Checking the Orientation of Faces

You can check the orientation of faces by colors, based on a dynamic graphic analysis and invert the orientation of unsatisfactory faces. Faces that are oriented in the wrong direction can be re-oriented, to be used in Join.

See Also
Checking Connections Between Surfaces
Face Orientation
  1. The model with faces to re-orient must be geometrically and topologically correct. If the model has multiple connections, use Surface Connection Checker to isolate the faulty locations.
  2. Use Surface Connection Checker to define the Search distance and the Connection distance so that there is only one connex domain.
  3. From the Analysis section of the action bar, click Face Orientation .
  4. Select all the faces:
    • The number of faces and the direction of the view is given under Information.
    • The number of facets used to display the faces selected is given under Statistics.
    • They are displayed in the color of their orientation.
  5. For a dynamic display of the orientation of faces, select the While Moving check box.
  6. To lock the display of the orientation of faces, clear the While Moving check box and select the Direction Locked check box.
  7. Select the Fly Analysis check box and move the pointer over the model.
    An arrow appears under the pointer, identifying the normal to the face at the pointer location while you move the pointer over the face. Furthermore, circles are displayed indicating the plane tangent to the face at this point.
  8. For an automatic inversion of the face orientation, click Invert, then Automatic.
    1. Select a reference element that specifies the reference orientation for all faces.
    2. Use the Search distance and the Connection distance values found in step 2.
    • The name of the reference element appears in the Reference box.
    • The names of the faces to be re-oriented are listed in the Faces box.
    • The faces are highlighted in the work area.
  9. Optional: For a manual inversion of the face orientation, click Invert, then Manual and select elements in the work area.

    Tips:
    • Double-click Add Mode or Remove Mode, to make the chosen mode permanent, that is, successively selecting elements adds or removes them.
    • Click only once, only the next selected element is added or removed.
    • Click the button again, or click another one, to deactivate the mode.

  10. Click Apply.

    When a large enough number of faces is to be re-oriented, a progress bar appears. If required, click Cancel to stop the re-orientation.

    • An Inverse.x element is created for each face to re-orient.
    • All Inverse.x elements are put into the Inverse.1 Geometrical Set.
    • The initial faces are sent to the No Show.
    • The list of faces to re-orient is emptied (another selection can be started).
    • Re-orienting an Inverse.x element reverts to the initial face.
    • If the Inverse.x element of a re-oriented face already exists, it is not created again.
    • The output of the inversion of a face of a multi-faces object is the inverted object.
    Tip: Click Manual and select directly the faces you want to reorient.