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Defeature Detail

To reverse engineer a part, you may need to create cross-sections. As we want the global shape of the
part and not the shape of the letters in the writings, it is preferred to remove them using the
Defeature button.

Select the Free Form button .

Hold the CTRL key and left click to select the two
logos on top of the scan.
Note: It is important to select ALL of the logos triangles. To do
so, you can use the Brush selection tool to get any small
patchesthat were not selected by the Free Form tool.

Click on the Grow selection icon until all the tri-

angles are selected in this region.

Select the Defeature button .

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Create Features for Alignment

Various geometric entities need to be created on the mesh and further used as in the alignment
process. It is essential to choose the most important and relevant entities for the alignment. The whole
reconstruction will be affected by this alignment. A good alignment will make the next steps easier and
will improve the end result.

Add Cylinder 1

Click on the Add a Cylinder button

Set the Building Mode to Triangles Selection.

Set the Selection Tolerance for the Similar

Curvature to 35.

Note: Values range from 0 to 100 for Selection Tolerance. The higher the selection tolerance value, the
larger the amount of triangles selected. This is due to a larger permission in the difference in the
normal orientation of the triangles.

Hold the Ctrl key and left click the cyl-

indrical surface as shown below.

Note: A preview of the resulting cylinder is displayed as well as a deviation color map between the
selected triangles and the best fitted cylinder.

Check the Filters and leave the Distance and Angle Filtering unchecked.
Click on Flip Normal if required to have the Cylinder axis (in yellow) pointing up.
Click on the Create button to finalize and then Close.

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Add Plane

Click on the Add a New Plane button .

Set the Building Mode to Triangles Selection.

Set the Selection Tolerance for the Similar Normals

selection tool to 35.

Note: Values range from 0 to 100 in the Selection Tolerance. The higher the selection tolerance value,
the larger the amount of triangles selected. This is due to a greater difference allowance in the
triangles normal orientation.

Orient the model as per the figure

below, hold the CTRL key and left click
on the flat surface inside the middle
section.

Note: A preview of the resulting plane is displayed as well as a deviation color map between the
selected triangles and the best fitted plane.

Under Constraints check the

Orientation box, highlight the
Cylinder icon and select Cylin-
der 1 - Vector.
Click on the Create button to
complete the operation.

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Add Cylinder 2

Click on the Add a Cylinder button

Select the Free Form button .

Hold CTRL key and select the cylindrical areas indicated below.
Click on the Create button to complete the operation and Close.

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Align Mesh

Alignment is done by pairing entities previously created with the XYZ reference frame.

Click on Align to Origin button .

From the Constraint Selection, under the Constraint
column, select Axis Z from the drop-down menu and pair it
with Cylinder 1 under the Entity column. Repeat for Plane
XY with Plane 1, then for Axis X with Cylinder 2.

Note: On the right of the Entity column, the flip button allows
flipping the normal of paired entities.
Note: As entities are paired, the degrees of freedom (DOF) of the
Mesh decrease. Constrained DOF are marked as greyed out Offset or
Angle text boxes.

Click on Align to finalize the mesh alignment to the origin.

Note: Predefined Views are available by right clicking in the 3D view. These views are based on the
reference frame defined as the origin.

Note: Manual alignment can be performed by dragging the arrow or circle of the reference frame in
the 3D view.

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Creating Entities for Reverse Engineering

Geometric entities will be extracted in preparation for CAD software.

Create Cross-Section

Click on Add a cross-section button .

Set the Building Mode to Radial. For Existing axis
select Origin – Z Axis and for the Initial plane select Ori-
gin – Plane XZ. Set the Count to 2, the Output type to
Curve and Curve Parameters to Deviation with a value
of 0.1 mm.

Note : Setting Output type to Polyline creates small segments of lines made from the triangle’s
intersection to the cross- section plane. Curve creates a Spline that can be adjusted with either
Maximum Deviation or Control Points in the Curve Parameter.

Click on Preview then Create to complete the cross-section and Close.

Note: Use the Preview button to validate the result before creating.

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Create Surfaces
At this step, two surfaces will be created on each side of one blade in order to extract a CAD surface
from it.

Click on the roll down Auto Surface>Single Patch

> button .
Set the Padding value to 10 mm and the Maximum
Deviation to 0.25 mm. Uncheck the Closed box,
enter a value of 6 for the U Min and V Min, and 12
for the U Max and V Max.

Select the Sudden Change button .

Set the Selection Tolerance to 15.

Hold the CTRL key and left click on the top surface
of the blade.

Use the Preview button to validate the result.

Click on Create to complete the surface creation.

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Note: Once the surface is created, click on the Display button at the bottom of the
Navigation panel and then change the display settings under Surface Display.

Repeat these previous steps for

the back side of the same blade
Click Close to close the Create
Surface dialog box.

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Define the Edge with Curves
At this step, we will create the curve profile of the blade, as it will be used as a trimming tool in CAD
software.

Select the Sudden Change button .

Set the Selection Tolerance to 25.

Note: You can hide the entities by clicking on the eye icon next to the entity you want to hide.

Hold the Ctrl key and left click on the

blade top surface as shown below (this is
the same blade for which surfaces were
created before).

Click on the Grow the selection but-

ton 4 times .
Click the Copy button from the main
toolbar. A new mesh Mesh 1 - Copy 1will
be created with the selection.
Right Click on Mesh 1 - Copy 1 and
select Show only selected

Click on Add a Cross-Section button .

Set the Building Mode to Silhouette. In
Plane Definition select Origin – Plane
XY. Set the Output to Curve and Curve
Parameters to Deviation with a value of
3 mm.

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Exporting Entities to CAD Software

At this step, we will save the aligned mesh and the entities that will be used in the CAD software.

Save Mesh Model

Highlight Mesh 1 by clicking on it.

Right Click on the Mesh 1 and select Export

or use the export mesh button.

Exporting Entities

Highlight Surface 1 and Surface 2in the Entities node

by holding CTRL button and clicking on them.
Right click on the surface and select Export Selected
Entities

Highlight the Entities node by clicking on it.

Click on the Export >All Entities button .

Repeat this operation to export the cross-section from
Mesh 1 - Copy 1

Note: To export one or more entities, select only the ones to be exported before clicking Export
Entities.

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Export entities – SOLIDWORKS, Inventor and Solid Edge users
If you use SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, or Solid Edge, VXmodel has a built-in CAD transferring function
that executes the previous steps of exportation directly to SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, or Solid Edge.

Click on the Entities node or on specific entit-

ies and click on Transfer to SOLIDWORKS
button or use the drop-down to select either
Solid Edge or Inventor.

Right-click on selected entities and use Trans-

fer Selected Entities to in order to directly
export those entities to SOLIDWORKS,
Inventor, or Solid Edge.

Note: If SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, or Solid Edge is not open, the function will open it and create a new
part and import the entities. If SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, or Solid Edge is open, it will import, in the active
part, the entities.

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