SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible - Matt Lombard [289]
Setting default bend radius, thickness, and Auto Relief options are the same as in other sheet metal functions.
Using Other Methods
The sheet metal tools have been available in SolidWorks for quite some time and have had some time to mature and for users to become well acquainted with them and develop effective techniques using them.
Working with imported geometry
Working with imported geometry starts at the point where you use the Rip feature. While imported geometry can be geometrically manipulated to some extent in SolidWorks, this is beyond the scope of this chapter. The need for a model with walls of constant thickness still exists, even if the imported model has filleted edges showing bend geometry already in the model.
FeatureWorks may be used to recognize sheet metal features or to fully or partially deconstruct the model by removing bend faces as fillets. While FeatureWorks is not covered in this book, the technique may be useful when editing imported parts with overall prismatic geometry that is common to sheet metal parts.
When a sheet metal part is imported, whether it meets the requirements immediately or must be edited in one way or another to make a sheet metal part of it, you can simply use the Insert Bends feature or even the Convert to Sheet Metal feature.
Making rolled conical parts
One of the reasons for maintaining the legacy Insert Bends method is to have a way of creating rolled conical parts. You can create cylindrical sheet metal parts by drawing an arc that almost closes to an entire circle, and creating a Base Flange from it. However, no equivalent technique for creating tapered cones exists with the Base Flange method.
With the Insert Bends method, a revolved thin feature does the job nicely. You simply revolve a straight line at an angle to the centerline, so that the straight line does not touch or cross the centerline; the revolve cannot go around the full 360 degrees because there must be a gap. Sheet metal parts are not created by stretching the material (except for Forming Tools).
When creating a rolled sheet metal part, you cannot select a flat face to remain fixed when the part is flattened. Instead, you can use a straight edge along the revolve gap, as shown in Figure 21.44.
Note
When a conical sheet metal part is created, it does not receive the Flat Pattern feature at the end of the FeatureManager. This is because none of the new Base Flange method features are allowed on this type of part.
Mixing methods
If you use the Insert Bend tool on a part, you can still use the more advanced tools available through the Base Flange method, unless it is a cylindrical or conical part. A Flat Pattern feature is added to the bottom of most feature trees, and the presence of this feature is what signifies that the current part has now become a sheet metal part to the Base Flange features.
However, it is recommended that you avoid mixing the different techniques to flatten parts; for example, suppressing bends under Flatten and Process Bends, as well as using the Flat Pattern.
FIGURE 21.44
Selecting a straight edge for a conical part
Using Multi-Body Techniques with Sheet Metal
As of SolidWorks 2010, you can now use multi-body techniques with sheet metal models. For many of the same reasons you might want to make any other kind of model using multi-body techniques, you may also want to make sheet metal parts using similar techniques. The new rules have several implications for old limitations of sheet metal parts such as:
• You can now have multiple Base Flange features.
• With multiple Base Flange features you also get multiple Flat Pattern features.
• If you have multiple bent bodies, you can only show one body flattened at a time.
• Merging sheet metal bodies eliminates one Flat Pattern feature.
• You can use the Split feature to create multiple sheet metal bodies.
• The commands that can create new bodies in sheet metal parts are as follows:
• Convert to Sheet Metal
• Lofted Bend
• Insert Bends
• Base Flange
• Insert Part