Patterns

Creating patterns of features is a common task in design. There are two different types of patterns, each providing a unique value.

TriBall Pattern - The existing TriBall pattern is a quick method to create a parametric pattern using the positioning power of the TriBall. This pattern only controls the number, distance, and location. Additionally this pattern is using the feature linking capability. It supports linear, circular, and bilinear patterns, however it is only a single feature pattern (no support for pattern of pattern).

Pattern Feature Command - The pattern feature command provides performance improvements, direction reference relations, pattern of pattern, supports blend/chamfer/draft in the pattern result, and supports the feature extrude to operations (For Example - Extrude to Surface can be maintained in the patterned features). The pattern feature is an feature that allows the user to refer to an edge/vector to define the direction, axis, or path in Linear, Bilinear, circular, edge, and sketch path patterns. The reference is maintained when the geometry is modified in which the pattern will update to reflect the change in the reference modification. The pattern is based on a new algorithm that provides fast updates when the geometry is modified and benefits users with many feature patterns.  

When a Pattern Feature is generated, parameters are automatically added to the parameter table to parametrically control the pattern results.

The pattern feature result is a true parent-child relationship. This means that changes to the original parent feature will modify the results of the pattern. It is not possible to edit the feature definition of the pattern result features directly. When the pattern result feature is selected, the entire feature will be highlighted yellow, denoting the pattern.

To edit patterns, right-click on the pattern feature in the scene or scene browser and select Edit Definition.

To Create A Linear Pattern

1. Select a part in the scene to apply the pattern (or skip to step #2).
2. Select the Pattern Feature command from the Feature Fluent Ribbon Bar. If a part is not selected, a request will appear to select a part to apply the command to.
3. Select Linear Pattern.
4. Select a linear part edge or axis to define the direction of the pattern (Note: The pattern direction is defined by this edge selection. When the edge changes direction, the pattern will update to reflect the new direction). Select Reverse Direction to reverse the direction if needed.
5. Select the features to pattern. Note: Right-click in the list box to clear or delete selections.
6. Enter the offset distance for the pattern spacing.
7. Enter the Count to define the number of patterned shapes.  
8. Select OK to finish the command.
9. Alternatively, select Skip Nodes to skip different instances of the pattern. This allowsthe selectionof various instances by selecting a Green dot indicating the instance to no display.

Note: The Advance Option to restrict to non-floating features is used for the fast generation performance of the pattern. A floating feature is considered a feature that is not affecting or acting on the main solid body. Un-check this option to allow for these types of patterns to generate but at the expense of performance.

Skip Root(First) Node. This option is used to create a pattern of a pattern and don't want the original shape to appear in the second pattern.

To Create A Bilinear Pattern

1. Select a part in the scene to apply the pattern (or skip to step #2).
2. Select the Pattern Feature command from the Feature Fluent Ribbon Bar. If a part is not selected, a request will appearto select a part to apply the command to.
3. Select Bilinear Pattern.
4. Select a linear part edge or axis to define the first direction of the pattern. Select Reverse Direction to reverse the direction if needed.
5. Select a linear part edge or axis to define the second direction of the pattern. Select Reverse Direction to reverse the direction if needed.
6. Select the features to pattern. Note: Right-click in the list box to clear or delete selections.
7. Enter the offset distance for the pattern spacing.
8. Enter the Count to define the number of patterned shapes.  
9. Select OK to finish the command.
10. Select Pattern Seed only to not include the original feature in the pattern. This is useful when creating a mid-plane pattern for example when the pattern is on both sides of the original feature.
11. Alternatively, select Skip Nodes to skip different instances of the pattern. This allows the selection of various instances by selecting a Green dot indicating the instance to no display.

Note: The Advance Option to restrict to non-floating features is used for the fast generation performance of the pattern. A floating feature is considered a feature that is not affecting or acting on the main solid body. Un-check this option to allow for these types of patterns to generate but at the expense of performance.

To Create A Circular Pattern

1. Select a part in the scene to apply the pattern (or skip to step #2).
2. Select the Pattern Feature command from the Feature Fluent Ribbon Bar. If a part is not selected, a request will appear to select a part to apply the command to.
3. Select Circular Pattern.
4. Select a datum axis or linear part edge to define the rotation axis of the pattern. Select Reverse Direction to reverse the direction if needed.
5. Select the features to pattern. Note: Right-click in the list box to clear or delete selections.
6. Enter the angle for the pattern spacing for a fixed spacing.
7. Enter the Count to define the number of patterned shapes.  
8. or, Select Evenly spaced and input a Count to define a set number of patterns evenly spaced.
9. Select OK to finish the command.
10. Alternatively, select Skip Nodes to skip different instances of the pattern. This allows the selection of various instances by selecting a Green dot indicating the instance to no display.

Note: The Advance Option to restrict to non-floating features is used for the fast generation performance of the pattern. A floating feature is considered a feature that is not affecting or acting on the main solid body. Un-check this option to allow for these types of patterns to generate but at the expense of performance.

To Create An Edge Pattern

1. Select a part in the scene to apply the pattern (or skip to step #2).
2. Select the Pattern Feature command from the Feature Fluent Ribbon Bar. If a part is not selected, a request will appear to select a part to apply the command to.
3. Select Edge Pattern.
4. Select a part edge or 3D Curve (Structured parts only) to define the path of the pattern. Select Reverse Direction to reverse the direction if needed.
5. Select the features to pattern. Note: Right-click in the list box to clear or delete selections.
6. For Fixed Spacing,
7. Enter the offset distance for the pattern spacing.
8. Enter the Count to define the number of patterned shapes.  
9. For Distance Spaced,
10. Enter the offset distance for the pattern spacing to create the number of patterns based on the spacing distance along the edge.
11. For Evenly Spaced,
12. Enter the Count to define the number of patterned shapes to fit evenly along the edge.  
13. Offset start: Enter the distance for the first feature to be offset along the start of the selected edge.
14. Offset end: Enter the distance for the last feature to be offset along the end of the selected edge.
15. Select OK to finish the command.
16. Alternatively:
17. Select Skip Nodes to skip different instances of the pattern. This allows the selection of various instances by selecting a Green dot indicating the instance to no display.
18. Select Along Edge to place the feature result on the selected edge and pattern along the edge.
19. Select Along Edge Direction to rotate the features normal to follow the orientation of the edge.
20. Select Offset Edge to create a pattern from the current feature location maintaining the offset distance from the edge selected for the path.
21. Select Smooth Connected to use a smoothly connected edge as the pattern edge.

Note: The Advance Option to restrict to non-floating features is used for the fast generation performance of the pattern. A floating feature is considered a feature that is not affecting or acting on the main solid body. Un-check this option to allow for these types of patterns to generate but at the expense of performance.

To Create An Sketch Pattern

1. Select a part in the scene to apply the pattern (or skip to step #2).
2. Select the Pattern Feature command from the Feature Fluent Ribbon Bar. If a part is not selected, a request will appear to select a part to apply the command to.
3. Select an existing sketch that has 2D Points applied to the sketch to be used as the pattern definition. Select the desired option to use for the sketch (for innovative parts only):
4. Copy Existing Profile - Copy the profile information into the feature information of the pattern. The original sketch will be left intact to allow edits that are not related to the pattern. To edit the profile, right-click on the resulting pattern feature and select Edit Profile.
5. Link to Existing Profiles - The pattern definition will be based on the original sketch. Modifications to the sketch will update the pattern feature.
6. Consume Existing Profiles - Consume the profile information into the feature information of the pattern (the original sketch will be removed and consumed into this feature). To edit the profile, right-click on the resulting pattern feature and select Edit Profile.  
7. Select the features to pattern. Note: Right-click in the list box to clear or delete selections.
8. Options for alignment to the sketch points:
9. Refer to Center of Gravity - Use the center of gravity for the selected feature to determine its alignment to the points in the sketch.
10. Refer to Selected Point - Specify a reference point of the feature to be used as the location to align to the points in the sketch.
11. Alternatively, select Skip Nodes to skip different instances of the pattern. This allows the selection of various instances by selecting a Green dot indicating the instance to no display.

Note: The Advance Option to restrict to non-floating features is used for the fast generation performance of the pattern. A floating feature is considered a feature that is not affecting or acting on the main solid body. Un-check this option to allow for these types of patterns to generate but at the expense of performance.