Midsurface

  The Midsurface option creates a new surface midway between two existing surfaces or parts. Midsurfaces can be created with the following options.

Note:  After midsurfacing complicated models, gaps may sometimes exist between surfaces. To close these gaps, the following operations can be used:

By Parts Method

Select the parts for which midsurfaces are to be created for all paired surfaces. Each part should be a solid part (consisting of surfaces making up a thin solid). The resulting surfaces would represent the midsurfaces for that part.

  • Search Distance

    The distance within which candidate pairs of surfaces are searched for. For example, if the Search Distance is 10, then all pairs of surfaces within 10 units of distance are selected as candidates for midsurfacing. This value should be slightly higher than the maximum thickness of the entire model. When this parameter is zero, selecting two surfaces will result in finding the midsurface. A nonzero value for the search parameter helps the code to find the midsurface automatically for a large group of surfaces.

  • How

    This parameter sets the degree by which the operation is interactive.

    • Quiet

      This is the default setting, in which the operation is automated.

    • Confirm

      After midsurfacing, any surfaces that have not been successfully paired and midsurfaced will be presented. You have the option to delete these surfaces (as they may be side surfaces that should not get midsurfaced), put these surfaces into a subset for further evaluation, or choose Cancel to ignore them.

    • Present/Confirm

      Will give you the following options for the pair of surfaces for which you want to generate the midsurface. Allows you to view the new midsurface before creating it.

      • y = compress

        This option will create the midsurface option that is displayed.

      • n = no

        This cancels the midsurface operation.

      • p = partial

        This will present the different options available for non-matching surfaces. The partial option will create a midsurface by projecting the smaller surface in between the two surfaces. The double partial option will create the midsurface to represent the smallest common surface area of the two selected surfaces. The non-partial option will create a midsurface between the entire selected surfaces, not just the overlapping portions.

      • a = surface 1

        This option will display alternate midsurface options. For example, if one of the original surfaces has a hole, the alternate midsurface options allows you to select the midsurface with or without the hole.

      • d = delete

        This option deletes the original surfaces.

  • Parts

    Clicking on the Parts selection icon will open a message window where the parts for midsurfacing can be selected.

  • Keep original

    Keeps the original surfaces after the midsurface creation.

  • Delete unattached curves and points

    Deletes unattached curves and points.

  • Create assemblies

    Creates assemblies of the selected parts for the midsurface creation.

  • Partial

    For non-matching surfaces, if this option is toggled ON, the midsurface will be created only between the portions that overlap.

    Note:  For the Confirm and Present/Confirm methods, the partial options are presented in the display.

  • Similar pairs only

    Identifies the matching surfaces from the selected surfaces and generates the midsurface accordingly.

  • Prefer connected pairs

    Is disabled by default. If enabled, connectivity of surfaces over proximity will be used to determine the best surface pairs for creating the midsurface. Also, if there are no connected surfaces, then no midsurfaces will be created. If disabled, then the pairs of surfaces used for midsurfaces will be determined by distance and surface normals.

    Note:  It is recommended that Build Topology be applied before using this function.

Note:  If Settings > Geometry Options > Inherit part name is set to Create New, and Keep Original and Create assemblies are both disabled, the newly created midsurface will be placed in new part. If both options are enabled, the created midsurface will be placed in the same part, as part of the subset MIDS, and original geometry will be moved to the subset ORIG in the same part.

By Surfaces Method

Any surfaces can be selected to create a midsurface, independent of which part the individual surfaces belong to. All possible midsurfaces will be created for the selected surfaces.

See description of options above.

By Pairs Method

Identifies pairs of connected surfaces via flood fill, re-approximates sides with more than one surface, and then creates a single midsurface between the two sides.

  • Side 1 and 2

    Specify the different sides of the surface pairs.

  • Keep original

    Keeps the original surfaces after the midsurface creation.

  • Delete unattached curves and points

    Deletes unattached curves and points.

  • Partial

    For non-matching surfaces, if this option is enabled, the midsurface will be created only between the portions that overlap.

    Note:  For the Confirm and Present/Confirm methods, the partial options are presented in the display.