Step file imported from inventor with multiple lines

[João]

Good morning.
Does anyone know if Alibre has an option to not open step files that are imported from other CAD programs? When I open step files in Inventor or another program, the rays appear like this (I think it divides them into arcs).
So working in CAM becomes much more complicated.



If I open the step file directly in the CAM software it looks like this. which I think is correct.



Does caliber have any options to resolve this?

 

[DavidJ]

Have you tried using different import settings? - if the lower image is correct (it doesn't even look like the same part), then there are major issue with the import.

Do you have the ipt file available? (one less translation step).

 

[João]

Yes the bottom image is correct.
When opening in Alibre it looks like this, I've already opened it in Solid Works and PTC and they look like the image below.

I can't use different imports because it's the client that sends it like this in step242 latest version step...

and in the Esprit TNG CAM software it opens correctly, but sometimes to make some corrections it is easier in Alibre but when exporting it ends up with holes in arches and radii as seen in the first image.
That's why I asked if there is any option in the Alibre program to prevent this from happening.
Or even when they are circles it is divided into 2 arcs.


This is a part designed in PTC, if it is SolidWorks it is the same, the client's program and when I open the drilling in Alibre the circles are also like arcs.

 

[DavidJ]

You can 'remove face' using direct editing tools.

The images show fillets in opposite sense - concave in one, convex in the other! The 'correct' one appears to have some improbably/impossible geometry - or could be a trick of the display.

Different import settings may help .

 

[João]

Você pode 'remover rosto' usando ferramentas de edição direta.

As imagens mostram filetes em sentido oposto - côncavos em um, convexos no outro! O 'correto' parece ter alguma geometria improvável/impossível - ou pode ser um truque da tela.

Diferentes configurações de importação podem ajudar.

Yes, I understand, but it is only in Alibre that the steps are like this; in other cam programs they are not like this, that is why I asked here if there is no configuration in Alibre when opening the step that is the same as the original.

Do you think it is an import error from Inventor?

how to remove face using this editing tool?

The drawing is correct but when opening in step it becomes more difficult to work in cam. It makes the radius as if they were two arcs.

 

[DavidJ]

In the images I see radically different parts - not just a few extra lines.

Without access to the file (you can send it to support) I can't offer an informed comment.

To remove face - see

Articles

help.alibre.com

Select on the 'extra faces' and try removing it - the result is often satisfactory, but not always. It can convert 'split' holes to get rid of the extra lines.

 

[João]

In the images I see radically different parts - not just a few extra lines.

Without access to the file (you can send it to support) I can't offer an informed comment.

To remove face - see

Articles

help.alibre.com

Select on the 'extra faces' and try removing it - the result is often satisfactory, but not always. It can convert 'split' holes to get rid of the extra lines.

It is also not possible to remove the surfaces. I thought there was some configuration to improve the import of the step file, or even to not make circles two arcs.

This doesn't just happen with one file, it happens with all files in step

 

[bigseb]

I've wondered this too. Eg: imported step files have cylinder split in two.

@david the the parts are the same. Alibre has simply each curved surface into two surfaces.

 

[João]

I've wondered this too. Eg: imported step files have cylinder split in two.

@david the the parts are the same. Alibre has simply each curved surface into two surfaces.

So it's a problem/interpretation of alibre surfaces? Is there no configuration to solve this?

 

[DavidJ]

the the parts are the same. Alibre has simply each curved surface into two surfaces.

Well they don't look the same - either different regions of the same part, or a lot more wrong with import than splitting a few faces.

[EDIT - could be an optical illusion, but if so there are features missing anyway]

Imported cylindrical holes are usually shown as paired faces - remove face can deal with that if it's a problem.

 

[João]

But you shouldn't have to remove the surfaces, it should open like a circle and not two arcs.

 

[gwbruce]

Solidworks even imports an inventor file the same way. A circle comes in as two arcs.

 

[DavidJ]

Does anyone know how STEP defines the hole? You are assuming Alibre is wrong, but perhaps those other programs process the input further...

I don't know for sure. Just pointing out there is more than one interpretation.

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

[EDIT - could be an optical illusion, but if so there are features missing anyway]

It is an optical illusion and it is missing the very thin radius on the top one for some reason. It took me a long time to see it because the second one is very poorly lit with the corner radius being brightest and the front left side being the next brightest.

 

[bigseb]

Well they don't look the same - either different regions of the same part, or a lot more wrong with import than splitting a few faces.

[EDIT - could be an optical illusion, but if so there are features missing anyway]

Imported cylindrical holes are usually shown as paired faces - remove face can deal with that if it's a problem.

You're right. At a second look they're not the same, the top is missing a few fillets. Even that though is not unusual for imported files.

 

[tyc]

but perhaps those other programs process the input further...

You may be right David. I tried importing the same STEP file into Inventor and Alibre. See the results below.

 

[stepalibre]

These are internal display/rendering approximations. The topology is the same regardless of the program used. STEP is interpreted and rendered by Alibre. Interpreted and rendered can mean a lot of things, here I'm referring to the import process and what we see in the viewport. Those iso or tangent lines are visual detail or simply how the surface is displayed. Depending on the settings you have set and the scale of geometry Alibre may look visually different.

In CAD hard edges almost always define the surface boundary. You can add iso or tangent lines to a surface and that will be displayed as the model geometry. A fillet doesn't typically produce lines between the boundary which is a sign that it is either rendered to show them or is was added to the surface by a person or by a meshing step.

 

[stepalibre]

Alibre does odd things with how it displays geometry.

This thread is related:

Rhino 3DM import issues

I imported a multibody part and encountered issues. This model was made in Grasshopper, importing it as a STEP file works perfectly however it is imported as an assembly. Importing it as a 3DM file works as a pseudo multibody part but with some models I get failed geometry which are often double...

www.alibre.com

 

[stepalibre]

You may be right David. I tried importing the same STEP file into Inventor and Alibre. See the results below.

View attachment 43896

Programs decide to render tangent lines. I thought Inventor had a setting to show or hide them but I can't find it. Those edges are available in the API.

 

[João]

You may be right David. I tried importing the same STEP file into Inventor and Alibre. See the results below.

View attachment 43896

I thought Alibre had some import option to improve circles in arcs... because in CAM programming in Esprit it makes programming difficult. But thanks to everyone, I already realized that this is the program itself.