• Fusion

Create a circular pattern from solid bodies

Use the Circular Pattern command to duplicate objects around a common axis.


00:04

The circular pattern command in a design workspace creates

00:07

a set of patterns faces features bodies or components

00:12

in a circular arrangement

00:13

and helps reduce the need to sketch and extrude multiple similar entities.

00:19

In this example,

00:20

we have this valve cover

00:22

and you're going to create a number of threaded holes to play some bolts.

00:26

One option may be to create a number of individual sketch entities

00:31

extrude them by selecting each profile independently,

00:34

then apply the threaded command to each cut out.

00:38

However,

00:39

you can minimize this process and use a more parametric approach

00:42

by instead using one threaded hole and creating a circular pattern

00:48

from the crate drop down menu,

00:50

open up the circular pattern command

00:54

in the dialog box that appears,

00:56

you can see we need to select our type,

00:58

the objects to pattern

01:00

the axis to pattern it around

01:02

and the type of spacing.

01:05

First

01:06

you want to select features from the drop down as

01:08

we are not patterning a face body or component.

01:13

Now you need to select the objects,

01:17

you can either select these directly from the 3D model

01:20

or an easier way maybe to pick them directly from the timeline

01:25

as you want to pattern both the extrude cut and thread command,

01:28

just left click on those two features

01:30

and you can see them highlighted in the 3D model.

01:34

Next,

01:35

you need to define our axis which is a reference for the pattern to revolve around

01:40

with a few examples shown here.

01:43

You can also select the origin axis or a two D sketch entity.

01:47

If these are placed correctly

01:49

for now,

01:51

go ahead and click on the select axis box, then select this edge.

01:55

If you go to the front view,

01:57

we may be able to see what is happening a bit more clearly with our preview pattern.

02:02

In this example,

02:03

you have a quantity of three with full angular spacing,

02:06

meaning it's patterning around 360 degrees,

02:11

you can change the quantity by dragging the handle

02:15

or entering the valleys in their respective boxes.

02:18

For now set this to six and press OK to create your circular pattern features.

02:26

Hopefully,

02:26

you can now start to see how this might help save time in your modeling workflow.

02:31

The added benefit is that this feature is editable.

02:34

So if you right click on the feature in the timeline and select edit,

02:38

this will bring us back the same dialogue box. We can nil at the valleys as before

02:44

to show you what the angular spacing options allow

02:47

select angle from the drop down.

02:49

And you can now see an additional box where you can enter an angular value.

02:55

This option lets you set a maximum angular rotation from the origin object.

02:60

For example, here it is set to 360 degrees.

03:04

Meaning this will pattern fully around the axis.

03:07

If you were to set this to 100 and 80 degrees,

03:10

you can see it now patterns half of the way around the axis.

03:16

You can also use a drag handle to get

03:18

an approximate position before entering a more accurate value.

03:23

Next

03:24

you have symmetric which as with the angle option

03:27

lets you set a maximum value.

03:29

But in this case,

03:30

it produces results on equal sides and the total

03:33

angle accounts for the total on both sides.

03:36

I'll set this to 100 and 80 degrees and

03:38

change the values just to illustrate what this means.

03:44

Again,

03:45

you can also drag the handle to get an idea of position before entering final values.

Video transcript

00:04

The circular pattern command in a design workspace creates

00:07

a set of patterns faces features bodies or components

00:12

in a circular arrangement

00:13

and helps reduce the need to sketch and extrude multiple similar entities.

00:19

In this example,

00:20

we have this valve cover

00:22

and you're going to create a number of threaded holes to play some bolts.

00:26

One option may be to create a number of individual sketch entities

00:31

extrude them by selecting each profile independently,

00:34

then apply the threaded command to each cut out.

00:38

However,

00:39

you can minimize this process and use a more parametric approach

00:42

by instead using one threaded hole and creating a circular pattern

00:48

from the crate drop down menu,

00:50

open up the circular pattern command

00:54

in the dialog box that appears,

00:56

you can see we need to select our type,

00:58

the objects to pattern

01:00

the axis to pattern it around

01:02

and the type of spacing.

01:05

First

01:06

you want to select features from the drop down as

01:08

we are not patterning a face body or component.

01:13

Now you need to select the objects,

01:17

you can either select these directly from the 3D model

01:20

or an easier way maybe to pick them directly from the timeline

01:25

as you want to pattern both the extrude cut and thread command,

01:28

just left click on those two features

01:30

and you can see them highlighted in the 3D model.

01:34

Next,

01:35

you need to define our axis which is a reference for the pattern to revolve around

01:40

with a few examples shown here.

01:43

You can also select the origin axis or a two D sketch entity.

01:47

If these are placed correctly

01:49

for now,

01:51

go ahead and click on the select axis box, then select this edge.

01:55

If you go to the front view,

01:57

we may be able to see what is happening a bit more clearly with our preview pattern.

02:02

In this example,

02:03

you have a quantity of three with full angular spacing,

02:06

meaning it's patterning around 360 degrees,

02:11

you can change the quantity by dragging the handle

02:15

or entering the valleys in their respective boxes.

02:18

For now set this to six and press OK to create your circular pattern features.

02:26

Hopefully,

02:26

you can now start to see how this might help save time in your modeling workflow.

02:31

The added benefit is that this feature is editable.

02:34

So if you right click on the feature in the timeline and select edit,

02:38

this will bring us back the same dialogue box. We can nil at the valleys as before

02:44

to show you what the angular spacing options allow

02:47

select angle from the drop down.

02:49

And you can now see an additional box where you can enter an angular value.

02:55

This option lets you set a maximum angular rotation from the origin object.

02:60

For example, here it is set to 360 degrees.

03:04

Meaning this will pattern fully around the axis.

03:07

If you were to set this to 100 and 80 degrees,

03:10

you can see it now patterns half of the way around the axis.

03:16

You can also use a drag handle to get

03:18

an approximate position before entering a more accurate value.

03:23

Next

03:24

you have symmetric which as with the angle option

03:27

lets you set a maximum value.

03:29

But in this case,

03:30

it produces results on equal sides and the total

03:33

angle accounts for the total on both sides.

03:36

I'll set this to 100 and 80 degrees and

03:38

change the values just to illustrate what this means.

03:44

Again,

03:45

you can also drag the handle to get an idea of position before entering final values.

Was this information helpful?