8
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As a minimal example, consider:

annuli = {Annulus[{0, 0}, {0.8`, 1}, {1.3681023133518435`, 
    6.255024218935966`}], 
  Annulus[{0, 0}, {1.8`, 2}, {2.9394676092071563`, 
    8.524521215589012`}], 
  Annulus[{0, 0}, {2.8`, 3}, {5.390068220020829`, 
    11.207832393335261`}], 
  Annulus[{0, 0}, {3.8`, 4}, {1.847790960182163`, 
    7.781910416962884`}], 
  Annulus[{0, 0}, {4.8`, 5}, {5.369176063296676`, 
    11.373108690157169`}]}

regU = RegionUnion@(RegionProduct[annuli[[#]] , 
      Line[{{0}, {0.8}}]] & /@ Range[Length@annuli])

Region[RegionUnion[
  regU
  , Cylinder[{{0, 0, 0.2}, {0, 0, -0.75}}, 5.8]
  , Cylinder[{{0, 0, -0.75}, {0, 0, -1.5}}, 6.0]
  ]
 , Boxed -> True
 , BoxRatios -> Automatic
 , Axes -> True
 , PlotRange -> {{-7, 7}, {-7, 7}, {-2, 2}}
 , ImageSize -> Medium
 ]

enter image description here

Using Show, a better rendering is generated for annuli on top.

Show[Region /@ (RegionProduct[annuli[[#]] , Line[{{0}, {0.8}}]] & /@ 
    Range[Length@annuli])]

enter image description here

Question: I want to generate a STL file from this. How can I improve the resolution of the structure shown in the first graphic?

Any suggestions, tips, improvements will be gratefully received.

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12
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Removing PlotRange seems to do it. $\endgroup$
    – Jean-Pierre
    Jun 10, 2022 at 16:56
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ (2) use the CSGRegion functions (but unfortunately it looks like they don't handle the Product that you use to create the extruded annuli)... $\endgroup$
    – lericr
    Jun 10, 2022 at 17:11
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @lericr, why would you use an external CAD system when Mathematica ships with it's own? $\endgroup$
    – user21
    Jun 10, 2022 at 20:09
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @user21 I guess I don't know what CAD system you're referring to. All I can say is that the functions that seem most amenable to generating printable object, i.e. the Region* functions, just don't perform well compared to other programs that are special-built for that purpose. The new CSGRegion* functions are much better. $\endgroup$
    – lericr
    Jun 10, 2022 at 20:44
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @user21 Just saw your answer with a link to OpenCascadeLink. I wasn't aware of this. Where have you been for the last 10 years as I desperately looked for a Mathematica-only solution for my printing projects? $\endgroup$
    – lericr
    Jun 10, 2022 at 20:48

3 Answers 3

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Using OpenCascadeLink, which comes with Mathematica, will give you excellent results. We start by loading the package and writing a little helper function to convert the annuli to polygons in 3D space which we then rotate in 3D.

Needs["OpenCascadeLink`"]
f[\[Theta]_, r_] := Sequence[r*Cos[\[Theta]], r*Sin[\[Theta]]]
makePoly[\[Theta]_, {rin_, rout_}, {h1_, h2_}] := 
 Polygon[{{f[\[Theta], rin], h1}, {f[\[Theta], rout], 
    h1}, {f[\[Theta], rout], h2}, {f[\[Theta], rin], h2}}]

Create the polygon and visualize:

poly = makePoly @@@ 
   Transpose[{annuli[[All, 3, 1]], annuli[[All, 2]], 
     ConstantArray[{0, 0.8}, Length[annuli]]}];

Graphics3D[poly]

Convert the polygon to OpenCascade shapes and rotate them by the given amount:

shapes = OpenCascadeShape /@ poly;
axis = {{0, 0, 0}, {0, 0, 1}};
sweeps = 
  MapThread[
   OpenCascadeShapeRotationalSweep[#1, axis, #2] &, {shapes, 
    Subtract @@@ annuli[[All, 3]][[All, {2, 1}]]}];

Create the two cylinders and make a union of all of it:

cyls = OpenCascadeShape /@ {Cylinder[{{0, 0, 0.2}, {0, 0, -0.75}}, 
     5.8], Cylinder[{{0, 0, -0.75}, {0, 0, -1.5}}, 6.0]};
union = OpenCascadeShapeUnion[Flatten[{cyls, sweeps}]];

If you want to inspect before exporting use a wireframe:

OpenCascadeShapeSurfaceMeshToBoundaryMesh[union][
 "Wireframe"["MeshElementStyle" -> FaceForm[Orange]]]

enter image description here

Ah, yes, and export:

OpenCascadeShapeExport["~/test.stl", union]

Have a look at the aforementioned tutorial and also this Helical Bevelgear example to get an idea of the scope of OpenCascadeLink.

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7
$\begingroup$

You could convert it to BoundaryMeshRegion and do operations:

regU = (RegionProduct[BoundaryDiscretizeGraphics@annuli[[#]], 
      Line[{{0}, {0.8}}]] & /@ Range[Length@annuli]);

cylinder = 
  BoundaryDiscretizeGraphics /@ {Cylinder[{{0, 0, 0.2}, {0, 
       0, -0.75}}, 5.8], 
    Cylinder[{{0, 0, -0.75}, {0, 0, -1.5}}, 6.0]};

RegionUnion[Flatten[{cylinder, regUU}]]
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6
$\begingroup$

Although CSGRegion is hard to export to stl upto the 13.0.1 version.

annuliCylinder[{x_, y_}, {r1_, r2_}, {θ1_, θ2_}, {h1_, 
   h2_}] := 
 CSGRegion[
  "Difference", {CSGRegion[
    "Difference", {Cylinder[{{x, y, h1}, {x, y, h2}}, r2], 
     Cylinder[{{x, y, h1}, {x, y, h2}}, r1]}], 
   Parallelepiped[{x, y, 
     h1}, {{r2*Cos[θ1], r2*Sin[θ1], 
      h1}, {r2*Cos[θ2], r2*Sin[θ2], h1}, {x, y, 2 h2}}]}]
data = Append[#, {0, 1}] & /@ 
   List @@@ {Annulus[{0, 0}, {0.8`, 1}, {1.3681023133518435`, 
       6.255024218935966`}], 
     Annulus[{0, 0}, {1.8`, 2}, {2.9394676092071563`, 
       8.524521215589012`}], 
     Annulus[{0, 0}, {2.8`, 3}, {5.390068220020829`, 
       11.207832393335261`}], 
     Annulus[{0, 0}, {3.8`, 4}, {1.847790960182163`, 
       7.781910416962884`}], 
     Annulus[{0, 0}, {4.8`, 5}, {5.369176063296676`, 
       11.373108690157169`}]};
CSGRegion["Union", {annuliCylinder @@@ data, 
   Cylinder[{{0, 0, 0.2}, {0, 0, -0.75}}, 5.8], 
   Cylinder[{{0, 0, -0.75}, {0, 0, -1.5}}, 6.0]} // Flatten, 
 ImageSize -> Full]

enter image description here

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