holy sheet metal - widom-assoc.com · holy sheet metal 3 overview of inventor sheet metal styles...

32
Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort Orlando, Florida 11/29/2005 - 8:00 am - 11:30 am Room:Mockingbird 1/2 [Lab] (Swan) Holy Sheet Metal This lab offers the Inventor user an opportunity to try the Sheet Metal design functionality of Inventor. We will cover the basic tools and alternative workflow options. MA21-1L About the Speaker: Thom Tremblay - Autodesk Dan Hunsucker (Assistant); Colleen Klein (Assistant) and Thom has been a senior applications engineer with Autodesk’s Manufacturing Solutions Division for four years. He has designed all kinds of products using Autodesk software including cabinets, ships, castings, electronics, and consumer goods. He began working in 3D with AutoCAD Release 9 in 1990 and has been a proponent of the advantages of 3D ever since. In his role at Autodesk, Thom uses his experience to help customers find the best combination of software and consulting for their specific needs.

Upload: dangthuy

Post on 28-Nov-2018

267 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin ResortOrlando, Florida

11/29/2005 - 8:00 am - 11:30 am Room:Mockingbird 1/2 [Lab] (Swan)

Holy Sheet Metal

This lab offers the Inventor user an opportunity to try the Sheet Metal design functionality of Inventor. We will cover the basic tools and alternative workflow options.

MA21-1L

About the Speaker:

Thom Tremblay - AutodeskDan Hunsucker (Assistant); Colleen Klein (Assistant)and

Thom has been a senior applications engineer with Autodesk’s Manufacturing Solutions Division for four years. He has designed all kinds of products using Autodesk software including cabinets, ships, castings, electronics, and consumer goods. He began working in 3D with AutoCAD Release 9 in 1990 and has been a proponent of the advantages of 3D ever since. In his role at Autodesk, Thom uses his experience to help customers find the best combination of software and consulting for their specific needs.

Holy Sheet Metal

2

Before we Begin…

Autodesk Inventor Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Pull Down Menus Standard Toolbar

Panel Bar

Browser

Pull Down Menus: These are primarily used to configure Inventor settings or execute commands that are used infrequiently.

Standard Toolbar: Basic functions such as New file, Open file, and save are found on the ‘Standard Toolbar’ along with visualization functions like Zoom, Rotate and Perspective views. The ‘Standard Toolbar’ is multifunctional and will have options toward the right side change as you transition from one design phase to another.

Panel Bar: This is the command center for Autodesk Inventor. This is where you will find the most commonly used tools within Inventor. The ‘Panel Bar’ changes these tools automatically when you go from Sketching to Feature Creation to Assembly functions. The Panel Bar also has tools sets that you can change manually to access other tools like the ‘Design Accelerator’ tools or ‘Drawing Annotation’ tools in the drawing environment.

Browser: The primary function of the ‘Browser’ is to display the hierarchy or structure of a Part, Assembly or Drawing. Like the Panel Bar it also has manually changeable modes that can present the Vault status of a file or a list of ‘Content Center Favorites’ among other things.

Design Window: Displays the Model, Sketch, or Drawing that you are editing. By clicking empty areas within the ‘Design Window’ with the Right Mouse Button (RMB) you can access many of the most common tools as well as contextually specific help.

Holy Sheet Metal

3

Overview of Inventor Sheet Metal Styles

Autodesk Inventor’s Sheet Metal tools base there geometry on sheet metal styles. This saves repeatedly entering parametric information to generate the features. It also makes it very easy to change the part if the design requirements allow for or require changing the material thickness. This also allows the use of special sheet metal specific tools that can further speed the design process.

The Corner tab allows the user to choose the style and define the size of corner treatments for the parts that will be generated.

The Bend tab establishes the normal radius about which features are bent or folded. It also defines the size and shape that bend reliefs will be created if necessary.

The Sheet tab stores previously created styles and allows for the creation of new styles. Factors such as the material used, it’s thickness and the unfolding method are established on this tab. To switch between established styles only requires selecting what the active style is. When it is applied the part will update to match the style properties. This tab also defines the method used to unfold the part.

Holy Sheet Metal

4

Standard Sheet Metal Tools

o Sheet Metal Styles - Define how parts will be generated. These styles can be easily

switched to redefine how the part will be generated.

o Flat Pattern - Displays unfolded part. Can be exported directly to .DWG, .DXF,

and .SAT. The flat pattern can be shown simultaneously with the folded part.

o Face - Based on a closed sketch. Often the base feature in a part.

o Contour Flange - This tool allows the user to use an open sketch to create a “thin

feature”.

o Cut - Removes geometry based on a closed sketch. It can also wrap

the cut across bends

o Hem - Single fold, Double fold, Rolled edges, and Teardrop edges are

created in a single step.

o Fold - Creates bent features around sketched bend lines.

o Corner Seam - Defines or creates a gap where two flanges meet.

o Bend - Adds geometry that allows sharp corners to be unfolded. This tool

will also connect disjointed faces to make a functional part.

o Corner Round - Rounds only sharp corners. Cannot be applied to part edges.

o Corner Chamfer - Adds chamfer to sharp edges. Cannot be applied to part edges.

o Punch Tool - This tool can quickly create patterns of punched out or stamped

features. Simply pattern or place “hole center” features and the tool will automatically select those points for feature placement.

Note: Additional tools like Mirror Feature and Patterns can greatly accelerate the creation of complex parts.

Hands on exercise

Setting up the Inventor environment

Holy Sheet Metal

5

In this exercise we will be using a feature that is unique to Autodesk Inventor; Adaptivity. Adaptivity allows features to be stretch by assembly constraints.

Adaptivity can be very useful in the creation of sheet metal components since they frequently need to fit around other components. To engage adaptivity you must tell a feature that any unconstrained geometry can be flexible or “adaptive”. After a feature has been made adaptive it is then necessary to tell the part that contains adaptive features that it is adaptive in the assembly.

Since the part we will be creating is going to need to be very flexible we will engage a special setting in the Application Options that will allow features to be adaptive as they are created. To access select the ‘Tools’ pull down menu and pick on ‘Application Options’ to access the dialog box. Once in the dialogue select the ‘Assembly’ tab and pick the ‘Features are initially adaptive’ radio button.

[Note: Once this is engaged every feature you create in any part you create will be initially adaptive. Typically you will not want to leave this option set in Inventor.]

Holy Sheet Metal

6

…and now we begin

Step 1

In this exercise we will not only be creating a sheet metal part using Autodesk Inventor, we will also be using Autodesk Vault to manage our data. None of the files that we will be editing are currently in the Vault Workspace. You will be beginning this exercise as though you are a designer that is new to a project. To get the data you need you will use the ‘Open from Vault’ button on the ‘Standard’ toolbar.

Select the ‘Open from Vault’ button and a ‘Select File From Vault’ dialogue will appear. Double click on the “MA21-1L” folder and scroll to the “Optomechanical.iam” file and pick on the file to see a preview. Once you’ve verified that the assembly looks correct pick the ‘OK’ button near the bottom of the dialogue box top open the file.

[Note: After select ‘OK’ Autodesk Vault will download the appropriate files to your local workspace. The workspace contains the files you will actually be editing. You never edit the file that is stored in the Vault. Because of this the data that was last checked in will always be kept secure.]

At this point you have not reserved the right to edit the assembly or any of its parts. It is possible to check out the file(s) while opening by selecting the “down arrow” next to the ‘OK’ button as seen in the image below. Autodesk Vault will automatically prompt you to check a file out if you begin to edit a file. Vault will also ask you if you want to check a file that you have checked out back in if you close the file after editing it. All of this makes it much easier to keep track of what files you have ownership of and to make sure others can edit the files when you are through with them.

Open from Vault

Holy Sheet Metal

7

Our task today will be to design a bracket the supports the ‘Slider Lens’ assembly and the stepper motor which is represented in the browser as ‘STEPSYN 103-4902-0650’. We will be working in the context of the assembly for most of the time but at times an assembly can be difficult to navigate due to its complexity. To help simplify an assembly we can use “View Representations”. View Representations (VR) can enable the user to customize the look and scope of an assembly to more easily accommodate how they want to work on the assembly. In our example we will select the ‘Bracket’ View Representation to turn off the visibility of several parts and change the color and transparency of the box that the Bracket will fit in.

To enable the ‘Bracket’ VR look in the top of the browser, find and expand the ‘Representations’ folder and expand View:[username] under it. Double click on the icon next to ‘Bracket’. Doing this will change the way the assembly appears therefore Autodesk Vault will ask you if you wish to “Check out” the assembly. Please click the ‘Yes’ button. After the assembly has been checked out to you the model in the Design Window will change dramatically.

Now it’s time to create our part. Select the ‘Create Component’ tool from the Assembly Panel. Type ‘Bracket’ in the ‘New Component Name’ window. Select ‘Sheet Metal.ipt’ from the Template pull down. In the ‘New File Location’ window make sure the path is set to: C:\AU\MA21-1L and be sure that the ‘Constrain sketch plane to selected face or plane’ and select ‘OK’. Inventor will then want you to select an origin plane for the part. Select the left interior face of the red box. That is the face that has the machine screw coming though it. When this is done the other parts in the assembly will become translucent, the browser will gray out other parts in the assembly and the Panel bar will change to the 2D Sketch Panel.

Pick on this face

Holy Sheet Metal

8

Step 2

Now that we are in the sketch environment we will begin to define our first feature. Begin by selecting the ‘Two point rectangle’ tool and drawing a rectangle in an open area of the screen roughly the same size as the one in the image below.

In plan view In isometric

With the Rectangle complete select the ‘Center point circle’ tool or holding the ‘Shift’ key press the ‘C’ key on the keyboard to start drawing a circle. Place the center point of the circle at the mid point of the top of the rectangle. Inventor will show a special icon with a point at the mid point of a line and the mid point of the line will highlight when it has be found. Pick that point to begin drawing the circle. Then select the end point of the top line to establish the radius of the circle and create a constraint that will bind the diameter of the circle to be the same as the width of the rectangle

. To test the constraint of the circle to the rectangle pick and drag one of the lower corners of the rectangle to see if the diameter of the circle follows the width of the rectangle and stays centered. If it does not, pick on the circle and press the ‘Delete’ key to erase the circle and reapply the circle to the sketch.

Press the ‘Return’ tool on the ‘Standard Toolbar’ to move out to the sketch environment up to the Sheet Metal Features panel. Select the ‘Sheet Metal Styles’ icon to enter the dialogue. Click the ‘New’ button and replace the text “Copy of Design” in the upper Right

with: ‘.9mm Steel’. Then set the Material to ‘Steel’ using the pull down once that’s completed set your Thickness to ‘.9mm’. Click on the ‘Bend’ tab to set the bend ‘Radius’ to .5mm and set the ‘Relief Shape’ to ‘Round’. We won’t need to adjust any values on the ‘Corner’ tab but please take a look at what options are there. Now that we are finished click the ‘Save’ button and then click on ‘Done’. All we have done is create a new style. We will begin our part in the default style so the changes we’ve made will not affect the part we are creating until we change our active style later in the lesson.

Holy Sheet Metal

9

Returning to the modeling world click the ‘Face’ icon in the panel bar and select both profiles. The shapes will highlight as you pass over them. Select them by clicking the left mouse button while they are highlighted. Now that you have your selections you can use the ‘Offset’ tool to control which direction the geometry will be built. We will not be changing the direction for this exercise. Select the ‘OK’ button to generate the 3D face.

In the upper right corner you will see a pull down list that has the various colors you apply to your part. Please select a color you like. For you purposes of clarity I will be selecting Yellow from the list. You may notice that some colors make the part appear to be made of perforated metal, have a polished finish or some even make the part appear to be constructed out of wood.

If you look at your browser you should see a feature called ‘Face1’. There will be an icon next to the name and then in our case because we are using adaptivity you will see a red and blue circular symbol that denotes that this feature is adaptive. If you do not see this icon it is possible to RMB on the feature and select ‘Adaptive’. You will however want to refer to the beginning of this document on how to set your features to be initially adaptive..

Holy Sheet Metal

10

Let’s pick up the pace now. Select the ‘Flange’ feature and pick the bottom of the rectangle. Depending on if you pick the front bottom edge or the back bottom edge your flange will go in the direction away from the body. You can vary the length of the flange feature by picking on the edge of the preview and pulling it in the direction you want by picking and dragging. You can also use the direction button and enter exact distance and angle values in the dialogue box. Create your flange so it goes back into the box and make it somewhere around 70mm long.

Note: In the flange and other dialogue boxes you will see options and tab to access options that allow you to override the standard values of your Sheet Metal Style. This allows a great deal of flexibility.

Create another flange off of the end of the last one. Make it go up at a distance of something around 60mm. Now select one of the sides of the first flange feature. In the lower right of the dialogue box you will see two arrows pointing to the right. This button means that there are additional options for the command. Pick on that button and you will see the expansion contains ‘Extents’ options for the flange command. Change the ‘Type’ option to ‘Offset’. When you do so you will see that the ends of the new flange are held back from the corners. The distance is controlled by the ‘Offset1’ and ‘Offset2’ boxes. We will leave them alone at their default 5mm value. Make the flange go up into the “U” shape 5mm. See image below. The flange will be created with a relief that makes bending the feature easier

Holy Sheet Metal

11

Now pick the other side of the first Flange feature but this time click on the ‘Relief Options’ tab and change the ‘Relief Shape’ option to ‘None’. Finish creating the new flange. The new feature will be created with no relief. The new flange will “tear” at the edges when bent. This is a common need in the industry and having the option to override the standard relief for this make things much easier.

Let’s test the manufacturability of our part to this point. Select the ‘Flat Pattern’ tool near the top of the ‘Sheet Metal Features’ panel. A new view of the part will appear in the Design Window showing the size and shape of the part as it will appear before folding. This view can be seen at the same time as the folded part and will update any time changes are made to the folded part. In the pull down menus find the ‘Window’ pull down and selection the ‘Arrange all’ option. This will display the part in both states. Let’s change the material the part will be made from now. Go into the ‘Sheet Metal Styles’ dialogue and change the ‘Active Style’ to “.9mm Steel” the style you created earlier. After you hit the ‘Done’ button you will see the part recalculate to accommodate the thicker material. This can be done at any time.

Holy Sheet Metal

12

Maximize the window of the ‘Optomechanical.iam’ file so it fills the Design Window. Even though we’re working in the assembly file we are really editing the ‘Bracket.ipt’ files. Click the ‘Save’ button in the ‘Standard Toolbar’ and save the ‘Bracket.ipt’ file. Now it’s time to create a drawing of our part. Click the ‘New’ button on the ‘Standard Toolbar’. When the dialogue opens click on the ‘Metric’ Tab and double click on the ‘ANSI (mm).idw’ file. A blank drawing sheet will appear in the Design Window and the ‘Drawing Views Panel’ will appear. Click the ‘Base View’

tool and the dialogue will appear. In the upper left there will be a list of open files. To the right of it is a folder icon. This icon will allow you to search for a file to create drawings of. Select this icon and go into the \MA21-1L folder and select the ‘Bracket.ipt’ file. In the ‘Orientation’ window of the dialogue you will see a list of standard views. Pick the ‘Left’ view after seeing the preview displayed when clicking on a few other standard views. Leave the scale set to “1” and pick on the drawing sheet where you want the view placed.

In the Panel bar select the ‘Projected View’ tool and place a top, right, and an isometric view in the upper right of the drawing sheet. Once the drawing views are generated double click on the isometric view. The view creation dialogue box will reappear. In the lower right in the ‘Style’ area select the cylinder that is colored to change the drawing view to a shaded, colored view of the isometric. This is a great visualization tool. Your drawing should appear similar to the image below. Save your drawing to the \MA21-1l folder and next we will update the Vault.

Holy Sheet Metal

13

Step 3

Click the down arrow next to ‘Model’ in the Browser and select ‘Vault’ from the pull down. You will see the ‘Bracket.idw’ and a reference to the ‘Bracket.ipt’ that is used to make the drawing. This relationship is automatically recorded and noted. You will also see a question mark next to the files. Since we’ve created these parts after opening the assembly these files have not been added to the Vault..

RMB on the ‘Bracket.idw’ and select ‘Add Files’ to have our new designs included in the Vault for our security and for others to be able to use. When the dialogue appears you will see that it will add both files to the Vault. You can put your comments in the bottom window. This is where the user can put any relevant information that they want to be stored with the new CAD data. There is also an option to keep ownership of the data while adding or updating it in the Vault. This is dialogue box is very similar to the one we will use when we check in our changes to the assembly later in the lab.

Once the files have been added to the Vault the question mark will be replaced with an empty circle that represents that the files are available for check out. Return to the assembly by using the Windows pull down or by pressing Ctrl+Tab and hit the return button to exit the part and return to the assembly.

Now that the assembly is active again double click your middle mouse button to zoom to the extents of the model or press the ‘F6’ key to switch to an isometric view.

RMB on the Bracket in the assembly and pick on the ‘Adaptive’ menu option that appears. Accept the offer to check out the part file. By making the part adaptive we will allow the part to stretch when we place assembly constraints. Now we will begin placing constraints. Pick the ‘Constraint’ tool from the Assembly Panel or press the “C” key to bring up the Constraint placement tools.

Holy Sheet Metal

14

The first constraint will be a “Mate” constraint between the top of the bottom flange and the bottom of the ‘Lens Slider’ assembly. Pick the faces and leave the ‘Offset’ at 0 and press ‘Apply’ to execute the command and keep the dialogue on screen for the next constraint.

Place the second constraint between the back flange of the ‘Bracket’ipt’ and the back of the ‘Lens Slider’. The Bracket will slide into position. You can experiment by including a small offset. Again press ‘Apply’ to move to the next constraint.

The third constraint will cause the bracket to narrow to fit the ‘Lens Slider’. This is a capability that is unique to Inventor and can save a lot of time when fitting guards, shrouds or a lot of the thing Sheet metal is commonly used for in Machine design.

Holy Sheet Metal

15

Now that we have the basic shape defined lets limit the hight of the end flange. Switch the solution type in the lower right of the dialogue box to ‘Flush’. Pick on the top of the ‘Lens Slider’ first and then the top edge of the end flange. Set the ‘Offset’ value to “8” and again press ‘Apply’.

To finish rouging in the size of the Bracket switch the ‘Solution’ back to ‘Mate’. Pick the end face highlighted in green on the right and then the inside of the red box on the right. It is possible to select the inside from the outside. Place you cursor over the outside face and wait for approximately one second. A pop up icon will appear with two arrows and a green box. You can pick on the arrows to cycle options or you can roll a mouse wheel to change options. Then pick the green box to select the highlighted face. Once you have the faces selected you can hit ‘OK’ to execute the constraint and close the dialogue.

This is how the Bracket should appear after placing the constraints. Now we will finish editing the part and use other parts of the assembly to aid in constructing our Bracket.

Holy Sheet Metal

16

Step 4

Double click on the body of the Bracket part to activate it in the assembly. This again will load the feature information of the part into memory. We now want to create the portion of the Bracket that will support the Stepper Motor. To make this easier we will actually use the geometry of the Stepper Motor to help define the bracket. On the ‘Standard Toolbar’ pick the ‘Sketch’ tool and select the front face of the Stepper Motor. This is the face with the four bolt holes on it. When you do this you will create a Work Plane feature that is associative to that face and then Inventor will start a sketch on that plane.

To extract the edges from a face or work feature you must use the ‘Project Geometry’

tool and just pick the feature you want to extract edges from. In this case we will be selecting the face we placed the sketch on. The results should appear like the image. Once the geometry is created us the ‘Return’ button to leave the sketch and begin using Sheet Metal features.

Select the ‘Face’ tool. Pick the geometry that was projected and in this case we want to build a “bridge” to the rest of the part by selecting an edge to join to. In the middle of the dialogue box there is a button for selecting an edge. Pick the top of the rear 5mm tall flange. Then select the ‘’45 Degree’ option in the ‘Double Bend’ area. Then press the ‘Flip Fixed Edge’ button to the right of the options to put the bent portion near to the motor. See the preview to the right

Holy Sheet Metal

17

Your part should now look more or less like this:

Switch to the drawing and see what the changes are. The drawing may ask you to check it out. If it does please do so. Notice the changes to the drawing. Now let’s add an additional drawing view. Start the ‘Base View’ function and select the ‘Bracket.ipt’ to place a view. Once you have the part file selected find the ‘Sheet Metal View’ option in the middle of the dialogue box. Use the pull down to select the flat pattern. Note the preview that appears and use the ‘Orientation’ options to set the flat view to the orientation you like and place the flat on the drawing.

Holy Sheet Metal

18

Now use some picking and dragging to reposition the drawing views on the page. Then do some experimentation with linear and ordinate dimensions. You can find these tools by switching the ‘Drawing Views Panel’ to the ‘Drawing Annotation Panel’. Save the drawing and update the Vault with a Check In but keep the file checked out.

Return to the Assembly and check the assembly in while keeping control of it as well. Once the Vault is up to date RMB on the Bracket and ‘Open’ it to edit the part in its own window. Use the rotate function to position the part similar to the image and RMB on the Work Plane and turn off its visibility.

Step 5

Many people have asked how to add a feature in the flat and fold it afterward so that it can be properly sized for the flat pattern. Inventor has functionality that eliminates the need for the extra unfolding step. The tool we used earlier to project the face to the Stepper Motor has a related tool that allows us to project what the flat pattern will be into the sketch. When we do this we can dimension a feature that will cross bends and be able to accurately define how it will be aligned on other faces than the original sketch face.

Let’s create a ‘Cut’ feature that starts on the stepper motor face and ends down near the short flange that it is bridged to. Begin by selecting the face that is aligned with the plane we shut off. Then go to the fly out of the ‘Project Geometry’ tool and select the ‘Project Flat Pattern’ Tool. Then pick the face at the bottom of the bent portion of the bridge. Your sketch should look like the image to move to the next step.

Holy Sheet Metal

19

Now draw a ‘Two Point Rectangle starting near the large circle, crossing the two projected bends and aligning near the flattened small flange. Use the ‘Colinear’ sketch constraint to align the bottom of the rectangle to the short flange. Then put a dimension between the top of the rectangle and the tangency out of the circle. Then center the rectangle by placing linear dimensions to the sides and equating their value to the top dimension by highlighting the dimension when the value dialogue is open for the new dimension. If the dialogue does not appear when you place the dimension you can double click the dimension value or hold Ctrl when placing the dimension to evoke the dialogue box. A symbol (fx: ) will be added as a prefix to dimensions that are related to other dimensions or parameters.

Now leave the sketch and pick the ‘Cut’ tool. Select the checkbox next to ‘Cut Across Bends’ so the shape will follow the bends of the part down to the correct plane.

Holy Sheet Metal

20

Now you will use the Flange tool in a different way. Joggles are usually Sheet Metal features that are offset one thickness from the neighboring geometry. We will add a tab to our part using a Flange with a zero angle. Start the flange command and match the values and edges depicted in the image below. This will be a good test of how you’ve picked up on the way inventor uses color coding and highlighting to walk you through selecting what is needed for the feature to work.

Once the “Joggle” is created, start a sketch on the top of the new feature as it appears to you. Then draw a diagonal line and dimension it as shown. Remember it the ‘General Dimension’ command will allow you to place the linear and the angular dimension.

Holy Sheet Metal

21

Previously it was mentioned that it is not necessary to lay a part out to its flat to add geometry. With that said it is possible to create a bent part from the flat using the ‘Fold’ function. Now that you have created your sketch on the “Joggle” we can fold the metal around the line you have just created. Find the ‘Fold’ function in the Panel Bar and select the angular line. Two arrows will appear pointing to the geometry that will be folded and the direction that the bend will go. In the dialogue box set the angle to 45. When you do you will see the red, highlighted area narrow. This area reflects the amount of geometry that will be included in the bend. In the upper right of the dialogue you will also see three option buttons that control whether the sketched line is the be beginning, middle, or end of the bent portion. Set this to ‘End of Bend so that when we create our feature we will bend the tab down and the dimensioned edge will maintain the length of 7mm. After you select ‘OK’ note the condition of the edge of the “Joggle” in the bent area. It curves to maintain its “normal” or perpendicularity to the surface of the metal.

Hems are a common feature on Sheet Metal parts we need to add one to the end of our freshly folded “Joggle”. Inventor has several types of Hem features. Apply a Single fold hem to our part and make sure it folds back onto the surface nearest to you. If you would prefer to use a different type of Hem, please feel free to explore the options

Holy Sheet Metal

22

To complete our part let’s think about our friends at OSHA and make sure we don’t have too many sharp corners on it. The Corner Round tool allows us to grab only the corners of the part that would be rounded while the part was being cut from the sheet. You can select and individual edge or grab all of the sharp corners of a feature at once. You can find the ‘Corner Round’ tool in the ‘Sheet Metal Features’ panel. In the image I was able to select 10 corners to round with only four picks using the ‘Feature’ selection option. I set the Radius to 3 although a smaller radius would normally be used. After you have finished this feature save your work and switch to the Drawing to see that it has been updated.

Once you are satisfied that everything was updated, check in and close your drawing, part and assembly. Before checking in your assembly switch the VR to ‘Administrator’. You will do something really different with them next.

Holy Sheet Metal

23

Step 6

Reuse of design and sharing of components is a great feature of Autodesk Inventor. Autodesk Vault takes it to another level with the ‘Copy Design’ functionality.

Now we will take the data we created and reuse it to create a new design that is essentially similar but different enough to warrant considering it a new design. Many of us have been asked to design something that is “exactly the same” as something we’ve already created “but different”. Thanks to Vault’s ‘Copy Design’ function it is not only possible to copy the 3D design but the related 2D drawings as well.

For this exercise we will first launch the Vault Explorer. The Vault Explorer will allow us to see the files in our secure file store as well as the history of their development. You can access the Vault Explorer through the File pull down and by expanding the ‘Vault….’ area, or at the top of the ‘Vault Browser’ click on the icon that looks like an open safe. Once in the Vault Explorer notice that the layout closely resembles that of Microsoft Outlook ™ this is done to aid in the understanding of where to find the organization of the folders (upper left), where the file list will be (upper right), and what the details or “contents” of the file will be (lower right).

[Note: Images depict the Vault Explorer implementation into Productstream Creator]

Find the ‘Optomechanical.iam’ file in the file list. When you click on it you will see information appear in the area below the file list. Each tab the File Detail area will give you different information on the selected file. You can find everything from the history of who has checked in versions of the file, where the files are used, and a preview that you can rotate and zoom.

Holy Sheet Metal

24

RMB on the ‘Optomechanical.iam; and select the ‘Copy Design’ tool and a dialogue box will present the structure of the assembly. You’ll notice there are colored icons next to the file names. The Blue “dot” represents a file that will be copied. The Yellow is a file that will be reused in the new version of the file. You can also ignore or replace files that will be used in the new version. The 2D drawings that are related to the 3D files will also be copied if you need to modify a part to make it unique.

The ‘Optomechanical.iam’ file will automatically be set to “Copy” but since we want to create a new assembly with a Bracket that will be thicker than the one we just created. Click on Yellow icon next to the ‘Bracket.ipt’. It should turn Blue to indicate that it will be copied to a new file. Near the bottom of the dialogue box you will see an area where you can add a generic prefix to the new file name if you prefer. You can also click in the ‘New File Name’ cell to give a file a specific new name. In the ‘Prefix’ box type “New “(with a space after the word) and pick the ‘Apply’ button, doing this will add the prefix to the files that will be copied. When this is done click the ‘OK’ button.

In the Vault environment a new assembly will be created with links to all of the same part files of the assembly we were working with except for the ‘New Bracket.ipt’ file which will automatically be associated with the new assembly. The 2D drawing that was associated with the old ‘Bracket.ipt’ will also be copied to a file called ‘New Bracket.idw’ and it will be associated with the new part file. Now there should be three new files in the list of files in the Vault.

Holy Sheet Metal

25

Now that the new files have been created let’s make the change to the Bracket that will make this assembly unique. Open the ‘New Optomechanical.iam’ from the Vault. This time change the options to ‘Check out all” before clicking ‘OK’.

Now that the assembly is open activate the ‘New Bracket.ipt’. Go into the Sheet Metal Styles and create a new style with a ‘Thickness’ of .06in a default bend radius of “Thickness/4” and the ‘Bend Relief’ set to “None”. Save the new style and set it as the Active style. When you exit the ‘Sheet Metal Style’ dialogue the part will update to reflect the new settings.

You have now created a new assembly in a matter of a couple of minutes. Had all of the related files had 2D drawings related to them they would be brought up to date by simply opening them. Pretty cool?

Holy Sheet Metal

26

Step 7

Now for something completely different….

Let’s create a Sheet Metal part by using primarily non-Sheet Metal tools. We need to create a hopper. As flexible and powerful as the Inventor Sheet Metal tools are there are limitations. One is that the Flange tool only creates square edged features and that while you can create any footprint with a ‘Face’ there are sometimes easier ways of doing things using traditional solid modeling.

Start a new part using the ANSI (mm).ipt file in the ‘Metric’ tab of the Templates dialogue. In the ‘2D Sketch Panel’ find the ‘Polygon’ tool and begin creating a four sided polygon. The size is irrelevant for the initial creation as we will add a dimension to make the side 100mm long.

With the sketch complete extrude the profile 80mm and in the ‘More’ tab set the ‘Taper’ angle to -20. This will add a draft angle to the extrusion as it’s created. This can also be useful when making injected or cast parts. The resulting shape will appear to be a flat topped pyramid.

Holy Sheet Metal

27

Create a sketch on one face of the new part. Draw a rectangle on the face and use a coincident sketch constraint on the middle point of the top and bottom of the sketch to the top and bottom edges of the face. Dimension the width of the rectangle to be “Thickness*1.5” which will create an opening that will maintain the opening even if the Thickness changes.

Exit the sketch and you will be returned to the ‘Sheet Metal Features’ panel Change the panel to the ‘Part Features’ panel so that we can use regular solid modeling tools to create our part. In the ‘Part Features’ panel find the ‘Split’ feature. Start the tool and select the rectangle you sketched as the ‘Split Tool’ and then pick the face that you sketched on as the ‘Face’ to split. This will divide the original face into three separate faces.

Holy Sheet Metal

28

Now begin converting the solid model into a surface model that will define the outside or our part. In the ‘Part Features’ panel find the ‘Delete Face’ tool. Select the top, bottom, and narrow split face that will define the gap in our part. Click ‘OK’ once the three faces have been selected.

Now we need to include the bends. To add them in this state use the ‘Fillet’ feature, set the radius to “Thickness+BendRadius” and pick the edges on the four corners of the extrusion. Then use the ‘Thicken/Offset’ tool to add the body to our part. Start the command and pick anywhere on the part. You will get a preview of the shape that will be added. Set the ‘Distance’ to “Thickness” and set the direction to add the thickness to the inside by picking the middle arrow on the right of the dialogue. This will add not only the thickness of the sheet to the part but also keep the edges normal to the surface of the face and properly form the part.

Now add a ‘Flange’ to cap the opening. To do this create a flange with a zero angle and set the ‘Distance’ long enough to cover the gap.

Holy Sheet Metal

29

Now the 3D part is finished. To finish the process we need to create and export a flat pattern. Click on the face opposite the one with the face that you split. Once that face is selected switch to the ‘Sheet Metal Features’ panel and select the ‘Flat Pattern tool. This will unfold the part and allow us to see how this would be made. To export the flat pattern we could create a drawing as we did earlier or by doing a Right Mouse Button click on the ‘FlatPattern’ in the browser we can select ‘Save Copy As’ to generate an ACIS solid, a .DWG, or a .DXF of the flat pattern directly from the 3D part.

Final note…

One of the keys to successfully using Inventor is not to limit your imagination. Just as standard solid modeling tools can be used to develop sheet metal parts; sheet metal features may lend them selves to creating non-sheet metal parts as well.

Holy Sheet Metal

30

Notes:

Holy Sheet Metal

31

Notes: