Creating an Offset Surface Without Failed Faces

Video: What's New in SOLIDWORKS 2020 - Surface Offset

The Offset Surface tool identifies faces on a surface it cannot offset, and lets you create an offset surface without them.

When the tool starts to create an offset surface and encounters failure, it lists faces it cannot include in the offset surface. Those faces might fail because of one or more of the following:
  • Their offset surface includes an area with a radius of curvature that is less than the offset distance.
  • They self-intersect.
  • They conflict or interfere with nearby faces.
  • The offset surfaces are not connected, for example, because the offset has broken references or is based on faces from multiple parts.

If you click Remove All Failing Faces in the PropertyManager, the tool creates an offset surface with gaps caused by removing the failed faces. You can repair the gaps by manually adjusting the offsets of the failed faces and adding them back individually into the offset surface. An alternative if the tool fails is to reduce the offset distance, and run the tool again.

Previously, the Offset Surface tool failed when it could not create an offset for one or more faces of a surface. The tool did not identify which faces caused the failure, which made the offset surface difficult to complete.

To create an offset surface without failed faces:

  1. Open system_dir:\Users\Public\Public Documents\SOLIDWORKS\SOLIDWORKS 2020\samples\whatsnew\parts\tree_gate.SLDPRT.

  2. Click Offset Surface (Surface toolbar) or Insert > Surface > Offset.
  3. Select the model by clicking Edit > Select All.
  4. In the PropertyManager, for Offset Distance, enter 10mm.

    Flip Offset Direction toggles the offset direction of the surface between outward to inward. This example uses the outward direction, which increases the thickness of the model and is the default direction.

  5. Click .

    A message displays that it is unable to offset the selected surfaces. When the tool completes the analysis, the PropertyManager lists and highlights the failing faces in Offset Parameters.

  6. Click Remove All Failing Faces.

    The PropertyManager removes the failing faces from Offset Parameters and the model updates in the graphics area.

  7. Click .

    The tool creates a Surface-Offset feature with missing faces, as noted in red.

  8. In the graphics area, zoom to the missing faces.

You can use other surfacing techniques to repair these gaps and then use the feature to create additional surfaces.