Folding a cone of a sheet metal piece 1

[Buskov]

Hey there.

I'm somewhat of a rookie in SW, so I would like to ask a question.

I've got this flat cone part(I did not make myself), see attached picture, and my goal is to have it folded into a cone. Can you give me any tips on how to do that?
I tried to play with making it a sheet metal to make it fold, however I had no luck yet.

Best regards, Kåre

 

[MadMango]

http://www.eng-tips.com/search.cfm?...+cone&t=&h=&searchSite=1&searchArea=1&d=1&s=1

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[Buskov]

Oh well, the headline might be a little off. It is not a sheet metal piece yet, but I wrote that as I reckon i need to convert it to a sheet metal piece to possibly get the conical shape.

 

[Buskov]

Thanks MadMango, I'll have a look there.

 

[MadMango]

I don't think you will get the shape you are after starting with a flat shape like you have. I would try Insert>Sheet Metal>Bends, then add a sketch line under Process-Bends. I think this will only create a cylinder, not a cone.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[Buskov]

Thanks again MadMango.

I've tried to play with the sheet metal bends and I haven't got it to work yet. I remember getting it to fold like a cylinder at some point as you said, but not like a cone.

Do you think it would be possible to create the cone geometry from a sketch with the side and the centerline, revolve the sketch to create the cone, and then add the holes on an unfolded sketch of that cone?
I'm trying it out, but I have some trouble to be able to create the holes on the unfolded geometry.

 

[MadMango]

I would create the holes in the folded cone shape. It would be easy to create only one series of holes, then Circular-Pattern that feature around your cone, which allows you to adjust spacing easily. I think you will get better results by creating your cone first, then unfolding it via some of the suggestions that were in the provided link above. Read through some of those, as folding/unfolding cones is a bit tricky.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

In the real world, the holes would normally be added at the flat stage, and then the flat would be rolled or bumped to form the cone.

Will the cone be rolled or bumped?

If bumped, add multiple angled Sketch Bends to the flat. This will create a cone with a series of flats ... unless you use a conical die set.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Another thing to consider is whether the holes need to be truly circular with parallel edges in the conical state. If created in the flat state and then subjected to the forming process, the edges will become distorted and the holes will be elliptical.

 

[Buskov]

I'm not sure what the definition of a rolled or bumped cone is.

Actually what I need from this cone, is to use it as a part in an assembly which I will export a part of to some ANSYS CFD software, and model fluid flow and combustion.

I would want the holes to be circular on the curved surface, so I guess the way to go is to make them directly on the folded cone.
My plan is to make a plane tangent to the angled cone side and create holes/cuts on this plane and then make a circular pattern of these.
It might however be a bit challenging to place the holes 100% correct according to my flat geometry.

 

[NTME76249]

What will you be cutting your hole's with? We make vessels with nozzle holes in them. we design it rolled and then create a cnc file off the flat layout to be cut on the plasma table. then when we roll it, the holes are in position.

Play with the attached file and see if it is what you are looking for.
the most difficult part of it is proper positioning which can be achieved by sketches

 

[Buskov]

I will not be cutting this to a real piece of metal. It is only for modelling purpose, i.e. to get the correct geometry in the CFD calculation.

But thanks alot for the input. I'm looking on your SW file right now, and it seems like a way to come around with the hole-making!
It just take quite a while when I'm not used to work in SW.

 

[rstupplebeen]

Since this is for CFD and not manufacture you do not need to be spot on. Consider your intended element size and determine from there if the warped holes will really affect the analysis. For something like this I would do the quick and easy case and then refine as needed. That way you have results ready early and are creating better ones as you go. Remember symmetry is your friend in CFD and FEA. I hope this helps.

Rob Stupplebeen

https://sites.google.com/site/robertkstupplebeen/

 

[Buskov]

Thanks for the answers.
I got the cone with holes made now, so that should hopefully be all good.

Now my goal is to make the "inverse/negative" of the geometry I have now, to make the fluid zone a solid instead of the walls. And ultimately take a 1/6 slice of the whole geometry, and then export that to my Ansys CFD software.
Any of you have exprience with that? I'm looking into the mold cavity function in Solidworks now, as that might be a possibility I guess.

 

[GRF]

Kind of late on this but if this is only for a simulation why bother with sheet metal. Make a cone then shell it to get the correct thickness. Or do a revolve. Then you can cut the holes a number of different ways.

As for the cavity function. I am assuming your cone is going inside a pipe of some sort. Create a solid cylinder that would be the inside diameter of the pipe. Then make an assembly with the cylinder and the cone. Now edit the cylinder from inside the assembly and use the insert\molds\cavity. From there you can select the cone, either from the center of the screen of from the feature tree that appears on the left hand side of the screen next to where the feature tree is usually.