topic Re: Measure the volume of a hole in Fusion Design, Validate & Document Forum

Measure the volume of a hole

middleofthebeach — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 19:04:01 GMT

Hello I am new to Autodesk Fusion.

There is a hole generated on a pipe wall (upper figure of the attachment). I would like to measure the volume of the hole to investigate the small difference of the shape and size between the planned hole and the hole actually made. The hole is scanned by a 3D external laser and make a scanned image (middle figure of the attachment). The scanned image is converted to CAD such as STP & STL files. The hole shape is deviated.

Once the STL file is read by Fusion, a meshbody is created. I searched that if I close the hole inlet and outlet, I can measure the volume. So These are the steps what I did and plan to do:

1, I converted the hole wall (meshbody) to solid (Convert Mesh).

2, I Made the pipe outer and inner wall intersecting the hole (Sketch and Extrude).

3, I tried to get the pipe perimeters or surfaces crossing the hole using Project. But it did not work well. The surfaces will be the outlet and inlet area of the hole.

4, Once I get the surface, the outlet and inlet surfaces will be patched to the hole wall.

5, The region surrounded by the hole wall and the inlet and outlet surface will be the volume I want to calculate.

But I'm not sure these steps work well and stuck now. Would you please give me advice.

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

etfrench — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 00:34:15 GMT

This may work for you:

Surface Offset the walls of the hole with distance 0.
Surface Patch top and bottom of the hole.
Stitch all 3 surface bodies.
View its properties.

File attached showing workflow.

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

etfrench — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 00:43:58 GMT

Note: You will need to convert the stl to a solid first. If the scan is too large, try cutting the hole out using a slightly larger cutting tool, then convert that to a solid.

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

middleofthebeach — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 19:15:46 GMT

Thank you for replying the question. Because the data is generated by 3D laser scanner, all surfaces are connected, I don't think Offset can be used. I added explanations in the question.

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

etfrench — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 19:16:49 GMT

If you want to remove the excess outside the pipe diameter, create a sketch on a plane normal (90 degrees) to the pipe axis. Draw two circles representing the ID and OD of the pipe. Use the Split Body command to remove the excess.

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

middleofthebeach — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 19:24:13 GMT

I want to get the surface of the hole outlet and inlet crossing the pipe OD and ID.

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

etfrench — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 19:28:22 GMT

After removing the excess, extrude the pipe sketch to cover the hole. Try using the scan to cut the hole in the extruded pipe. If successful, you can extrude another pipe, then combine/cut the first pipe from the second. This will give you the hole as a solid:

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

middleofthebeach — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 14:58:00 GMT

It worked very well. Thank you so much for your help.

I have an additional question. Is there any way to extrude the cut body?

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

etfrench — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 17:18:36 GMT

Press/Pull may work depending on the distance. Another option is Replace Face. In order for Replace Face to work you will need to create a face (body) at the destination.

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

middleofthebeach — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 19:36:36 GMT

Both methods didn't work well. When I try Replace Face I have an error like this.

Are there any way to convert Surface to Sketch? So I can use extrude.

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

etfrench — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 19:59:33 GMT

Try offsetting the wall 0 distance in the Surface workspace. You should be able to extend that. Finish with Patch and stitch.

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

middleofthebeach — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 17:50:03 GMT

Hi ETFrench, thank you for the instruction. I generated a closed face by Offset at 0 distance=>Patch. But how can we extend it and make a body? I use Surface=>Modify=>Extend, but it does not work so far.

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

etfrench — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 18:06:47 GMT

I would need to see the file to see why it isn't working for you. Extend the offset face, then patch it to make it a solid.

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

middleofthebeach — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 18:40:27 GMT

Unfortunately I cannot show the files.

Extend does not work for the face, but it works for the part of edges. So do I select edges manually and Extend perpendicular?

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

etfrench — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 18:43:25 GMT

Yes

Re: Measure the volume of a hole

middleofthebeach — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 20:27:10 GMT

It may be hard to select every edges manually since they have hundreds of edges.

By the way, I tried another method: 1) make another face with Pull, 2) connect the faces with Loft. An error is not shown so far, but calculation have not completed yet over 2 hours.