Avoiding Tri-patches

Tri-patches can be very detrimental to a quality Pro-E Surface project. This tutorial explains what a Tri-Patch is and how to avoid them.

What is a Tri-Patch? A tri-patch is a boundary surface that is defined by only 3 curves. Two curves in one direction and one curve in the second direction. This type of a Pro-E Surface can be created; however, the surface quality is generally very poor. Due to the way Pro/ENGINEER generates the surface, it creates a singularity or concentration of UV lines at one point. This makes the surface very difficult to offset, which is usually what the surface is used for. Either creating a thin protrusion off setting the quilt, or shelling a solid part for constant wall thickness can be difficult if not impossible.

The sole purpose of this Pro-E Surface tutorial is to teach you ways to eliminate tri-patches during the surfacing process. In doing so, you can be assured your models will be of the highest quality. In addition, implementing this technique can save you headaches and frustration for future Pro-E Surface projects.

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