FreeCAD: あなたのための 3D パラメトリック・モデラー

Introduction

The goal of this article is to list some currently missing features in FreeCAD and provide workarounds for them. It can be helpful for new users who can't find a particular functionality in FreeCAD.

Sketcher Workbench

No.	Missing feature	Workarounds
1	Auto snap to objects (geometric centers, quadrants, extensions, intersections)	Manually apply constraints and use construction lines Draw geometry in the Draft Workbench, where snapping to objects is available, then convert to sketch with the Draft Draft2Sketch tool
2	Check geometric and mass properties of the sketch (area, center of mass, second moments of area and so on)	Create a face from the sketch with Part MakeFace, then analyze that face with Part CheckGeometry
3	3D sketches	Use the Draft Workbench, but 3D drafts can't be converted to sketches (however, they can be used for spatial frame analyses done internally or externally, and for PartDesign AdditivePipe or Part Sweep paths)
4	View section tool showing filled cuts	If the sketch is plane-parallel to one of the main planes of the global coordinate system: use Part SectionCut
5	Diameter dimension with respect to a symmetry axis for revolved parts	Create a radius dimension instead (you can enter the diameter divided by 2 - the calculation will be handled by FreeCAD)
6	Dimension labels adapting to the rotation of the view to be always readable	Rotate the view when needed
7	An option to hide the whole construction geometry in an active sketch	In the Elements window, use the Construction filter, select the construction geometry entities there and uncheck their checkboxes

Part Workbench and Part Design Workbenches

No.	Missing feature	Workarounds
1	Check the geometric and mass properties of the model	FCInfo macro Part CheckGeometry tool – area, volume, mass, length, center of mass, moments of inertia, radius of gyration
2	Display the center of mass of the model (part or assembly)	Macro CenterOfMass
3	Clipping plane that doesn't make the model look like it's hollow	Change the Lighting property in the part's view settings to "One side" (very rough equivalent, problem with multicolored parts) Persistent section cut tool - deselect all planes before pressing Close Link Branch - experimental renderer
4	Creation of an axis on the intersection of 2 planes and a plane midway between two faces/points, possibly more variants for datum creation	Macro Intersection Manual adjustment of datum attachment
5	Automated midsurface extraction (for thin-walled parts)	Use Draft Facebinder and then Draft Scale or Part Offset (easier) to make it actual midsurface, apply the workaround for extending faces if the generated midsurfaces are separated and join them with boolean tools
6	Project (map/wrap) sketches on non-planar (e.g. cylindrical) faces	Curves SketchOnSurface tool in add-on Curves Workbench Part ProjectionOnSurface tool
7	Select which part of the sketch to pad	Select one by one all edges forming a closed contour to pad Select edges from the sketch and create a SubLink or a SubShapeBinder and pad that new object Pad a complete sketch located on the existing face of the model in the opposite direction (towards the existing shape) so that only new faces are created. Then it is possible to select these faces individually and pad them. This method should be used with caution since unnecessary 3D operations may lead to unexpected errors. Thus, it is recommended to use the previous workaround instead. Link Branch - Export Single Geometry and Export Multiple Geometries tools or automatic SubShapeBinder created when edges forming a closed loop are selected from the sketch before padding
8	Fillets and chamfers that can consume adjacent faces/edges	Make fillets with a slightly smaller radius (e.g. 6.4999 instead of 6.5 mm) Model these features directly using other operations, such as PartDesign Pocket or already include them in the sketches
9	Variable radius for the PartDesign Fillet tool	Use the Part Fillet tool which supports a variable radius
10	Parametric curves	Macro 3D Parametric Curve
11	Cosmetic threads	Add cosmetic threads on the TechDraw page Model true threads, for holes those can be generated automatically using the Hole tool
12	Partitions (splitting surfaces and volumes with sketches and datum planes while keeping the number of parts unchanged)	Boolean Fragments tool – only splitting surfaces with sketches
13	Guide rails for Additive Pipe and Additive Loft or their equivalents in the Part Workbench	Add-on CurvedShapes Workbench - CurvedArray or CurvedPathArray Add-on Curves Workbench - GordonSurface or Pipeshell Surface Workbench - Filling
14	Twist for PartDesign AdditivePipe or Part Sweep	PartDesign AdditiveHelix (`pitch = height * 360 / twist angle`) Add-on CurvedShapes Workbench - CurvedArray Multisection mode in Additive Pipe
15	Bending existing parts	For sheet metal objects: add-on SheetMetal Workbench - SheetMetal AddFoldWall
16	Pattern along a curve	Draft PathArray tool
17	Cut scope - cut tools affecting only selected part of the model	Different order of operations and use boolean cut on padded bodies
18	Merging adjacent faces	For faces of a PartDesign Body: change the Refine property of the last Feature to `true`, may not remove all the redundant faces For co-planar faces: use Draft Upgrade twice to get a Draft Wire, Draft Downgrade the wire to get a face
19	Datum points from coordinates	Base datum points on existing geometry Create datum points at the origin and change their Position afterwards
20	A tool for automatic creation of ribs (structural reinforcements)	Create ribs manually, wedges (Part Wedge or PartDesign AdditiveWedge) can be used for simple triangular ribs
21	A tool for automatic creation of domes	Create domes manually, spheres (Part Sphere or PartDesign AdditiveSphere) with properly adjusted parameters can be used for simple spherical domes
22	Extending faces up to other faces (useful e.g. when extracting midsurfaces, as mentioned above)	Use the Draft Upgrade tool on the faces to be extended, extend proper edges with Draft Stretch and recreate the faces using Part MakeFace
23	Fuzzy versions of Part Boolean operations (possibility to specify a tolerance for boolean union and other operations)	Add-on Defeaturing Workbench
24	PartDesign AdditiveLoft and PartDesign AdditivePipe with a possibility to use an open profile as the first or last section	Different modeling approaches, e.g. involving PartDesign Pad
25	A tool to sweep a circular profile of a given diameter along a selected path	Draw the circular profile manually
26	Optional local coordinate system display for datum planes	Attach a datum coordinate system to datum plane to see its local orientation

Draft Workbench

No.	Missing feature	Workarounds
1	Snap to apparent intersections of curved edges, perpendicular extensions, arc extensions, geometric centers and tangent points	Use the other available Draft Snap tools and a more manual approach with construction geometry When working on the XY plane: create a (temporary) projection of the geometry with Draft Shape2DView
2	Keyboard shortcuts for Draft Snap tools	Snaps can be activated and deactivated using keyboard shortcuts but only when none of the input boxes in the task panel has the focus (so the user should click in an empty space of the task panel to be able to use shortcuts for snaps)
3	Automatically change the colors of objects back to 'normal' when removing them from the construction geometry group	Move the objects to a layer with the correct color settings Change the colors manually
4	An option to quickly switch between the three main working planes and their projections at the selected point (for 3D drafting)	Set the Draft working plane to Automatic, and then select any of the standard views: front view, top view, etc. Use the Draft Constrain feature - snaps to axes, not to planes Use working plane proxies
5	AutoCAD-like command line input	Use FreeCAD's widgets or Python scripting for input
6	Hatch a region enclosed by wires	Create a face (a hatch can only be applied to objects with planar faces): In case of a single closed wire: set its Make Face property to "true", and its Display Mode to "Wireframe" Upgrade multiple wires two or three times until you have a face, or a single closed wire (see above) If the wires must stay separate, but are connected end-to-end, create a SubShapeBinder from them Trace over the region with a closed wire (not parametric)

TechDraw Workbench

No.	Missing feature	Workarounds
1	Broken out and rotated/removed section views	Use the Slice apart tool to physically cut the model and then create its view
2	Auto diameter dimension on side views	Manually add the diameter symbol
3	Manually add geometry to generated views	Cosmetic line tools in Annotations and Extensions, limited Create regular views and Draft views of sketches and Draft objects
4	Shaded views in drawings	Place screenshots of the model on a white background on the TechDraw page
5	Ordinate dimensions	No known workaround
6	Exclude ribs from hatching	In some cases it might be sufficient to use the first workaround mentioned here and manually create a section with a custom cutting line
7	Export of TechDraw pages as PDF without making the text from the template (path text) unmarkable/unsearchable.	Export the page as SVG. Then convert the SVG to PDF by using e.g. Inkscape or open the SVG in a web browser and then save or print as PDF.
8	Box selection of TechDraw objects	Select objects manually, one by one (while holding Ctrl)
9	Modify regular and section views using sketching tools	Manually create and modify the views: If a section view has to be modified, use the Part SectionCut tool or boolean operations to cut the part in the same way as it would be done by the section view tool Use the Draft Shape2DView tool to create a 2D line representation of the view or section view Use the Drafting tools with proper snaps to modify the view Use the Draft Draft2Sketch tool to create a sketch out of the Draft objects Use the Sketcher ValidateSketch tool to make sure that the sketch has no missing coincidences, doubled lines and so on (those issues may impact the face selection in TechDraw) Use the TechDraw View tool to create a view of the sketch in TechDraw.
10	Auxiliary views	Create a standard view from the correct direction. Workarounds for "View normal to a face" may help. Rotate and position the view as needed.

FEM Workbench

No.	Missing feature	Workarounds
1	Beams with arbitrary cross-section	Manually edit the input file and modify the beam section definition
2	Distributed load on beams	Force load
3	Support for multiple meshes and thus possibility to define contact between touching (not separated) faces	Apply Part Fuse or Part BooleanFragments to assemblies and include small gaps if you want to use contact or tie constraints
4	Advanced material models (hyperelasticity, creep and so on)	Manually edit the input file and add proper keywords for material definition
5	Composite shells	Manually edit the input file and modify the shell section definition
6	Simple creation of node and element sets as well as surfaces	Use node and element sets and surfaces created by other features (material assignments, boundary conditions and so on)
7	CalculiX keyword editor that can fold data lines and allow changes not only right before running the analysis	Simple editor that can open the .inp file before running the analysis, color the syntax and save changes (accessed using the Edit .inp file button in FEM SolverControl window)
8	Meshing with hexahedral elements	Create the geometry in FreeCAD, export it for meshing in external software (e.g. Gmsh or Salome_Meca), import the mesh (e.g. in .inp or .unv format), drag it to the Analysis container and apply constraints to the geometry
9	Multistep analyses (e.g. preload for frequency/buckling analysis)	Prepare the analysis with the first step, write the .inp file, edit it to add definitions of subsequent steps and run the analysis
10	Box selection of geometric entities for constraints	Select geometric entities manually, one by one

General workarounds

No.	Missing feature	Workarounds
1	Improved appearance/rendering of 3D models	Link Branch Rendering in external software such as Blender
2	Consistent selection order - some tools require the user to pick the geometric entity first while others allow selection after enabling the tool	No known workaround
3	More GUI customization options - pie menus, different icon styles and themes and so on	Various customization packages created by the community Link Branch
4	Advanced selection tools: selection by angle, inverting selection, improved filters and box selection, and so on	Manual selection
5	Assembly workbench with an option to constrain parts to the origin and to datums	No known workaround
6	More texturing options	No known workaround
7	Highlight only the individual PartDesign feature in the 3D View when the corresponding operation is selected in the Tree View	No known workaround
8	Select only the individual PartDesign feature in the Tree View when a corresponding element is selected in the 3D View.	No known workaround
9	Freeform modeling	Model complex shapes in a "traditional" way - e.g. using add-on Curves and CurvedShapes workbenches Sculpt meshes, for example in Blender, and import them into FreeCAD
10	Assembly component generators and calculators for: bolted and riveted connections, shafts, splines, keys, cams, gears (spur, bevel, worm), bearings, springs, belts and chains, pins, o-rings	Fasteners Workbench and Gear Workbench but no design calculations available PartDesign WizardShaft - basic calculations for shafts
11	A tool for kinematic analysis on properly constrained sketches	Python scripting - example
12	GD&T directly on 3D models - MBD approach	Draft Annotation tools

SEPA 情報
SEPA 銀行振込を設定してください。:
Beneficiary:	The FreeCAD project association
IBAN:	BE04 0019 2896 4531
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Introduction

Sketcher Workbench

Part Workbench and Part Design Workbenches

Draft Workbench

TechDraw Workbench

FEM Workbench

General workarounds