Stratasys Objet500 - Page 45

Objet500 User Guide 5 Using Objet Studio
DOC-07027 Rev.E 5-12
Preparing Models for Production
Modelpreparationinvolvesthefollowingbasicsteps:
1. Placeobjectsorassembliesonthebuildtray.
2. Ifnecessary,manipulatetheobject’sorientationandposition.
3. Selectthematerialsandmodelfinish.
JustasObjet500printerscanproducedifferentmodelsonthebuildtray
usingdifferentmaterials,youcanproducecomponentsofamodelwith
differentmaterials.Todothis,eachpartofthemodelmustbeaseparatestl
file.
Ifthemodel’scomponentpartswerenotsavedintheCADsoftwareas
separatestlfiles,youcanuseObjetStudiotoseparatethemodelinto
componentparts.(Thisisdescribedin"SplittingObjectsintoComponents"
onpage5-23andin"DividingObjects"onpage5-62.)
OBJDF Files:
Overview
Anobjdffiledescribesboththegeometryofasingleobjectandthematerials,
andfinishrequiredtoprintit.Theobjdffilecanrepresentanobjectthatisa
singlestlfile,oranobjectassembledfromcomponentstlfiles.
ObjetStudioenablesyoutosplitanstlfilerepresentingacomplexobjectinto
anassemblyofcomponent stlfiles,andsavetheassemblyasanobjdffile.
Eachpart(stlfile)describedbytheobjdffilecanhaveitsownmodel-material
characteristic,sothattheObjet500printerproducesthecomponentparts
fromspecificmaterials.
Anotheruseforobjdffilesisforsavingagroupofseparateobjectsonthe
buildtrayasoneunit,togetherwiththeirrelativepositionsandmaterials.
Thisisespeciallyusefulforproducingmodelsinthefuturewiththesame
materials.Infact,whenyousaveobjdffiles,youspecifymaterialsforprinting
modelswithoutregardtothematerialcartridgesloadedintheprinter.The
sameobjectcanlaterbeplacedonbuildtraysforprinting.Eachtimeyou
sendabuildtraytotheprinter,youdecidewhethertoallowprintingwith
substitutematerialsoronlywiththematerialsspecified.
TheConnexversionofObjetStudioenablesyoutodisplay,manipulateand
printcomponentpartsofamodelassemblythatwassavedasanobjdffile,
sinceeachcomponentisaseparatestlfile.Thiscanbeusefulforprinting
onlyspecificpartsofamodel.
Furtherexplanationsofobjdffiles,andtheirfeatures,appearthroughoutthis
chapter.
Model Files
Toproducemodels,youopenoneormoremodelfilesinObjetStudioand
positionobjectsonthebuildtray.Youcanplaceobjectsonthebuildtrayin
severalways:
•byinsertingindividualstlfiles(oranassemblyofstl files).
•byinsertinganobjdffile(anassembly).
•bypastingobjectsthatyoucopiedtotheWindowsclipboard.