Performing A Boolean Operation On Faces

A Boolean operation allows you to unite and intersect two face sets, or to subtract the Tool face set from the Target face set.

Note The remaining faces after a Boolean operation belong to the original part and part surface.
To perform a Boolean operation:
  1. Set Intersect Mode to Boolean Faces.
  2. Define the Tool and Target face sets with the selection buttons.
    See Intersect/Boolean Faces Mode for a list of requirements for the face sets.
  3. Set Boolean Type to one of the following options:
    • Unite — Removes the faces that are enclosed by the overlapping volume between the face sets.
    • Intersect — Maintains only the overlapping volume between the face sets and removes all other volumes.
    • Subtract — Removes the Tool face set from the Target face set.
      • To achieve the desired result, you can use the swap button to change the Tool and Target selections.
      • To subtract multiple tool volumes from the target volume, first unite the tool volumes before performing the subtract operation.

  4. Click Boolean to perform the Boolean operation.

    Examples of Boolean Operations

    These examples use the geometry parts shown in the following image to demonstrate the different Boolean operations. These two spheres overlap so that they share a common volume. The green sphere is the Target face set and the red sphere is the Tool face set.

    Unite

    Using the unite operation removes the common volume between the two face sets.

    Intersect

    Using the intersect operation leaves only the common volume between the two face sets.

    Subtract

    Using the subtract operation removes the Tool face set (red) from the Target face set (green).

    To keep the tool faces after performing the subtract operation, activate the Keep Tool Faces options. This option is only available for the Subtract Boolean type and is grayed out for all other Boolean types.

    Two options are provided to determine the part surface types for the faces that are created at the interface between the target and tool faces during the subtract operation:

    • New — Creates a new part surface named Boolean Subtracted Faces within each subtracted part.

      This option is useful in cases where multiple target parts are being subtracted and you want to maintain closed parts afterwards. The newly created faces are automatically associated with the part they are attached to.

    • Specify Part — Assigns all created faces to a single specified part surface.