Thicken Surface in Z-Direction

In architecture, quite often I need to shape surfaces between skew lines (i.e. hyperbolic paraboloids) using the LOFT command. To make these surfaces 3D Solids, I use the THICKEN command to give them thickness. The problem is, that the thickness is applied in normal direction to the surface. Does anybody know how to give lofted surfaces a thickness along the Z vector, so that the side faces are vertical? Thanks!

You could Extrude and then Slice with Surface.

Attach your file here if you can't figure it out.

Hi JD, point is, you can slice where the thickness protrudes, but you can't where it goes in from the covering surface.

Thicken Problem.dwg

Can you offset the surface and Slice from both sides?

Slice.zip

ops, check this one

Slice_Rev1.zip

That does not compute to me earthling, dear Luminous Being. How can I offset a surface? And what do I do with the sat-file? Appload-it? Thanx for stepping down.

Point is, I cannot just offset the confining lines, for the result would be a different hyperbolic paraboloid. What I could do would be to construct new constrains further ouside, which would mean dire work.

Ah - sat is an Inventor file I see. I'm talking AUtoCAD.

Sat is a neutral format file.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACIS

Open AutoCAD

run the acisin command to import the *.sat file.

Once the design intent is understood, at technique appropriate for AutoCAD can be devised.

Ah, OK, that was new to me. And your drawing shows exactly what I mean.

Now I just need to know how you did it ... I mean in a manner that the originating 2 lines are really elements of the resulting top surface of the 3D solid. Thank you for your patience with me.

In the attached sketch, you will find your thickened surface again. Let's see it as a simplified glass roof connecting two buildings. I made two such simplified buildings. You can see them with the roof in between and a copy of buildings without roof. The question is: How do I create the glass roof, if only the two buildings are given? Because this is the situation you will be in as an architect.

Design Intent.dwg

Is that one twisted sheet of glass

or

will there be framework of some sort with many panes of glass inserted into the framework?

If many panes of glass - are the individual sheets twisted or planar?

Please don't take the picture too far - it's a geometric problem in the end. You can see it as a concrete structure or a piece of twisted asphalt asd well, - anything that will connect 2 skew lines and has a thickness.

Create the initial surface.

Copy it at desired distance.

Close up the sides.

Surfsculpt or some other AutoCAD technique like two Slices.

Thanks a lot - the SURFSCULPT command did the trick. I didn't know this command so far.

But what do you mean by "two Slices"? Do you mean the SLICE command?