{"id":189555,"date":"2022-08-09T10:47:15","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T14:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/?p=189555"},"modified":"2022-08-09T10:47:15","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T14:47:15","slug":"tubing-trouble-measuring-imported-geometry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/tubing-trouble-measuring-imported-geometry\/","title":{"rendered":"Tubing Trouble: Measuring Imported Geometry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, I had a student who worked with a company that specialized in custom tubing and tube bending machines. One of the things that he shared with me is that he frequently dealt with imported geometry from customers. He often needed to grab some measurements off them, and it wasn\u2019t always as easy as using the measure command. I helped him figure out a few different solutions using the standard tools provided by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/software\/solidworks-3d-cad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SOLIDWORKS<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Measuring Geometry: Measure Command<\/h2>\n<p>Starting off with the basics, the measure command is a wonderful tool to grab some measurements from imported geometry. When it comes to straight pipes\/tubes, it\u2019s easy to grab some edges of the geometry, choose &#8220;minimum distance&#8221;, and get your value.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-189557 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Track1.gif\" alt=\"Using the measure tool works fantastic to measure straight pieces of imported geometry\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Creating a 3D Sketch<\/h2>\n<p>Unfortunately, as soon as we move on from straight tubes, this technique doesn\u2019t work as well, so we had to get more creative. Utilizing a 3D sketch, you can convert the edges of each section of tubing and give yourself the major points of the path.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-189558 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Track2.gif\" alt=\"Add 3D sketches to a SOLIDWORKS model for easy measuring of imported geometry.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>Measuring Geometry: Lines &amp; Arcs<\/h3>\n<p>Then, by adding in some more sketch elements, you can connect them together using straight lines and tangent arcs. Pull up your measure tool, and now you\u2019ve got a centerline to pull measurements from. Additionally, you can derive both a bend angle and an arc\/chord length as well.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-189559 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Track3.gif\" alt=\"The measure command in SOLIDWORKS can measure both straight line and arc length.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>Measuring Geometry: Planes &amp; Dimensions<\/h3>\n<p>Now there is still another angle to derive, and this is where things got interesting. In order to calculate the angle of rotation, some additional reference geometry would certainly come in handy. Utilizing the centerline we created in a previous step, we can select end points of lines to create planes that are parallel to those lines. Once created, we can use smart dimensions to pull the angle of rotation off from those planes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-189560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Track4.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In my student&#8217;s case, all he really needed as far as measurements is what I&#8217;ve shown here. I didn&#8217;t want to stop here, I wanted to make sure he had every tool in his arsenal that he could; I made sure to mention that there are a few <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solidworks.com\/engineering-software-partners-products?wockw=tube\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">add-ins available for SOLIDWORKS that are designed specifically for tubing.<\/a> If this is all you&#8217;re doing every day, shortening the process via any means possible is always welcome.<\/p>\n<p>Let me know if you guys want to see more about working with tubing in SOLIDWORKS, and hopefully, this article will help save you from any trouble that may result from measuring imported geometry.<\/p>\n<p>Brennen Sands<br \/>\nApplication Engineer<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Computer Aided Technology<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, I had a student who worked with a company that specialized in custom tubing and tube bending machines. One of the things that he shared with me is that he frequently dealt with imported geometry from customers. He often needed to grab some measurements off them, and it wasn\u2019t always as easy as using [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":189563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2286,2285,2271,1084,1085,1086],"tags":[2409,2410,1184,2005,1723,1632],"class_list":["post-189555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solidworks-topics","category-modeling","category-design-validation","category-design-analysis","category-design-engineering","category-solidworks-3d-cad","tag-tubing","tag-measurements","tag-mechanical-design","tag-solidworks-2022","tag-imported-file","tag-geometry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.5 (Yoast SEO v22.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Tubing Trouble: Measuring Imported Geometry - Computer Aided Technology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Measuring imported tube geometry; a great starting point and a guide to some extra resources &amp; add-ins for those looking for a little extra.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/tubing-trouble-measuring-imported-geometry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tubing Trouble: Measuring Imported Geometry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Measuring imported tube geometry; a great starting point and a guide to some extra resources &amp; add-ins for those looking for a little extra.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/tubing-trouble-measuring-imported-geometry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Computer Aided Technology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ComputerAidedTechnology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-09T14:47:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022-08-02_9-59-02.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1276\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"798\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brennen Sands\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CATISolidWorks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CATISolidWorks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brennen Sands\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/tubing-trouble-measuring-imported-geometry\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/tubing-trouble-measuring-imported-geometry\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brennen Sands\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/918586b3323e9aa26595e6eb60ef2e06\"},\"headline\":\"Tubing Trouble: Measuring Imported Geometry\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-09T14:47:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-09T14:47:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/tubing-trouble-measuring-imported-geometry\/\"},\"wordCount\":436,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/tubing-trouble-measuring-imported-geometry\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022-08-02_9-59-02.png\",\"keywords\":[\"tubing\",\"measurements\",\"mechanical design\",\"SOLIDWORKS 2022\",\"Imported File\",\"Geometry\"],\"articleSection\":[\"SOLIDWORKS Topics\",\"Modeling\",\"Design Validation\",\"DESIGN ANALYSIS\",\"DESIGN\/ENGINEERING\",\"SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/tubing-trouble-measuring-imported-geometry\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/tubing-trouble-measuring-imported-geometry\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/tubing-trouble-measuring-imported-geometry\/\",\"name\":\"Tubing Trouble: Measuring Imported Geometry - Computer Aided Technology\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/tubing-trouble-measuring-imported-geometry\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/tubing-trouble-measuring-imported-geometry\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022-08-02_9-59-02.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-09T14:47:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-09T14:47:15+00:00\",\"description\":\"Measuring imported tube geometry; 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