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Flattening Surfaces

To flatten a surface:

  1. Select a surface or face to flatten and click Flatten Surface (Surfaces toolbar) or Insert > Surface > Flatten.
  2. In the PropertyManager, under Selections, for Vertex or Point on Edge to Flatten From , select a vertex or a point on an edge.
  3. Optionally, under Control Curves, for Primary Edges , select edges that you do not want to change in length or direction when flattened.
  4. Set the Accuracy and optionally click Show Mesh Preview.

    More accurate flattened surfaces take longer to generate.

  5. Click .

    The flattened surface is created tangent to the folded surface at the Vertex or Point on Edge to Flatten From selected in Step 2.

  6. Optionally, to see the flattened surface more clearly, do one or more of the following:
    • In the FeatureManager design tree, click the folded surface and click Hide .
    • In the graphics area, select the flattened surface and click Insert > Features > Move/Copy and use the PropertyManager to move the flattened surface.
  7. Check the accuracy of the flattened surface by doing one or more of the following:
    • Use the Measure tool to compare the surface areas of the flattened and folded surfaces to ensure there are no large discrepancies.
    • Right-click the flattened surface and click Deformation Plot to check where and how much the flattened surface is stretched or compressed.


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