Wall Thickness Analysis

Use the Wall Thickness Analysis to show the wall thicknesses of a model in different colors.

The Wall Thickness Analysis is located in the Analysis group of the 3D-Mode tab.

Run a Calculation

Calculating the wall thickness requires extensive calculations. An estimation of the time needed to perform the calculation will be displayed after starting the analysis. To cancel a running calculation, press [Esc], for example to adjust the calculation settings for a shorter calculation time.

Select model
The Wall Thickness Analysis can only display and analyze one model at a time. If there are multiple models, click << or >> until the wanted model is displayed.

Point
See the wall thickness at certain points on the model. This function is available without calculating the wall thicknesses.
Click Point and move the cursor across the model. The wall thickness at the position of the cursor will be displayed.

Calculate
Click Calculation to start a calculation based on the center of the generated triangles.

Assign
Assign the current colors to the model and close the Tooling Analysis. By this all colors of the model will be replaced with the colors of the Tooling Analysis. This cannot be undone and because the colors are a global property this change will also affect all existing Custom Views.

Notes

Enabling OpenCL in Settings > Hardware will accelerate the calculation of the collision analysis, undercut analysis, and wall thickness analysis.
Open edges and flipped surfaces may distort the results of the analysis.
The wall thickness analysis is calculated for all shells/parts individually. If this is not desired, the shells/parts can be combined using the Combine parts [More information] function.

Customize the Calculation

Choosing the Calculation method (Default: One ray)

For graphical display, the 3D models are divided into a mesh of many triangles during import.

One ray
The one ray calculation method places a perpendicular ray through the center of the triangles in the mesh to determine the wall thickness of the model. This method is useful for identifying thin areas in models. The single ray method is faster than the fitted ball method.

Fitted ball
The fitted ball method calculates the wall thickness using multiple rays placed in a spherical shape from the center of the triangles. This method is useful for identifying thick areas in models, but is slower than the ray method.

Mesh generation

To get a preferably good result, the triangles that make up the model will be subdivided into smaller ones. The values in the Calculation section define the strength of subdivision.

A finer subdivision will increase the quality but also the calculation time.
A coarser subdivision will decrease calculation time but also the quality.

Remesh iterations (Default: 5)
Enter how many times the creation of the mesh will be repeated. A larger value will enhance the result but increase the time needed for the calculation. If "0" is entered, the edges of triangles will not be broken down further.

Edge length (Default: 2.5 mm / 0.098 inch)
Enter the maximum edge length a triangle may have until it is broken down into smaller triangles. A smaller value will enhance the result but increase the time needed for the calculation.

Customize the Color Display

Adjusting the color display does not require a new calculation. So you try different settings after a calculation is done.

Display

Spectrum
Choose the Spectrum option to display the different wall thicknesses as a color spectrum between the specified Min and Max values.

Within
Choose the Within option to display the wall thicknesses as a color spectrum between the specified Min and Max values. Wall thicknesses within this range will be shown, while those outside this range will appear in gray.

Outside
Choose the Outside option to display wall thicknesses that are outside the specified Min and Max values. These will be shown in blue and red.

Set Min / Max

Manual input
Enter the minimum and maximum wall thickness for the color display.

Via Histogram
Min and Max can be set by selecting a range in the histogram instead of entering the values manually. Choose the option to display the wall thickness histogram. The histogram shows the distribution of wall thicknesses: The horizontal axis represents the different wall thickness ranges, while the vertical axis shows the percentage distribution of these ranges. To select the desired range, click with the mouse on the corresponding area in the histogram.

Calculated Min and Max Values
Choose <=> to set the Min and Max values for the display based on the calculated minimum and maximum values for the wall thicknesses.