Creating Pads or Pockets from Surfaces

You can extrude surfaces in any direction to create a pad or pocket.

The scenario below shows you how to create a pad, but the method and options described are also valid for creating pockets.

Before you begin:

To perform this task, create a surface.

Related Topics
More about Pockets Created from Surfaces
About Pads
Creating Pads
Creating Pockets

  1. Select the surface you want to extrude.

    The different surfaces you can select are:

    • surfaces created in the Generative Shape Design workbench
    • Version 4 surfaces
    • non-planar faces.


    Warning: The options for creating thin solids are not available when you select a surface as the element to be extruded.

  2. Click Pad in the Sketch-Based Features toolbar (Pads sub-toolbar).

    The Pad Definition dialog box appears. You need to define an extrusion direction. To do so, either you select a geometric element or set the Up to Plane limit and select the plane of your choice. In that case, the direction will be given by the normal to that plane (for more, see pockets).

    Warning: Make sure that the surface to be extruded is not tangent to the extrusion direction nor to the plane.

  3. Click the Reference box and select the plane you want to define the extrusion direction. The direction is the normal to the plane.



  4. Enter 21mm and 11mm as the first and second limit values respectively.

    Important: For both limits to be defined, you can use all the options described in the tasks showing the pad creation:

  5. Click OK to confirm.

    The new element identified as Pad.XXX is added to the specification tree.If you create a pad or a pocket from a non-planar face, that face is displayed as a datum in the specification tree.