Troubleshooting: "Apply Smoothing" Deletes Some Surfaces

Condition

When I select Apply Smoothing, some addendum surfaces are deleted, and the addendum is displayed in red.

Note: While Apply Smoothing is the optional last step of addendum creation, it is important that it works if you want to add fillets when finalizing the draw die.

Cause 1

The addendum doesn't completely intersect the binder.

Remedy 1

  1. Deselect Apply Smoothing to go back to rib editing mode.
  2. Modify the ribs so that the addendum completely intersects the binder at the locations where the surface got deleted.

Cause 2

When you selected Apply Smoothing, some ribs were automatically moved to smoothen the addendum wall where it intersects the binder to facilitate the creation of fillets later. When the ribs were moved, they became overlapped or too close and the addendum surface is displayed in red.

Remedy 2A: Fix Overlapping Ribs

Overlapping ribs is the most common issue, so we suggest starting off by fixing them manually.

  1. Adjust the view as necessary to locate overlapping ribs.
  2. Rotate the ribs so that they don't overlap by doing one of the following:
    • Hover over the rail to display handles. Drag the lower arrow to change the angle of the rib plane.
    • Select a handle and enter an Angle in the microdialog.
    Note: If a rib can't be rotated, select the rib, and in the microdialog turn off the constraint Tangency G1 to the part so that you can rotate it.

Remedy 2B: Delete Excess Ribs

Check for ribs that are too close together or lie on the same plane, and then manually delete excess ribs.

  1. Adjust the view as necessary to locate ribs that are too close together or lie on the same plane.
  2. Delete ribs as necessary to smoothen the flow.
    1. In the guide bar, select Edit Ribs.
    2. To delete a rib, select it and press Delete.
      Note: If the rib is essential for maintaining the desired addendum shape, instead of deleting it, you can rotate it as described above.

Cause 3

The Smoothing distance between the ribs is too large. Large areas are smoothened, causing overlapping ribs.

Remedy 3A

In the Control Panel, enter a smaller Smoothing distance. Smaller areas are smoothened to avoid overlapping ribs.

Remedy 3B: Relax the Tangency to Propagate the Addendum

Important: This remedy only works if you already have a partial addendum. It doesn't work if no addendum surface was created at all; in this case, you need to add ribs to create a partial addendum first.
By default, Tangency (G1) is used, creating ribs with tangent (G1) continuity between adjacent addendum surfaces. In some cases, this is not feasible, causing the addendum surface to fail to propagate. By turning on Auto Decide Tangency, you can see how far the surface can propagate and identify regions that require manual fixes.
  1. Hover over a rib to display the blue handles, and then click one of the handles.
  2. In the microdialog, for Addendum configuration, select Auto Decide Tangency. This uses G0 when G1 is not feasible.
    When Auto Decide Tangency is set, the rib is displayed in yellow.
  3. As necessary, repeat Steps 2-3 on other ribs until the addendum surface is fixed.
  4. The default Tangency (G1) is the ideal addendum configuration, so you can try turning G1 back on for earlier ribs if it doesn't break the surface.
    Figure 1. Relax the Tangency to Propagate the Addendum