Software to flatten carbon Fabric

[WernerQuevedo]

I work as a designer for a factory producing carbon parts mainly for automotive.
Actually we make che "flattening" of 3D surface via Catia, but I use the flatten tool from Generative shape design environment. This tool is not very well performing as it makes a "geometrical" flattening that does not follow the behaviour of carbon fabric.
I tried using the composite environment in Catia, but it is very very complex and time consuming. Do you know any software that can flatten quickly the 3D surface?Perhaps some composites-oriented software would be great.
Every software makes great promises, but I'm looking for an easy to use(as I want to leave this duty to a less trained worker)and fast way to have the job done
Furthermore I have problem of compatibility as the Lectra (cutting machine) software does not read dxf saved from Catia and I must convert it using Powershape

 

[ewh]

Fibersim, now owned by Siemens, is a good (but expensive) solution.

"Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively."
-Dalai Lama XIV

 

[St0RM33]

I was working in a company making fiberglass boats. They are using CATIA to design but as i was told the flatten tool is not up to par with reality because for relatively medium complexity shapes and up need to be done by hand and then a template is made from the prototype. This is because you usually need to have cuts that must be jointed after manually. I was thinking there is a way to mathematically calculate this and they are some software out there that supposedly can do this job but i haven't tried any to comment. Usually you need to factor cost and time in production, that's why most businesses do it by hand.

 

[MikeHalloran]

I think you can still get a free limited use demo CD of McNeel Rhino.
I don't know if it can unwrap to fabric, but it can do a great job on developable sheet metal.
At least inquire in our forum:
McNeel: Rhino Forum
(608 members)
forum782 -


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA