Creating Free Form Surfaces

You can generate complex volumes from complex surfaces created with another app.

This task shows you how to:

See Also
Creating Canonic Hoppers

Create a Free Surface

You can create a Sheet Metal surface whose result is not connected.

Before you begin: Create a complex surface.
  1. From the Model section of the action bar, click Convert Surface .
  2. Click Free .
  3. Select the surface.
    The reference wire and the fixed point are automatically selected. The red arrow indicates the direction of the material to be created.


    : surface

    : reference wire

    : fixed point

  4. To offset the surface, enter a value in the Offset box.

    By default, there is no offset and the value is set to 0mm. You can click to invert the side of the offset length.

  5. Click OK.
    The volume is created.

  6. From the standard area area of the action bar, click Fold/Unfold .
    The volume unfolds according to the defined Reference wire and Invariant point.

Create Free Surfaces from a Ruled Surface

You can create free surfaces from a ruled surface.

Before you begin: Create two sketches and select Free in the Convert Surface dialog box.
  1. Right-click the Surface box and select Insert Surfaces > Create Multi-sections Surface.
  2. Select the two sketches in the tree as surfaces.


    : section 1

    : closing point 1

    : section 2

    : closing point 2

    Important: The two sketches that define the loft can be on parallel or nonparallel planes.
  3. In the Coupling tab, couple sketches together by selecting points.


    : section 1

    : closing point 1

    : section 2

    : closing point 2

    : couplings

  4. To visualize the multisections surface, click Preview.

    A preview of the unfolded free surface is displayed, as well as its thickness in light blue.

    A reference wire and invariant point are automatically selected. To modify them:

    1. Select a reference wire lying on the surface.


    2. Select an invariant point that lies both on the surface and on the reference wire.


      Important: The reference wire and the invariant point, used to unfold the free surface, must lie on the surface, as well as the tear wire.
  5. Optional: Select the Neutral fiber check box if the selected input surface is not ruled.
  6. Select a tear wire.
    The unfolded view of the free surface starting from the tear wire appears.

    Important: A free surface can only be created if the surface shows a tangency continuity.
  7. To offset the surface, enter a value in the Offset box.

    By default, there is no offset and the value is set to 0mm.

    The offset of the surface is previewed.
  8. Click OK.
  9. Optional: From the standard area section of the action bar, click Fold/Unfold to unfold the surface.

Create Free Surfaces from a Double Curvature Surface

You can create free surfaces from a double curvature surface.

Before you begin: Create a double curvature surface and click Free in the Convert Surface dialog box.
  1. Select the double curvature surface.
    A Reference wire and an Invariant point are automatically detected.

    : reference wire

    : invariant point

    You can modify the Reference wire and the Invariant point :

    1. Click the Reference wire and Invariant point boxes.
    2. Select the reference wire and the invariant point directly in the work area.

  2. Click Preview to preview the unfolded free surface.


  3. Click Close to close the Flattened Surface Length Distortions dialog box and go back to the Convert Surface dialog box.
  4. To offset the free surface, enter the required value in the Offset box.

    By default, there is no offset and the value is set to 0mm.

    The offset is previewed.
  5. Click OK.
  6. From the standard area area of the action bar, click Fold/Unfold .
    The surface is unfolded:

    Important: The symmetry might not be preserved.

Create a Connected Surface

You can connect a complex surface to a Sheet Metal surface.

Before you begin: Create a complex surface connected to a Sheet Metal surface.
  1. From the Model section of the action bar, click Convert Surface .
  2. Click Connected .
  3. Select the surface to connect.
    The red arrow indicates the direction of the material to be created.

  4. Click OK.


    The connected surface is created with the same Sheet Metal parameters as those of the Sheet Metal surface.

  5. From the standard area of the action bar, click Fold/Unfold .


    The distortion is taken into account when unfolding the volume.

Create a Free Form Surface with Fixed Edges

You can create a Sheet Metal surface from a complex surface by selecting a fixed edge for the unfold mode.

Before you begin: Create a complex surface.
  1. From the Model section of the action bar, click Convert Surface .
  2. Select Fixed Edges .
  3. Select the surface.
  4. Select the fixed edge.
    Warning: The selected edge must be planar.
  5. Click OK.


  6. From the fixed area of the action bar, click Fold/Unfold .
    The volume unfolds with respect to the standard area edge.

Preview Distortions

You can preview distortions, provided the initial surface is not ruled. If the initial surface is not ruled but its offset is ruled, the distortion is unavailable.

  1. In Distortion preview , define the minimum and maximum lengths distortions for the flattened surface.
  2. Click Preview.