Exporting a part or assembly in stereolithography (STL) format

Select Plug-insToolsSTL Export from the main menu bar to export a part or assembly from an Abaqus/CAE model to a file in stereolithography (STL) format (*.stl). You can export data from either a single part or from the entire assembly, and you can export either the geometry or mesh data from your selection.

Context:

To export geometry data, perform the STL export from the Part module or the Assembly module. The plug-in converts any solid parts in your selection to shell geometry during the conversion to STL format. In addition, the plug-in uses the faceted representation of the part to create a mesh for the exported geometry. The accuracy of the generated mesh is dependent on the degree of faceting, which you can control using the Curve refinement option. For more information, see Controlling curve refinement.

To export mesh data, perform the STL export from the Mesh module or the Visualization module. During the conversion to STL format, the plug-in divides quadratic elements at their midside nodes to create linear elements and splits any quadrilateral elements into triangular elements. When you export assembly data from the Visualization module, the plug-in exports data according to the plot state in the current viewport.

You can export STL files in ASCII format or in binary format.

  1. Switch to the Part module or the Mesh module to export part data; or switch to the Assembly module or the Visualization module to assembly data.
  2. Display the part or assembly that you want to export in the current viewport.
  3. From the main menu bar, select Plug-insToolsSTL Export.

    The STL Export dialog box appears.

  4. From the STL file name options, specify the name of the STL format file you want to create and the location where you want to create it. If you do not specify a location, the plug-in creates the file in the current working directory.
  5. From the STL file type options, specify whether you want to create an STL format file in ASCII or Binary format.
  6. Click OK to export the model data.

    The plug-in converts the model data in the selected part or assembly and creates a new STL format file in the location that you specified. If any Abaqus data cannot be converted to STL format, the plug-in records errors or warnings about unconverted data in the log file.