Specifying Shape Constraints

You can specify geometrical characteristics of the part, such as a symmetry plane, frozen areas, or rigid holes. The shape constraints are defined once to be used in morphing commands.

  1. From the Virtual to Real Shape Morphing section of the action bar, click Create Shape Constraints .
  2. Select the Element to Deform, on which the morphing is applied.

    • The part to morph can be a mesh, a point, a curve, a surface, a volume or a solid.
    • You define the shape constraints on this part.

  3. To specify a Symmetry Plane, either select one or create one from the context menu.

    The symmetry plane does not necessarily refer to the part geometry itself.

    Specifying a symmetry plane creates an identical symmetrical morphing on each side of the plane.

    Note: Vectors are kept on only one side of the plane. Select Reverse Symmetry Side to keep vectors on the other side of the plane.

  4. To freeze areas, expand the section.

    Frozen Areas is not available for mesh morphing

    1. Either select the boundaries of frozen areas, or create one from the context menu.
    2. Select the type of the frozen area.

      • Fixed Area: No morphing is applied.
      • Rigid Area: A morphing is applied. The frozen area is moved, not distorted.

    3. Specify the continuity on the frozen area (Tangent or point).
    4. Specify a transition zone around the frozen area, where vectors are removed to avoid too strong variations in the deformation.

      The width of the transition zone is visualized by a sphere. Edit the radius value of the sphere as required.

    5. Optional: Select Reverse Orientation to freeze the other side of the boundary.
  5. To specify rigid holes, expand the section.

    Rigid Holes is not available for mesh morphing

    The geometry of rigid holes remains the same after morphing, with respect to a given direction. For example, if the rigid hole is a circle in the Z-Axis direction, it remains a circle in the Z-Axis direction after the morphing.

    During morphing, the rigid holes are first filled, then cut again on the morphed surfaces.

    1. Either select the boundaries of the rigid holes, or create one from the context menu.
    2. Optional: Select the direction of the rigid holes, or create one from the context menu.

      By default, the direction is the normal of the mean plane of the hole.

    3. Optional: Select a surface of fill the hole, or create one from the context menu.

      By default, the hole is closed by a standard fill.