Flattening Surfaces

To flatten a surface:

  1. Select a surface or face to flatten and click Flatten Surface (Surfaces toolbar) or Insert > Surface > Flatten.
  2. In the PropertyManager, under Selections, for Vertex or Point on Edge to Flatten From , select a vertex or a point on an edge.
  3. Set the Accuracy and optionally click Show Mesh Preview.
    More accurate flattened surfaces take longer to generate.
  4. Click .
    The flattened surface is created tangent to the folded surface at the Vertex or Point on Edge to Flatten From selected in Step 2.
  5. Optional: To see the flattened surface more clearly, do one or more of the following:
    • In the FeatureManager design tree, click the folded surface and click Hide .
    • In the graphics area, select the flattened surface and click Insert > Features > Move/Copy and use the PropertyManager to move the flattened surface.
  6. Check the accuracy of the flattened surface by doing one or more of the following:
    • Use the Measure tool to compare the surface areas of the flattened and folded surfaces to ensure there are no large discrepancies.
    • Right-click the flattened surface and click Deformation Plot to check where and how much the flattened surface is stretched or compressed.