Tutorial 3: Revolves, Holes and Feature

Modification

1. Introduction

The default units in Pro/E are in inches, but in this tutorial

we will create a part dimensioned in millimeters. Revolves
are another useful option for creating solid parts where they
are used for axially-symmetric parts. While holes can be
created using the Extrude or Revolve commands using the
“remove material” option, but nevertheless Pro/E has a Hole
command that can be more readily used for creating holes.
Occasionally you will need to modify or manipulate a feature
and add certain relationships to the sketched cross-section.
This will also follow in this tutorial.

2. Creating a Revolved Part

1. Start Pro/E Wildfire.

2. Choose [File] -> [Set Working Directory…], and
select a folder to save your work in.
3. Select [File] -> [New] to create a new file. The New
File pop-up window will appear.
4. Remove the checkmark next to the
option which appears at the left
bottom of the New File pop-up window.
5. Type the part name [Tutorial3] in the Name field
and click [Ok]. The New File Options pop-up window
will appear as shown in Figure 3.1.
 [Figure 3.1]

6. Choose the mmns_part_solid template from the list,

then click [Ok]. The new part file will start.

7. Select the Revolve icon from the Feature

Creation Toolbar (or by choosing [Insert] ->
[Revolve] from the Menu Bar). The new revolve will
start and the revolve options will be displayed in the
Dashboard at the bottom of the Pro/E main window.

8. From the Dashboard select the Placement

button then the Define

button.
9. When the Sketch pop-up window appears, select the
FRONT datum plane to be your sketching plane then
click the [Sketch] button. Pro/E will switch to the
Sketching Mode.
10. [Close] the References dialog box.
11. From the Sketcher Toolbar select the Center line

icon and create a centerline

along the vertical axis of the coordinate system by
clicking at point A then point B (shown in Figure 3.2),
click the middle mouse button to end the
command. You will see the box circled in Figure 3.2,
which indicates that the line is collinear with one of
the coordinate axes. Note that you must have a
centerline for any Revolved feature where it defines
the axis of rotation of the sketched shape.

12. Use the Line icon and sketch the E section

shown in Figure 3.2 starting from point 1, 2, 3…. to
point 12 and back to 1 again, then click the middle
mouse button to end the command. Try to draw the
sketch proportional to that shown in Figure 3.2 such
that you will have the same length constraints L1, L2
and L3. Note that the equal length auto constraints
L1, L2 and L3 will start appearing after drawing the
 first three lines. When an auto constraint appear you
can keep it by clicking the left mouse button while the
constraint is displayed, while if you do not want that
constraint you need to move the mouse until it
disappears or you can click the right mouse button to
avoid it.

Note: If you were not careful while drawing the

sketch and you do not have the same length
constraints, you still can fix that. If the is any
constraint that you do not want, you can click it and
hit the Delete button on your keyboard. Also, you can
add constraints using the impose constraints icon
which was introduced in Tutorial 2.

13. Change the dimensions to match those seen in Figure

3.2.

[Figure 3.2]

14. Once you have the dimensions set, you would

occasionally need to change the whole dimensions of
the sketch in order to scale the sketch. Click the

Modify Dimensions icon then click on the four

dimensions shown in Figure 2.3. After clicking the
four dimensions they will be displayed together in the
Modify Dimensions pop-up window as seen in Figure
3.3.
15. Click next to the Lock Scale option to activate it as
seen in Figure 3.3. Activating the Lock Scale option
 will ensure that when changing any dimension the
other “selected” dimensions will change with the
same scale.

[Figure 3.3]

16. Place the cursor over one of the dimension

modification sliders you see in Figure 3.3, then while
holding the Left mouse button try moving the cursor
left and right and notice how the dimensions change
both in the Modify Dimensions window and on the
sketch.
17. Change any of the dimensions to twice its original
value by typing in the new value in the text field and
hitting Enter and the values of all the dimensions will
change at the same scale (for instance change the
dimension which was originally 100 to be 200) then

press the check button to finish. Now the

dimensions of your sketch should be as seen in Figure
3.4.
 [Figure 3.4]

18. To finish the sketch and exit the sketcher press the

Check button.

19. Click on Saved view list icon; choose

[Standard Orientation]. Your revolved section
should look similar to that shown in Figure 3.5. Note
that the default value for the rotation angle is set to
be 360° (as indicated in Figure 3.5) which gives a
complete revolution.
 [Figure 3.5]

20. From the Dashboard click the Check button to

complete the revolve. Your part should look similar to
that shown in Figure 3.6.
 [Figure 3.6]

21. Select [File] -> [Save] from Menu Bar then click
[Ok] to save the part.

3. Creating Cut using the Revolve option

1. Select the Revolve icon from the Feature

Creation Toolbar.

2. Select the Placement button from

the Dashboard then the Define

button.
3. Select the FRONT datum plane to be your
sketching plane then click the [Sketch]
button. Pro/E will switch to the sketching
mode and the References pop-up window will
appear (do not close it) as seen in Figure 3.7.
4. Click on Edges 1 and 2 (shown in Figure 3.7)
to choose them as additional References,
and then [Close] the References dialog box.
Note: if you close the Reference dialog box by mistake,
you can get it back by choosing [Sketch] ->
[References] from the Menu bar.

[Figure 3.7]

5. From the Sketcher Toolbar select the Center

line icon and create a

centerline along the vertical axis of the
coordinate system (at the same location of the
centerline of the first revolve) as seen in
Figure 3.8.

6. Use the Line icon and draw the triangle

shown in Figure 3.8 by creating lines AB, BC
and CA.
7. Change the dimensions to match those shown
in the Figure. Use the same dimensions and
angles as in Figure 3.8. If for any reason you
do not have the same type of dimensions
shown in the figure, remember that you can
add the dimensions you need using the Create

dimension icon. To define the angle

between two lines click on both lines then click
the middle mouse button.
 [Figure 3.8]

8. Press the Check button to finish the

sketch and exit the sketcher.

9. Click on Saved view list icon; choose

[Standard Orientation].
10. From the Dashboard press the Remove

Material icon and change the Rotation

angle to be 270º as seen in Figure 3.9. Make
sure that the direction of rotation is same as
that you see in the Figure. Note that you want
to flip the direction of rotation you can do that
by clicking the change angle direction icon

in the Dashboard.
 [Figure 3.9]

11. From the Dashboard click the Check

button to complete the revolved cut. If you
followed the instructions correctly your part
should look similar to that shown in Figure
3.10.
 [Figure 3.10]

12. Select [File] -> [Save] from Menu Bar then

click [Ok] to save the part.

4. Creating Holes

Though holes can be created using the Extrude or

Revolve commands coupled with the remove material
option, Pro/E has a special tool for creating holes. The
“Hole” tool facilitates the creation of different types of
holes in an easier and faster manor. In this section we
will explore the different options available under the
“Hole” tool and will create different types of holes in
order to demonstrate the capabilities of the tool.

Simple hole, Linear placement, Trough All depth

1. Select the Hole Icon from the Toolbar at

the right of the screen (or by choosing
[Insert] -> [Hole] from the Menu Bar). The
different options of the Hole tool will be
displayed in Dashboard at the bottom of the
Pro/E main window.
2. Click near point A on the top surface of the
part, as shown in Figure 3.11, to place the
hole on that surface.
Before we continue creating the hole it is useful to
introduce the different types of holes and the different
options available under the Hole tool.

acement Options

To see the different available placement options, click on the Placement button and then c
the dropdown list.

i. Linear: (the default option) the linear option locates a hole from two planes (surfaces
placement plane.
ii. Radial: the radial option will locate the hole at some radial distance from an axis and a
iii. Diameter: the diameter option is similar to the radial option except that you have to s
specifying the radial distance from that axis.
iii. Coaxial: the coaxial option locates the center of a hole coincident with an existing axis

ole Depth Option

Different depth options maybe selected for the desired hole. To see the different available depth optio

i. Variable : (the default option) this option cuts a hole to a user defined the depth.

ii. Up to next surface : this option will cut the hole to the next part surface.

iii. Through all : this option will cut the hole completely through a part.

iv. To reference : this option cuts a hole to a user selected point.

v. Symmetric : this option creates a two sided hole with equal depth in both direction

es

Pro/E provides two basic types of holes Straight and Standard .

The Straight option lets you define either Simple or Sketched holes.
Simple hole: (the default option) it produces a hole that has constant diameter throughout the depth of the hole.
ii. Sketched hole: it requires the user to sketch the profile of the hole within the sketche

Th St d d ti l t t h t d d i h l di t th ISO th UN (
 [Figure 3.11]

3. Select the Through All icon from the

Dashboard and enter 75 in the Diameter
textbox, as shown in Figure 3.12.
4. Go to one of the reference handles of the
hole (see Figure 3.12 below) and drag it by
pressing and holding the lift mouse button to
the datum plane labeled as RIGHT as
indicated in Figure 3.12. Note that when the
handle gets attached to a reference its shape
will change into a white box with a black dot
inside and the distance from that reference
will be displayed.
5. Select the other reference handle and drag
it to the FRONT datum plane as indicated in
Figure 3.12.

Note: There are additional handles for changing the

diameter, position and dept of the hole. However, you
can control these entities from the dashboard.
 [Figure 3.12]

6. Double click on the distance to the RIGHT

plane, change its value to 300 (as seen in
Figure 3.13), and hit Enter.
7. Double click on the distance to the FRONT
Plane, change the value to 250 (as seen in
Figure 3.13), and hit Enter.
 [Figure 3.13]

8. Click Check button to finish the hole.

The hole will be created and your part should
look similar to that shown in Figure 3.14.
 [Figure 3.14]

9. Select [File] -> [Save] from Menu Bar then

click [Ok] to save the part.

Simple hole, Radial placement, Up to Next Surface

depth

Now we will create another simple hole using radial

placement and up to next surface depth.

1. Select the Hole Icon from the Toolbar at

the right of the screen.
2. Click near point B on the middle surface of the
part, as shown in Figure 3.15, to place the
hole on that surface.
3. From the Dashboard select the Up to next

surface icon and enter 75 in the

Diameter textbox.

4. Click on the Placement button and

then click the arrow to open the placement
options dropdown list and select [Radial]
from the list. Note that you need to change
the placement type because the default is
Linear.
 [Figure 3.15]

5. Drag one of the reference handles of the

hole to the Axis of the revolved shape
(indicated in Figure 3.15). The radial distance
from the axis will be displayed.
6. Drag the other reference handle to the
FRONT datum plane. The angle from the
plane will be displayed.
7. Double click on the radial distance value and
change it to 400 and similarly change the
value of the angle from the FRONT plane to
be 40-degrees as seen in Figure 3.16.
 [Figure 3.16]

8. Click Check button to finish the hole.

The hole will be created trough the middle
flange only as seen in Figure 3.17.
 [Figure 3.17]

9. Select [File] -> [Save] from Menu Bar then

click [Ok] to save the part.

Standard hole, Linear placement, Variable depth

1. Select the Hole Icon then click on the top

surface of the part as shown in Figure 3.18.
2. From the Dashboard select the Standard

hole icon and make sure that the ISO

standard is selected form the pull-down menu
as seen in Figure 3.18.
3. From the Screw size pull-down menu, scroll
down until you find M30x2 (meaning 30mm
diameter with 2mm pitch) and select it.

4. Make sure that the Variable Depth

option is selected and set the Depth of the
Hole to be 80.

5. Make sure that both the Countersink

and Counterbore options are not

selected. If any of them is selected, click on it
to deselect it.
6. Drag the two reference handles to the
Front and Right planes and set the distances
from both planes to be 300.
 [Figure 3.18]

7. Click Check button to finish the hole.

The hole will be created and your part should
look similar to that shown in Figure 3.19.
 [Figure 3.19]

8. Select [File] -> [Save] from Menu Bar then

click [Ok] to save the part.

5. Feature Modification and Manipulation

Pro/E provides a wide range of capabilities for modifying

and manipulating any existing feature simply by
choosing it from the model tree and choosing the
operation you want to perform on that feature. In this
section, we will see how to modify various aspects of a
feature.

Feature Definition Modification

1. From the Model Tree choose the branch

labeled as [Revolve 1] and right click on it
then select [Edit Definition], as shown in
Figure 3.20.
 [Figure 3.20]

Note that the revolve options will be displayed in the

Dashboard as if you were still working on that revolve.
Also note that all features which were added after that
revolve (such as the revolved cut and the holes) have
temporarily disappeared.

2. From the Dashboard select the Placement

button then the Edit

button. The sketch pop-

up window will appear as seen in Figure 3.21.
 [Figure 3.21]

3. Press the [Sketch] button, Pro/E will switch

to Sketching Mode as seen in Figure 3.22.
 [Figure 3.22]

Note: Now that we are back in the sketching mode and

the sketch is displayed we can do any modification that
we desire to the sketch (adding, deleting, changing
dimensions, etc.). However it is important to note that
the features that were created after Revolve 1 depend on
some entities of the sketched shape, for instance you
should not delete the horizontal line at the top of the
sketch since two holes were defined at the upper surface
of the revolved part and thus they will be affected if you
delete that line.

Now we will modify some of the dimensions by defining

mathematical relations between them.

4. From the Menu Bar select [Tools] ->

[Relations], the Relations pop-up window
will appear as shown in Figure 3.23. Note
that all dimensions on the sketch have
changed to symbols as seen in Figure 3.24.
[Figure 3.23]

[Figure 3.24]
Important Note: If (for any reason) the dimensions
symbols displayed on you sketch are different than
those displayed in Figure 3.24, then you have to use the
symbols displayed on your sketch.

Now we will add a relation so that the dimension sd5

and sd7 are functions of the dimension sd1, as shown in
Figure 3.24.

5. Type sd5=sd2+300 inside the Relations

pop-up window as shown in Figure 3.25, and
hit Enter.
6. Type sd7=sd2/2 inside the Relations pop-
up window as shown in Figure 3.25, and hit
Enter.

[Figure 3.25]

7. Click the [Ok] button. The dimension sd5 will

change from 600 to 700, as seen in Figure
3.26.
 [Figure 3.26]

8. Double-click on the horizontal dimension 400

(indicated in Figure 3.26) and change it to
375 and hit Enter. You should note that both
the vertical and horizontal dimensions have
changed also according to the relation that we
defined, as seen in Figure 3.27.
 [Figure 3.27]

9. Click Check button, to preserve the

changes and exit the sketcher. The Sketch
pop-up window will appear.
10. Click [Ok] in the Sketch pop-up window.

11. Click on Saved view list icon ; choose

[Standard Orientation].
12. From the Dashboard change the revolve angle
from 360 to 330-degree by typing the new
number and hitting Enter.
13. Change the direction of rotation by clicking on

the Change direction icon in the

Dashboard as shown in Figure 3.28. Note how
the direction of rotation changes as you click
on the icon.
 [Figure 3.28]

14. Click Check button, to complete that

changes and exit.
15. Use the middle mouse button to rotate your
part and inspect the changes. If you done
everything correctly your part should look
similar to that shown in Figure 2.29.
 [Figure 3.29]

Renaming Features

It is always useful to give names to the different items in

the model tree of such that you can recognize them
easily (especially when you have a complicated part
involving many features). Pro/E gives the ability to
change the name of any entry in the model tree and give
it a name of your choice.

16. To rename the first revolve right click on the

branch labeled Revolve1 in the model tree
then select [Rename].
17. Type [Revolved_Solid] in the textbox and hit
Enter. Note that the name can not have
spaces.
18. Similarly change the names of the other items
in the model tree as seen in Figure 3.30.
 [Figure 3.30]

19. Select [File] -> [Save] from Menu Bar then

click [Ok] to save the part.

This completes Tutorial 3.

Homework

Estimate appropriate dimensions for the part

shown below then create it.
 Add a relation such that the height of the
revolved section is twice its base.
 The details of the holes are as follows:
 A9: Simple hole, through all depth.
 A4: Simple hole centered at the
exposed surface, depth
approximately to the mid thickness
of the second flange.
 A12: Standard hole (ISO M36x4),
through all depth.