Fill Patterns
The Fill Pattern feature lets you select an area defined by co-planar
faces or a sketch that lies on co-planar faces. The command fills the
defined region with a pattern of features or a predefined cut shape.
If you use a sketch for the boundary, you
may need to select the pattern direction.
Parameters control the pattern layout. You can create a sheet metal
perforation-style pattern, or a pattern of concentric shapes typically
used to enhance aesthetics.
|
Typical uses include:
Weight reduction Ventilation holes Grip surfaces |
|
Types of Fill Patterns
|
Perforation  .
Designed for sheet metal perforation patterns. |
|
|
|
|
|
No vertex selected. Pattern is centered on face. |
Vertex selected. Pattern starts from vertex.. |
|
|
Circular  , Square  , Polygon
 . Designed for filling arbitrary areas with a pattern
that repeats on a concentric grid. These patterns have similar PropertyManager
options:
Set the spacing between concentric loops or rows
(using instance centers), starting from the seed feature. Define the pattern based on: |
|
|
|
|
Circular pattern of a feature using target spacing between instances. |
Circular pattern using number of instances per loop. |
Polygon pattern using a sketch for fill boundary. Target spacing used.
No vertex selected.
|
Predefined Cut Shapes
The predefined cut shapes available are circles 
, squares
, diamonds 
, and polygons 
.
You can control the parameters for each shape.
If you select a vertex, the shape seed feature
is located at the vertex. Otherwise, the seed feature is located at the
center of the fill boundary.
|
|
|
|
Diamond cut shape. Square pattern using 4 instances per side. No vertex
selected. |
Same parameters except vertex is selected. |
To create a fill pattern:
Click Fill Pattern
(Features toolbar) or Insert,
Pattern/Mirror, Fill
Pattern.
Set the PropertyManager
options.
Click 
.