6. Geometry Connections

In the Setup portion, we will need to define the connections between the geometry pieces, specifically the line bodies we have defined as the truss supports. The surface areas of the flexure mounts provide a good surface to define a connection between the line body and mounts. However, we need to define the area where the line body connects to the circular mount pad, equivalent to the diameter of the truss's cross -section.

First, we need to construct reference points to center the circular sketches on.  Download this coordinate file. Once downloaded, select the "Point" concept, and change the type to "Construction Point." Then define it as a coordinate file and select the downloaded file.

Generate the points.

Now that the guiding points are created, we need to create a sketch for the diameter of the truss line bodies. First, we need to create a plane that the sketch is based upon; it needs to be the same plane as the top of the circular base support.

Select "New Plane" then select "From Face" in the type detail. Then select the circular base support plane and apply.

Now that the plane has been created, we will create a sketch for the circular connections. Click the "New Sketch" button with the created plane selected. Once created, click on the "Sketching tab" to start sketching.

Create a circle of 0.03 m diameter centered around the construction points. There are a total of six circles on this sketch.

Return to the modeling tab. Now that the sketch has been created, we have to apply it to the geometry. Otherwise, it is just an unattached sketch. Since we are just making a surface area to attach to a connection, all we need to do is project some lines into the surface. This requires two steps:

1. Create a Concept > Lines from Sketches. Select the sketch you created and Add Frozen.

2. Generate.

Now that the lines are created, we need to "etch" them into the base surface. Create a Tools>Projection. Use Edges onto Face. Select the created lines as the edges, and the surface face for the face. Make sure "Imprint" is set to "Yes."

Generate the Projection. This now has created lines on the circular mount pad. We can now use the created surface area as a connection surface for the setup step.

Lastly, remember to show all the hidden parts. Remember to keep the imported truss (as machined) parts suppressed. Suppress the line bodies created by the above step.