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How would i go about removing features from a CAD model in F360


Simon2.4

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https://grabcad.com/library/airbuszeroe-blended-wing-body-concept-1

Airbus Blended-Wing Body.IGS

I think this would make a really nice printable RC plane

I'm using F360, I would like to remove the rectangular ducts and the livery that are part of the model to get just the pure aerodynamic shape which seems to be properly modeled. I would like to end up with a shell converted to a solid model so I could add my own motor pods and internal structure and such using solid modeling.

I suppose this could be part of the proposed CAD tutorials @Penatr8tor 😉

This is as far as I got: deleted the surfaces that make up the duct by no idea how to fill the hole it left

Also, when I try stitch the surfaces to remove the 'airbus zeroe' the outlines stay in the model.

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Did you delete the duct faces in the Surface environment? If so, try going back and doing exactly the same thing but in Solid. Deletions in Surface just leave holes, but deletions in Solid automatically heal.

Fusion 360's healing abilities are top notch. It's generally able to repair even NURBS surfaces.

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spent many hours, got pretty far into this: was able to fill the hole, convert into 'solid' and it all looks good but whatever I try to give it thickness and make the surface into a volume, some of the faces just don't behave correctly and it pops errors and fails. Also, F360 is really slow with a complex model like this... yeah I know, it's not that complex.. I'm thinking of trying out other software. I started a bit of Blender last year but it's a steep learning curve and was not well suited for CAD stuff, though this has changed now since there is a new CAD module for blender that's supposed to be pretty good.

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51 minutes ago, GarthSnyder said:

Can you post your current model, @Simon2.4? Export it as a .f3d file.

I ended up not saving since I started over many times and always dead-ended with this model. I won't say I rage-quit this one but it's close... I will get back to it soon with a fresh perspective and will  post my progress next time I hit the wall. The 10 editable document is another reason I'm considering changing cad suite.

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I took a look at the original file and I can see why you're having problems. I don't know if the issue is the original CAD or the export to IGES, but this is a pretty messy starting model. It's not a model so much as an assortment of hundreds of independent surfaces.

So, first order of business is to get rid of all the extra propeller and turbine parts since they're all part of the duct. That leaves you with a single component, but there are still hundreds of surface bodies inside it, which is why you're seeing performance problems. Just select all the surfaces and use the Stitch command to weld them together. That leaves you with a single surface body.

The stitch still leaves you with some unconnected edges on the starboard side, but that's fine: for a symmetric object, you're better off working on half of it anyway and then mirroring. So I cut it in half on the YZ plane and remove the whole starboard side. Then I used Boundary Fill along with the YZ plane to turn the surface into a solid. 

At that point, getting rid of the livery and ducts is just a matter of deleting faces. You can't get rid of the pilot's windows since that creates some weird geometry, but everything else comes right up.

Hope this helps. You can step through each of these operations by moving along the timeline at the bottom of the screen.

You can find an updated .f3d file here: Airbus-blended-wing-aircraft.f3d. (How were you able to upload a 14MB file? It's limiting me to 4.88MB. Maybe I'm still on probation. 🙂)

Edited by GarthSnyder
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Thanks. What you described here is pretty much as far as I got already. Can you make the half plane you got into a 1mm thick 'skin' (@ 1m total length)  rather than a solid volume; that's pretty much where I (rage) quit.

Have an icon identical to this one:

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that has just the 1mm skin of the half plane associated to it. That's what I'm trying to do.

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18 hours ago, Simon2.4 said:

Can you make the half plane you got into a 1mm thick 'skin' (@ 1m total length)  rather than a solid volume; that's pretty much where I (rage) quit.

Probably not directly. Offsetting and shelling require high-quality, manifold geometry and the starting model has some degeneracies. For example, it's never a good sign when a model has edgelets like this that disappear below the surface. That indicates that what appears to be a smooth surface likely has folds or self-intersections.

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Your best bet is to reconstruct the model somehow. For example, you could make sketch slices of the cross-sections at various points and try to rebuild the shape as a loft. But, this is going to be an uphill battle.

I doubt that another CAD program would handle this model any better, but if you find a way of addressing the issue, I'd be curious to hear about it. 

 

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24 minutes ago, GarthSnyder said:

or example, you could make sketch slices of the cross-sections at various points and try to rebuild the shape as a loft. But, this is going to be an uphill battle.

Hmm that's unfortunate. Maybe If I ask Airbus for the original files.. 🤣 It was a nice idea but I think this one will go in drawer no13 to be forgotten. Thanks for your help, I'm glad it's not JUST my noobness that failed me. 😅

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6 hours ago, claudermilk said:

That's just the convenience active projects feature. You can export and manually load as many files as you want.

Damn thanks @claudermilk I never realized it could be used that way. That's a game changer for me... I used the export before but didn't realise it's a disguised 'save as'

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16 hours ago, Simon2.4 said:

Damn thanks @claudermilk I never realized it could be used that way. That's a game changer for me... I used the export before but didn't realise it's a disguised 'save as'

No problem. That's probably how they convince people to go ahead and buy a license even though they are a hobbyist. It's a little more of a pain, but not enough for me to spend the money (if I had to do that, I'd just abuse my access to works' SolidWorks licenses. 🏴‍☠️ )

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15 hours ago, GarthSnyder said:

Are you sure you really want a shell, @Simon2.4? In many cases, you can set slicing parameters to achieve the same effect. E.g., 3 perimeters for 1.26mm thickness and 0% infill so that it's hollow. It won't be identical to a geometrically-defined shell, but it should be close enough for model making.

This would work if I wanted just a shell. The idea is that the skin is the starting point to designing the whole aircraft around it. For all the time that was put into this Airbus model, I could have just modeled a new plane. I just liked the idea of grabbing any model like that and make something functional out of it. I'm sure it will be possible but jut not with this model here.

 

** For a tutorial to come:  how to grab random cad models and make them work in fusion  -how to  -what works/doesn't   -do's and dont's 

I'll say this thread has reached its conclusion.. but this topic deserves more love.   

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