[rhbissani]

Hello everyone,
I hope you are all doing well.
I am experiencing an issue with the approach and retract settings when generating welding paths using the Solid Edge plugin, and I was wondering if anyone has encountered something similar.

The Context:
I currently use SolidWorks with the RoboDK plugin to export models and curves for welding programming. With my current configurations in SolidWorks, the export works perfectly. By selecting the two reference faces and the edge, I get a consistent 45-degree approach and retract angle as expected.

The Problem:
When using Solid Edge, I cannot achieve the same result, even when mirroring the exact same settings used in SolidWorks. While the model and curves export successfully, the approach and retract behavior is incorrect:
The surface normals seem to point in only one direction.
In some cases, the normals flip or vary their position along the path.
I have attached screenshots of my current settings and the resulting behavior in RoboDK for reference.
Has anyone faced this inconsistency between the two plugins? Any advice on how to get the Solid Edge export to respect the 45-degree orientation correctly would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance!

[Albert]

Make sure the surfaces you select are in contact with the curve. You can try to increase the "Mix Normals Tolerance" to account for surfaces that are not exactly in contact with the curve you selected.

Can you share more information about the 3D model you are using? A screenshot or the 3D model and the curves and surfaces you are selecting.

[rhbissani]

Hi Albert, thanks for the info.

I’ll try adjusting the tolerance, because checking the model we do have a 0.1mm gap witch can be the possibility.
But it’s strange because I get good results in SolidWorks, while Solid Edge isn’t satisfactory even with the same settings.

Do you know if anyone else has run into similar issues specifically with Solid Edge?

I’ve attached some images for reference. You can see two different approaches for the same curve on the same part when I switch software.

Thanks in advance!