cast & machined parts best practice

[pinetti]

Hello everybody.

NX2 + Teamcenter

My company has recently decided to keep a better track on the casting of the parts we design. From now on we'll have drawings "as cast" as well as "as machined" (with different numbers) for a given component.

I roughly know the bit about linking the two components so that you do the machined "on top" of the casting.

Is there a better way of doing it? I'm worried about the effect this will have when revising the components, using save as for new (similar) components....

I'll thank any experience on the subject!!

 

[Xwheelguy]

I've done it before in the past and it works fine as long as you have your Load Options set appropriately. I prefer to set them to Search.

You also might be able to skip WAVE linking and just use Assembly Cut.

Tim Flater
Senior Designer
Enkei America, Inc.

http://www.enkei.com

 

[gieter]

My philosophy on 3D is to design as it is made. This means you first model the casting "as cast" and wave link it to make the machined part by removing material. The problem ofcoarse is that you don't know what the casting will be like before you draw the functional (read machined) part.

What we do is as follows: we design the functional part and retain the machined outline (in sketches or intersection lines) or in extracted surfaces if it's realy complex. This functional part is shaped into a casting by applying machine stock, draft, blending and, if necessary, some simplification. The result is the actual shape of the casting.
This solid is wave linked into another part file, together with all sketches, intersection lines or surfaces needed to reconstruct solids of the material to be removed by machining. This is substracted from the casting solid and the result is a machined casting. If designed intelligently the machined part can be fully parameter driven from the part file of the casting.

 

[pinetti]

Thanks Tim,

Not using WAVE sounds good to me. I've been told it can fail and cause problems when using UG within Teamcenter!!

 

[pinetti]

Thanks Gieter,

I quite agree with your philosophy, but as I said before we don't like using WAVE within Teamcenter. But you might prove us wrong
Do you have any experience with Teamcenter, or you only use native UG?

 

[gieter]

We're just a poor foundry, so we only use native UG ;o)