Locating Open Geometry in Alphacam

Q.  At times when inputting external cad files, the geometries are open. Sometimes it’s hard to discern where the geometry is open.  Is there an easy way to find where the geometry is open and then manipulate the geometry to close it?

A.  Use the “Show Breaks” command to determine where the geometry is considered open.  Then utilize the “Fillet” command with a value of “0” (zero) to resolve the locations that are open.

View\Display Options\Show Breaks

 


 

With “Show Breaks” active, an “x” indicates the location of a start point for a geometry.  If only “x” is visible, the geometry in question is either open (as seen in the example) or it is closed. If you are seeing more than one “x” this indicates the locations of the open areas on the geometry.
With this example, notice the corners where the “x” is visible. One corner is short and the other corner is long.  The easiest way to repair this is to create a “0” (zero) radius Fillet and select the two elements in each of the two corners.  

 
Edit\Break, Join etc\Fillet...
 


This command extends or trims two selected elements or even tool paths and applies a specified blending radius.

After activating the Fillet command, insert a value and select the appropriate options to complete the desired task. For this example the values shown are recommended.


 
This dialog has the following options:
•    Fillet Radius - This is the radius of the fillet that will be applied to the selected elements or geometry and tool paths.
•    Corners - This option determines the selection method of the geometry or tool path to fillet.
           o    Individual (Pick 2 Elements) is used to select the two intersecting elements that will form the fillet.
           o    All (As set by Ghost Tool) will use all elements in the geometry or tool path that has been selected. At each intersection (corner), as long as the value of the Fillet Radius can fit based on the element lengths, a fillet will be applied to all intersections (corners).
•    Bubble Fillet - This option determines if the fillet will create a bubble fillet, or a normal fillet.  
 
Fillet the two corners in question.
 


After filleting the two open corners of the available geometry, the geometry will be closed and only show one “Show Breaks” location.




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