Stent Modeling

[Yensid]

I have modeled what I consider to be a fairly complex stent. There are different length column sections, as well as an entire section that has a different pattern from the rest of the stent, so I was not able to simply copy/paste/mirror etc.

I have (2) issues.

1) I have not been able to wrap the drawing onto the tube without leaving a gap at the meeting faces...same issue when I use the flex tool and bend at 360 degrees. How do I go about filling in that gap?

2) The flat model/360 degree bent model I have created is at the tube size that will be laser cut. (.076" diameter) I need to expand this model to .295" diameter. Perhaps I have not drawn the model correctly; which will never get me what I want...but does anyone have any suggestions on how to go about this?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Can you post the part, or at least an image, to show what you are dealing with?

Also, the Search function found seven previous "stent" threads. See if any of those help.

 

[Yensid]

I also searched the forum, and found nothing that matched what I need. The closes thread mentioned something similar, and the reply was that SolidWorks was not good at this type of work, that simulation software would do a better job, and that the person would need to redraw the expanded version rather than expand or stretch the cut diameter version. I am hoping there is someone that has a different answer...

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Is the sketch fully dimensioned?
Will the expanded sketch/model have the same number of 'holes' as the original?

If yes, you should be able to use the ModelRescaler macro from [link ]

http://www.lennyworks.com/solidworks/default.asp?ID=20

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[Yensid]

I will check out the macro CorBlimeyLimey...thank you.

After staring at the sketch for the umpteenth hour...it dawned on me that I had horizontal/colinear constraints on some of the stuts. After removing those contraints, the sketch changed as I was hoping for.