Problems Importing STEP and DXF Files from 3D Cad (e.g. Solvespace)

barrti

Hi,

I have just started using Solvespace (http://solvespace.com/download.pl). Its a great parametric 3d program that is similar to Inventor etc except that it is free now. It can do assemblies as well as parts.

It is very useful to the home user. I tried the first tute and it was very intuitive and fast.

I exported the first tute as an stl file (below). I opened it easily in Mecway, created a 3d tet mesh and solved it. I was hooked!

I then exported the file from Solvespace as a step (below) and later as a dxf. Solvespace calls this a 3D Wireframe and you can save as dxf or step.

When I imported either to Mecway, both files caused a crash with a netgen error.

I then exported the file from Solvespace as a step (below). In this case, Solvespace calls this a Surface. Again, Mecway crashed with a Netgen error.


Can anyone please advise what I might be doing wrong?

Regards

Victor

That's a fascinating looking program - CAD in a single file?!

I tried opening both STEP files in various programs with these results:

tute01wfrm.step:
Mecway - no. Error message
FreeCAD - no. Appears blank
ShareCAD Viewer online (http://beta.sharecad.org/viewer) - no. Appears blank
Strand7 - no. It says it has no surfaces
A360 Viewer - yes. It shows a wireframe shape

tute01surf.step:
Mecway - no. Error message
FreeCAD - no. Appears blank
ShareCAD Viewer online (http://beta.sharecad.org/viewer) - no. Appears blank
Strand7 - yes
A360 Viewer - yes

So I wouldn't expect to get anywhere with the wireframe one because you won't be able to generate a 3D mesh from it in probably any software.

I suspect the surface file might be a set of distinct surfaces instead of a proper solid part. Looking closely at the A360 image you can see little gaps around the edges of the holes which don't appear on another STEP file I tried. Perhaps you would need some other software to join the edges together, if this is really the problem.

barrti

Thanks Victor.
I looked around more on the solve space forum. There are several others who have had difficulty as you have in opening the step files. The users are requesting improvements to the step export. If you are happy, I will forward the results of your research. It may be that this will help improve the step export?

I also noticed that when I used the dxf export, I was able to import it into Mecway and see a wireframe image. I was not able to mesh it with the automesher. When I tried, the image would disappear. I tried to upload a dxf file but later realized that. Your site did not allow that.

Is there a way to automesh a dxf file? If you need it, I can send you the dxf by email.

Thanks again.

Victor

Sure, you're welcome to share it with them.

Sorry about the dxf, I've just added it to the forum's allowed file types so it should be OK now. I'm attaching a file here just to test it.

Mecway can mesh a 2D dxf file with simple closed shapes using Automesh 2D. But for a 3D wireframe, there isn't enough information to determine where the surfaces of the solid should be so it's not generally possible to do in a reliable way. For a 3D file with faces (3DFACE), it can mesh it if the faces form a manifold closed surface (Automesh 3D) and are all oriented in the same direction (inward/outward).

barrti

thanks for this