Creating Replace Face Features

The Replace Face capability lets you replace a face or a set of tangent faces with:
  • a surface or,
  • a face belonging to the same body as the selected face.

The last two scenario show you the benefits provided by the capability: you can align faces, which is sometimes a way of simplifying volumes, but also adjust shapes prior to manufacturing operations.

The first scenario shows you how to modify the shape of a part by extruding one of its face up to an external surface.

Open the Faces.CATPart document.

  1. Click Replace Face .
    The Replace Face Definition dialog box appears.

  2. Select the yellow surface as the replacing surface.

  3. Click the arrow to reverse the indicated direction.

  4. Select the part's bottom face.
    The face turns purple indicating that it will be replaced.

  5. Click OK to confirm the operation.
    The part has been reshaped and the new feature (identified as ReplaceFace.xxx) is added to the specification tree.
 

Replacing Faces with Other Faces

From V5R15 onwards, you can:

  • Align a face with another face as illustrated in this second scenario.
  • Replace a set of tangent faces with a set of other tangent faces as illustrated in the last scenario.

Aligning Faces

To perform this scenario, you will use Body.3 which you will have previously set as the current body.

  1. Click the Replace Face icon .

  2. Select the horizontal face on the smaller pad.
    The first face you select is always the replacing face. Once selected, it is shown in blue.

  3. Select the horizontal face from the left pad.
    Once selected, the face to be replaced is shown in purple.

  4. Click OK to confirm the operation.
    Both faces are aligned.

Replacing Faces

To perform this scenario, use Body.2.

  1. Click the Replace Face icon .

  2. Select the horizontal face on the left.
    This face, which is the replacing face is now displayed in blue. Because it is tangent to the face produced by a fillet operation, that face is also selected and in turn includes the vertical face. Three faces are then selected as indicated by the blue color.

  3. Select the horizontal face on the right.
    Three tangent faces are selected as the faces to be replaced and are shown in purple:

  4. Click OK to confirm the operation.
    The result you obtain shows that replacing these faces affects the fillet radius value to the left.

Automatic Reroute

Automatic reroute of children takes place if you replace a face by a surface with only one face. In case of complicated industrial CATPart documents containing several topological faces, manual reroute of children may be required to be done, depending on the complexity of the document.