topic Re: how to model this irregular ellipsoid in Archicad in Modeling

how to model this irregular ellipsoid in Archicad

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 14:59:06 GMT

My goal is to create a 3dmodel (for CNC) an ellipsoid from the given plan and two sections. Who can tell me if this can be done in Archicad? And if so, how?

The shape is built out of irregular curves - so neither the plan nor section consist of a perfect ellipse (as drawn with circle/ellipse tool), but actually quarter splines that were mirrored.

The operation I am looking for is the equivalent of Rhino command 'sweep two rails' (extruding along multiple paths) or any other way to generate the model.

All input welcome, thanks

Re: how to model this elipsoide

Laszlo Nagy — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 18:04:51 GMT

Use the Morph tool to create a Revolved solid. Draw the Profile of the body based on the Section Views in your PDF. The Revolution axis of the solid should be vertical (parallel with Z axis - perpendicular to the Plan View of the Object). You can create the Revolution Morph in a Section so the Revolution Axis will be in a vertical plane at creation.
Then use the Box Stretch command of the Morph Pet Palette to reduce its size in one direction (along the Y axis). With the Box Stretch command it is possible to stretch the dimensions of the Morph element only in one direction so the ratio of its sides can be distorted.

Re: how to model this irregular ellipsoid in Archicad

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 03:10:24 GMT

I do not believe that ArchiCAD is the right tool for this, better using Rhino, Solidworks or other dedicated modellers that can communicate with the CNC software / drivers.
As Laszlo wrote you can achieve an approximation of your shape in ArchiCAD but it won't be accurate without a lot of editing.
It's like using a screwdriver to hammer in a nail, you can do it but it's going to take a lot of work and the result will probably not be ideal.