Fuse 2D Shell Meshes

Use the Fuse tool to connect discrete topology surfaces/solids/parts. The Fuse tool can be utilized to connect close proximity inputs by defining a threshold.

The Fuse tool works for tessellated geometry. If the input is b-spline geometry, first convert to discrete geometry using the Convert tool.

Imprinting points on lines or surfaces creates geometry vertices similar to using the Split tool. Imprinting surfaces on surfaces imprints all source surfaces edges to the target surfaces.

The imprint direction is always normal to targets.

  1. From the Geometry ribbon, click the arrow next to the Edit tool group name, then select Fuse.


    Figure 1.
  2. Optional: On the guide bar, click to define fuse options.
  3. Select source geometry.
    1. On the guide bar, select whether to fuse surfaces, solids, or parts from the first selector.
    2. Make your selection in the modeling window.
    Source geometry moves to the target.
  4. Select target geometry.
    1. On the guide bar, click the second selector and choose surfaces, solids, or parts.
    2. Make your selection in the modeling window.
    Target geometry does not move.
  5. Define a fuse threshold value.
  6. Click Fuse on the guide bar.


Figure 2.

Fuse Tool

An overview of the Fuse tool.



Figure 3.

Use the Fuse tool to connect discrete topology surfaces/solids/parts. The Fuse tool can be utilized to connect close proximity inputs by defining a threshold.

Access
Go to Geometry > Edit > Fuse.

Options

Retain interface
Retains surfaces at source and target solid connection. Enabling this option will keep solids separate after fusing. If this option is turned off, solids will be merged after fuse.
Remesh at connection
Remesh region neighboring fused region. Turn on if the input surfaces have good quality mesh. During remeshing, element size, type, and order is determined by the surrounding element's size and type.
Fusing direction
Select a type of projection from source to target.
Along source normal
Shortest direction of projection of source nodes to target nodes is considered.
Along source edge tangent
Considers the tangential direction of source edges to the target. However, if the tangential projection fails, the shortest projection is considered.
Create patch at connection
Creates a patch between the proximity of given surfaces/solids. If turned off, it will fuse by snapping source nodes to target, which may result in distortion if the proximity distance is large.
Connect at free edge only
Only connect source free edges to target. This option is useful when you are connecting open surfaces and wants to make the connection through free edges only.
Remove redundant patches
Consider removing redundant patches.
Redundant patch maximum width factor
Change the redundant patch maximum width factor of fuse threshold value.
Snap to features
Consider snapping to features.
Feature snapping factor
Change feature snapping tolerance factor of fuse threshold value, within which the nodes positions resulting after the fusing of source and target elements can be snapped to features.
Feature angle
The maximum allowable break angle between adjacent surfaces.