cfrydawg Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 Hey guys what is the best way to flatten out a radiused peice of sheet metal with holes in it. i know how to flatshot but how do I flatten this for laser cutting and shearing Quote
cfrydawg Posted February 15, 2012 Author Posted February 15, 2012 Looks like no one knows how to do this? Quote
kencaz Posted February 15, 2012 Posted February 15, 2012 First off, AutoCad does not flatten... You need a Parametric modeler (like Inventor), for that... Flatshot will work, however, only to get your hole distances along the radius. Then you'll have to draw the part flat... Not difficult but tedious in AutoCad... Quote
SLW210 Posted February 15, 2012 Posted February 15, 2012 (edited) I use the Arc Length on the centerline of the radius, it is usually accurate enough for manufacturing in most cases. Other than that you will need to use some formulae. Here is a pretty good site for such things SHEETMETAL GUY and CALCULATOR Some good info HERE also. Edited February 15, 2012 by SLW210 add info Quote
JD Mather Posted February 15, 2012 Posted February 15, 2012 Are the holes drilled before bending or after bending? They will be round in one form and not round in the other form. (either way) When material is bent it compresses on the inside of the bend and stretches on the outside of the bend. You can find the formula for calculating the Bend Allowance in your Machinerys' Handbook. The Bend Allowance (k-factor) is a function of the Material Thickness Bend Angle Inside Bend Radius (and to a certain extent the tooling. You can have 5 "identical" machines set up to bend the same geometry and get slightly different results from each. If tolerance is critical then a Bend Table is recorded from actual tests and kept updated over time as the machine/tooling wears). Modern 3D CAD programs like Autodesk Inventor calculate Bend Allowance either from k-factor or Bend Table as needed. As noted - a lot of sheet metal work is not particularly close tolerance so you might be able to use neutral centerline length). Quote
SLW210 Posted February 15, 2012 Posted February 15, 2012 Thanks JD, I forgot about the hole deformation, if you roll after the holes are in the FB, you will need to oversize the holes and/or have them redrill with a hand drill after the rolling process. Quote
cfrydawg Posted February 17, 2012 Author Posted February 17, 2012 is there a way to make that part of the radius a .ipt file for inventor. I have it but I never picked it up fast enough and need more schooling on it. If so what tool does it in inventor? Quote
cfrydawg Posted February 17, 2012 Author Posted February 17, 2012 yeah it not that acurate. I guess i need to just draw it out. but im also wanting to do a radius incline witch would be even harder to lay out. I do conveyors so I need to do some complicating things sometimes. but i dont know how to make a autocad file a .ipt and flatten it that way. I have inventor Quote
SLW210 Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 I designed conveyors for 10+ years using a drafting board and then AutoCAD. You just need to know the formulas. Look at the tutorials for Inventor in JD Mather's signature. Quote
JD Mather Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 is there a way to make that part of the radius a .ipt file for inventor... If so what tool does it in inventor? File Open? (option Import) Convert to sheet metal. Set style Thickness. Flat Pattern. Quote
cfrydawg Posted February 17, 2012 Author Posted February 17, 2012 I will try this weekend seems easy hahhaha Quote
cfrydawg Posted February 18, 2012 Author Posted February 18, 2012 Hey i get it pretty far in inventor but im really not that great at inventor. I was wondering if you could do a vedio of you converting this and put it on youtube? I dont know if thats too much to ask you guys have allways been such great help on this sight. Its good to know there are people like this in the world still. Here is my 2 files I want to flatten in auto cad format oh and inventor kept giving me errors when trying to flatten about my sheetmetal only has one side really weird. still learing that program its very hard. not like any other program i use. curve 2.dwg curve.dwg Quote
cfrydawg Posted February 18, 2012 Author Posted February 18, 2012 here it is in a ipt file as well curve3.ipt curve 2.ipt Quote
kencaz Posted February 18, 2012 Posted February 18, 2012 Inventor would be much simpler... Here is a quick video on it... Quote
JD Mather Posted February 18, 2012 Posted February 18, 2012 ...oh and inventor kept giving me errors when trying to flatten about my sheetmetal only has one side really weird. You should attach file that returns error so that someone can tell you where you went wrong. In my experience beginners pick up Inventor much more quickly than AutoCAD. (so how is it harder?) In my experience some people have great difficulty in learning any new CAD program if they are already proficient in one. Quote
cfrydawg Posted February 18, 2012 Author Posted February 18, 2012 Not sure how to awnser that i picked up autocad so easy and i was using a program called mastercam before that. its the only software i have had a problem on. Quote
scj Posted February 19, 2012 Posted February 19, 2012 Here is an AutoCAD-solution of your problem. (please notice, that the circular holes become polygons in the unrolling process) Regards Jochen curve_ant.dwg Quote
cfrydawg Posted February 19, 2012 Author Posted February 19, 2012 Thanks soooo much. im trying to do the other side now. when i try to unfold it does not let me highlight anything? did you have this problem? Quote
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