Hi,

I imported a STEP file that came in fine except what normal I would create as solids came in as "open joined surface".

Is there anyway to convert such an thing to a solid?

And what is a "open joined surface"?

Thanks.

Frederick

Hi Frederick, an open joined surface is a set of surfaces that are glued together at some edges but not all, there are some unjoined edges (also called "Naked edges").

To get it to be a solid will involve investigating the areas where there are naked edges and possibly doing some repairs in those areas and joining pieces together.

You can highlight naked edges by setting up a script on a shortcut key as described here:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=6051.2

Or also in V4 if you select the object and push the "Details..." button on the object properties dialog it will give a report of how many joined and naked edges there are and you can click on the label for the naked edges to select them.

There is a tutorial on those kinds of object repair techniques here:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=446.17

If you can post the model file or e-mail it to me at moi@moi3d.com I can take a look and see about any other more specific advice.

- Michael

Hi Michael

Thanks for that detailed information.

I will read it and see what I can to do.

I will post the model file a bit later.

Frederick

Hi Michael,

Here is the .STEP file that I imported with the results mentioned in my previous post.

I have re-created most of the model using MOI v4 but have not attempted to "fix' the imported model.

Thanks for any insight.

Frederick

Hi Frederick, I tried several other programs including Rhino, ViaCAD, OnShape, and SolidWorks eDrawings viewer, and none of them could import the file as a solid either.

It kind of looks like the file is made up of a pile of individual separate surfaces, which is a problem in this case because there are several different parts in the file which have some areas touching so it's difficult for an automated process to figure out how to join the surfaces with just the ones that should be an individual part.

Also it appears that there are a few missing surfaces as well.

So the process to get this into several solids will probably be to use Edit > Separate to break it into individual surfaces, then select a set of surfaces for one part, join just those together and then construct any missing faces and join those in as well.

- Michael

Hi Michael,

Glad to know it wasn't something I had done wrong.

I will continue to re-create the parts in MOI and all will be well.

Thanks.

Frederick