Modelling/simulating Corrosion?

[Anonymous]

A question was raised today about modelling our heater casing to show the effect of a 1mm internal and 1mm external corrosion.

I am at a loss on how to achieve this. I have tried turning my model into a shrinkwrapt solid and trying to use the thicken command on it (obivously thickening by  -1mm) but the model fails with 'the attempted opertation did not produce a meaningful result try with different inputs.. " Also, it seems i would have to selected everyface manually, there are a lot of gussets and plates hanging of this thing.

Any suggestions on how i can do this (that doesnt take a million hours) ?

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! Thicken sounds like the tool for this task (offsetting faces in a distance). The error indicates there are areas on the model that Thicken (Offset) fails. I will need to take a look at the model and see where the problem is.

There is a trick to select all faces in one shot. You can use Delete Face command to delete a flat face on the solid part. Then the solid will become a surface. Next, Thicken (Offset) -> pick the entire surface to create an offset surface. Repeat the process for inside faces. Lastly, create a patch surface to cover the hole and stitch them back to a solid.

Thanks!