Sheet Metal Conversion

[trekfan]

I have a interesting question for the community. I have been tasked with a side project, and am at a stopping point. I am trying to create a globe of the earth to mount outside our plant, but am having difficulty. I have created the sphere, then sketch planes, and finally, sliced the sphere into 8 pieces. Now I am trying to flatten those pieces out to find a sheet metal blank size for them. I will be cutting out the stainless steel sheet on our laser, and forming the parts with a english wheel, but am having difficulty trying to force solid works to convert the slice into sheet metal. I shelled out the sphere to .059 (16 ga stainless). As a side note all the information on the outside of the globe will be laser etched.

 

[ctopher]

I don't know if this helps, thread559-94460
It will have to be made up of several parts.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 05
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[Heckler]

Check these two threads below

thread559-108630
thread559-12566

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SW2005 SP 5.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
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Never argue with an idiot. They'll bring you down to their level and beat you with experience every time.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

You will not be able to change the sections into Sheet Metal parts. To manufacture those parts in real life involves stretching & thinning (plastic deformation) of the material. SW (& most other solid medellers) cannot currently do that.


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[D3sign3r]

Not sure if this helps, or is what you need to do but what if you located a picture of the earth in a flattend (rolled out) view on the internet. Should have zig-zag cut outs on the top and bottom. Then somehome re-create that pattern onto solidworks sheetmetal. Now print out the sketch and cut it out with a knife or scissors. From there you should be able to tape it together or even use glue just to get a rough idea that it will work with sheetmetal.
Just a thought...

pj

 

[trekfan]

I have actually done the paper model, i was hopeing to have it done in solid works. It is not required of me to do so, but i was just trying to push the envelope.

 

[ctopher]

Can you show us a pic of what you have?

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 05
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[trekfan]

Sorry it took so long to respond, I have been trying out some of the other suggestions. Here it what I have accomplished so far. It is fairly basic.

http://www.exiledplayers.com/temp/globe-slice-test.SLDPRT

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

WOW ... why so many sketch bends? Are you having to bump this in a Press Brake?


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[ctopher]

It will have to be of several parts. Create the model the way it will be made.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 05
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[trekfan]

Actually no, we are going to use an english wheel to form it.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

You only needed one Sketch Bend (at the widest point) with the bend angle set to 180deg & the bend radius set to 5.6875" to achieve what you had. A tiny flat at the sharp ends can be used to set the "Fixed Face".


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[trekfan]

I think this software here should do the trick, am gonna check it out next week.

http://aerohydro.com/products/industrial/sfw.htm

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Please let us know your findings.


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[jacek0841]

.
I am SURE you can NOT flatten a sphere !!

It has been some 200 or perhaps even 300 years ago that some mathematician (Swedish ?? - though not sure) has proven this once and for all that you can NOT flatten a sphere

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

jacek0841 ... you are correct ... but you can (physically) create a spherical segment from a flat, however stretching & thinning of the material will occur.

SolidWorks cannot (at the moment) "handle" the plastic deformation calcs needed to create a flat from a sphere. The SurfaceWorks package from Aerohydro apparently can.


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[smcadman]

Here is a link for those unfamiliar with an English wheel.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/nave-html/W02/globe.html

That piece is not what trekfan is asking about, but it is almost identical to one we produced at a previous job. Flat patterns can be created for many shapes regardless of plastic deformation. Just think of spiral chutes, square-to-rounds, and transitions.

http://img280.imageshack.us/my.php?image=smoothchute5ey.jpg

Flores
SW06 SP4.0