STL Chord Height Problems When Using Master Model

We recently came across and issue with a fairly small model that had a very large minimum chord height when exporting to stl. We discovered the cause was the large surfaces of the master model that were imported using External Geom Copy. The difference in size was about 10 to 1 between the master model and the final part.

With certain parts, the higher chord height would be acceptable. However, this component had small snap details that were getting completely removed by the larger triangulation. The good news is that the solutions are fairly simple.

Solution 1
Decrease your part's accuracy. The chord height is directly proportional to the accuracy of your model. To adjust this, use Edit/Setup/Accuracy. This will not always allow your model to fully regen though. If this is the case, see solution 2.

 

Solution 2
Export your model and re-import it back into Pro/E. Be sure that with the option for layers you select to "Skip" the layer(s) that contain the external geometry copy if the option is available. You can usually successfully import a part this way by using either Step, Neutral, or Iges exports from Pro/E. This will bring your part in as a solid chunk of geometry and will set your accuracy accordingly to it's size, without the external geometry copy. You can now export this imported file using a smaller chord height