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Guided exercise

Multi-face CAD laminate: several faces, one tooling surface

Open the shipped B02 curved skin, group its connected faces, read the cross-face region, inspect the declared rules, measure exact evidence, save/reopen and produce the summary and plybook.

Time about 40 minLevel IntermediateExample Multi-face aerospace skin (B02 reference)

This page prints cleanly to sit beside the workspace.

Prerequisites

  • A desktop browser with mouse input; the 3D viewport needs room and a pointer.
  • The application open at /app. NO STEP FILE IS NEEDED for this exercise: the B02 reference skin ships with AddPly.
  • Browser storage enabled for this site, so Save project can work. The workspace says so plainly if it cannot.

Starting example

Label
Multi-face aerospace skin (B02 reference)
Open from
CAD laminate workspace → Tools → Templates → Example library → the B02 reference card → Open example.
Basis
No shipped sample — bring your own

A first-party, redistributable reference part, not a published transcription and not anyone's CAD. It is real STEP geometry generated from the construction constants in lib/cad/multiface-reference.ts: a curved control-surface panel built as two spanwise bays fused into one solid, with ten connected trimmed faces. Its material and process are generic, unapproved reference declarations, and it is not an aircraft part. Reset to template rebuilds a pristine copy of the shipped design after an edit; unsaved work is guarded, and a project already saved to the library is not changed.

Open workspace All tutorials

  1. Open the CAD laminate workspace

    Go to /app. The CAD laminate workspace opens by default. If the composites bench is showing instead, press CAD laminate (multi-face) on the menu bar.

    Controls this step usesCAD laminate (multi-face)CAD laminateToolsOpen workbench

    Expected: The header shows the active project name and one of the save chips: Saved, ● Changes not saved, ● Not saved or Saving…. The status bar reads CAD laminate · N faces · N tooling groups · N regions · N plies.

    Note: Tools → Open workbench opens the specialist laminate tools and keeps this CAD design loaded; it does not discard it.

    Report this step ↗

  2. Open the shipped B02 reference skin

    In the ribbon choose Tools → Templates. In Example library, find the B02 reference card and press Open example. Reset to template rebuilds the same shipped design as a pristine copy after any edit.

    Controls this step usesToolsTemplatesExample libraryMulti-face aerospace skin (B02 reference)Open exampleReset to template

    Expected: The example becomes an editable CAD laminate: 10 connected trimmed faces, one tooling group, two regions and 12 plies. The status bar and Ply stack reflect them, and the exact cross-face region clip is about 314159 mm².

    Note: The example is opened through the same STEP import path as a user file and is a normal editable document. Reset to template rebuilds a pristine copy of the shipped design, discarding edits made since it opened; unsaved work is guarded, and a project already saved to the library is not changed.

    Report this step ↗

  3. Inspect the connected faces and the tooling group

    Press Model. Read Faces and the note beneath it, then read Tooling groups. Click a face in the viewport or tick its checkbox to see it highlighted.

    Controls this step usesModelFacesselectedTooling groupsFilter faces by ID or type…

    Expected: Ten measured trimmed faces are listed as one connected solid, and one tooling group names all of them. The exact areas are the kernel's trimmed areas, not triangle sums.

    Note: A tooling group is a named list of faces that keep their own identities; it is not one merged patch.

    Report this step ↗

  4. Read the cross-face region and its exact area

    Press Regions. The region Outer skin, both bays was created from the already-split trimmed faces and carries a projected boundary; the aft-bay doubler is a second region on the SAME projected boundary, selected from only the aft outer skin face, so the two regions overlap on the aft bay. Read the region list for each exact area.

    Controls this step usesRegionsRegions and boundariesTooling groupCreate fixed region from a tooling groupRegion name

    Expected: The region list shows Outer skin, both bays and the aft-bay doubler, each with an exact area in mm². The cross-face region reports its area across two face fragments, near 314159 mm².

    Note: That area is the kernel's exact geometry. Both regions share the same projected XY boundary; the skin region selects both outer skin faces and the aft-bay doubler selects only the aft one, which is why they overlap on the aft bay rather than being two separate patches. That boundary is a straight orthographic sweep, not geodesic sketching on the surface and not a drape.

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  5. Create a fixed region, or edit the cross-face boundary

    To make a region from split faces, choose a tooling group — activating it selects every face the group holds — name the region and press Create fixed region from a tooling group. To re-cut a projected region, open Optional: cut a projected boundary inside faces, press Undo last point or Clear, draw a different loop and press Apply boundary. Or press Ply stack, press Edit on a ply, change Angle (°) or Thickness (mm) and press Apply changes.

    Controls this step usesRegionsCreate fixed region from a tooling groupOptional: cut a projected boundary inside facesUndo last pointClearApply boundaryPly stackEditAngle (°)Thickness (mm)Apply changesRevert

    Expected: A new region is created from the whole tooling group with no boundary cut, or the projected region re-cuts against the retained CAD, or the ply list and Declared ply-intent update to the edited declared values. Undo in the header steps either change back.

    Note: A group with no faces, or no group chosen at all, is refused with a coded message and leaves the design unchanged. A boundary that crosses none of the group's faces is refused with REGION.EMPTY and leaves the previous region unchanged. An angle here is declared intent, not a solved fibre direction.

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  6. Inspect the rosette and the eight-ply skin stack

    Press Rosette and read the Panel zero datum rosette: a radial 0° reference plane at mid-sweep with a spanwise 0° direction. Then press Ply stack and read Declared ply-intent for the Outer skin, both bays region.

    Controls this step usesRosetteRosettes0° directionPly stackDeclared ply-intent

    Expected: The skin region carries the eight-ply [+45/0/-45/+90]s stack at 0.25 mm per ply (2.00 mm declared), and the aft-bay doubler carries [0/90]s. The doubler's four plies are interleaved into the middle of the stack, so the combined stack on the overlapping aft bay is also symmetric and balanced.

    Note: The rosette is a declared reference this product stores and shows. This build computes no fibre path and evaluates no orientation on a curved surface.

    Report this step ↗

  7. Inspect the declared rule verdicts

    In Ply stack, expand Layup checks · symmetry, balance and consecutive plies. The Declared maximum is 2, and Require symmetry about the mid-plane and Require off-axis balance are both ticked. Press Apply rule if you change the maximum; the toggles apply immediately.

    Controls this step usesMaximum consecutive same orientation referenceDeclared maximum · blank means no ruleApply ruleRequire symmetry about the mid-planeRequire off-axis balance

    Expected: Both regions report consecutive: SATISFIED, symmetry: pass, and balance: pass. The same verdicts appear in the summary and the plybook, and the combined aft-bay local stack passes too.

    Note: NOT_REQUIRED is not a pass. These are declared-stack checks over the authored angles, not solved fibre directions or a strength verdict.

    Report this step ↗

  8. Run the exact measurements and produce the summary and plybook

    Choose Deliver → Export → Plybook…. Choose the Candidate pair for the two regions and press Measure exact overlap, then tick both regions and press Measure all-regions intersection and Measure local declared-thickness map. Then choose Deliver → Export → Summary… and read the declared rules. Expand Additional analysis · overlapping coverage and material mass basis to read local declared thickness.

    Controls this step usesExportPlybook…Laminate plybookCandidate pairMeasure exact overlapMeasure all-regions intersectionMeasure local declared-thickness mapExact pair overlapAll-regions intersectionLocal declared-thickness mapSummary…Declared stacking rulesLocal declared thickness

    Expected: The pair and all-regions measurements report the exact shared area of the aft bay, and the local map partitions the union into two atomic cells: the forward bay at the eight-ply declared thickness and the aft bay at the eight-ply skin plus four-ply doubler thickness. Summary… states Current.

    Note: These are DECLARED NOMINAL figures over measured CAD geometry — not a cured thickness, a drape, a producibility verdict or a whole-part map. The map partitions only the union of the regions you select.

    Report this step ↗

  9. Save, reopen and prove a stale-vs-current state

    Press Save project, wait for Saved, then press File → Projects (n) and Open the project. Edit a ply, open Summary… again and press Regenerate.

    Controls this step usesSave projectSavedFileProjectsOpenSTALERegenerateCurrent — this summary describes the design on screen.

    Expected: The design reopens with the same 10 faces, two regions, rosette, materials, process card and 12 plies. After an edit the sheet reads STALE — with the reason; Regenerate rebuilds it from the design on screen.

    Note: Opening rebuilds the exact geometry from the stored BRep, so it can take as long as the original import. A stale sheet still shows the revision it describes; never quote it.

    Report this step ↗

← Back to the guide

Completion checklist

  • The B02 reference skin opens with 10 connected trimmed faces and one tooling group containing them.
  • Outer skin, both bays selects both outer skin faces and spans them, with an exact clipped area.
  • The skin carries an eight-ply [+45/0/-45/+90]s stack and the aft bay a four-ply doubler whose plies interleave it, all on one rosette.
  • Consecutive, symmetry and balance verdicts are SATISFIED / pass for both regions AND for the combined aft-bay local stack.
  • The exact pair, all-regions and local declared-thickness measurements reconcile to the kernel geometry.
  • Save project → Projects (n) → Open restores the complete design, and an edit produced a STALE sheet.

Download a feedback report for this exercise ↗. The report stays local until you choose to share it.

Reset and recovery

  • Undo and Redo in the header step through face, group, region, rosette, ply and rule edits.
  • Reset to template under Tools → Templates rebuilds a pristine copy of the shipped B02 design, discarding edits made since it opened; the guard asks first if work is unsaved, and a project already saved to the library is not changed.
  • To abandon the current design, press File → New project and choose Discard and continue at the guard.
  • If a boundary or measurement is refused, the previous region or result is left unchanged; correct the cause and retry.

Why this matters

Real parts are rarely a single flat face. This exercise is the core AddPly workflow on a shipped, recognisable part: several connected CAD faces become one tooling surface, one projected region spans two of them, a second region overlaps it, and every ply and rule is declared on that measured geometry rather than on a rectangle that only approximates it. No confidential CAD is needed to try it.

What this exercise does not claim

  • No drape, fibre path, course or machine program is computed or implied.
  • Measured areas, overlaps and local thickness are declared/geometric evidence, not strength or producibility results.
  • The B02 reference skin is first-party reference geometry, not an aircraft, a design or anyone's part.
  • The material and process records are generic, unapproved reference declarations with no declared process limits.

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