Faces
CimatronE 8.5 Tutorial
Table of Contents
Faces Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1
Blend................................................................................................................................ 2
Fillet................................................................................................................................. 8
Extend ............................................................................................................................ 10
Trim/Split....................................................................................................................... 13
Variable Fillet ................................................................................................................ 28
Composite Face ............................................................................................................. 34
Face Curve Fillet............................................................................................................ 37
Fillet 3 Faces.................................................................................................................. 42
Face Corner.................................................................................................................... 48
Modify ........................................................................................................................... 50
CimatronE 8.5 Faces i
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Faces Introduction
The face functions within CimatronE are used to create surfaces. These surfaces are 2D or 3D entities that
contain area but have no thickness.
In the following tutorial, various face functions will be discussed, as follows:
• The Blend function is used to create a blend face between edges, sketches, contours, curves and
points.
• The Fillet function creates round faces or surfaces between two groups of faces.
• The Extend function creates a new face on an existing open-edged face.
• The Trim function is used to trim a face by a point, curve, edge, contour, face or plane.
• The Variable Fillet function enables the creation of fillet surfaces between two sets of smoothly
connected faces while defining varying minimum radius values on a picked point.
• The Composite Face tool is used to create a single face from a sequence of smooth faces.
• The Tangent Curve Face function creates a face that is tangent to a face and goes through a curve.
• The Fillet 3 Faces function creates a face tangent to three groups of faces.
• The Corner function creates a number of untrimmed faces (equal to the contour construct entities.
• In the Modify chapter various options for modifying faces are discussed.
CimatronE 8.5 Faces 1
Blend
Remove Geometry
In this chapter the Blend tool will now be used to create a blend face between the yellow and magenta sections
seen below.
Open the Inlet.elt file.
In the part document there are gaps between the neighbouring faces as indicated below:
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Pick the face circled above and from the popup menu select Remove Geometry.
Click OK in the Feature Guide.
This operation could also have been carried out by first selecting 'Remove Geometry', picking the face and
selecting OK in the Feature Guide.
Click the Remove Geometry operation in the Features Tree to highlight it.
Click on the operation again to enter edit mode and change the name of the operation.
CimatronE 8.5 Faces 3
Required
Select Faces/Blend.
Select the following curves:
When there is more than one face, the Multi Face option is used to create a number of faces. Generally, the
resulting face geometry is lighter and allows for better performance, with the Multi Face option.
The With Simplify/Without Simplify toggle option lets you define the type of face to be created. Without
Simplify produces a procedural type face while With Simplify approximates the procedural faces to analytic
faces (planar, cone, etc.). If this cannot be achieved, it approximates it to a NURB surface. In the NC application,
this enables the surface to be machined using the Flow Line machining technology.
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Optional
In the optional section of the Feature Guide, click on the Define Slope Weight Icon:
Define the following parameters:
Click on the Free option and change the selection to Tangent-C1.
Leave the default weight value.
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Quick Spline
Select the Pick boundaries Icon:
Select the Spline icon from the Icons Toolbar.
Select the two curves highlighted below:
In this example the spline is defined according to edges as opposed to points selected. The spline will
automatically be tangent to the edge selected and will be defined according to the closest endpoint selected, as
seen below:
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A Spline tangent to the two curves has been automatically created:
Click OK in the Spline Feature Guide.
CimatronE contains several functions that can be accessed at any time, even if you are already in the middle
of another function. These functions can also be accessed independently. For a list of these function click on the
link below:
The Blend Feature Guide now returns.
The spline has automatically been selected as the boundary.
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Click OK in the Blend Feature Guide.
Fillet
Select Faces
A round surface will now be created between two groups of faces.
Select Faces/Fillet.
Select the first face shown below:
Accept this face by clicking the middle mouse button.
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Now select the second face:
Accept this face.
Parameters
Flip the Second set direction arrow and set the following rounding radius and parameters for the fillet:
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The default rounding option is Don't Trim. The Trim option is used when all faces that are located within the
round are to be trimmed.
Press OK in the Feature Guide.
Extend
Extension
The fillet will now be extended, so that it covers the area circled below:
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Select Faces/Extend.
Pick the edge shown here to extend the face.
Verify the Natural option is selected and set the parameters as shown:
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Select OK in the Feature Guide.
Change the color of the fillet to Purple.
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Trim/Split
Trim 1
The faces by the boundaries of the fillet will now be trimmed.
Select Faces/Trim.
On the face indicated, select the area to the left of the Purple face. Meaning, the area remaining after the
trim operation.
Trimming by contour
The trimming direction is determined by the selection area on the face (by default the picked side remains).
Multiple faces can be trimmed or split with a contour.
Accept this face.
Select the following Trimming geometry.
For easier selection of the curve, unselect the Filter Faces icon and/or enter Wireframe mode.
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Click Apply in the Feature Guide.
Trim 2
Now select the face (in the area above the Purple face) as shown below:
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Select the Trimming geometry.
Click OK in the Feature Guide.
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Trim 3
The extension will now be trimmed.
Right click in the display and select Trim.
Select the fillet face area shown below and Exit:
Create a spline using the lines shown below:
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Pick the edges in the areas indicated below:
Click OK in the Spline Feature Guide.
The trimming geometry is automatically selected.
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Click OK in the Feature Guide.
Split/Trim of Periodic Face
Do not close the previous document, and open the periodic1.elt document.
Select the option: Faces/Split. Select the face indicated by the arrow in the picture below.
Exit and select the splitting curve as indicated in the picture below.
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Define a normal projection. click OK.
Note that while Splitting/trimming of periodic face by point/curve/face
The face is being split in two areas, as follows:
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Split/Trim with Multi Select
Click the Right View.
Delete the last split operation.
Select the Trim option. Drag a box in the upper area of the part, as indicated in the picture below.
Exit. Select the trimming curve as indicated by the arrow in the picture below:
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Click OK.
Note that with multi selections, the box position determines the remaining side. In our case, the box is in the
upper are of the faces, and thus the remaining side after the trim is the upper side.
Trim by Point
Hide the entire geometry. Show only the Not_intersect set.
Select the Trim option. Pick the face as indicated in the picture below and Exit.
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Trim the face with the end point of the neighbouring face. Select the Section option.
Click OK.
Zoom in the area marked in the red circle.
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Note that the trim/split can also be performed with an object that is not actually intersecting the face.
Note that the gap in this case is 0.1mm
Close this document and save your work.
Split/Trim Multi Multi
This option allows trimming/splitting a group (set) of faces by another group of faces. (In previous versions, the
trimming object was limited to one face). This option improves user efficiency.
Open the trim_multi.elt file.
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Select the option Face/Trim. Select (by box) the wall faces in their upper part, as indicated in the picture
below:Exit to select the second group.
Select the horizontal faces in their inner side (by box).
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Toggle the option Trim Original to Trim Both. Select OK.
Trim both groups of faces
Trim only the first selected group.
Note that the location of the indication when selecting the first and the second set of faces, determines the
part of the faces that will remain after the trimming operation.
Edit the trim feature. Flip Trimming side to flip both groups.
CimatronE 8.5 Faces 25
Split/Trim Multi Multi1
Delete the Trim operation.
Show the Offset set:
Create another trim. Select the first group by box as indicated in the picture below:
Select the second group.
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Set the option to Trim Both.
Flip direction to see the opposite result.
Close this document. Save your work.
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Variable Fillet
Variable Values
The trim and extend operations performed will now be replaced in one step by using the Variable Fillet option.
Return to the first document, delete the Extend and three Trim operations:
Edit the Fillet operation.
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Toggle the Constant Value option to Variable Values.
Select the Middle Point of the line as shown below:
Select the Middle Point filter.
Points can be picked on the 1st or 2nd set of picked faces or on their edges.
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Variable values can be removed individually by closing the value box or entirely by clicking Remove all
figures.
When using the Variable Fillet option, the selected faces must contain smooth connections between them, to
achieve a complete fillet result i.e. there should be NO sharp corners between the faces.
Select the Trim and Extend options.
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The difference between the Extend and Don't Extend options can be seen below:
Don't Extend Extend
Remain in Edit mode and continue with the next step.
Spline Transition
Toggle the Linear Transition option to Spline Transition. Add also the two end points and set the value to
10.
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Click OK in the Feature Guide.
Click below to view a movie of the Linear and Spline transition differences.
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Max Gap
Select Faces/Fillet.
Change the Max Gap value to 0.5 and select the first and second sets of faces shown below.
Set the following parameters:
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Click OK from the Feature Guide and set the colors as follows:
Save your work.
Composite Face
Open the cad_Part.elt file.
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The composite face tool will now be used to create a single face from a sequence of smooth faces.
Select Faces/Composite Face.
Select the faces shown in the picture below and Exit:
Rotate the part to the selected face.
Select the View / ZPR / Rotate to Plane option or click icon.
Select the face indicated by the arrow in the picture below:
The plane/face you selected will become parallel to the display plane.
CimatronE 8.5 Faces 35
Drag a box from right to left. (See the 1st and the 2nd point in the picture below). By selecting faces in this
manner, only fully contained entities will be included
Pick the top face to exclude it from the selected group of faces.
Accept the tolerance parameters and the Remove Original Face option.
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Click OK.
Face Curve Fillet
We will now create a fillet through a curve tangent to a set of faces. The fillet can be of a fixed or variable radius.
The result can be single or multi faces.
Turn on the sweep set:
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Create a composite curve as indicated in the picture below:
Select the Faces / Face - Curve Fillet option.
Select the wall faces. Exit
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Select the previously created curve. Exit
The direction of the arc represents the direction of the fillet.
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Flip the arc direction.
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Face Curve Fillet Variable Values
Select points on the curves to define different radius values. The transition between the different values can
be a linear transition or spline.
Select the middle point of the curve. Set the value to 6.
CimatronE 8.5 Faces 41
Click OK.
Fillet 3 Faces
A fillet face tangent to three groups of faces will now be created as follows:
From the Face menu, select the Fillet - 3 Faces option.
Select the 1st face (set) and Exit. Select the middle face and exit.
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For the 3rd set, select the two faces indicated by the arrows in the picture below:
Toggle the Don't Trim option to Trim. Flip the arrow direction.
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Click OK.
Complete the shape of the fillet step1
Cut the fillet object with the wall face.
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Cut the wall face with the fillet object as follows:
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Zoom into the area marked with a red circle.
Complete the shape of the fillet step2
Extend the face by creating a composite curve from the two edges, as follows:
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Cut the extended face with the straight wall as shown below:
¨
Trim the straight wall with the composite curve.
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Face Corner
Round sharp corners of a skinned object.
Open the Face corner.elt file.
From the Faces menu, select the Face Corner option.
Select all vertices by dragging a box.
Exit. Set the Global Radius Value and local values as indicated in the picture below:
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Select OK.
The two edges of the corner should be related to the same face or to different faces with a smooth
connection.
The angle (corner) between the two free edges (the edges can also be 3D, in this case the angle between
the tangents of the edges at the point) should be equal or greater than 0.57 degrees (0.01 rad).
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Modify
Slope
We will now modify the slope of the marked edge below, in order to improve its smoothness.
Open the Bottle.elt file.
Select Faces/Modify/Slope and select the face shown below:
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Select the edge as shown here and set the Tangent-C1 constraint:
Select the adjacent face (the slope will be tangent to this face).
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Click Apply in the Feature Guide.
Repeat the above steps on the other side of the bottle.
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Smoothness
We will now create smooth connections between the faces, using the Smoothness function.
Select Faces/Stitch and stitch the faces as shown in the picture below:
Select Faces/Modify/Smoothness and select the four faces as shown in the picture below:
CimatronE 8.5 Faces 53
In this function, we may control group of edges to define constraints.
• Inner Edge: Edge between 2 selected faces (the selected faces must be stitched).
• Outer Edge: Edge between a selected face and non-selected edge (in case the non selected
face is stitch to the selected faces).
• Open Edge: Outer edge, in case the adjacent face is not stitched to the selected face.
Set the parameters as shown below:
As we would like to keep the slope of the Outer (upper) edges, individual constraints for these edges are set.
It is possible to define for each group of edges one of the following constraints:
• Free Slope: Allows the system to modify the slope of the selected edge. In this case, boundary is kept.
• Keep Slope: The slope is kept. In this case the boundary can be changed.
• Smooth: Tangent/Curvature, define the desired smoothness.
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It is also possible to select a specific edge, and set an individual constraint.
Fair
We will now close the gap shown below using the functions Fair (Simplify Edges) and Deform Faces.
Examine the edges of the face shown below:
The face's boundary is combined from 2 edges. We will simplify and merge these edges.
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Select Faces/Modify/Fair.
Select the option Simplify Edges.
Select the highlighted face.
Verify that the Merge Edges option is set to On.
Click OK in the Feature Guide.
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Deform Faces
Select Faces/Modify/Deform Faces.
Select the face shown in the picture below, and Exit.
The Deform Faces function enables us to change an existing face by adding constraints. We may add
constraint to an edge, point on the face, etc.
The following options are available:
Move entity by delta.
Move entity by vector and distance.
Coincident entities.
Coincident and tangent entities.
Select the two edges shown below:
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Set the Coincident entities constraint.
The Flexibility parameter defines how much the face can be deformed. The higher the number, the more the
face will be deformed.
Click OK.
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Repeat the steps covered in the Fair topic and the above steps on the other side of the bottle.
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By Sketcher
The Modify By Sketcher function modifies the boundaries of a face by changing them on a parametric plane.
The boundaries can be manipulated by moving or deleting them, or by changing their dimensions.
Select Faces/Modify/By Sketcher.
Select the top face and delete the redundant line.
Pick the line and select delete.
Exit the Sketcher.
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