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Surface machining : Chained faces

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Surface machining

Partial Surface machining

Press this button to access selection of several faces to machine. The command line below allows user specification in an automatic or semi-automatic manner, or to manually specify the set of faces to machine. To be considered perfectly machinable, the faces must satisfy the following requirements :

• be tangential to one another (if the automatic collision search function is not activated).

• have iso parametric curves in a ‘relatively’ similar direction

• move in the same direction, relative to material side.

Sequence of selection for faces to chain is as follows :

1. Question : "Pick the face". Select the first face to machine (starting face).
   

2. Question : "Guide the search with an intermediate face". Select the second face. This second face determines the direction according to which the chaining operation will be carried out. It's also possible to click on the OK button if there is only one face to machine.
   

3. Press the Auto button to validate the automatic search mode. For this mode, TopSolid/Wire searches for all faces with common boundaries with the current surface and considers these boundaries as potentially machinable. The surface with the same chaining direction then becomes the current surface. The search can thus continue.

4. Or press the Non Auto button to stop search as soon as the first following surface is found.

5. Searching for a potentially machinable face can take a long time. All faces already found will thus be moved to a list to avoid a systematic calculation operation again. The operator is thus able to browse through this list, by using the following buttons :

6. 

7. When there is a search for faces to machine in automatic mode, faces will be stored in a list, as for a list containing favorite songs for a Compact Disk. Once the list is complete :

• The ‘Previous’ button allows the user to move one position upwards.

• The ‘Delete’ button allows to cancel the current surface.

• The ‘Go To First’ button allows to move to the beginning of the list.

• The ‘Go To End’ allows to move to the end of the list.

• The ‘Next’ button allows the user to move one position downwards

8. Each step is graphically visualized and the operator can see the faces which will actually be machined.

9. Click on the OK button when it's finished.

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