Normal Deviation - Every facet position (x,y,z), also called a node, rests exactly on the surface of a part. At every facet node a surface normal can be created. Normal Deviation specifies that at every facet-node-surface-normal the maximum deviation angle in degrees between any other facet-node-surface-normal can not exceed this degree value. 

 

Maximum Surface Deviation - Maximum Surface Deviation specifies a value based on the application units specified under the File->Settings dialog and General tab. This value is the maximum perpendicular distance from the center (centroid) of any facet to where this perpendicular ray intersects with the true surface of the part. 

 

Maximum Edge Length Preference 

 

Maximum Edge Length By Percent - Maximum Edge Length By Percent specifies the edge length of the triangles based on a percentage of the length of the diagonal of the bounding box of the part. This is a much simpler way to establish edge length because subdividing facets based on length generally only occurs on planar faces which should preferably contain fewer facets than curved surfaces. Curved surfaces are generally subdivided based on the Maximum Surface Deviation and Normal Deviation settings and usually override the Maximum Edge Length. 

 

Maximum Edge Length By Unit - Maximum Edge Length By Unit specifies the edge length of the triangles based on a unit value based on the application units specified under the File->Settings dialog and General tab. This setting is purposely set to a high value because if a very small unit is specified the processing time and file size can grow unnecessarily large. This setting is better suited to very specific cases when generating an FEA mesh vs. a Rapid Prototype file. Even as such this setting is generally not even used when generating an FEA mesh as the Maximum Edge Length By Percent is usually the preferred way to control this value. 

 

Approximate Faceting - Normally all facets are based on spline approximations of surfaces - this results in a higher performance faceting. Un-checking Approximate Faceting will cause the facetter will facet surfaces based on their procedural definition where possible (i.e. spheres planes, cylinders, torii, cones, etc.). 

 

Adaptive Faceting - Adaptive faceting is employed to lay a grid of non-equidistant lines, rather than a regular grid, for spline surfaces. The non-regular grid is based on the maximum surface deviation. Higher curvature areas get a greater number of grid lines, while lower curvature areas get fewer lines. In all cases, this setting tries to satisfy the facet settings to generate more uniform triangle sizing. This is a processor intensive option and is better suited to generating *.stl files for the purposes of generating an FEA mesh vs. a Rapid Prototype file. 

 

Reset Defaults - Click this button to Reset to TransMagic default settings for STL Write. We recommend that after you have modified the setting for STL Write and achieved the desired results for the current file, that you Reset Defaults and always use default settings in general as this will ensure the greatest chance of success.  For FEA appropriate settings, see below:

 

FEA Example 

 

To create an FEA style surface mesh in *.stl form, change the settings like the dialog below, save your file as *.stl and re-load for review.

 

 

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