Creating Pockets

Creating a pocket consists in extruding a profile or a surface and removing the material resulting from the extrusion. The application lets you choose the limits of creation as well as the direction of extrusion. The limits you can use are the same as those available for creating pads. To know how to use them, see Creating Up to Next Pads, Creating Up to Last Pads, Creating Up to Plane Pads, Creating Up to Surface Pads.

This task first shows you how to create a pocket, that is a cavity, in an already existing part, then you will edit this pocket to remove the material surrounding the initial profile.

Open the Pocket1.CATPart document.
  1. Select the profile to extrude, that is Sketch.2.

 

About Profiles

  • You can use profiles sketched in the Sketcher workbench or planar geometrical elements created in the Generative Shape Design workbench (except for lines).
  • You can create pockets from sketches including several closed profiles. These profiles must not intersect. 
  • You can select diverse elements constituting a sketch too. For more information, refer to Using the Sub-Elements of a Sketch
  • Instead of selecting profiles, you can select surfaces created in the Generative Shape Design workbench, non-planar faces and even CATIA V4. To know how to create a pocket from a surface, refer to Creating Pads or Pockets from Surfaces.
  1. Click Pocket .
    The Pocket Definition dialog box is displayed and the application previews a pocket.

  • If you launch the Pocket command with no profile previously defined, just click the icon to access the Sketcher and sketch the profile you need.
 
  • If you are not satisfied with the profile you selected, note that you can:

    • click the Selection field and select another sketch.
    • use any of these creation contextual commands available from the Selection field:
      • Create Sketch: launches the Sketcher after selecting any plane, and lets you sketch the profile you need as explained in the Sketcher User's Guide.

      • Create Join:  joins surfaces or curves. See Joining Surfaces or Curves.

      • Create Extract:  generates separate elements from non-connex sub-elements.  See Extracting Geometry.

    If you create any of these elements, the application then displays the corresponding icon in front of the field. Clicking this icon enables you to edit the element.

If you have chosen to work in a hybrid design environment, the geometrical elements created on the fly via the contextual commands mentioned above are aggregated into sketch-based features.

You can define a specific depth for your pocket or set one of these options:

If you wish to use the Up to plane or Up to surface option, you can then define an offset between the limit plane (or surface) and the bottom of the pocket. For more information, refer to Up to Surface Pad.

  1. To define a specific depth, set the Type parameter to Dimension, and enter 30mm.

Alternatively, select LIM1 manipulator and drag it downwards to 30.
Clicking the icon opens the Sketcher. You can then edit the profile to modify your pocket. Once you have done your modifications, you just need to quit the Sketcher. The Pocket dialog box reappears to let you finish your design.
 

About Directions

By default, if you extrude a profile, the application extrudes normal to the plane used to create the profile. To specify another direction, click the More button to display the whole Pocket Definition dialog box, uncheck the Normal to profile option and select a new creation direction in the geometry.

  • When copying and pasting a pocket using the As specified in Part document option (for more, see Handling Parts in a Multi-Document Environment), note that if the extrusion direction used does not belong to the same body as the pocket, this direction is not taken into account by the Copy and Paste commands.
  • If you extrude a surface (for example  created in the Generative Shape Design workbench), you need to select an element defining the direction because there is no default direction.

Limits

If you set the Up to Plane or Up to Surface option, contextual commands creating new planes or surfaces you may need are then available from the Limit field:

  • Create Plane: see Creating Planes
  • XY Plane: the XY plane of the current coordinate system origin (0,0,0) becomes the limit.
  • YZ Plane: the YZ plane of the current coordinate system origin (0,0,0) becomes the limit.
  • ZX Plane: the ZX plane of the current coordinate system origin (0,0,0) becomes the limit.
  • Create Join: joins surfaces or curves. See Joining Surfaces or Curves.
  • Create Extrapol: extrapolates surface boundaries. See Extrapolating Surfaces.

If you create any of these elements, the application then displays the corresponding icon in front of the Reference field.

Clicking this icon enables you to edit the element.

 

If you have chosen to work in a hybrid design environment, the elements created on the fly via the contextual commands mentioned above are aggregated into sketch-based features.

To know how to use the Thick option, refer to Creating Thin Solids.

  1. Optionally click Preview to see the result. Click OK to create the pocket.
    The specification tree indicates this creation. This is your pocket:

  2. Double-click Pocket.1 to edit it. As the application lets you choose the portion of material to be kept, you are going to remove all the material surrounding the initial profile.

    The Reverse side option lets you choose between removing the material defined within the profile, which is the application's default behavior, or the material surrounding the profile. 

  3. Click the Reverse side button or alternatively click the arrow as shown:

    The arrow now indicates the opposite direction.

  4. Click OK to confirm.
    The application has removed the material around the profile.

A Few Notes About Pockets

  • The application allows you to create pockets from open profiles provided existing geometry can trim the pockets. 
  • If your insert a new body and create a pocket as the first feature of this body, the application creates material:

  • Pockets can also be created from sketches including several profiles. These profiles must not intersect. In the following example, the initial sketch is made of eight profiles. Applying the Pocket command on this sketch lets you create eight pockets:

  • The Up to next limit is the first face the application detects while extruding the profile. This face must stops the whole extrusion, not only a portion of it, and the hole goes thru material, as shown in the figure below:

 

Preview

Result

  • When using the Up to Surface option, remember that if the selected surface partly stops the extrusion, the application continues to extrude the profile until it meets a surface that can fully stop the operation.