Hi Fusion 360 Users,
I have a model which from what I can tell was exported from CATIA as a step file. I need to add some flanges and other features to edges of the model so that it can be used for some mould design. Currently the surface is technically a shell with zero thickness so my first task was to see if the body would thicken to 6mm. I tried this and it failed. After looking over the model there are several nasty patches and slither surfaces which are causing very local tight radii. One key thing is that the geometry must be as close to the original CAD as possible as it is an existing product line. A few pictures of the main problem areas are below. Unfortunately I can't share the actual model as its not mine to share.
I have tried a few approaches to fix this:
1) try and cut out the patches and replace - This method does seem to work but keeping the geometry close to the original is a bit hit and miss in some of the more complicated areas.
2) Use T-Splines to remodel the surface. Probably my most successful approach so far but getting the t-spline to match well is also proving difficult
3) I converted the shell to a mesh and then used mesh section to creates some curves I could loft through, this worked well is some areas but not others where the curvature was more complex.
From working in CATIA in the past I know that it doesn't always play well with other CAD software, i.e. it can sometimes work with surfaces which look like the above without any issues but when you try and import it to another software they grumble.
I'm running out of ideas on how to get this model to be useable and it may just require a bit more persistence and upskilling, but given there is such a wealth of knowledge here I thought I might tap into it and see if anyone has some good ideas.
Thanks in advance for any responses.
Kind Regards
Richard Benton
