Generating Model from Spreadsheet Data (NX3)

[e30ryan]

Hi there. First time poster here, looks like a lot of useful info on this site!

Anyways, I'm trying to quickly and efficiently generate a model using NX3 from a spreadsheet containing points and lines.

The part in question is a tubular car frame. I create a 3D wireframe model in FEA (Altair Hypermesh) and perform all my relevant FEA with that. I then need to generate a useful 3D model in NX3 which I can then add other assemblies to in order to check for clearances and interferences.

Hypermesh generates an output data file which lists all of the nodes in X,Y,Z. It also lists all of the elements which refer to a specific tube OD, Wall, and which nodes it runs between.

I've never dealt with any form of macro through NX, but I imagine this is going to be the direction I need to go through.

I can modify/reorganize the FEA data file into something that NX can read more easily, but I need to know how to start interfacing this with NX.

I need to be able to:

- Generate points
- Generate a spline/line through these points
- Assign a specific cross-section to each line

Thanks for the help!
-Ryan

 

[JPM73]

Hi,

If you have a component with pre-defined dimensions, such as height & the only variant is its size, a Part Family Table can be created.

You can take your spreadsheet data & insert into a UG Part Family table, which is similar & be able to extract "defined" parmaters out of it.

Look into Part Family usage.... Hope this helps.

QuEST / GE Mechanical Designer

 

[Shadowspawn]

Ryan,

I've almost replied to this thread several times... you do have several approaches you could take so which method would be best for you?

You could link sketches directly to individual cell values in .xls sheets, but updating later will be a pain.

You could derive all you data into a formatted text file so an external program could read the text file and sparce text strings for values, but you need to make sure your text file is ALWAYS formatted the same. I like this approach, and use a grip routine to get the data, convert it from string text to a numerical value and then store the value as an expression in UG. These expressions drive features....

You could set up cloned template assemblies...

You could set up a visual editor template file...

You could do a lot of things...

Regards,
SS
CAD should pay for itself, shouldn't it?

 

[e30ryan]

Thanks for the replies.

I guess I could also define each element with several key components (which are defined in my data file):

- Start Node
- End Node
- Tube OD
- Tube Wall

I don't want to link the sketch variables to hard-coded cells in the spreadsheet, as the number of nodes, elements, etc will be changing a lot.

The data file that is generated also has a bunch of useless info in it (loading conditions, etc), but I could easily clear out all of the crap with an excel macro (and organize it for something NX can use).

What are macros like in NX?
Can I simply say something along the lines of (obviously in real syntax):

Node123 = (x1,y1,z1)
Node456 = (x2,y2,z2)
Line1 = (Node123, Node456)
X-section = 1x.095
Extrude?

Thanks,
-Ryan