Exporting Facet Files

Export Facets 'filename' <entity_list> [Overwrite]

The overwrite function allows you to overwrite an existing facet file.

STL facet files may be generated from geometry or from a triangle mesh. The syntax for exporting to the STL format is:

Export STL [ASCII|binary] 'filename' [<entity_list>] [tri <id_range>] [angle=15] [mesh|water tight] [sidesets] [Overwrite]

The [entity_list] option is a list of geometric entities (bodies, volumes, or surfaces). By default, the graphics facets for the geometric entities will be written to the STL file. The [angle] keyword specifies the dihedral angle used during facet generation. The [water tight] option will enforce a "water-tight" set of graphics facets to be exported for solid volumes. To export the triangle mesh on the geometric entities, instead of the graphics facets, specify the [mesh] keyword. Note that STL export of quad meshes is not supported.

The [sidesets] option will export all sidesets in your model as surface designation for any or all triangles in the file. If present, one sideset will be generated for each surface designation in the STL file. Following is an example surface designation in an STL file. It would appear following all triangles.

        surface 1
          0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
          10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
          20 21 22 23
        endsurface 1

The id following the surface designation will be used as the sideset ID.

Alternatively, a list of mesh triangles can be specified for export. If neither geometry entities nor mesh are specified, all volumes and sheet bodies are written out.