Polyface Mesh to Solid

[joefromjersey]

Hi I created a 3D math surface using 3DPLOT. However my outcome is a polyface mesh and I need to convert it to a solid. I have already tried the "Convert to Solid" & "Convert to Surface" options in the Mesh tab but I get "Mesh not converted because it is not closed or it self-intersects." I also tried the f2s.lsp but I am unsure on how to select my object.

 

Here is my object:

https://www.yousendit.com/dl?phi_action=app/orchestrateDownload&rurl=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.yousendit.com%252Ftransfer.php%253Faction%253Dbatch_download%2526batch_id%253DQlVqaUNIQzN3TGhvZE1UQw

 

It is basically a 3D plot of cos(x) + cos(y).

[ReMark]

Would SURFSCULPT work?

 

"The SURFSCULPT command also works with solid and mesh objects."

[joefromjersey]

I keep getting "1 object found" followed by "1 object filtered out". I am not sure if I am selecting the object correctly though.

[JD Mather]

Attach your file here (not some 3rd party site).

[joefromjersey]

It's not letting me upload my file for some reason. Is 2.67 MB too big of an attachment?

[ReMark]

Yes, I believe it is. Can you zip and retry?

[joefromjersey]

Zip is still too big. I uploaded onto a better file sharing site though.

http://www.mediafire.com/?jaexfm17qjxxee8

[SEANT]

Perhaps the sine waves can be plotted as splines, then lofted. That surface can be used to slice a 3DSolid.

 

Here is a quick trial; not an exact match but pretty close.

SineConstruction.dwg

SineSolid_Inserts.zip

[joefromjersey]

That looks great! How were you able to plot the splines from just one part of the sine wave? Could you provide some more details from your procedure?

[SEANT]

If you look in the SineConstruction drawing you will see the curves I used for lofting on ConstrGeom layer. That geometry already existed from a previous project - I just scaled it manually to get a visual match of your mesh geometry. The curves were originally computed via Excel to match an amplitude of 1 and a period of PI. Excel could just as easily created any custom amplitude and/or period required.

 

With the lofted surface I sliced an appropriately sized 3DSolid block. I used Block References to keep the file size down, but the process can be modified to get a solid of arbitrary size - either by boolean union or multiple period curves.

[joefromjersey]

Hey SEANT could you PM me when you get the chance? I am unable to PM you for some reason.

[SEANT]

Private messaging may be one of the features restricted to members with at least 10 posts.

 

 

 

In the meantime, post the question here.

 

 

 

If we had conversed via “Private” messaging I would probably have suggested sticking with the “Public” forum for various reasons, e.g., the possibility remains for valuable insight from other members, future searches will find a more complete thread here, etc.

[joefromjersey]

Ok, I understand. I was going to ask if you would be able to make an in-depth or step-by-step tutorial on the techniques required to make the sinusoidal solid molds. I am very new to AutoCad (never used it before this project) and I would usually take the time to figure them out on my own (like I did with modeling the polyface meshes) but the project I am a part of basically just asks me to come up with the models quickly and does not really require me to learn much about AutoCad (most likely will not be using it again in the future). I have tried learning the techniques on my own but time is not in my favor.

[SEANT]

I can certainly relate to time constraint issues, and,unfortunately , an in-depth, step by step tutorial would be fairly time consuming.

 

 

 

I don’t usually suggest this but, if your time constraints are tight, perhaps you should just list the required parameters* and see if one of us members can whip something together. I’m going to be away from the computer for the remainder of today, and most of tomorrow, but if nothing has materialized I’ll look into it this weekend.

 

 

 

*Those parameters may serve as a good foundation for any subsequent tutorial.

[joefromjersey]

Yes I understand and thank you for all your help thus far. Basically the solids you converted were excellent and I need to make three of them for different overall amplitudes (2mm, 1mm, 0.5mm), a constant wavelength (4mm), and a constant overall length and width for the solids (40mm & 30mm).

 

I did some calculations and figured that the the defun's should be:

(defun myFunc (x y) (list x y (+ (cos (* x 1.5708 )) (cos (* y 1.5708 )))))

(defun myFunc (x y) (list x y (+ (* 0.5 cos (* x 1.5708 )) (* 0.5 cos (* y 1.5708 )))))

(defun myFunc (x y) (list x y (+ (* 0.25 cos (* x 1.5708 (* 0.25 cos (* y 1.5708 )))))

 

Note that in the list the amplitudes are 1, 0.5 & .25 because the the amplitudes of cos(x) & cos(y) should be A/2 to get an overall amplitude of A. Also constant k=1.57 was calculated using k=2*pi*x/lambda.

 

However, I am unsure how to get the desired length & width when calling the LISP function:

3DPlot functionName startU endU stepU startV endV stepV).

Edited July 16, 2012 by joefromjersey

[SEANT]

Here are some unit blocks for the 3d waveforms. I include one extra as I’m not exactly surewhat constitutes the overall amplitude when dealing with these 3d Surface/Solid constructs.

 

 

 

The blocks can be arrayed, then “UNION”ed together to one large solid. SLICE the edges to achieve final shape.

UnitBlocks.dwg

[joefromjersey]

Wow thanks again SEANT! Just a couple last questions. Which ones are the 0.5mm, 1mm & 2mm amplitudes and what amplitude is the fourth one? Also when I try to union the arrays there is only one solid for me to select (the original unit block) so I am unsure how I should union them.

[SEANT]

Wow thanks again SEANT! Just a couple last questions. Which ones are the 0.5mm, 1mm & 2mm amplitudes and what amplitude is the fourth one? Also when I try to union the arrays there is only one solid for me to select (the original unit block) so I am unsure how I should union them.

 

It depends on what is considered the amplitude. For instance, here is the largest with 3 possible amplitudes shown.

 

Each of the solids has an amplitude that is a factor of 2 to its neighbor. Choose which solids to keep based on your definition of amplitude.

 

 

You would create the array by copying (or via the ARRAY command) to the size you need. You would then UNION the solids, to form the sloid the size you need. If you need the waveform to start at a different position you may have to add an additional row in the array, UNION, then slice to the correct Start/End location.

[joefromjersey]

By amplitude I meant the highest peak/lowest valley, my mistake for forgetting to specify. Could you please provide the amplitudes for the four unit blocks?

[SEANT]

By amplitude I meant the highest peak/lowest valley . . . .

 

Based on that definition:

4

2

1

0.5