Unfolding of Cylinder Shapes

[Janvrin]

Could anyone provide me with a resource that unfolds or provides a formula for cylinders that are cut at an angle or more specifically, a cone shaped part that is sitting at an angle. Thank you.

 

[prex]

Unfolding of cylinders and cones is(was?) a basic in draughting courses and you should find the principles in a basic text.
Your problem seems not very complex, but you should specify it better (cylinder cut at an angle means a flute shaped end? what about the other end? a cone is completely different from a cylinder, what means 'more specifically'? what means sitting at an angle?): anyway I'm afraid it will be difficult to communicate about complex 3D geometry over this text based forum.
prex
motori@xcalcsREMOVE.com

http://www.xcalcs.com

Online tools for structural design

 

[Janvrin]

Thanks for your input. The part shape is more complex than a simple cone or cylinder. It has both shapes. A cone at the top which blends into a cylinder at the bottom. Both have been cut through at an angle. A simple drafting text didn't help me. I am looking for some guidance for a resource such as a web site or sheetmetal unfolding program that would allow me to draw the shape(preferably in 3-D)and then unfold it into a flat blank. Right now, I'm wiring(EDM) a piece with a four(4)axis program to produce part and flat blank.

 

[Hagan]

Any shape such as you have described can be drafted but I guess that you are after electronic data that describes the unfolded profile... ie a cad file.

All of the high end CAD systems will either do this or have an add-on to do this and some of the mid-low end packages do the same. I am talking about Pro-E, Unigraphics or Autodesk Inventor, SolidEdge, Solidworks, Modeler.... respectively..... HOWEVER... this is just what they claim and your problem sounds quite complex.

Contact a CAD supplier such as those mentioned above and tell them that you are interested in that system's capabilities, giving them your problem to solve..

If they can do it, then that is the system that's right for you. If it's jus a one-off job, then you will have the data you require.

That's how I would approach it.

Rich