Surfaces

A surface represents the geometry associated with a physical part. A surface is a two-dimensional geometric entity that may be used in automatic mesh generation.

The color of a surface is determined by the component collector to which it belongs.

A surface is comprised of one or more faces. Each face contains a mathematical surface and edges to trim the surface, if required. When a surface has several faces, all of the faces are maintained as a single surface entity. Operations performed on the surface affect all the faces that comprise the surface. In general, HyperMesh automatically uses the appropriate number of and type of surface faces to represent the geometry.

The perimeter of a surface is defined by edges. There are four types of surface edges.

Surface edges are different from lines and are sometimes handled differently for certain operations.

The connectivity of surface edges constitutes the geometric topology.

Free Edges: A free edge is an edge that is owned by only one surface.; Free edges are colored red by default.; On a clean model consisting of surfaces, free edges appear only along the outer perimeter of the part and around any interior holes. Free edges that appear between two adjacent surfaces indicate the existence of a gap between the two surfaces. The automesher will leave a gap in the mesh wherever there is a gap between two surfaces.
Shared Edges: A shared edge is an edge that is owned, or shared, by two adjacent surfaces.; Shared edges are colored green by default.; When the edge between two surfaces is a shared edge, there is no gap or overlap between the two surfaces - they are geometrically continuous. The automesher always places seed nodes along the length a shared edge and will produce a continuous mesh without any gaps along that edge. The automesher will not construct any individual elements that cross over a shared edge.
Suppressed Edges: A suppressed edge is shared by two surfaces but it is ignored by the automesher.; Suppressed edges are colored blue by default.; Like a shared edge, a suppressed edge indicates geometric continuity between two surfaces but, unlike a shared edge, the automesher will mesh across a suppressed edge as if it were not even there. The automesher does not place seed nodes along the length of a suppressed edge and, consequently, individual elements will span across it. By suppressing undesirable edges you are effectively combining surfaces into larger logical meshable regions.
Non-Manifold Edges: A non-manifold edge is owned by three or more surfaces.; Non-manifold edges are colored yellow by default.; They typically occur at "T" intersections between surfaces or when two or more duplicate surfaces exist. The automesher always places seed nodes along their length and will produce a continuous mesh without any gaps along that edge. The automesher will not construct any individual elements that cross over a T-joint edge. These edges cannot be suppressed.

Patch Surfaces

Use the Patch tool to create patch surfaces between free lines that are not connected or surface edges.

New surfaces are organized in the same component as the first line selected.

From the Geometry ribbon, Create tools, click Surfaces > Patch.

Figure 1.
Optional: Click Find on the guide bar to locate and highlight missing surfaces.
Patch missing surfaces in the following ways:
- If you use the Find option, simply click a highlighted surface to patch it.
- Click Patch All on the guide bar.
- While left-clicking, drag an edge to another edge.
- Select multiple edges around the missing surface, then click an edge that has already been selected.
- Double-click an edge loop.

Tip:

Click the arrow buttons on the guide bar to cycle through found surfaces.
Copying and pasting solid faces generates surfaces and organizes them in the same component.
HyperWorks X attempts to select the appropriate tangency setting for the surface created, but you can change the tangency by clicking on the surface while it is still selected.
Delete surfaces by left-clicking on a selected surface.
Hovering over a target line displays a preview surface.

Extend Surfaces

Use the Extend tool to create tangent or normal extension surfaces.

New surfaces are organized in the same component as the surface being extended.

From the Geometry ribbon, Create tools, click Surfaces > Extend.

Figure 2.
Select edge(s).
Click an arrow to switch between creating a tangent or normal extension surface.
Extend the surface by entering a length in the microdialog and pressing Enter, or pulling the arrow.

Tip:

Maintain edge angles by clicking .
Auto-trim intersecting surfaces by clicking .
Constrain line drag to one direction, then use snap points to extend surfaces by distances relative to existing geometry, even if the reference points are not on the same plane as the surface being extended.

Cross Extend Surfaces

Use the Cross Extend tool to extend surfaces to meet each other, or other target surfaces.

Disconnected surfaces on the same plane cannot be extended using the Cross Extend tool.

From the Geometry ribbon, Create tools, click Surfaces > Cross Extend.

Figure 3.
Optional: On the guide bar, click to define cross extension options.
Left-click to select the source surface(s).
If the Choose targets option is selected, click Target on the guide bar, then left-click to select the target surface(s).
Extend surfaces.
- Click Extend on the guide bar.
- Left-click a selected surface.
Figure 4.

Tip: On the guide bar, click

to open the Advanced Selection dialog, from which you can filter geometry further by selecting a subset of entities based on additional selection methods, such as By Component or By Assembly.

Offset Surfaces

Use the Offset tool to offset surfaces or solids in a normal direction.

The topology of the surface edges (free, shared edges, and so on) is maintained during the offset function. Some individual surfaces will be trimmed or extended to maintain the connectivity.

From the Geometry ribbon, Create tools, click Surfaces > Offset.

Figure 5.
Optional: On the guide bar, click to define offset options.
Left-click to select the surface(s)/solid(s) to offset.
If the Continuous offset option is selected, click Lines on the guide bar, then left-click to select separator lines.
Offset surfaces.
- Click-and-drag selected surfaces.
- In the microdialog, enter an offset value.
Figure 6.

Tip:

Offset surfaces in the opposite direction of the surface normal by entering a negative offset value.
On the guide bar, click to open the Advanced Selection dialog, from which you can filter geometry further by selecting a subset of entities based on additional selection methods, such as By Component or By Assembly.

Surfaces Options

Cross Extend

Define using: Select whether to extend surfaces by a thickness multiplier or by a maximum distance.
Distance: Change the maximum distance to extend surfaces.
Minimum angle: Change the minimum angle to extend surfaces.
Maximum angle: Change the maximum angle to extend surfaces.
Maintain edge angles: Do not change the angle of surface edges during extension.
Allow shortening: Shorten edges, within the extension tolerance, so that edges meet.
Extend as new surface: Create extended edges as new surfaces rather than a continuation of the existing surfaces.
Choose targets: Enable target surface selection.

Offset

Continuous offset: Preserve connection with adjacent surfaces after offset.

Keyboard Shortcuts & Mouse Controls

To do this	Press
Append to selection	Ctrl + Left Mouse Click
Remove selection	Shift + Left Mouse Click
Cycle adjacent surfaces to extend Extend tool	Tab
Switch between selecting Source and Target surfaces Cross Extend tool	Tab
Disable snapping	Alt + Left Mouse Drag
Switch active tool	Ctrl + Tab
Exit tool	Esc