STL File Conversion
The
.STL file format has become the Rapid Prototyping industry's defacto
standard data transmission format and is the format required to
interact with stereolithography machie just the amount of data in the
form of meshenes. This format approximates the surfaces of a solid
model with triangles and lacks engineering data! The STL format was
designed to givs to operate the Stereolithography machines but not
actual engineering data. This format is very difficult to utilize for
any purposes other that the 3D building we do in these machine, not
good fro reverse engineering.
Almost
all of today's CAD systems are capable of producing
an STL file. For the user the process is often as simple
as selecting File, Save As, STL. Below are steps for
producing high quality STL files from a number of today's
leading CAD systems. In all cases, export your STL file
as a Binary file. This saves on time and file size.
(Please note, these are only general guidelines and
may not work or produce the best possible STL file in
some cases. Please consult you user's guide or the software's
developers for more information or technical support.
Should we determine that your STL file is not adequate
for production we will contact you for an updated file.)
AutoCAD
Your design must be a three-dimensional solid object
to output an STL file.
- Set
the FACETRES = 10
- Use
the STLOUT command to export your STL file
Alibre
1. File
2. Export
3. Save As > STL
4. Enter File Name
5. Save
I-DEAS
- File
> Export > Rapid Prototype File > OK
- Select
the Part to be Prototyped
- Select
Prototype Device > SLA500.dat > OK
- Set
absolute facet deviation to 0.000395
- Select
Binary > OK
IronCAD
- Part
Properties > Rendering
- Set
Facet Surface Smoothing to 150
- File
> Export
- Choose
.STL
Mechanical
Desktop
- Make
sure you save your work before attempting this procedure.
- Set
the FACETRES = 6 (As above in AutoCAD instructions)
- You
will have to "Explode" your parametric solid to export
an .stl output (Special note: DO NOT save
your work after "Exploding")
- Use
the STLOUT command to export your STL file.
ProE
- File
> Export > Model
- STL
- Set
chord height to 0. The field will be replaced by minimum
acceptable value.
- Set
Angle Control to 1
- OK
SolidDesigner
- File
> External > Save STL
- Select
Binary Mode
- Select
Part
- Enter
filename
- Enter
Max Deviation Distance of .01mm
- Click
OK
SolidEdge
- File
> Save As
- Set
Save As Type to STL
- Options
- Set
Conversion Tolerance to 0.001in. or .0254mm.
- Set
Surface Plane Angle to 45.00º
- Save
SolidWorks
- Tools
> Options > Export
- STL
Options
- Set
Quality to Fine
- File
> Save As
- Set
Save As Type to STL
- Save
Unigraphics
- File
> Export > Rapid Prototyping
- Set
Output type to Binary
- Set
Triangle Tolerance to 0.0025
- Set
Adjacency Tolerance to 0.12
- Set
Auto Normal Gen to On
- Set
Normal Display to Off
- Set
Triangle Display to On
Related Articles
No related articles were found.
Attachments
No attachments were found.
Visitor Comments
No visitor comments posted.
Post a comment
Post Comment for "STL File Conversion"
To post a comment for this article, simply complete the form below. Fields marked with an asterisk are required.