3D polyline with centreline radii, sweep along curve

[happystamps]

Hello all-
I'm essentially pretty new to Unigraphics, having not touched it in the last 3 years and even then at a very basic level (Extrude! Extrude again! Negative boolean extrude!). Normally I use Catia v5, but we're looking into Unigraphics and whilst I'm in the process of booking some training, I'd really like to know how to create a tube routing, since that's my business- especially since spending money in a company takes an absolute age.

What I'd like to do is plot a set of points, link them all up with a polyline, and apply a centreline radius. Then I'd like to either use a sketch at one end and sweep it along that line, or just extrude a surface from that polyline and a given radius if possible. I can then apply a thickness to that surface, hopefully!

I'm just having some problems figuring it out- all of the controls are a bit alien!
Can anyone show me a step-by-step process to help guide me in the right direction?

Thanks

Simon

 

[cowski]

Use the command finder to locate the "tube" command (location depends on your version of NX). Select the spline for the tube, enter ID and OD values and press OK.

www.nxjournaling.com

 

[jerry1423]

You may want to do in search in this on importing points, there are some previous posts on importing them from Excel
In my previous applications it was best to use a studio spline, you may want to experiment with that.

Be sure to utile your command finder (Help (pull-down) -> command finder) if you need help finding commands within NX.
You can even enter the command as it is in Catia and NX will try to find its equivalent.

 

[happystamps]

I don't have a problem currently with importing points manually, usually the routings I'm doing are less than 15 or so bends, so it's not unusual even with Catia that I'll do them manually. Thanks for your help so far Simon

 

[jerry1423]

It sounds to me like you are working with automotive exhaust systems.

 

[happystamps]

Similar, cooling systems mostly. At the moment I'm mostly having a play, but it's nice to get ahead.

So, what I do on Catia is plot my points, and use the polyline tool to connect them up (screenshot shown). The polyline tool allows me to insert a radius and job's done.

But with NX, it seems more complex. I can create my points, but the studio spline and fit spline toolbars have a lot of options on there that I'm not familiar with. I suppose it's mostly a terminology issue! Any deciphering available? I haven't been able to create what I'm after yet- the only splines I can produce are massive arcs!

cheers

Simon

 

[cowski]

Do you want the result to be lines & arcs or are you looking for a free-form curve (spline)?

www.nxjournaling.com

 

[JohnRBaker]

I would simply connect the points with straight line segments, then go back and add fillet curves and then use the 'Tube' command as cowski originally suggested.

What version of NX are you currently using?

I've attach a video showing how this would be done using NX. Please note that there was no need to trim the lines after adding the fillets since when selecting the path for the 'Tube' feature I used a selection rule which said to follow the tangent paths even they did not form a single explicit path, one of the really nice features when using NX for work like this.

John R. Baker, P.E.
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Siemens PLM Software Inc.
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