The Interface Tool is combining the creation of Non-Design Spaces and Machining Allowances into one Tool. All functional faces (boundary condition application regions, stopping points, etc.) are selected and individual values can be applied to each surface region to create the according Non-Design Space and Machining Allowance.
Interface Thickness:
The Interface Thickness defines the Non-Design Space through an offset of the selected face to the inside of the volume. Therefore, it defines how much material to the inside needs to be preserved by the optimisation algorithm. The selected face will be exactly the same face in the result however the other faces of the created volume will be reduced a little bit to ensure a smooth integration in the bionic design of the result.
Machining Allowance:
The Machining Allowance value defines how much additional material will be applied to the functional surfaces, which is post processed after the part was additively manufactured. A value of one is the default. If no Machining Allowance is required, the value can be set to 0.
Offset Distance:
The Offset Distance defines how much material at the front and back surface will also be defined as interface regions. In case of a sleeve for a screw not only the inner cylinder is important but also the front face where the screw head is connected to the part. This front face is also a functional surface and needs to be applied with an Machining Allowance.
Note: When the interface thickness ≥ offset distance then the interface volume will be hidden in GUI due to a current limitation. The optimization will still consider the entered values and the Print Geometry will consider the entered Machining Allowance value.