Create panel gaps with rolled edges

The Surfaces > Rolled Edge > Panel Gap tool is the ultimate rolled edge tool, allowing you to create the many surfaces that define a finished panel gap, including the flanges (that define the edges) , the fillets between the panel and the edges, and an optional close-out surface at the bottom of the gap.

Example of a panel gap.

For input, you require, at a minimum, one or more tangent continuous (G1) surfaces curves on the panel. Optionally, you can also build the gap between a set of G1 surface curves, and a separate set of surfaces. This is shown below.

Input Selection

Two methods can be used to create the fillets and flanges of the panel gap.

NoteIn the images below, trimming is turned off so you can better see how the surfaces are built from the input curves.

Selection of one or more tangent continuous surface curves. This provides all the required input to define the gap conditions.
Additional selection of a set of tangent continuous surfaces (shown in yellow below), that may be offset from the primary surface(s), and which are used to build the secondary fillet and flange .

Create a panel gap

Choose Surfaces > Rolled Edge > Panel Gap to open the control window.
Pick a surface curve, or several tangent continuous surface curves (defining one side of the gap).
The curve is highlighted in green, and the surface turns pink.
Do one of the following:
- Click the Build button and go to step 5
- If you want to select adjacent surfaces from which to build the second set of fillets and flanges, click the Adjacent Surfaces button.
Select a set of tangent continuous surfaces (where the secondary fillets and flanges will be located) and click the Build button.
The surfaces turn yellow.
Click on the blue arrows, if necessary, to change the direction of the fillets/flanges or gap, and click the Build button.
Primary and secondary fillets and flanges are built. The panel surface is automatically trimmed to the edges of the fillets to create the gap.

Gap built along a curve-on-surface within a single panel surface
Modify options in the control window, and click Build again.
The four surfaces are recalculated.

After modifying fillet radii, flange angle and length, and gap distance.
Turn on Modify Primary Range and Modify Secondary Range, and adjust the extent of the panel gap with the sliders or manipulators if necessary. Click the Build button.
To create a variable gap, turn on Variable geometry, then click on the surface curve(s) to place gap manipulators, and adjust their position and width. You can also vary the direction of the primary (draft) vector, or secondary vector along the gap. See Using the manipulators to create a variable gap for details.

The fillets and flanges have construction history, so modifying your input curves will cause those output surfaces to update.

To modify the panel gap after exiting the tool, choose Object Edit > Query Edit and pick one of the output surfaces (fillets or flanges) to re-invoke the tool in the usual way.