Pattern Geometry

Pattern Geometry

Use Pattern Geometry anytime you want to propagate geometry in a geometric pattern. You can define pattern boundaries, reference points, spacing, orientation, and clocking.

• You can create patterns of geometry using a variety of pattern layouts.

Linear	Polygon	Along	Reference
Circular	Spiral	General	Helix

• You can fill a specified boundary with a pattern of geometry.

• For a Linear layout, you can specify a Symmetric pattern in one or both directions. You can also specify to Stagger columns or rows.

• For Linear and Along layouts, you can create a pattern along selected points by setting Spacing to Points, which lets you control where you place instances.
• For a Circular or Polygon layout, you can choose to radiate a pattern.

• You can define a Pattern Increment by using expressions to specify pattern parameters.
• You can export pattern parameter values to a spreadsheet and make positional edits that are propagated back to your pattern definition.
• You can explicitly select individual instance points for deletion or for clocking instances to different locations.

	Linear 4 x 4 layout →	→	Delete Multiple instances of the pattern can be deleted at one time.
Clock Each move shown above is a separate clocking operation.

• You can control the orientation of a pattern.

Same As Input	Follow Pattern (circular)

Where do I find it?

Application	Modeling, Shape Studio, and Pre/Post
Command	Pattern Geometry

Create a chain by patterning link geometry

This example shows how to pattern unparameterized solid body geometry into a chain of links.

Choose Home tab→Base group→Pattern Geometry .

Select the solid body link.

In the Pattern Definition group, from the Layout list, select or confirm Linear .

Middle-click to advance.

In the Direction 1 subgroup, with Specify Vector active, specify a direction for the linear pattern.

For this example, the Z axis of the OrientXpress tool is selected.

In the Direction 1 subgroup, set the pattern spacing parameters.

For this example they are set as shown:

• Spacing = Count and Pitch
• Count = 10
• Pitch Distance =52
• Symmetric =

The pattern as specified up to this point is displayed.

The instances of the pattern need to be reoriented.

For this example, the pattern will be reoriented based on a from CSYS and a to CSYS.

In the Orientation subgroup, from the Orientation list, select CSYS to CSYS.

In the Specify From CSYS line, click CSYS Dialog .

Notice that the link lies in the YC-ZC plane.

Click OK.

Notice that the Specify From CSYS is now Fixed .

In the Specify To CSYS line, click CSYS Dialog

Specify a CSYS for the orientation of the second instance.

In this example the to CSYS is first translated 52 millimeters (the inside length of the link) and then rotated so the YC-ZC plane for the second link is vertical, as shown.

Click OK.

In the Orientation subgroup, select the Repeat Transformation check box .

Click OK.

Pattern Geometry dialog box

Geometry to Pattern
Select Object
Reference Point
Specify Point
Pattern Definition
Layout

Boundary Definition

Not available when Layout is set to Along, General, Reference, or Helix.

Boundary Definition addresses objects that lie in close proximity to or on the surface being patterned, such as holes or repeated detail geometry. Using Boundary Definition with objects whose centroids or instance points are positioned away from the target surface may yield unexpected results.

Boundary

Does not define boundaries. Patterns are not restricted to boundaries.

Lets you select face edges, sheet edges, or region boundary curves to define the pattern boundary.

You can also select faces to be used to define the orientation by following the face normal, much like with the Follow Face orientation option. The faces you select to define the boundary are also reused to define the orientation for Follow Face.

In such a case, NX attempts to space the instances with the pitch distance calculated along the curvature of the boundary face instead of in the Pattern Layout, such as Linear spacing. This allows for the pattern layout, such as Linear, to approximate the surface being followed.

Note that the instance spacing is also dependent on the type of faces being selected, so it will be different when you map curved faces versus planar faces.

Lets you select a set of curves, or create a sketch to define the pattern boundary.

Lets you select curves or create a sketch to define an area that is excluded from patterning.

Patterns created with a boundary definition are highly sensitive to the Reference Point location. If the reference point calculated for a given instance lies outside the boundary, the instance is not created, but the actual geometry created for the instances might overlap the boundary, as seen below.

Simplified Boundary Fill

Available when Layout is set to Linear, Circular, Polygon or Spiral and Boundary is set to Face or Curve.

Displays the Simplified Layout subgroup of options that you can use to fill the specified boundary with instances. The available options depend on the Layout option that you select. You do not need to input as much information to create the instances.

Lets you form a grid for the simplified linear layout pattern, using the Square, Triangle, or Diamond options on the Layout list. The designated layout is repeated until the boundary is filled.

Square		Triangle		Diamond

The Radial Pitch option is unique to circular and polygonal simplified boundary fills. It lets you control the concentric distance of the pattern objects as they radiate out.

Circular		Polygon

Margin Distance

Lets you specify an offset distance from the defined boundaries.

Apply Margin to Internal Boundaries

Available when Layout is set to Linear, Circular, Polygon or Spiral and Boundary is set to Face or Curve.

Adds the specified margin distance to any internal boundaries. Any pattern object that encroaches into the margin distance area will not be displayed.

Rotation Angle

Lets you specify a rotation angle for the simplified layout based on the defined reference vector.

Pattern Definition layout parameters

Pattern definition parameters vary based on layout.

There are also parameters common to all layouts.

Use the Look up more details links for specific layout options information.

Pattern Increment

Pattern Increment

Opens the Pattern Increment dialog box where you can define increments to be applied to instances as the pattern count increases.

Instance Points

Select Instance Point

Lets you select points that represent the layout, pattern definition and orientation of the instances that are to be created. Use the Snap Point options on the Top Border bar to filter point selection

When you right-click an instance point, the following options are available.

Delete removes the selected instance from subsequent pattern geometry operations. A small red sphere indicates that the pattern instance is deleted.

Deleting instance points and the pattern instances attached to them does not affect the Spacing / Count parameter specification. For example, a 3 x 3 linear layout with its last column of instances deleted is still a 3 x 3 layout, not a 2 x 3 layout.

Undelete adds the selected instance back into the pattern geometry.

Displays the Clocking dialog box where you can specify instance points to edit, and then define a delta position and orientation for the specified instance points.

Clocking is also available from the Operation Navigator by right-clicking an instance and choosing Clock.

Unclock returns selected clocked instances to their original locations.

The above options are also available using the Part Navigator.

Use Spreadsheet

Not available when Layout is set to Reference.

Lets you edit pattern definition parameters, including any pattern-variance settings, only in a spreadsheet.

After you confirm your values, they are read back to the dialog box and the geometry is updated.

The spreadsheet is not stored with the pattern.

If you want to edit the pattern definition parameters in the dialog box, clear the Use Spreadsheet check box.

Orientation

Orientation

Not available when Layout is set to Reference.

Determines if the pattern objects in the layout will maintain a constant orientation or follow an orientation derived from some defining geometry.

	Orients the pattern objects in the same orientation as the input object.

	Not available when Layout is set to Linear or Reference. Orients the pattern objects following the orientation of the layout.

	Available when Layout is set to Along. Orients the pattern objects based on the normals or projected normals of the specified path.

	Not available when Layout is set to Along, General, or Reference. Orients the pattern objects based on a specified CSYS.

Follow Face

Not available when Layout is set to Reference.

Maintains an orientation for the pattern objects that is normal to the specified face at the location of the instance.

The specified faces have to be on the same body.

Project Direction

Available when Follow Face is selected.

The locations of the instances on the pattern plane will be projected normal from the pattern plane to the specified face.

The locations of the instances on a pattern face will be projected normal from the pattern object to the specified face.

The locations of the instances will be projected along a specified vector to the specified face.

Pattern Settings

Available when Layout is set to Linear, Circular or Along.

Settings

Associative

Creates a fully associative pattern geometry feature.

If you clear this check box, you get separate unparameterized copies of the original geometry.

This option has no effect when creating an instance with either a CSYS or a datum CSYS. The result is always a datum CSYS.

Copy Threads

Lets you copy symbolic threads so that you do not need to recreate additional symbolic threads that look the same as the source body.

The positive or negative disposition of extracted symbolic threads is maintained in subsequent patterning of those threads

This is useful for copied bodies in CAM and Drafting.

Linear layout options

Pattern Definition – Linear layout
Pattern Settings

Circular layout options

Pattern Definition – Circular layout
Radiate
Pattern Settings

Along layout options

Pattern Definition – Along layout
Pattern Settings

Relationships between individual portions of a model. Changes to the parent are propagated to the children.

Linear layout options

Pattern Definition – Linear layout
Pattern Settings

Circular layout options

Pattern Definition – Circular layout
Radiate
Pattern Settings

Polygon layout options

Polygon Definition – Polygon layout
Radiate
Create Concentric Members

Spiral layout options

Pattern Definition – Spiral layout
Spiral

Along layout options

Pattern Definition – Along layout
Pattern Settings

Path methods for the Along layout

Path Methods

General layout options

Pattern Definition – General layout
General

Reference layout options

Pattern Definition – Reference layout

Helix layout options

Pattern Definition – Helix layout
Part shown translucent to show pattern

Common pattern definition options

Definition parameter	Available in layouts
Count Sets the number of instances (including the origin object) for the pattern. Available when Spacing is set to one of the following: Count and Pitch Count and Span Count per Side	Linear Circular Polygon Along
Pitch Distance / Pitch Angle

This parameter appears when Spacing is set to one of the following:

• Count and Pitch

• Pitch and Span

• Linear

• Circular

This parameter appears when Spacing is set to one of the following:

• Count and Span

• Pitch and Span

• Linear

• Circular

Available when spacing is based on arc length and requires a distance input.

Available when spacing is based on a percentage of arc length.

This parameter appears when Spacing is set to one of the following:

• Count and Pitch

• Pitch and Span

• Along

Available when spacing is based on a fixed distance of arc length.

Available when spacing is based on a fixed percentage of arc length.

This parameter appears when Spacing is set to one of the following:

• Count and Span

• Pitch and Span

• Along

Arc Length – Bases pitch or span spacing of the instances on the distance of the specified arc length of the path.

% Arc Length – Bases pitch or span spacing of the instances on the percentage of the specified arc length of the path.

This parameter appears when Spacing is set to one of the following:

• Count and Pitch

• Count and Span

• Pitch and Span

• Along

Defines spacing by a list of values and a count. The values in the list are repeated if necessary until the total count is reached.

Spacing 1	Value = 150.000
Spacing 2	Value = 60.000
Spacing 3	Value = 60.000

• Linear
• Circular
• Along

Defines spacing by the points you select. The spacing between points can vary.

This parameter appears when Spacing is set to Points.

• Linear
• Along

Reference points

When you specify an object or objects to pattern, a location is inferred or can be explicitly defined, which is used as the pattern origin to compute the locations of the pattern instances. This location is called the pattern Reference Point and is shared by the Pattern Feature, Pattern Face, Pattern Geometry, and Pattern Body commands.

Any pattern of objects created is not associative to the reference point in terms of location. This means, if you move the reference point, the pattern will not transform. To transform a pattern, clocking or variance must be applied.

How the Reference point is determined

For single curves, the centroid of the curve is used.

For multiple curves, the centroid of the set of curves is used.

For single faces, the centroid of the face is used.

For multiple faces, the centroid of all faces is used.

For a single body, the centroid of that body is used.

	side view

For multiple bodies, the centroid of all the faces of the bodies is used.

	side view

For objects that modify an existing body, such as a pattern that is subtracted from a body, the centroid of the set of faces modified by the object is used. In this example, the center of the bottom faces of the subtracted object.

	side view

The centroid point on the datum object is used

Reference point considerations

• If you override the inferred reference point location, the initial inferred location cannot be retrieved unless you reset the dialog box and re-select the input geometry.
• If you override the inferred reference point by selecting geometry, such as an endpoint of a line, the reference point is associative to the selected geometry.
• The instance locations of the pattern are reprocessed each time a reference point is re-specified.
• As a best practice, use Show Result in the respective pattern command dialog box to preview the actual result of the pattern.
• You may get unexpected results when creating a pattern along a path using the Along layout or on a surface using Face Finder where the reference point is a distance away from the target and is projected to the target.

It is a good practice to specify a reference point location on the path or surface for more predictable results.

Please see Path methods for the Along layout for more information.

Spacing options by layout

Layout	Spacing	Parameters
Linear	Count and Pitch Count and Span Pitch and Span	Count Pitch Distance Span Distance
List	Count Spacing Value
Points	Specify Points
Circular	Count and Pitch Count and Span Pitch and Span	Count Pitch Angle Span Angle
List	Count Spacing Value
Polygon	Count per Side Pitch along Side	Number of Sides Count (Count per Side only) Pitch (Pitch along Side only) Span
Spiral	Number of Turns Total Angle	Turns (Number of Turns only) Angle (Total Angle only) Radial Pitch Pitch along Spiral Reference Vector Rotation Angle
Along	Count and Pitch Count and Span Pitch and Span	Count Location Pitch By % Pitch By Span By % Span By
List	Count Spacing Value
Points	Specify Points
Helix	Count, Angle, Distance Count, Helix Pitch, Turns Count, Helix Pitch and Span Angle, Helix Pitch, Turns Angle, Helix Pitch and Span	Count Angle Helix Pitch Helix Span Distance Turns (Number of Turns only)

Pattern modeling in NX

In Modeling, you can use four basic commands to pattern geometry.

Available only when a sketch is active.

Copies a chain of sketch curves that lie in a sketch plane, into a specified pattern layout.

If you select non-sketch geometry such as edges, curves, points, and section segments, the selected geometry is projected onto the sketch plane, ready to pattern as sketch geometry.

Copies geometry such as points, datums, curves, bodies, faces, and CSYS into a specified pattern layout. You can set options for pattern boundary, instance orientation, and positioning.

Pattern Geometry is useful for extracting and duplicating various objects such as datums, curves, faces, and solid bodies. Such objects may not be listed as features so Pattern Feature cannot be used.

Copies a set of faces into a specified pattern layout with various options for pattern boundary, instance orientation, and positioning, and then adds it to a body.

Pattern Face is especially useful when working with imported solid models when there are no features in the model to pattern. Feature creation and editing are faster because Pattern Face does not create individual instances as does Pattern Feature.

Copies features such as sketches, datums, curve features, and welding and measurement objects into a specified pattern layout with various options for pattern boundary, instance orientation, clocking and deleting, and variance.

Pattern Feature allows patterning of established features. It is useful when working with patterns where one or more of the instances of the pattern needs to vary in some way from the other instances. Individual instances of the pattern can be modified.

Pattern commands matrix

	Pattern Curve	Pattern Face	Pattern Feature	Pattern Geometry
Requirements	Sketch must be active.	Must have existing body to add faces to.	Must have existing features as the source of the pattern.	Must have existing geometry as the source of the pattern.
Works with	Sketch objects	Faces	Curve Features Sketches Features Datums Welding Objects Body in White Datums Measurement Objects	Points Curves Edges Faces Sheet Bodies Solid Bodies Datums CSYS
Layouts that can be created	Create Inferred Constraints ON	Create Inferred Constraints OFF	Linear Circular Polygon Spiral Helix Along curve chain General target points Reference to another pattern	Linear Circular Polygon Spiral Helix Along curve chain General target points Reference to another pattern
Linear Circular General target points	Linear Circular Polygon Spiral Along curve chain General target points Reference to another pattern
Clocking of instances	no	yes	yes	yes
Deleting of instances	no	yes	yes	yes
Suppressing of instances	no	no	no	yes
Specifying variance on instances	no	no	no	yes
Notes	Selected non-planar geometry is projected onto sketch plane.	Adds patterned faces to existing body. Does not create individual instances. Easy to edit pattern.	Creates individual instances of features. Output can be a pattern feature, copies of the input features as individual features, or a feature group containing copies of the input feature as individual features. Individual instances can be modified.	Extracts and duplicates objects. Instances can be associative or non-associative. Instances can inherit threads.
Result	New curves in the sketch are geometrically constrained to the source curves.	One feature	A feature for each instance in the pattern.	One feature
Limitations	Can only be used with objects in a sketch.	Sews the resulting pattern instances to the selected face, so all of the resulting pattern instances must intersect the selected face.	Uses Boolean operations to join the resulting pattern, so all pattern instances must intersect the solid body.	Few limitations because the result does not require a Boolean operation.

Reference points

When you specify an object or objects to pattern, a location is inferred or can be explicitly defined, which is used as the pattern origin to compute the locations of the pattern instances. This location is called the pattern Reference Point and is shared by the Pattern Feature, Pattern Face, Pattern Geometry, and Pattern Body commands.

Any pattern of objects created is not associative to the reference point in terms of location. This means, if you move the reference point, the pattern will not transform. To transform a pattern, clocking or variance must be applied.

How the Reference point is determined

For single curves, the centroid of the curve is used.

For multiple curves, the centroid of the set of curves is used.

For single faces, the centroid of the face is used.

For multiple faces, the centroid of all faces is used.

For a single body, the centroid of that body is used.

	side view

For multiple bodies, the centroid of all the faces of the bodies is used.

	side view

For objects that modify an existing body, such as a pattern that is subtracted from a body, the centroid of the set of faces modified by the object is used. In this example, the center of the bottom faces of the subtracted object.

	side view

The centroid point on the datum object is used

Reference point considerations

• If you override the inferred reference point location, the initial inferred location cannot be retrieved unless you reset the dialog box and re-select the input geometry.
• If you override the inferred reference point by selecting geometry, such as an endpoint of a line, the reference point is associative to the selected geometry.
• The instance locations of the pattern are reprocessed each time a reference point is re-specified.
• As a best practice, use Show Result in the respective pattern command dialog box to preview the actual result of the pattern.
• You may get unexpected results when creating a pattern along a path using the Along layout or on a surface using Face Finder where the reference point is a distance away from the target and is projected to the target.

It is a good practice to specify a reference point location on the path or surface for more predictable results.

Please see Path methods for the Along layout for more information.