How do i draw aerofoil quickly? 1

[cjrog20]

I have a project where for part of it i need to make lots of wings in ProE. Is there a quicker way to draw an aerofoil than to draw loads of lines and dimension them?

Is it possible to give ProE a list of coordinates in a text file or something?

i am using ProE Wildfire

any help appreciated

chris

 

[Guest0527211403]

Yes, it is absolutely possible to bring in an array of points from a text file.

If you have a series of points (e.g. as defined by a NACA airfoil equation) you can import them using one of two methods:

1) Creating an array of points offset from a coordinate system:
Use Insert-->Model Datum-->Points-->Offset from Coorinate System.
This will allow you to import a *.pts or *.ibl file. This is especially useful if you have an array of points in 3 Dimensions. Then, start a new sketch and create a spline through these points.

2) Importing points into a sketch
You can also start a new sketch and directly import points to define a spline. Start the sketch, and create a Skethcer Coordinate System (Sketch-->Coordinate System). Start a spline curve in the sketch. Select the spline, right click and select modify. A dashboard appears at the bottom of the screen, and you should select the "File tab". Pick the arrow below where it says Coordinate system, and select the sketcher Csys that you just made. You can now import an array of points to define the spline. If you want it to be closed, make sure the last point is the same as the first point.

Hope it helped.
Mark

 

[cjrog20]

thanks for the reply!

i got the info for a naca aerofoil and copied it into a text file and saved it as a .pts file. When i put it in using method 2 of what you said, ProE said there was an error with it. Do you know what the syntax is for the coordinates?

 

[Guest0527211403]

Here is a sample of a pts file. It makes an egg-shape.

X Y Z
0 10 0
-5 0 0
0 -5 0
5 0 0
0 10 0

The text is tab-delimited. I think the X Y Z row is important, as well. In the very least it's a reminder to you that these aren't cylindrical coordinates.

I forgot to say one thing about the spline curve in sketcher.

The initial spline curve that you create should have as many points as there are in the file. This is not so much fun when you have many many points to deal with. But a spline should be defined with as few points as possible since that will produce the smoothest curve.

Also, make sure the start point of the curve is fully constrained (aligned to a point or fully dimensioned), becuase Pro/E does not recognize changes to the first and last points in the spline from the text file.

Cheers
Mark

 

[cjrog20]

I've got it working now.

Thanks for all your help.

Chris

 

[cjrog20]

I need to do it at uni now, but uni uses ProE 2001. I'm using the same method, but it wont draw the airfoil shape.

Any ideas?

 

[Guest0527211403]

Use method 1 & create the spline through the points as either a sketch or a curve thru points.

Sorry I uninstalled 2001 so I can't see why it won't work in sketcher.

Mark

 

[peglor]

I ProE 2001 has a 'data from file' option instead. However this only imports .sec, .igs, .dwg and .drw files, so the only way is to import points offset from a coordinate system at part level.

Also, the .pts file can be tab or space delimited and doesn't need to conatin any text other than the point values.

The commands are: Insert datum point --> offset csys --> (Select Coordinate system) --> Cartesian --> Read Points (Select the .pts file your points are in), then hit Done a few times and the points should be in the model.