Square Tube Bending 2

[EduPuixa]

Hello ET community!
I have browsed this forum for quite some time now and have found much useful information and solutions for problems I have ran into. Thanks for being around!

Now I have stumbled upon one interesting problem in SolidWorks. In our production we use square tubes and in some cases we cut out v-shaped pieces to make bends in tube. If the centerline of v-cut is perpendicular to tube axis then there is no problem to model the bend in SW – I just use flex and make a bend. But if the cut is made parallel to tube axis from one end, then I can’t use flex feature (or can’t find a proper way to use it) cause it bends whole model, not just separate part of that model.

Below are links to „before-after” pictures for better understanding what I’m trying to achieve here. And I’m using SW2010 SP5.0.
Any ideas for easy way how to model this bend in SW? Cause in real life it is quite simple – just cut, bend and weld!

http://s1.postimg.org/5eth520z3/S_Tube_1.jpg

http://s24.postimg.org/fg9iraiw5/S_Tube_2.jpg

 

[Gupta65]

Model the part as sheet metal, add the cut and then add an edge flange.

Deepak Gupta
CSWE, CSWP, CSDA
SW 2012 SP5.0 & 2013 SP 3.0 EV
Boxer's SolidWorks™ Blog
SolidWorks™ Rendering Contest

 

[EduPuixa]

Gupta, thank you for your replay and suggestion about using sheet metal. I will give it a try and see what I can come up with!

Maybe somebody has any idea if it's possible to get through this using weldments? It would be interesting to see other options as well.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Try using a multi-body part.
Create the portions to be bent with the Flex tool as separate bodies, and then use the Combine tool to create a single body.

 

[snowshoe2]

If you use the weldment commands, create a sketch with the curve required and the profile of your tube will follow the sketch. It will make it look perfect, meaning no ripples on the inside surface that can happen with a bent square tube, but it appears you know square tube bending and could make adjustments as required.

 

[EduPuixa]

Thanks guys for your replays and ideas!

I did use multi-body design as suggested by CorBlimey (have a star for it ), but I tied it together with weldment feature and can use weldment properties as well. Basically I made straight weldment tube, made required cut-out, split the tube by one of its inner wall plane near the cut to get two bodies. With flex feature I bent the body I needed and then I combined two bodies back together. Besides weldment properties I also can use two standard configurations (As Machined, As Welded) to make drawing for production (how much to cut out) and for final assembly with bent side.

As the saying says: "Picture says a thousand words!" I have attached my test file (SW2010), maybe it will be useful for others too!

-> Snowshoe2, maybe you can explain in more detail or create an example file, but I didn't caught your idea. If I make a curved path-sketch then weldment profile will follow it and I will get whole tube bent, not just its one side. I have previously used curved sketches to create square tubes with large bending radii.