Insert Solid Zone Modeling

The Zone Modeling command enables you to apply all of the Advanced GSM functionalities to selected zones (faces) of a solid. It can be used efficiently to locally modify a solid by applying a controlled modification. Zone Modeling is always associative. Together with the Insert Feature Mode command, it can be used to modify a posteriori zone of a solid and propagate the controlled modification to subsequent features.

First of all, you will have to select the faces the controlled modification will have to be applied to (please note that, if you select the Chain check box, all the faces having tangency continuity with the one you picked will be automatically selected).

Then, just like you do when using the Advanced GSM command, you will have to define:

• A set of preserving conditions: points, curves, surface contours or even highlight lines to be preserved from the controlled modification in terms of position, tangency, curvature and so on.
• A set of matching conditions. In fact, you may want to modify the initial shape so that some entities belonging to it — points, curves or surface boundaries — after the modification, match some target entities of the same type by fulfilling conditions like position, tangency, curvature and so on.
• In case a situation of incompatibility is detected while selecting a curve chain (both in the case of initial and of target curves), an appropriate warning is displayed.
• A set of through conditions which can change the shape so that after the modification it is through some entities which can be curves, points or even highlight lines, sections obtained through the Free Hand command or silhouettes (for details, see "Modifying a shape so as to constrain it to be through some other entities").
• A set of target shape conditions which can match selected curves/points with line, plane, sphere or cylinder.

A most useful AutoPreserving button enables you to automatically apply the preserving constraints along the borders of the selected faces.

Conditions cover position, tangency and curvature continuity, and also linear and planar properties. They can be defined along curves (contours), or on points. A specific option is provided for the situations in which you may need to modify a solid while keeping the projection onto a certain plane unchanged.

While a preview on demand is provided for general matchings, position matching on points can also be defined in an interactive way.

Like in Advanced GSM, a set of options is provided to manage the shape of the controlled modification, defining parameters like stiffness, roundness and bulging. Another set of options is provided to manage the precision of the resulting entities.

Restoring selections after an interruption If you interrupt the Zone Modeling command, your selections and settings are not lost: they are "frozen" in order to enable you to use them again without having to repeat them all, which might take a long time, at least in complex situations. Next time you start the Zone Modeling command, in fact, the Restore Selection button () will be displayed on top of the selection list. If you select Restore Selection button (), all the selections you made and the settings you defined last time you used the command will be restored, enabling you to go on with no need to repeat those selections/settings. When the command is started with some pre-selected entities, if you click the Restore Selection button you will be asked to confirm restoring the frozen command selections, thus resetting the current selection. For further details see " Restore Selection modality for selections and settings".

A set of Quality Checks commands is also available.

Gap between the modified surfaces and the other ones If, after the modification, the gap between the modified surfaces and the other ones is not negligible, a message is displayed when you try to apply the command (using Apply ( ) or OK () to let you know that, though the solid can be created as it is, keeping such a big gap value might cause troubles in future developments. The mentioned set of options (especially the ones affecting precision) can be used to reduce the gap to an acceptable value.

Try to ...

• Apply a controlled modification to two faces of a solid
• Check your results
• Perform Quality Checks

  e-Learning on Global Modeling