Importing STEP Files

The ACIS STEP translator provides bi-directional functionality for data translation between ACIS and the file format standard STEP AP203.

STEP AP203 is an international standard which defines a neutral file format for representation of configuration control design data for a product.

The command used to import a STEP file are:

Import Step '<step_filename>' [No_bodies][No_surfaces] [No_curves] [No_vertices] [HEAL|Noheal] [Logfile ['filename'] [Display]] [Show_Each] [Group {'<name>'|<id>}] [Sort] [XML '<xml_filename>']

Import Options

It is possible to include free entities (vertices, curves and surfaces) in the file. The default operation is to read all entities in the file whether they are included as part of a body or are free. By using any of the options no_bodies, no_surfaces, no_curves, or no_vertices, the user may exclude certain types of free entities.
By default, bodies are automatically healed when imported - if this causes problems, you can disable this option by using the noheal argument.
The logfile option specifies a file where informational messages generated during import of the STEP file will be written. The display option will display the file.
The show_each option is a graphics option that applies to how the volumes are shown as they are imported. If there are multiple volumes in the file, the graphics display will be updated between each volume during import.
The group option of the import command will allow the user to create a group for each set of imported geometry. The newly created group can later be accessed using the name or id specified with the group option.
Normally the numerical IDs of the geometric entities contained in the STEP model are used directly within CUBIT. The sort option provides the capability to compress the IDs read from the STEP file. The sort option does the same thing as the compress ids sort command, but combines it with the import command to remove a step in the process.
The xml option will read assembly information and other metadata from an XML file in the DART metadata XML format. See the metadata documentation and the Analyst's Home Page for details.
If the geometric entities in the STEP file have names, they will be read in.
Beginning with version 13.0, Cubit will read assembly information embedded in the imported STEP file. No additional arguments are required. The resultant assembly/part structure will be displayed in the GUI's main entity tree.

Import Settings

By default, names on bodies in STEP files are not read in. To change this, the following command is available:

[set] Read Step Body Names [on|OFF]

Exporting a STEP file from Pro/Engineer

To export a STEP file from Pro/ENGINEER, from the Export STEP Dialog, Press Options.

In the file step_config.pro add the following:

STEP_EXPORT_FORMAT AP203_CD.

Also be sure your export option is set to Solids. If the geometry has problems in CUBIT, you may need to increase the geometry accuracy in Pro/ENGINEER.