buffettfan Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 I am trying to model I-Beams to s solid. I put 3d polyline around the front "I" then a path down the middle of the beam. I have tried extrude, sweep with aligned to path, and sweep not aligned - then put a patch on both ends. Use the command "surfsculpt" and it will not convert due to not being water tight. Any Ideas??? I delete the 3d poly and path line before patching. We only have 2011 - Civil 3D Quote
ReMark Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 It should be a very simple, straight-forward process to construct a 3D I-bean using Sweep, Extrude or PressPull (depending on your program). Have you done much 3D work before this? Quote
buffettfan Posted January 13, 2012 Author Posted January 13, 2012 About one week - Just spent over 50 hours modling "L" beams, elbows, etc. and was trying to use the same process of extrude and sweep that I used on the "L". I have even created a planer surface along the face of both "I"'s and still says not water tight when using th surfsculpt command Quote
ReMark Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 An example of an I-beam created as a 3Dsolid using the EXTRUDE command and a "path". Quote
bill_borec Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 FAN OF JIMMY, Is your initial poly closed? Watertight requires a closed solid...so you would need to start with a closed polyline. You could create the I-beam starting with a closed 2D poly for the face or front of the beam, then extrude to the length. Use the attribute tab to enable 'closed' on the polyline. What 'patch' are you applying to either end that you are wanting to sculpt? If closing the poly doesn't work can you provide a file to look at? Borec Quote
ReMark Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 This I-beam was created using the same polyline profile as above but I switched to the SWEEP command instead. Same results...a 3D solid. In both examples my path was a line set at the midpoint of the bottom flange. No need to "align" anything. Pick-n-go. Quote
buffettfan Posted January 13, 2012 Author Posted January 13, 2012 Yes - I am allowing the 3d poly to force closure and I am using the surface/patch Quote
JD Mather Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 I put 3d polyline around the front "I" then a path down the middle of the beam. You do not need 3D polyline. See the Skeletal Modeling tutorial in my signature under the AutoCAD Tutorials. If you have trouble figuring this out - attach your file here. If you have access to Autodesk Inventor (students can download for free http://www.autodesk.com/edcommunity) these are built into the software - Frame Generator. Quote
ReMark Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 An I-beam created using a profile comprised entirely of lines (no polylines or 3Dpolylines) and the PressPull command. Note that all three commands yield the same results. Quote
Ste1978 Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 If you have Inventor you get BSI steel models, pipe elbows, flanges etc all modelled up in the Content Centre. Might save you a bit of time. I have all PFC, UBs, RSA, I-Sections all in 2D if you want the 'skeletons' to sweep/extrude? Quote
tzframpton Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 Autodesk Vertical Products (ACA/AMEP/etc) come with a complete catalog of beams, joist, and columns. Quote
Ste1978 Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 Autodesk Vertical Products (ACA/AMEP/etc) come with a complete catalog of beams, joist, and columns. Ah but Autocad does not come with BSI steel catalogs! Quote
SLW210 Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 BSI is of little use in the USA. Just find and download Al's Steel Mill or Wisey's Steel mill Quote
Jack_O'neill Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 Does civil 3d have press-pull? it dont' get any easier than that. Drop in the shape, start the press-pull command, and drag it out as far as you need to: Quote
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