{"id":430066,"date":"2025-04-25T16:07:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T16:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/forums\/topic\/importing-stl-part-in-non-sequential-mode\/"},"modified":"2025-04-27T09:19:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T09:19:22","slug":"importing-stl-part-in-non-sequential-mode","status":"publish","type":"topic","link":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/forums\/topic\/importing-stl-part-in-non-sequential-mode\/","title":{"rendered":"Non Sequential Mode Boolean and STL Import Error"},"content":{"rendered":"

<p>I’m trying to modify the fresnel lens geometry by using the boolean function in nonsequential mode.<br>To do this, I created the desired shape using SOLIDWORKS, exported it in STL file, imported as an object in Zemax.<br>However when doing this, I am faced with three problems:<\/p><\/p>\n

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  1. Scale: Even though I designed the part in SOLIDWORKS in inches and also set the unit of Zemax to inches, when I import the STL object, it is HUGE. I have to scale it down to about 0.05 to make it similar to its original size. From this, I think the issue here is the unit conversion. I think in the process of importing the STL object, the scale becomes 25.4. This I could be the result of designing the part in inches(=25.4mm) -> import the file to zemax -> the program just imports it in millimeters (this causes the model to become 25.4 times its original scale) -> just convert mm to in without deviding the scale by 25.4. This process seems like the most likely  error to me. Please explain why this is happening.<\/li>\n
  2. Position: When designing the part in SOLIDWORKS, I made sure that it’s positioned right at (0,0,0) while satisfying the Zemax’s right hand coordinate system. However, when I import it as an object, its position is way off from the center. For example, if I design a sphere of radius R and the center at (0,0,0) in SOLIDWORKS, when I import it to Zemax, its center is at (R,R,R)<\/li>\n
  3. Boolean Error: Even after changing the scale and the position of the imported STL in order to solve the problems above, when I perform the actual boolean(a & b), the error message like this appears:<br>\"\"<br>The model is fully closed, exported in STL, and there isn’t anything wrong with it. I thought this might be because the Object1: Fresnel1’s geometry is too complex, so I changed the Object1 to a simple sphere and tried the same boolean again, and the same error appeared.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <p>I really need to get this work done, but I’ve been stuck in this level for days. Please help me out with this.<\/p><p>Please help me out with step by step guides, and not just a link to a tutorial or the knowledge base(I’ve been there multiple times).\ud83d\ude22<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-430066","topic","type-topic","status-publish","hentry","topic-tag-boolean-error-1","topic-tag-opticstudio","topic-tag-zemax-interoperability-1"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"custom_fields":[{"0":{"_bbp_forum_id":["27816"],"_bbp_topic_id":["430066"],"_bbp_subscription":["543871","66161"],"_bbp_author_ip":["183.107.58.189"],"_bbp_last_reply_id":["430449"],"_bbp_last_active_id":["430449"],"_bbp_last_active_time":["2025-04-30 13:21:27"],"_bbp_reply_count":["1"],"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":["0"],"_bbp_voice_count":["2"],"_bbp_engagement":["543871","66161"],"_btv_view_count":["315"],"_bbp_topic_status":["unanswered"],"_edit_last":["543871"],"_edit_lock":["1745746026:543871"]},"test":"jeonhjkaist-ac-kr"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics\/430066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/topic"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics\/430066\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}