SolidWorks

[anksta]

Can anyone please help me with some SolidWorks?

I'm doing my project on an artery and I was given like 250 images from a CT scan and this program that could translate points on the artery to coordinates.

Long story short I've got a txt file with thousands of points in that I can import into solidworks as a pointcloud. This generates this sort of thing:

and I need to get this to be a solid shape, I know it can be done because I sat there while my supervisor went through and got it to be one. He cant remember how he did it though and I've sat here for literally about 7 or 8 hours and cannot get any further than this:

which is what happens when you go through the mesh and then the surface wizard. In the help files there is nothing about just switching it to a solid and I've gone through almost every option I can find and about to tear my hair or start crying.

In the help files and tutorials etc. it says it will do it automatically if you do this, but then the part after this doesnt actually say what to do.

Someone must know how to do it, I'm literally at the end of my tether, this is supposed to be the easiest part and I'm just going round in circles starting again and again.

Thanks

 

[crazyDAJT]

do you actually need it to be solid, or can you cheat and use a surface patch on the end of the tubes?? it will give the illusion it is solid, as long as you don't section it.

 

[sev]

these links may help:

http://www.caddigest.com/subjects/solidworks/tutorials.htm

and:

http://www.rickyjordan.com/2008/11/solidworks-video-tip-surface-extraction-with-scanto3d.html

Surfacing and handling scan/iges/point data hs always been a huge weakness of solidworks, even Matt Lombard in his Solidworks Surfacing Bible admits that the solutions are more workaround than anything else.

Keep us informed, as i'd be interested to know how you achieve it.

What version of Solidworks are you using?

 

[anksta]

hi mate, thanks for your reply and help, been off this for a while as I've had other work to get out the way but I'll be getting back on it today and I'd be grateful if you have any more pointers when I undoubtedly get stuck again.

Cheers

 

[anksta]

arite, managed to get it solid by simplifying the point cloud significantly so it wasn't quite so ugly, 45% simplification seemed to let it solidify itself which is good.

Managed to combine this model and my other solid model (thrombus surrounding the artery) and even off the end (single end) however, you can't seem to chop the other end off when you go to extrude cut, it asks you to pick an axis, so I pick front plane but it wont let you change the z coordinate of that plane and there is no back plane.

Does anyone know a way round this? Sure there is one, whether its change the axis, rotate the model, or pick a different plane?

Cheers