Surface Splitting for Point Efficiency
Large complex geometries require tight spacings and lots of points to resolve them. In SolidMesh, point spacings are applied to the end points of a curve and the number of points required is calculated automatically. If tight spacings are applied to both ends of a curve (at the leading and trailing edge of an airfoil, for example), the spacing will be tight at every point along the curve, even where tight spacing might not be required. To help conserve points, the curve could be split in two pieces, so a larger point spacing can be applied in the middle, packing the points to either end where they are needed and removing them from the middle where they may not be required. This tutorial covers point saving techniques: how to split an airfoil shaped object and a propeller blade to localize packing and minimize the point requirement. To start, download flying_minnow_clean.igs.gz or continue with the final product of the CAD clean-up tutorial. REMEMBER: If you save in the middle of this tutorial and exit, read the file back in with gluing disabled when you start over.
| 1. Continue from the last step of the CAD Clean-up tutorial or
download and read in flying_minnow_clean.igs.gz
with gluing disabled (-ng) and trimming enabled (see |
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| 2. Starting with the wings, click the Mouth, Prop, and Body groups
and |
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| 3. Click the RightWing group and |
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| 4. Repeat for the other surfaces front and back, top, and bottom. Exactly where the surface is split is really dependent on the geometry. Basically, you want to split (add control curves) in areas of high curvature or activity (in the solution). This will allow you to pack points where they are needed. The surfaces on the end will then need to be trimmed to complete the connectivity. |
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| 5. Select the surfaces on the end and REMEMBER: When picking parametrics, set the pick limit to "Parametric," and when picking points set the pick limit to "Point" otherwise you may pick points on the interior of a curve or surface. |
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| 6. Select the point and parametric shown and NOTE: You can be sure the parametrics you are picking are associated with the end surfaces because before step 5 there were no other parametric curves around those surfaces. Had there been other parametrics, associated with a neighboring surface possibly, you wouldn't be able to pick the proper curve with any certainty. In that case it's best to turn the surface you're trying to trim off (by itself) and toggle. That way you can know you are splitting the correct curves (those associated with the surface you want to trim). |
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| 7. Select the surface and |
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| 8. To continue the splits from step 3 and 4 up to the body, the
trimmed surfaces (that meet the body, trimmed in the last tutorial) will
have to be deleted. Select the 4 surfaces shown and
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| 9. You should also select the parametrics used to create the
trimmed surfaces just deleted and
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| 10. Select the point and surface shown (leading edge, upper surface)
and |
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| 11. Repeat for the other 3 surfaces around the airfoil.
Select all of the new surfaces, click the LeftWing group and |
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| 12. The new LeftWing surfaces and the selected Body surface need
to be re-trimmed to establish the new connectivity between the surfaces.
Select the surface shown and
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| 13. Select the surfaces shown (1 body surface and 8 wing surfaces,
the surfaces shown in the next step are those picked in this step), |
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| 14. Select the body surface and |
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| 15. Select the LeftWing surfaces shown and |
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| 16. Select the two parametrics shown (you will have to pick twice
over the curve shown to get both curves, one from each surface).
Select the point shown and |
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| 17. Select the unwanted curves (the parametrics to the left of
the intersection line) shown and
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| 18. Select the surfaces shown and
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| 19. Hit "r", "e", and click the middle mouse button to select
all the parametrics that were used to create the trimmed surfaces just
deleted. This is done for the reason stated in step 9, to keep
the geometry clean. Click |
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| 20. Select the point and surface shown and |
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| 21. |
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| 22. Re-select the now untrimmed surface, |
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| 23. FYI: The reason RePick worked to produce the proper intersection is because it retains picking order (body surface first, then the intersecting wing surfaces) |
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| 24. |
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| 25. Click the Body and RightWing groups and |
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| 26. Select all the surfaces of one of the blades, |
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| 27. Select an appropriate point (indicated by the arrow) along
the surface, select the surface, and |
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| 28. Select an appropriate point (not too close to the leading
edge, but then again not too far, see the next picture for a better idea)
along the bounding curve at the base of the blade. Select the blade
surface and |
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| 29. Select a similar point on the lower bounding curve.
Select the surface and |
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| 30. Select a point close to the middle of the blade, select the
surface shown, and |
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| 31. Select the 4 surfaces shown (the ones on the back side of
the blade are selected also even though its hard to see in the picture)
and |
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| 32. Select the parametric curve and point shown and |
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| 33. Select the surface and |
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| 34. |
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| 35. |
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| 36. |
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| 37. Since the other four blades are simply rotations of the split
blade, there is no need to repeat the work for the other blades.
They can be recreated by rotating the split blade. Select the surface
trimmed in the previous step, |
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| 38. Select the hub surfaces again (since the hub surfaces were
trimmed, the deleting in the previous step just removed the trimmed surfaces.
The underlying surfaces and parametrics remain), click |
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39. ,
change the value in the |
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| 40. Click Integrity check passed!
Save your model for use in the next tutorial.
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This completes the splitting of the surfaces for point efficiency. The next task towards generating a volume grid is to specify appropriate point spacings on all points. This is covered in the next tutorial: Assigning Point Spacings.