Extract Midsurfaces

Use the Automatic tool to extract the midsurface of sheet metal stampings, molded plastic parts with ribs, and other parts that have thickness clearly smaller than width and length.

From the Geometry ribbon, Create tools, click Midsurfaces > Automatic

Figure 1.
Optional: On the guide bar, click to define midsurface options.
Select surfaces or thin solids.
Extract midsurfaces.
- Extract the midsurface from all selected solids/surfaces by clicking Midsurface on the guide bar.
- Extract the midsurface from individual solids/surfaces by left-clicking on a selected solid/surface.

The original geometry that you selected to extract the midsurface from remains unchanged, and the new geometry that represents the midsurface is placed in the component specified by the Destination component option.

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.

Automatic Options

Destination component

Select which component newly created midsurfaces are placed in.

Mask input geometry

Hide input midsurfaced geometry in the modeling window upon exiting the context.

Extract across components

Extract the midsurface of one component at a time.

Clear existing plates

Clear existing plates prior to midsurface extraction.

Midsurface method

Select a method for midsurfacing.

Planes + Sweeps + Offsets: Identify the places where a piece of plane or a piece of a sweep surface can be used as a middle surface. A middle surface is constructed at the remaining places in the model, for example the places where planar or sweep surface pieces cannot be used as a middle surface, by the same algorithm as in offset via the offset of the model's sides.

Figure 2.
Planes + Offsets: Identify the places in the model where a piece of plane can be used as a middle surface. At the remaining places in the model, for example the places where planar pieces cannot be used as a middle surface, the same algorithm as in Offsets is used to construct the middle surface via the offset of the model's sides.

Figure 3.
Offsets: Create pieces of the middle surface by offsetting the model's side surfaces towards the middle. This is the traditional approach for midsurfacing in HyperWorks X.

Figure 4.
Skin Offset: Generate a midsurface by duplicating and offsetting the inner skin surfaces (those with the smallest area), and assign them a constant thickness.; The parts you provide to the algorithm must be relevant. T-connections, varying thickness, or internal ribs/features/creases are not relevant.

Offset midsurface position

Select a method for positioning midsurfaces when the thickness of thin solids is inconsistent.

Align steps

Select a method for offsetting the midsurface.

User-specified

Change the offset of the midsurface, using a value from 0 to 1, in order to specify the offset from the largest side of the volume.

Use base surfaces

Use base surfaces info for midsurface extraction.

Cleanup tolerance

Select a method for defining the cleanup tolerance.

Maximum R/T ratio

If the maximum R/T ratio (radius/thickness) is greater than this value, then that section of the solid will not be midsurfaced.

Define thickness limits by

Select a method for defining thickness limits.

Max/Min thickness

Change the min/max thickness ratio for midsurface extraction. This is the highest acceptable ratio of the thickest plate’s thickness to that of the thinnest plate. Thicknesses above this ratio are ignored.

Minimum thickness

Change the minimum thickness of the plates in the part that should be midsurfaced. Plates with a thickness smaller than this value will not be midsurfaced.

Maximum thickness

Change the maximum thickness of the plates in the part that should be midsurfaced. Plates with a thickness greater than this value will not be midsurfaced.

Keyboard Shortcuts & Mouse Controls

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