Thicken fails on loft surface.

diogo_neves308

I'm trying to thicken a loft surface and it keeps failing, I think its a shape problem, but i have no clue how to resolve it.
Thanks for the help.
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/3606771a0cdefc466f40b52a/w/f0c938407de46ec7a7ca075e/e/47df54e87611e93840d61a7b

John_P_Desilets

Thanks for sharing @diogo_neves308. The surfaces in your example have a few areas that will cause the thicken operation to fail. 

Tight corners or faces that change direction dramatically will cause the thicken to fail. Below is an image of a surface before and after a small thicken operation. 




The lofted surface needs to be smoother in order for the thicken feature to work. You can try to add fillets to remove the sharp edges but that will only solve a portion of the problem. I think the best thing to do would be to go back and adjust the sketches to form a smother surface. You can also try adding 3D curves to help drive the shape of the surface. 

EvanReese

which surfaces are you trying to thicken? do you need them to be hollow walls or are you just trying to make them solid?

diogo_neves308

I'm trying to thicken all the lofts into a 1.2mm hollow fan duct. I'm just starting on CAD, and i'm not sure if this is how i should go about it.

John_P_Desilets

Thanks for sharing @diogo_neves308. The surfaces in your example have a few areas that will cause the thicken operation to fail. 

Tight corners or faces that change direction dramatically will cause the thicken to fail. Below is an image of a surface before and after a small thicken operation. 




The lofted surface needs to be smoother in order for the thicken feature to work. You can try to add fillets to remove the sharp edges but that will only solve a portion of the problem. I think the best thing to do would be to go back and adjust the sketches to form a smother surface. You can also try adding 3D curves to help drive the shape of the surface. 

diogo_neves308

This seem odd to me, I can create a solid from this loft, but i cant have it hollow ?!