Inventor Surface To Sheet Metal

Rule 1 you must have a consistent thickness.

Inventor surface to sheet metal.

Tfi is now doing full professional inventor training courses on pluralsight. The autodesk inventor software provides functionality that simplifies the creation editing and documentation of digital prototypes of sheet metal components. On the ribbon click sheet metal tab create panel fold. My affiliate link for a free trial https goo gl qbzk5n a quick start guide o.

For example when you create a flange the bend is added automatically. If you design small objects this material is often thin. Well there s no magic bullet inventor tool that will auto convert a solid part to a sheet part and add all the bends in for you. A sheet metal part is often thought of as a part fabricated from a sheet of uniformly thick material.

One method that is often suggested is to use the shell tool and then apply bends and corner seams to the edges. Import the new stl file in inventor. Which means regardless where the model geometry originates you can convert it to sheet metal add sheet metal features and generate the flat pattern. For manufacturing purposes details like bend radii and relief sizes are usually the same throughout the part.

Use edit unwrap to flatten the surfaces. To embed this screencast choose a size. However in autodesk inventor you can utilize the sheet metal commands on any design where the material is of uniform thickness. Inventor will not flat pattern pressed shapes for example a car door.

Use analysis inspector to auto repair surfaces if necessary. Autodesk inventor allows for converting models to sheet metal. A sheet metal part starts out as a flat piece of metal with a consistent thickness. Unlike the bend flange contour flange or hem features which all add material to the design the fold feature does not add material.

Open the free autodesk software meshmixer. In fold location click one of the following to specify. It is necessary to convert the folded. Export the flattened surfaces to a new stl file.

Click the bend line to use for the fold. A fold on a sheet metal face forms about a straight sketched bend line that terminates at face edges. You enter the values for these details and then the software applies them as you design. Let s start with the rules of sheet metal.

The inventor sheet metal environment is designed to flat pattern developable geometry.