Adding Features to a Flattened Sheet Metal Part

[MattP]

I have a sheet metal part that I need to add features (holes, cuts, etc.). Since this will be a laser cut part, I want to add all of the features in the flattened state and then unflatten it. I always lose my features once I bring my bends back. Is there a way to do this and keep my features that I am not seeing?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[J-C]

Why not place the holes and cutouts where they should go in the formed up state and let the software figure out the location in the flat?

Putting them in the flat and then forming the part up sounds like working backwards.

Jason Capriotti
ThyssenKrupp Elevator

 

[MadMango]

Make sure you use your Rollback bar, move it above your Sheet Metal feature, then add your new features.

MadMango
"Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities."
Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[MattP]

Gildashard,

The reason I want to add them in the flattened state is because I am working off of 2D drawings that have the dimensions based on the flat.

MadMango,

I'll give that tip a try.

Thanks for the help,
Matt

 

[TheTick]

Are you using "unfold" to get the flattened state, or are you using some other means to make the flat?

All this machinery making modern music can still be open-hearted.

 

[MattP]

I have been using the "Flatten" tool which toggles between the flat and formed part. Should I use the "Unfold" command instead?

Another problem I have is trying to put features on a rolled piece of sheet metal. Is there a command that will roll a piece of sheet metal after it has features added? I can only figure out how to start with the part rolled and not flat.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[rocheey]

Features added after either the "Process bends" of "Flat pattern" feature are just that: features available only after flattening. To have features available in The bent state, you either have to have the features available before flattening, or draw it in the flat and add your own bends.

In either case, you're probably gonna have to rework the model.

I find much more flexibility drawing in the flat and then adding my own bends, but its more work.

FYI, having features after flattening is not necessarily an error.. we have quite a few parts here that need features during manufacturing, but not on the finished part. Adding these to the flat, in a derived flat pattern config, gives us this ability, while still not having these features give us mating errors in the assembly.

 

[TheTick]

Yes. Just let the "flatten" be. Consider the "paperwork" that SW needs to convert a part to shetmetal and don't manipulate it unnecessarily.

Use the "unfold" and "fold" commands when attempting to add flat-state features to a folded part. That is how I handle things like holes and fillets through bends.

All this machinery making modern music can still be open-hearted.

 

[MattP]

Thanks for all of the input. I have learned to unfold instead of flatten. Who would have thought that they would be different.

On the subject of rolling, I have not yet figured out how to roll a flat piece. However I have learned that I can "unfold" a piece that started out with an arc, add features and then "fold" it back. Seems to work pretty well. But is there a command that rolls an originally flat piece of sheet metal?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Arlin]

> But is there a command that rolls an originally flat piece of sheet metal?

Look into sketched bend.