Solutions for efficient product design

Using the option SOLID_CONTOUR_CLEARANCE

1. September 2022 | Tips & Tricks

Purpose

Fixed minimum distance
The option SOLID_CONTOUR_CLEARANCE allows you to define the minimum distance by which the automatically selected base must be larger in X/Y direction than the contour of the electrode. SMARTElectrode adds the doubled option value to the calculated size of the contour before stock selection takes place. The contour outline together with the option value define the minimum base size.

Application

The user sets the value of the option in the dialog on the “Electrode” tab. The default value is 1.0mm if “mm” is selected as the unit system in the setup wizard. If “inch” is selected, the default value of 0.05 inch is applied.
Value of the option is set to the default value 1.0mm

Note

The previous use of the INCREMENT_SIZE option as an offset for the base is replaced by the new option. INCREMENT_SIZE is only used for the increment when changing the size of the blank. The software behaves differently when SOLID_CONTOUR_CLEARANCE has a different value than INCREMENT_SIZE in previous versions.

How it works

Placing the base using the option happens in the following steps:

  1. Calculation of solid contour outline.
  2. Adding doubled option value SOLID_CONTOUR_CLEARANCE to the size of the electrode contour in X/Y direction. The result corresponds to the minimum blank size.
  3. Automatic selection of the appropriate blank size from data file.
  4. Subsequent steps of placing the base.

Illustration of the operation of the option

Availablity

The option SOLID_CONTOUR_CLEARANCE is available starting with SMARTElectrode 15.0.0.0, 14.1.0.0, 13.1.0.0 and 12.1.0.0 in Creo versionen 4.0 to 9.0.