STL Input

Equipment

Equipment : Import-STL : STL Input

Mechanical CAD Systems and STL File Production

Import-STL addresses the problem of transferring 3D model data from Mechanical CAD Systems to AVEVA E3D™, where the model can be manipulated more easily in the MODELmodule and drawings can be produced via the DRAW module. Popular Mechanical CAD Systems include:

ACIS based systems

Parasolid based systems

The output files from some other popular Mechanical CAD Systems, such as Microstation, may be imported into AVEVA E3D™ using product specific translators.

Most of these Mechanical CAD Systems have the capability to export files in the STL format direct or some other standard format or CAD native format such as IGES, STEP AP203/AP214. Translator programs are available which can read these other export file formats and generate STL files. One such Translator Program is CADfix from ITI TranscenData. The possible routes to generating STL files are shown in below.

The method of production of the STL files is an important factor in minimising the volume of data that needs to be transferred. Applying the following factors helps to reduce the volume of data:

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All curved parts are approximated as planar faces (triangles) in the process of being exported to the STL file. All STL translator programs offer an approximation/tolerance factor to achieve this. It is very important to control the number of triangles produced, keeping these to the minimum to produce an acceptable model in AVEVA E3D™.

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All parts of the model that are not essential should be excluded from the transfer, in particular any internal parts that are not used in AVEVA E3D™.

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Many features, such as chamfers, are not needed in AVEVA E3D™ and these also should be excluded from the transfer.

Units and Scalar Factors

Within STL there is no concept of units, Import-STL generates macro files in mm.

The size of the parts as they appear in AVEVA E3D™ can be adjusted by applying a scale factor to the STL file within Import-STL. It is necessary if the units of the STL file are not mm.

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