Inventor Surface To Sheet Metal

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Inventor surface to sheet metal.

Inventor will not flat pattern pressed shapes for example a car door. Unlike the bend flange contour flange or hem features which all add material to the design the fold feature does not add material. One method that is often suggested is to use the shell tool and then apply bends and corner seams to the edges. Think of the shapes you can make from a flat sheet of metal and a brake press.

Import the stl file into meshmixer. A sheet metal part starts out as a flat piece of metal with a consistent thickness. For manufacturing purposes details like bend radii and relief sizes are usually the same throughout the part. Autodesk inventor allows for converting models to sheet metal.

Export the flattened surfaces to a new stl file. A sheet metal part is often thought of as a part fabricated from a sheet of uniformly thick material. 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. The inventor sheet metal environment is designed to flat pattern developable geometry.

In fold location click one of the following to specify. Use analysis inspector to auto repair surfaces if necessary. My affiliate link for a free trial https goo gl qbzk5n a quick start guide o. Which means regardless where the model geometry originates you can convert it to sheet metal add sheet metal features and generate the flat pattern.

On the ribbon click sheet metal tab create panel fold. Click the bend line to use for the fold. Use edit unwrap to flatten the surfaces. Open the free autodesk software meshmixer.

Let s start with the rules of sheet metal. The autodesk inventor software provides functionality that simplifies the creation editing and documentation of digital prototypes of sheet metal components. You enter the values for these details and then the software applies them as you design. If you design small objects this material is often thin.

Rule 1 you must have a consistent thickness. However in autodesk inventor you can utilize the sheet metal commands on any design where the material is of uniform thickness. Import the new stl file in inventor. It is necessary to convert the folded.

For example when you create a flange the bend is added automatically.