Fitting Patches

The patches can be generated after all patch boundaries have been constructed or identified. If time and thought has been spent on the placement of the boundaries, then patch fitting is a simple matter of selecting each patches' boundaries and allowing the system to generate the patch.

Boundary patches for the FOS and FOB must be created first. These patches are used to enforce tangent continuity with patches created later.

Before manual patching can take place, the option must be enabled by selection OPTIONS \ MANUAL PATCHES from the main menu.

Generate a patch manually

1. Select Options->Manual Patches from the main menu (this enables the manual patching facilities in the Surface Patches dialog.)

2. Select the icon to open the Surface Patches dialog and select the Generate page.

3. After the patch Name (every patch must have a unique, user defined name) has been entered and the patch Type selected (Scatter, Boundary or Regular), click the Generate button.

   The four boundaries which define the patch edge can then be selected with the cursor. A three or two boundary patch can be generated by cancelling the cursor after the required boundaries have been selected. The system will then generate the patch and automatically set continuity between any neighboring patches.

   

   Figure 3:167. Surface Patches Dialog - Generate page.

If any curves do not intersect, an error message is output indicating the number of corner intersections found.