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Radical workarounds for Draft, Fillet and Shell

Edward Eaton, Sr Industrial Designer


DiMonte Group Inc - www.dimontegroup.com
The feature pyramid-1

Why is this called “RADICAL” workarounds?

• Extruded cuts and bosses – ‘blind’, ‘through all’,


‘midplane’’
• Revolves
• Constant radius fillets
• Chamfer
• Single direction patterns
• Mirror all
• Face draft

… because you should almost never do them!


The feature pyramid-2

Why is this called “RADICAL” workarounds?

• Extruded cuts and bosses – ‘up to surface’


• Offset surfaces
• Planar surfaces
• Projected curves
• Sweep (simple)
• Parting line draft
• Hold line fillets
• Variable radius fillets
• Loft from two profiles
• Mirror feature
• Shell
• Insert Bends

… because you should almost never do them!


The feature pyramid-3

Why is this called “RADICAL” workarounds?

• Extruded cuts and bosses – ‘up to next’, ‘offset


from surface’
• Sweep with guide curves
• Loft
• Centerline loft
• Cut with surface
• Trim surface
• Extend surface
• Untrim surface
• Create solid from knitted surface
• Derived sketch
• 3-D sketches
• “NEW” Sheet metal features

… because you should almost never do them!


The feature pyramid-4

Why is this called “RADICAL” workarounds?

• Loft with guide curve


• Two direction patterns
• Surface fill
• Base parts
• Mirror parts
• Configurations
• In context features
• Join
• Radiate surface
• Split line
• Rib
• Curvature continuous face fillet with two hold
line

… because you should almost never do them!


The feature pyramid-5

Why is this called “RADICAL” workarounds?

• Split bodies
• Combine bodies
• Cut-thicken
• Step Draft
• Move Face
• Fix in sketch
• Using faces, edges ‘in context’
• Imported surfaces/solids
• Helix
• Dome
• Shape feature
• Freeform
• Curve through reference points
• Scale

… because you should almost never do them!


Introduction

• Through my work with DiMonte Group, I run into all sorts of problems across
multiple industries and processes.

• Sometimes you just have to rise to the challenge your customer demands
from you. They don’t hire DiMonte Group to do the easy stuff.
!! WARNING – this is going to get ugly and complicated!!
Common thread

• What do Fillet, Draft, and Shell


have in common that sometimes
requires radical modeling?

• They are APPLIED features.


• They use existing faces and
edges – no sketches to define
them
Fillets need end faces

• Let’s get ugly and complicated right away!


- On a really simple model
Fillets need end faces

• Add fillets (slightly different radius on each)


Fillets need end faces

• The fillets need to continue until they find someplace to end

This is the end face This is the end face


for the fillet on for the fillet on
the left the right
Fillets need end faces

• And, by following its rules, the fillet does something that at first blush
looks CRAZY!

The Shaft
is GONE!!
Understanding Fillet end faces

• Edge to round
Understanding Fillet end faces

• Edge to round
• Face that needs to be
created
Understanding Fillet end faces

• Edge to round
• Face that needs to be
created
• Fillet stops before blowing
through
Fillet issues

• Edge to round
• Face that needs to be
created
• Fillet stops before blowing
through
• Surface is extended to
create cap
Understanding Fillet end faces

• Edge to fillet
Understanding Fillet end faces

• Edge to fillet
• Face that needs to be
created
Understanding Fillet end faces

• Edge to fillet
• Face that needs to be
created
• Cap required to stop fillet
Understanding Fillet end faces

• Edge to fillet
• Face that needs to be
created
• Cap required to stop fillet
• SW can’t extend this
algorithmic face, so it
‘keeps edge’ instead
End face sample 1

• Why couldn’t it extend?


End face sample 2

• Why are these


different?
Sometimes just take the end faces out of the equation

Atomic Bomb
Fillet

Bonus off-topic
clean-up… so
we’ll do it quick
Accessed buried faces for fillet

Feature Feature
merged not merged
Fillet inside corners of shutoff window

• Fillet in drafted shutoff

• How to add cosmetic fillet and


maintain pristine parting line
Why I present methodologies…

• I don’t have to show you work around this perplexing issue


Why I present methodologies…

ANY of these five


techniques can be
employed to beat this
problem!
Interaction of fillet and draft

• Fillet causes this parts nice, flat parting line to droop


Step draft alternative –
Visualize how else you could use this
Draft - Socket

Sweeter Dispenser

• Hopper drops into base


then twists to lock
Draft - Socket

• The plan

• Avoid lifters under tabs by


judicious use of parting line
Draft - Socket

• The plan The problem


• We want to keep this
interface tight
Draft - Socket

• The plan The problem


• Neutral plane draft - gap
Draft - Socket

• The plan The problem


• Parting line draft – I want
this!
Draft - Socket

Neutral plane draft –vs- parting line draft

* Draft angle exaggerated for clarity


Draft - Socket

Neutral plane draft –vs- parting line draft

Neutral plane Parting line


draft starts at draft starts at
selected plane selected edge

* Draft angle exaggerated for clarity


Draft - Socket

• Parting line draft is ideal

* Draft angle exaggerated for clarity


Draft - Socket

Allow reduced angle – not addressing it


yet for a darn good reason!

* Draft angle exaggerated for clarity


Diagnosis
Diagnosis
Diagnosis

It works!
Diagnosis

It still works!
Diagnosis

It Fails!

* This is not a uniform applicable angle


Diagnosis - WHY

It Fails!

Planar face Parting line drafted face


– parallel faces curves – scrunched up faces curves
Diagnosis (just to be thorough)
Diagnosis (just to be thorough)
Diagnosis (just to be thorough)

It works!
Apply what we learned so far
Apply what we learned so far
Apply what we learned so far

• Ughh!

Has to extend existing faces to end feature!


Apply what we learned so far

• Provide the desired end-face with a cut


• Then re-apply draft

Provide end face that respects parting line


Apply what we learned so far

It works!

Provide end face that respects parting line


Apply what we learned so far

Not bad!
• Nice face • Continues
off at 14°
1. Break into the parts we’ve learned about
1. Break into the parts we’ve learned about

* Resulting bodies separated for clarity


2. Apply necessary drafts

* Resulting bodies separated for clarity


2. Apply necessary drafts

* Resulting bodies separated for clarity


2. Apply necessary drafts

* Resulting bodies separated for clarity


2. Apply necessary drafts

* No need to split central body - oops


* Resulting bodies separated for clarity
2. Apply necessary drafts

* Resulting bodies separated for clarity


3. Combine back into one part
3. Combine back into one part – and evaluate
4. Clean up (if necessary)
4. Evaluate
Draft - Summary

• Keep that parting line


pure for your moldmaker!

• When in doubt, think


about the tool geometry
instead of the part
geometry

• Split part to provide end


faces for the applied
feature
• Fall back to split part to
separate into
manageable segments
But Ed!
Talk about ‘Allow reduced angle’ on parting line draft already!!!!
But Ed!
Talk about ‘Allow reduced angle’ on parting line draft already!!!!

It works!
Judge performance and choose

• So which of these workarounds is best?


• That depends…

• Allow reduced angle • Parting line draft • Split-Body, then


on parting line draft draft workaround
to split line
Judge performance and choose

• So which of these workarounds is best?


• That depends…

• Allow reduced angle • Parting line draft • Split-Body, then


on parting line draft draft workaround
to split line
Judge performance and choose

• So which of these workarounds is best?


• That depends…

• Allow reduced angle • Parting line draft • Split-Body, then


on parting line draft draft workaround
to split line
How Shell works – step by step

1. Shell takes all of the


unselected faces

2. offsets

3. trims

4. deletes faces that are


eliminated by neighbors

5. knits

6. Merges with solid


to create the void
SHELL is the hardest working feature in SolidWorks

• When you think about it, Shell is AMAZING


• I’m pretty forgiving about it
• We just have to give it what it needs

• Allow reduced angle • Parting line draft • Split-Body, then


on parting line draft draft workaround
to split line
Why shell can skip a face

• I’ve seen complex faces


skipped before, but not this
egregiously
• Note – Verification on
Rebuild is activated
Note on ‘Verification on rebuild’

• Ick
• Note – Verification on
Rebuild is OFF
Use Tools>Sketch Tools>Face curves to diagnose the
issue with the pod
Use split line to segregate the ‘scrunched part’ of the
three-sided surface on the pod
Use ‘Delete Face’ to delete the scrunched part of the
three-sided surface of the pod
Use Surface-Fill to replace the scrunched part of the pod
with a Shell-friendly four sided surface
The friendlier 4-sided geometry shells just fine!
When modeling, avoid those three-sided faces if you
want to shell
The saddle face is deliberately lofted long
Trim back the long saddle
Mirror body, then do a shell-friendly four-sided fill
But Ed, I can see a three sided face!
But Ed, I can see a three sided face!
Part to Shell
Part to Shell
Part to Shell
Part to Shell
Check this minimum radius of curvature thing
Check this minimum radius of curvature thing
Check this minimum radius of curvature thing
Check this minimum radius of curvature thing
Check this minimum radius of curvature thing
Check this minimum radius of curvature thing
Check this minimum radius of curvature thing
Check this minimum radius of curvature thing

???!
Check this minimum radius of curvature thing
Reverse direction
Reversed Shell fails as expected
So Now what?
Experiment with Cut
Shell again
???!
On to the workaround!
Split into two bodies
Shell the rear one
Shell the rear one

This should probably


confuse you…
Now Shell the Front!
Shelling less at a time helps out

They both work!


Then combine into a single body

Combine into one


body
Conclusion

• Shell is super smart, but sometimes we


ask it to do too much
Its not always complicated faces that cause shells to fail

• Shell is constantly being updated to address problems with complex faces


• Shell will probably not ever beat this issue with a simple face*

* and in a few minutes we’ll discuss


why that is incredibly useful!
Shell in two directions

• Use split body to


shell in two directions

* Idea stolen wholesale from Phil Sluder and the nice folks at TriAxial
The dreaded Yellow Shell Warning

• This is tough for me to


deliver to customers
The dreaded Yellow Shell Warning

• No access to shell
diagnosis tools
The dreaded Yellow Shell Warning

• Fortunately, we know
how to always get a
shell to fail!
The dreaded Yellow Shell Warning

• Yes!
The dreaded Yellow Shell Warning

• Now we have access to


Shell Error Diagnostics
to help point us towards
the problem
Cache-ing of Shell Error diagnostics

• Suppress fillets

• Still get the dreaded


Yellow Shell Warning
Cache-ing of Shell Error diagnostics

• Re-do workaround
• Faces that are no longer
in the model
still show up!!!
Cache-ing of Shell Error diagnostics

• HAVE to start
a new Shell in order to
get updated
Error Diagnostics
Fixed

• BTW, the pocket


needed to go

• Clean shell that I can


deliver
OR – just split the part

* Resulting bodies separated for clarity


…SHELL the split bodies

* Resulting bodies separated for clarity


Then combine … and yes, it passes Tools>Check
Then combine … and yes, it passes Tools>Check

I wish that I
could give you a
rule to find the
‘sweet spot’ for
splitting a part

...it’s half
instinct, half art

When you get


close, you just
know
Question time!

• END

www.dimontegroup.com
Acknowledgements
• Tonight I was pondering what my best SolidWorks World moments were. Other than one night in Vegas (that I can’t talk about because of other people – but what a
night!), here they are. Notice that they are all connected by a common theme:
 In 1999, I got bored/annoyed with a promising-sounding session I was in so I excused myself to go down the hall to a less-promising sounding surfacing
presentation being presented by some guy named Keith Pedersen.
Boy that book needed a different cover! I was enthralled – his content was phenomenal, and he somehow translated fairly complex issues (like Co, C1,C2
tangency which involves calculus) into regular human language (driving a car) and then told you why that mattered to your product. That was just one of many
revelations communicated clearly in a way that a novice (like me!) could understand. I can’t sound his praises enough. (Remember that I showed up late and
was still able to catch up instantly! That’s how good Keith is)
Keith doesn’t always present at SWx World, but when he does EVERYONE should go. I use him as my model when I present… unfortunately I always fall short.
 Also in 1999, Mark Biasotti’s presentation on 10 common surfacing design problems introduced me to the concept of using surfaces in design. It gave me a
nudge in a direction that I hadn’t yet tried, and the momentum of that push carried me through over a decade of solving vexing problems that were not even in
the scope of that presentation! That is the mark of a good presentation – it doesn’t tell you HOW to do something, it opens your eyes on a path to figure out how
to solve problems particular to your job. I stole the ‘use of cuts’ to diagnose shells failures from him. It has since been included in the Help menu, and of course
he now works for SolidWorks so I made a hard choice not to credit him on the slide referring to it. Besides, he made such an indelible case for it ten years ago
that today it truly IS doctrine. Thanks Mark for all that you have contributed to the SWx community, and personally to my career!
These two presentations laid the foundation for me to be open to understanding how SolidWorks works under the hood. Jim Wilkinson also had a good under-the-
hood presentation in 2009 about speeding up things like fillets, etc, and it should get some credit (and frankly needs to be redone!) but it didn’t pull the curtain
back quite the same way as Mark and Keith did (sorry Jim – still love you and all that you do!)
 But my #1 SolidWorks World moment of all time was a presentation by Cholly Nachman in 2000 in Orlando. I don’t remember its name because it had to do
with writing macros – something I was a bit curious about at the time, but over the last decade I still haven’t pursued.
But… MY GOD… when he was describing how macros work he introduced me to the BREP, to the fact that all SolidWorks features are macros, and (I think) the
three different face types that SolidWorks creates.
He did it in a jovial, casual, offhand way (as is his way - meet Cholly and you will understand joy – that guy is just a big bubble of enthusiasm).

Cholly’s content tore the top off my skull!!!! I now understood “the man behind the curtain!”
I went back to work and everything made sense in SolidWorks. I was solving problems left and right, and since haven’t found any problem since that I can’t beat.

• My first SolidWorks World presentation was based on what I learned from these guys because I it was imperative to share it. I can’t calculate what I earned in increased
productivity/competency over the last decade because of the windows that were opened by them. I can share that I have had people tell me that I saved their jobs by
sharing stuff. It takes me over 100 hours to compile, edit, test, refine, and otherwise prepare an hour and-a-half presentation. Getting feedback that a person’s job was
saved because of a presentation is sometimes the only thing that keeps me going when slogging through formatting the next one.
• And, in that light, I thought it important to acknowledge my mentors. SolidWorks World in general, and these guys in particular, made the last decade+ of my career
happen.
In my presentations I’ve built on what Mark, Keith, Jim, and Cholly introduced me to (I kind of prefer to say ‘I stole their stuff’ because that is how it feels). But I wouldn’t
have been able to have had this great decade without you guys and the presentations that you spent many hours crafting into tight, coherent hour-and-a-half segments.
• I sure hope that I might climb to those guys level and have people steal from… err “build upon”… on my stuff. So… if you see something in a presentation I give that’s
good, by all means share it! Make it your own, check it (you have to be critical and verify everything), then get it out there if it works for you!
• And if something I present can be bettered, get the word out that I’m wrong and that there is a better way to get to a solution (seriously). I look forward to the chance to
steal a great idea from anyone and get even more productive at my job.

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