STL object substraction

[zerobarat]

Here is my problem:
- I reconstructed a 3D solid model of the human aorta and
iliac arteries using a 2D medical imageset acquired via
an MRI scanner;
- I exported this model in .STL format, aiming at
importing it in other CAD environments;
- so, I imported the 3D .STL model of the arteries in
Solidworks 2008 and I generated here a cuboid which
surrounds the arteries.
- now, I am trying to substract the arteries from the
parallelipiped which embeds them.

How can I do that? If someone has any idea, please tell
it as if he is addressing to a beginner. I attached an
image, hoping that this would be of any help (sorry for
the image quality, but its size is limited at 15KB on the
upload server).
17_041610_solidworks.jpg">
Edited by: zerobarat

 

[jimshaw]

zerobrat,


Your upload picture did not come through.


When you open the STL, make sure you open it as a solid body, and make sure it comes in as a solid body.


Now, make sure you create your cube within the same part and don't merge them, so you should now have two separate solid bodies within the same part. No select Insert>Features>Combine... and select the "subtract" option. Select the cube first, then the aorta body, and you should be good to go.


Let us know how this works.


Jim Shaw
http://www.linkedin.com/in/shawengineering

 

[zerobarat]

Jim,

I tried to import the arteries as a solid body and I got
a message from Solidworks that says "This STL model has
too many surfaces. Please import this kind of model as
Graphics Body".

Below is another attempt at uploading the picture as an
archive.


<a target="_blank" href="uploads/zerobarat/2011-02-
<br / target="_blank">22_024435_snapshot.rar">2011-02-
22_024435_snapshot.rar</a>
Edited by: zerobarat