Subject: Creating extruded meshes

You can create an extruded mesh, which is a three-dimensional polygon mesh that approximates the surface generated by extruding a profile curve along a path. You select the two entities that define the path curve and direction vector. The length of the direction vector determines the distance the path curve is moved along the direc­tion vector. The extruded entity can be an arc, circle, line, or polyline. You can choose a line or open polyline as the direction vector. The resulting mesh consists of a series of parallel polygonal planes running along the specified path.

You can create two types of extruded meshes:

•   Facet model meshes are smart meshes that can be modified with advanced features such as boolean operations. They are similar to solids but are more lightweight and don’t have mass properties.

•   Surface meshes are simple meshes.

To create an extruded facet model mesh      

   1   Do one of the following to choose Extrude ():

•   On the ribbon, choose Draw 3D > Extrude (in Facet Model Meshes).

•   On the menu, choose Draw > Facet Model Meshes > Extruded.

•   On the Facet Model Meshes toolbar, click the Extrude tool.

•   Type fmextrude and then press Enter.

   2   Select the entity to extrude.

   3   Select the extrusion path, specify the direction, or specify the height.

To create an extruded surface mesh      

   1   Do one of the following to choose Extruded Surface ():

•   On the ribbon, choose Draw 3D > Extruded Surface (in Draw 3D Meshes).

•   On the menu, choose Draw > 3D Meshes > Extruded Surface.

•   On the Draw 3D Meshes toolbar, click the Extruded Surface tool.

•   Type ai_tabsurf and then press Enter.

   2   Select the entity to extrude.

   3   Select the extrusion path.

The value of the Number of M-Direction Surfaces controls the density of the mesh.
Choose Tools > Drawing Settings, click the 3D Settings tab, click the Surfaces tab, then under Surface Settings, change the Number Of M-Direction Surfaces.

An extruded mesh is different from an extruded solid.
If you want to extrude an entity and convert it to a three-dimensional solid, use the Extrude command. Note that you can also use the Extrude command to create an extruded surface. For more details, see Creating extruded solids or surfaces.