I have to create parts with a well-controlled surface roughness (basically a pad with a rough side) and then print it with a 3D printer. Concretely, here is what I try to do: -Create a point cloud of the rough surface in a file .txt by Python -Import it into solidworks with ScanTo3D, mesh and then create surfaces (for my smallest file, I have about 250,000 stitches and 330,000 surfaces) - Finish the design of the part in CAD -Export the part in . STL then print it
The problem is that the number of dots and surfaces, even for my lightest files, is too high for solidworks. In the best case, I manage to do the mesh and the surface, but after that the part is so difficult to manage for Solidworks that doing CAD on it is impossible, it constantly lags. I tried by hiding the part, but I can't work anymore after that. I can reduce the number of stitches, but the problem is that I still need a very good definition if I want to control my roughness so I'd like to find another way.
Maybe I could add more RAM to my computer? I only have 8GB currently, but I don't know if it's the computer that's struggling or if that's the limits of the software itself. I am attaching a file, among the lightest, that I have tried to exploit.
3°) from memory you have to do a manip to convert the file from ScanTo3d (Our colleagues will confirm or deny this point).
Can you post your file, car I have a powerful machine, we'll see if it's the machine power or another problem (like for example the input file which is not understood by SW)
Complemented by this http://help.solidworks.com/2017/french/SolidWorks/sldworks/t_importing_mesh_file.htm
Above all, look at this to check that you are doing the import correctly http://help.solidworks.com/2017/french/SolidWorks/HelpViewerDS.aspx?version=2017&prod=SolidWorks&lang=french&path=SWHelp_List.html&id=358d2f5409d74d8e9a0af2e173ad46be
Thank you for your answer. I use solidworks 2019. What's the problem with the file? This is exactly the one I use, with on each line the three coordinates of a point. It is indeed a .txt (scatter plot) and not a . STL (which corresponds to the link you gave me) that I import, simply by doing File>Open and being careful to select the point cloud files for ScanTo3D. I then use the mesh and surface wizards (without eliminating parasaite points since it is a cloud of calculated and not scanned points).
I'll give you another stronger one as an attachment.
Since you seem to be a master of programming, why not make a macro that builds the surface from your file?
You could build your part globally on SW and then when it's ready, run your macro which will create the controlled surface and eventually export it to stl for your printer. If the processing time is long, you can start the process at the end of the day and get your file back the next morning.
I am not sure I understood your idea. When you tell me that the macro should create the surface, do you mean that it interacts directly with solidworks? Or rather that it modifies an exported file following the creation of the first CAD?