Creating a Surface Extend in Pro/ENGINEER
During a design, it may become necessary to extend boundaries of surfaces that already exist in models. This procedure outlines the three different types of extended surfaces: Same, To Plane and Tangent, as well as the individual options available with each.
- To extend a surface, first select that surface, then the specific edge that is to be extended. Click Edit > Extend. Figure 1 illustrates the selected edge.
Figure 1
- A surface extend using the Same option (accessed by clicking
> Options) would create an extended surface as depicted in Figure 2. This extend feature is the same type as the surface being extended: the original surface is continued past its selected original boundaries by a specified distance.
Figure 2
- A surface extend using the To Plane option (accessed by clicking
), depicted in Figure 3, has the selected surface edge extending in a direction normal, up to a plane.
Figure 3
- A surface extend using the Tangent option (accessed by clicking
> Options), depicted in Figure 4, has the extended surface tangent to the original surface.
Figure 4
- A surface extend using the Approximate option (accessed by clicking > Options) has new patches as spline surfaces that are tangent at the extension edges.
It is important to note that extended surfaces cannot have C2 continuity, continuous curvature, explicitly defined.
- When extending quilts with the Same and Tangent options, indicate whether the extension distance will be measured along the surface or a datum plane. by clicking Measurements then either
, where the extension distance is measured along the surface being extended, or 
, where the extension distance is measured along a selected datum plane.
- A single or variable distance extension can be specified by right-clicking in the Point or Edge field in the Measurements section (or right-clicking on the circular drag handle in the display window), then select Add.
- Type either a positive or negative value for surface extension, provided that positive and negative values are not mixed for the same operation. Entering a negative value for a surface extend will cause a surface to be trimmed. An example of the most commonly used surface extend, the Same option, will involve extending the middle surface of the quilt shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5
- Select the edge of the quilt and select Edit > Extend as shown in the Figure 6. (Note: the selection filter type Geometry may be required to successfully select this edge).
Figure 6
- Hold down the right mouse button while the cursor is over the circular drag handle and click Add to create an additional drag handle. Drag both handles to approximately the same values depicted in Figure 7.
Figure 7
- Optionally, click Measurements in the dashboard and use the right mouse button in a similar manner to add a point and control it more precisely (see Figure 8).
Figure 8
- Figure 9 depicts the final result, with two extension dimensions driving the geometry
Figure 9
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