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Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 4.0

Sheetmetal Design
Help Topic Collection

Parametric Technology Corporation


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Table of Contents
Sheetmetal Design ......................................................................................... 1

Welcome to Sheetmetal Design ..................................................................... 1

Using Sheetmetal Design.............................................................................. 1

About Sheet Metal Parts ............................................................................ 1

About Sheet Metal Features ....................................................................... 2

Suppressing and Resuming Sheet Metal Features ....................................... 2

To Create a New Sheet Metal Part ............................................................... 2

About Changing Sheet Metal Part Accuracy................................................... 3

To Specify Absolute Accuracy for Sheet Metal Parts ....................................... 3

To Specify Relative Accuracy for Sheet Metal Parts ........................................ 4

About Sketching in Sheet Metal .................................................................. 5

To Thicken the Sheet Metal Wall ................................................................. 5

Sheet Metal Feature Order and References ................................................... 6

About the Sheetmetal Design Interface........................................................ 7

Interacting with the Dashboard................................................................... 7

Using the Sheet Metal Toolbar .................................................................... 7

Using the Model Tree ................................................................................ 9

Setting Up Sheetmetal Design....................................................................... 9

About Setting Up Sheetmetal Design ........................................................... 9

Bend Allowance and Developed Length .......................................................10

About Bend Allowance and Developed Length ...........................................10

About Y- and K-factors ..........................................................................11

To Set Y- and K-factors .........................................................................13

Bend Tables .........................................................................................14

About Sheet Metal Bend Tables ............................................................14

Sheet Metal Bend Table Menu ..............................................................17

To Edit a Bend Table...........................................................................18

To Define a Bend Table .......................................................................19

To Set a Bend Table ...........................................................................19

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To Reset a Bend Table ........................................................................20

To Write a Bend Table.........................................................................20

To Show a Bend Table ........................................................................20

To Delete a Bend Table .......................................................................21

Example: Sheet Metal Bend Table.........................................................21

Bend Order.............................................................................................23

About Bend Order Tables .......................................................................23

To Create a Bend Order Table.................................................................24

To Edit a Bend Order Table.....................................................................24

To Get Bend Order Table Info .................................................................25

To Clear a Bend Order Table...................................................................25

Example: Bend Order Table....................................................................25

Fixed Geometry.......................................................................................26

About Fixed Geometry ...........................................................................26

To Select Fixed Geometry ......................................................................26

To Clear Fixed Geometry........................................................................27

To Show Fixed Geometry .......................................................................27

Design Rules...........................................................................................27

About Design Rules ...............................................................................27

Design Rules Menu................................................................................29

To Define the Design Rules.....................................................................30

To Assign the Design Rules ....................................................................30

To Show the Design Rules ......................................................................30

To Write the Design Rules ......................................................................30

To Edit the Design Rules ........................................................................31

To Delete the Design Rules.....................................................................31

To Unassign the Design Rules .................................................................31

Example: Design Rule Table ...................................................................32

Defaults and Parameters ..........................................................................33

About Sheet Metal Defaults and Parameters..............................................33

List of Sheet Metal Defaults ....................................................................33

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List of Sheet Metal Defaults and Parameters .............................................35

To Assign and Retrieve a Sheet Metal Defaults and Parameters File..............35

To Edit Sheet Metal Defaults and Parameters ............................................36

To Save Sheet Metal Defaults and Parameters ..........................................36

Example: Sheet Metal Defaults and Parameters Table ................................37

Sheetmetal Design Configuration Options....................................................39

About Configuring Sheetmetal Design ......................................................39

To Set Sheet Metal Configuration Options.................................................40

default_abs_accuracy ............................................................................40

feat_place_follow_unbend ......................................................................40

initial_bend_y_factor.............................................................................40

merge_smt_srfs_without_seam ..............................................................41

pro_sheet_met_dir................................................................................41

pro_smt_params_dir .............................................................................41

punch_axis_points ................................................................................41

smt_allow_flip_sketch ...........................................................................41

smt_bend_notes_dflt_display .................................................................42

smt_bend_notes_direction_down ............................................................42

smt_bend_notes_direction_up ................................................................42

smt_bend_notes_order..........................................................................42

smt_bend_notes_type_formed................................................................42

smt_bend_notes_type_rolled..................................................................42

smt_crn_rel_display ..............................................................................43

smt_mp_method ..................................................................................43

smt_outside_mold_lines ........................................................................43

system_sheetmetal_color.......................................................................43

template_sheetmetalpart .......................................................................44

Designing in Sheetmetal Design ...................................................................44

About Designing in Sheet Metal .................................................................44

Possible Sheet Metal Design Approach ........................................................45

Conversion .............................................................................................46

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About Converting to Sheet Metal Parts .....................................................46

Converting Back to Solid Parts ................................................................47

To Convert to Sheet Metal......................................................................48

Working with Rip Connects .....................................................................51

Example: Sheet Metal Conversion ...........................................................51

Original Solid Part ..............................................................................51

Driving Surface Conversion..................................................................52

Original Solid Part ..............................................................................52

Shell Conversion ................................................................................52

Wall.......................................................................................................52

About Walls .........................................................................................52

About Wall Relief ..................................................................................53

Types of Walls ......................................................................................54

Difference between Flat Walls and Flange Walls.........................................54

About Importing and Exporting User Defined Profiles and Sections ...............55

About Validating a Sketch in Pro/ENGINEER..............................................55

Validation Criteria for Flange Profile ......................................................55

Validation Criteria for Flat Section.........................................................56

Flat.....................................................................................................57

About Flat Walls.................................................................................57

To Create a Flat Wall ..........................................................................57

To Create a Flat Wall With a Bend.........................................................58

To Create an Unattached Flat Wall ........................................................61

To Create a Flat Wall by Importing User Defined Sections ........................62

To Flip Angle of a Flat Wall ..................................................................63

To Export a User Defined Profile or Section ............................................63

Flanged Walls .......................................................................................64

About Flange Walls.............................................................................64

Types of Predefined Flange Wall Profiles ................................................65

Swept ..............................................................................................67

Extruded...........................................................................................78

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Table of Contents

Revolve ...............................................................................................88

About Revolve Walls ...........................................................................88

To Create a Revolve Wall ....................................................................88

Blend ..................................................................................................89

About Blend Walls ..............................................................................89

To Create a Parallel Blend With a Regular Section ...................................89

To Create a Parallel Blend With a Projected Section.................................90

To Create a General Blend...................................................................91

To Create a Rotational Blend................................................................93

Offset..................................................................................................94

About Offset Walls..............................................................................94

To Create an Offset Wall .....................................................................94

Advanced ............................................................................................95

About Advanced Walls ........................................................................95

To Create an Advanced Wall ................................................................95

To Create a Section-to-Surface Blend....................................................96

To Create a Surface-to-Surface Blend ...................................................97

To Import a Blend ..............................................................................97

To Create a Tangent-to-Surface Blend...................................................97

Variable Section Sweep.......................................................................98

From Boundaries.............................................................................. 103

Swept Blend .................................................................................... 106

Helical Sweep .................................................................................. 115

Twist................................................................................................. 118

About Twist Walls............................................................................. 118

To Create a Twist Wall ...................................................................... 119

Extend .............................................................................................. 120

About Extend Walls .......................................................................... 120

To Create an Extend Wall .................................................................. 120

Merge ............................................................................................... 121

About Merge Walls ........................................................................... 121

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To Create a Merge Wall ..................................................................... 122

Rip ...................................................................................................... 122

About Rips ......................................................................................... 122

To Create a Regular Rip ....................................................................... 123

To Create a Surface Rip ....................................................................... 123

To Create an Edge Rip ......................................................................... 124

Working with Edge Rips ....................................................................... 124

Cut...................................................................................................... 126

About Sheet Metal Cuts ....................................................................... 126

About Cuts and Datum Axes ................................................................. 127

Projecting Datum Curves ..................................................................... 127

To Create a Sheet Metal Cut (Solid)....................................................... 128

To Create a Sheet Metal Cut (Thin)........................................................ 129

Form, Flatten Form ................................................................................ 130

Form................................................................................................. 130

About Forms.................................................................................... 130

Forms with Hollows .......................................................................... 132

To Create a Die Form........................................................................ 132

To Create a Punch Form .................................................................... 134

Tip: Creating Punch and Die Reference Parts........................................ 136

Flatten Form ...................................................................................... 137

About Flatten Forms ......................................................................... 137

About Stamped Edges....................................................................... 138

To Create a Flatten Form................................................................... 139

Notch and Punch ................................................................................... 140

About Notches and Punches ................................................................. 140

About Skipped References.................................................................... 141

Defining Skipped References ................................................................ 141

To Create a Notch/Punch UDF............................................................... 142

To Place a Punch................................................................................. 143

To Place a Notch ................................................................................. 144

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Tip: Creating and Using Notches and Punches ......................................... 145

Bend, Unbend, Bend Back....................................................................... 146

Bend ................................................................................................. 146

About Bends.................................................................................... 146

To Change the Developed Length ....................................................... 147

About Bend Radius ........................................................................... 148

About Bend Relief ............................................................................ 148

About Bend Lines ............................................................................. 149

About Bend Line Notes...................................................................... 151

To Customize Bend Line Notes ........................................................... 153

About Annotation Plane for Bend Notes ............................................... 154

To Define Annotation Orientation by Plane or Named Orientation ............ 155

Regular .......................................................................................... 156

Planar ............................................................................................ 159

w/Transition .................................................................................... 160

Unbend ............................................................................................. 162

About Unbends ................................................................................ 162

Unbending Undevelopable Surfaces .................................................... 163

To Unbend Undevelopable Surfaces .................................................... 164

About Punch Axis Points .................................................................... 165

To Create a Punch Axis Point ............................................................. 165

Best Practices: Unbend and Bend Back................................................ 166

Regular .......................................................................................... 166

Transition ....................................................................................... 167

Xsec-Driven .................................................................................... 168

Bend Back ......................................................................................... 169

About Bend Back.............................................................................. 169

To Create a Bend Back...................................................................... 170

Corner Relief......................................................................................... 170

About Corner Relief ............................................................................. 170

To Create Corner Relief (Feature).......................................................... 171

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To Set Corner Relief (Default)............................................................... 172

Deform ................................................................................................ 172

About Deformation Areas ..................................................................... 172

To Create a Deformation Area............................................................... 174

Edge Bend ............................................................................................ 174

About Edge Bends............................................................................... 174

To Create an Edge Bend ...................................................................... 174

To Customize an Edge Bend ................................................................. 175

Inheritance ........................................................................................... 176

About Sheet Metal Inheritance Features ................................................. 176

Inheritance Feature Behavior (Sheet Metal) ............................................ 176

To Create a Sheet Metal Inheritance Feature........................................... 177

Preparing for Manufacture ......................................................................... 178

About Preparing for Manufacture.............................................................. 178

Reports ................................................................................................ 179

About Reports .................................................................................... 179

To Access Text Reports........................................................................ 179

Example: Reports in Text Format .......................................................... 180

To Access HTML Reports ...................................................................... 181

Example: Reports in HTML Format......................................................... 182

Flat Pattern .......................................................................................... 184

About Flat Patterns ............................................................................. 184

To Create a Flat Pattern ....................................................................... 184

Example: Tweaked Flat Pattern............................................................. 184

Flat State ............................................................................................. 185

About Flat States ................................................................................ 185

To Create a Flat State.......................................................................... 186

To Show a Flat State ........................................................................... 187

Detailing Your Sheet Metal Designs ............................................................. 187

About Detailing Your Sheet Metal Designs ................................................. 187

To Create a Sheet Metal Drawing ............................................................. 189

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To Create Automatic Ordinate Dimensions................................................. 189

To Display Bend Line Notes in Drawings.................................................... 190

To Display Bend Order Tables in Drawings................................................. 190

Glossary ................................................................................................. 191

Glossary for Sheetmetal Design ............................................................... 191

Index ........................................................................................................ 195

xi
Sheetmetal Design

Welcome to Sheetmetal Design


Sheetmetal Design is an optional module of Pro/Engineer. It enables you to design
basic and complex parts in sheet metal. You can:
• Design sheet metal parts defining the volume and support structures for the
components of an assembly.

• Add sheet metal-specific features like walls, bends, cuts, punches, notches, and
forms in either the formed or flat condition.

• Create Bend Order tables that specify the order, bend radius and bend angle
used for manufacturing.

• Calculate the developed length of material needed. Sheetmetal Design accounts


for bends of different radii and material thickness.

• Flatten out the part to visualize design and manufacturing needs.

• Make Drawings of the sheet metal part, incorporating Dimensions, Bend Order
tables, Flat Patterns and fully designed parts.

Sheetmetal Design, like Pro/ENGINEER, allows flexibility in design. Changes are


made and updated parametrically throughout the entire design process.

Using Sheetmetal Design

About Sheet Metal Parts


Sheet metal parts are created in one of three fashions:
• Sheet Metal Mode—Create the part individually.

• Assembly Mode—Create with a top-down approach.

• Conversion—Convert from a solid part.

Sheet metal parts are solid models that can be represented in either the sheet metal
form or a flat model.
The parts have a constant thickness and can be modified with features. A sampling
of features includes walls, cuts, rips, bends, and corner relief. You can also get
information about the part, calculate its mass and analyze the engineering.
The sheet metal parts have driving and offset surfaces. The side (depth) surfaces are
formed only after successful regeneration. To aid viewing, the driving side is
highlighted in green by default and the offset side is white (indicates thickness).
Because of the general thinness of a sheet metal part, it is recommended to select
flat surfaces as references when placing a feature. If a flat surface is not applicable,
edges are more convenient than side surfaces.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

About Sheet Metal Features


Sheetmetal Design offers specialized sheet metal environment features. You can
create:
• Datum and cosmetic features

• Walls, cuts, rips, notches, punches, bends, unbends, bend backs, forms, and
corner relief.

• Selected solid-class features applicable to sheet metal (chamfer, hole, round) are
also available.

A sheet metal unattached wall must be the first feature in your design. After you
create the wall you can add any other features to your design. You do not have to
create them in manufacturing order, rather, you should create them with your design
intent in mind.
When creating features it is recommended to select flat surfaces as references when
placing a feature. If a flat surface is not applicable, edges are more convenient than
side surfaces.
Note: You can utilize solid features, including patterns, copy/mirror, chamfers,
holes, rounds, and solid cuts when creating your sheet metal designs.

Suppressing and Resuming Sheet Metal Features


You can suppress sheet metal features to temporarily remove them from your
design. You can "unsuppress" (resume) suppressed them at any time.
You can suppress features on your sheet metal part to simplify the part model and
decrease regeneration time. For example, while you work on one end of a shaft, it
may be desirable to suppress features on the other end of the shaft.
Similarly, while working on a complex sheet metal assembly, you can suppress some
of the features and components for which the detail is not essential to the current
assembly process.

To Create a New Sheet Metal Part

1. Click . The New dialog box opens.

2. Under Type click Part.

3. Under Sub-type click Sheetmetal.

4. In the Name box, type a name for your new sheet metal part.

5. If you want to use the default template, click OK. Pro/ENGINEER opens a new
sheet metal part.

Else, if you want to use a custom template:

a. Clear Use default template and click OK. The New File Options dialog
box opens.

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Sheetmetal Design

b. Browse to the desired template. Click OK. The template file is assigned and
Pro/ENGINEER opens a new sheet metal part.
Note: If an object type is not supported by a template the Use default
template option is not available. For template-supported file types, if you always
want to see the New File Options dialog box, set the
force_new_file_options_dialog configuration option to Yes. Remember, this
configuration setting may be overridden by your system administrator in the
config.sup file.

About Changing Sheet Metal Part Accuracy


The Accuracy command modifies the computational accuracy of geometry
calculations. Sheet Metal Part accuracy is relative to the size of the part. The valid
range is 0.01 to 0.0001, and the default value is 0.0012.
Note: If you decrease the value of part accuracy, the regeneration time increases.
You must use the default part accuracy unless you need to increase it.
You may need to change the part accuracy in the following cases:
• To place a very small feature on a large part.

• To intersect two parts of very different size either through merge or cut.

For the two parts to be compatible, they must have the same absolute accuracy. To
use the same absolute accuracy, estimate each part size and multiply each by its
respective current accuracy. If the results differ, enter a value for the accuracy of the
parts that yields the same results for each.
You may need to increase the part accuracy of the larger part by entering a smaller
decimal number. For example, if the size of the smaller part is 100 and the accuracy
is .01, the product of these numbers is 1. If the size of the larger part is 1000 and
the accuracy is .01, the product of these numbers is 10. Change the accuracy of the
larger part to .001 to yield the same product.

To Specify Absolute Accuracy for Sheet Metal Parts


1. Ensure that the default_abs_accuracy configuration option is set to the
required default accuracy value. If you do not define default values for the
default_abs_accuracy configuration option, depending on the unit system that
you use, Pro/ENGINEER assigns 0.0005 inch or 0.0125 mm as the default values.

Note: Irrespective of the value of the enable_absolute_accuracy configuration


option, the Absolute option in the ACCURACY menu is always selected by
default.

2. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Accuracy. The ACCURACY and ABS ACCURACY menus appear.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

4. The Absolute option is selected from the ACCURACY menu and the ABS
ACCURACY menu appears with the following commands:

o Enter Value—Accepts a value for absolute accuracy.

o Select Model—Assigns value for absolute accuracy from a different part in


session.

5. If you click Enter Value

a. Specify a value for absolute part accuracy and click . You are prompted
to regenerate the part.
b. Click Yes to regenerate.
6. If you click Select Model, the Open dialog box opens. The parts in the current
session are listed in the dialog box.

a. Double-click one of the parts to select it. A message appears stating the
absolute accuracy of the part you selected.

b. Click to accept the value. You are prompted to regenerate the part.
c. Click Yes to regenerate.

To Specify Relative Accuracy for Sheet Metal Parts


1. Ensure that the accuracy_lower_bound configuration option is set to override the
lower boundary of the relative accuracy range. The specified values for the lower
boundary must be between 1.0000e-6 and 1.0000e-4.

2. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Accuracy. The ACCURACY menu appears.

4. Click Relative. You are prompted to accept the default value for accuracy or
enter a new value for relative part accuracy.

Note: The value 0.0012 that appears on the dashboard is the default value for
relative accuracy.

5. Specify a value for the new relative accuracy and click . Alternatively, click

to retain the default value. If you change the accuracy, a prompt appears
asking you to confirm the regeneration of the entire part.

6. Click Yes to regenerate.

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Sheetmetal Design

About Sketching in Sheet Metal


Sketching in Sheetmetal Design is done exactly the same as you would in any other
Pro/ENGINEER module. However, keep the following tips in mind when sketching
your sheet metal parts and features:
The Thicken command—The Thicken command adds material thickness to your
sheet metal wall while you are still in Sketcher mode. This enables you to create and
fully dimension the wall when you sketch it.
Then you do not need to add material to your wall later in the design process. If you
change the sketch you have to delete the thicken. Thicken is not used for Flat walls.
Be sure to double check your dimensions to make sure they are located in the
appropriate locations after the thicken.
We recommend using the Thicken command, in sketcher, to dimension your
extruded sheet metal surfaces. It enables you to dimension the inside radii on
opposite sides of a section and to properly dimension for sizing and clearance. The
Thicken command prevents having to add material thickness to your dimension
values.

1 Sketch line

2 Thicken line, which


enables you to fully
dimension the wall while
sketching

To Thicken the Sheet Metal Wall


1. Select a sheet metal wall that you want to create.

2. Click Sketch on the dashboard to create the sketch of the wall section.

3. Click Sketch > Feature Tools > Thicken. Offset edges are automatically added
to your sheet metal wall sketch.

Note: The Thicken command is used with unattached walls only.

If the sheet metal wall is the first feature and you are using the Thicken
command for the first time, then you are prompted to change the thickness only
in the following cases:

o If the thickness value is equal to the default value.

o If you use the Thicken command again.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

4. Specify a value for thickness on the dashboard and press ENTER.

5. Click on the sketcher toolbar.

Sheet Metal Feature Order and References


The proper feature creation order and sketch references help when modifying the
part and presenting it in a drawing. The following illustrations compare the results
from different order and reference choices.
Order of Feature Creation

Option A Option B

1 Create the cut before the bend. 3 Create the cut after the bend and
unbend.
2 When a bend is created new
surfaces result. The cut surface 4 When you bend back the wall the
stays in the old surface location. cut section stays with the cut
features.

Note: You can obtain the same


result if you create the cut while the
wall is bent.

References for Feature Creation

Option A Option B

1 Horizontal sketching reference 3 Horizontal sketching reference is


created on an unrelated surface. created through the local edge and
Cut alignment to local edge and normal to the sketching plane. The
dimensioned to local vertex. cut is aligned to the local edge and
dimensioned to local vertex.
2 After bending back, the cut
section is still aligned with local 4 After bending back, feature
edge, but the dimensions are in the dimensions follow because
wrong location because the sketching references follow.
sketching references did not move.

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Sheetmetal Design

About the Sheetmetal Design Interface


The Sheetmetal Design user interface contains the following elements that increase
usability and decrease mouse selections. Highlights of the user interface can be
reached from the See Also links, however, refer to the Fundamentals module for
greater detail on the Pro/ENGINEER user interface.

Interacting with the Dashboard


As you create and modify your sheet metal designs you can add solid features, like
solid class cuts, chamfers, holes, and rounds. When you add these features to your
design you will use and interact with the Dashboard, which guides you throughout
the modeling process. The Dashboard is a context sensitive interface that monitors
your actions in the current tool and provides you with basic design requirements that
need to be satisfied to complete your feature.
The Dashboard encourages direct graphical manipulation in the graphics window and
provides you with modeling flexibility.
Note:
• See the Fundamentals module for information about the Dashboard.

• See the Part Modeling module for instructions on creating solid class features
using the Dashboard.

Using the Sheet Metal Toolbar


The sheet metal toolbar contains shortcut buttons for the most common sheet metal
design requirements. Additional functionality and less commonly used commands are
available from the main menu or the Menu Manager.
You can customize the sheet metal toolbar with other Pro/ENGINEER commands and
your own map-keys (Tools > Customize Screen) by dragging the desired buttons
onto the toolbar. You can turn the toolbar on/off using the Toolbars tab options.
The following table lists the sheet metal shortcut buttons according to their default
location on the toolbar.

Button Function Corresponding Menu Path

Conversion Insert > Conversion

Flat Wall Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Flat

Flange Wall Insert > Sheetmetal Wall >


Flange

Unattached Flat Wall Insert > Sheetmetal Wall >


Unattached > Flat

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

Button Function Corresponding Menu Path

Unattached Extruded Insert > Extrude


Wall

Revolve Wall Insert > Sheetmetal Wall >


Unattached > Revolve

Blended Wall Insert > Sheetmetal Wall >


Unattached > Blend

Offset Wall Insert > Sheetmetal Wall >


Unattached > Offset

SMT-Class Cut normal Insert > Extrude


to surface

SMT-Class Cut normal Insert > Extrude


to offset surface

SMT-Class Cut normal Insert > Extrude


to both driven and
offset surface

Extended Wall Insert > Sheetmetal Wall >


Extend

Bend Insert > Bend Operation > Bend

Edge Bend Insert > Edge Bend

Unbend Insert > Bend Operation >


Unbend

Bend Back Insert > Bend Operation > Bend


Back

Corner Relief Insert > Corner Relief

Punch Insert > Shape > Punch

Notch Insert > Shape > Notch

Rip Insert > Shape > Rip

Merge Walls Insert > Merge Walls

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Sheetmetal Design

Button Function Corresponding Menu Path

Form Insert > Shape > Form

Flatten Form Insert > Shape > Flatten Form

Deform Area Insert > Bend Operation >


Deform Area

Flat Pattern Insert > Bend Operation > Flat


Pattern

Using the Model Tree


The Model Tree provides a feature-level visual representation of your welding
project. Each feature you create in your welding project is chronologically
represented in the Model Tree.
Highlights of the Model Tree follow, however, refer to the Fundamentals
documentation for more details about the Pro/ENGINEER user interface:
• Highlight sheet metal features in the graphics window, making the features more
visible.

• Reorder features, and ultimately change the dynamic of your sheet metal design
by dragging features to various locations.

• Access shortcut menus that enable you to easily create and modify your design.
The shortcut menu may include commands to:

o Redefine and modify sheet metal features

o Suppress sheet metal features to simplify or accentuate areas of your


design

o Pattern sheet metal features to quickly meet your design intent

o Obtain information and create notes for sheet metal features

o Convert light-weight welding geometry to solid geometry (and vice versa)

You can customize what and how features display in the Model Tree by clicking the
Show and Settings tabs.

Setting Up Sheetmetal Design

About Setting Up Sheetmetal Design


The set up commands help you control your overall design process and save time by
enabling you to set defaults for common design elements. The commands assist you
in effectively capturing your design intent.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

With the set up commands you can:


• Control sheet metal bend allowance and developed length by setting bend
allowance.

• Document the order in which to make bends on the finished design by setting the
bend order.

• Maintain consistency in your design process by setting fixed geometry, defaults


and parameters.

• Create a flat version, or state, of your sheet metal design for manufacturing by
setting flat state.

• Establish company or industry standards to guide your design by setting design


rules.

• Create corner reliefs automatically while unbending your sheet metal part by
setting corner relief.

• Customize your software environment and functionality by setting configuration


options.

Note: The set up commands are only available from Menu Manager.

Bend Allowance and Developed Length

About Bend Allowance and Developed Length


Bend allowance is a method used to calculate the (developed) length of flat sheet
metal required to make a bend of a specific radius and angle. The calculation
accounts for the thickness of the sheet metal, bend radii, bend angles, and other
material properties (like Y- and K-factors).
The developed length calculation also compensates for stretching in the area of a
bend. Typically, when you bend or form a piece of sheet metal, the material on the
outside of the neutral bend axis stretches while the material on the inside of the
neutral bend axis compresses. You can automatically account for this material
behavior by establishing appropriate material descriptions and formulae for
accurately calculating developed length.
Accurate developed length calculations enable you to capture your design intent in
the solid model while also developing a precise flattened model that manufacturers
can use when developing the actual product. Make it a practice to determine, in
advance, how you calculate developed length.
Use one of the following to calculate the developed length in your designs:
• System default equation—Calculate the developed length using only a Y- or K-
factor.

• Provided bend table—Calculate the developed length using a predefined,


standard bend table.

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Sheetmetal Design

• Customized bend table—Calculate the developed length using a bend table


customized in Pro/Table.

If you do not assign a customized bend table to your part, the following equation is
used to calculate developed length:

L = (Π/2 x R + Y factor x T) Θ/90

Where: L= Developed length

Π= 3.142

R= Inside radius

Y factor = The default Y factor = 0.50

T= Material thickness

Θ= Bend angle in degrees (°)

Note: If your developed length calculation is inaccurate, you can override the
inaccurate value by directly modifying the value or by assigning a unique bend table
to your design.

About Y- and K-factors


Y- and K-factors are part constants defined by the location of the sheet metal
material's neutral bend line with respect to the thickness. The neutral bend line
position is based on a numeric reference for the type of sheet metal material used in
your design. The numeric references range from 0 to 1. If you are referring to the Y-
and K-factors, the numeric references can be negative, with the lower numbers
representing softer material. Both the Y- and K-factors are integral elements in
calculating the developed length (the length of flat sheet metal required to make a
bend of a specific radius and angle) in your design. However, the length of the
neutral line is equal to the developed length.
The K-factor is a ratio between the distance from the neutral bend line to the inside
bend radius and the material thickness. The K-factor uses the formula k-factor =
δ/T.
Use the K-factor to determine the Y-factor.

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The Y-factor is a ratio between the neutral bend line and material thickness. The Y-
factor uses the formula Y-factor = K-factor * (Π/2). The default value for the Y-factor
is 0.50.

Developed Length of Material and the Y- and K-Factors

1. Bend condition 2. Flat Condition

Where:

= Distance between the inside radius of the bend and the neutral bend line

T = Sheet metal thickness

L = Developed length between the squares

R = Inside Bend radius

N = Neutral bend line

K-factor = δ/T Y-factor = K-factor * (Π/2)

You can change the Part Y-factor using any of the following:
• Set Up command—Initialize the Y-factor using the set up command. The new Y-
factor value takes effect for any new parts or features created after the value is
set. The default Y-factor value that is, 0.5 is used by all features in a part except
for features that use user-defined Y- and K-factors.

• Material file—Initialize the Y-factor using the PTC_INITIAL_BEND_Y_FACTOR


parameter in the Material Definition dialog box or Edit > Setup > Bend Allow
> Y-factor. The default PTC_INITIAL_BEND_Y_FACTOR value in the material table
is 0.5. The Y-factor is updated if you change the value in the material file
assigned to the part. If you unassign a material file, the part is frozen with the Y-
factor, K-factor, and bend table values that were assigned to the previous
material file.

• Configuration option—Initialize the Y-factor for new sheet metal parts using
the PTC_INITIAL_BEND_Y_FACTOR configuration option. After you reload the
configuration file, all new sheet metal parts use the new value. The configuration
option does not change the default value for the existing part's Y-factor.

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Sheetmetal Design

You can apply a feature-specific Y-factor to the geometry of the feature. You can
select K- and Y-factors for non-arc segments and bend tables for arc segments. A
flange profile can be an arc or any non-arc segment, or a combination of both.
Note: For stretched bends δ is negative. As a result, the neutral layer stays out of
the sheet metal thickness causing the Y- and K-factors to be negative.

Negative Y-factor

Where:

= Distance between the neutral


bend line and the inside bend radius

T = Sheet metal thickness

L = Developed length between the


squares

R = Bend radius

N = Neutral bend line

To Set Y- and K-factors


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Bend Allow. The BEND ALLOW menu appears.

4. Highlight the factor you want to change:

o K-factor—Part constant defined by the location of the neutral bend line.

o Y-factor—Part constant defined by the location of the neutral bend line.

If you are setting either the Y- or the K-factor and a bend table is already set for
the part, the CONFIRMATION menu appears. You must discard the bend table.

5. Click Confirm. The ENTER VAL menu appears.

6. Either select a value from those available or click Enter and type a new value for
the factor.

7. Click Yes to accept the changed factor and full part regeneration. The factor is
set.

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Bend Tables

About Sheet Metal Bend Tables


Using bend tables you can control calculations for the length of flat material
(developed length) that is needed to make a bend. Developed length fluctuates with
different material types and thickness, and the bend table accounts for those
variations.
Three standard bend tables are available from the Machinery’s Handbook, 23rd
Edition:

Table Material Y-factor K-factor

TABLE 1 soft brass, copper 0.55 0.35

TABLE 2 hard brass, copper, soft steel, 0.64 0.41


aluminum

TABLE 3 hard copper, bronze, cold rolled steel, 0.71 0.45


spring steel

You can also define your own bend tables to support additional material types and
methods for calculating developed length.
Bend tables consist of:
• Formula—Manages the bend allowance or developed length values with
calculations and logic statements. The formula that is used, that is, L = (Π/2 x R
+ Y factor x T) Θ/90, is defined by Pro/ENGINEER and is used only for radius and
thickness values outside the table data range.

• Conversion—Conversion is an equation that uses the bend allowance value from


the bend table to calculate the developed length. For example, the conversion
equation, L = 2 * (T + R)-A), makes adjustments to the bend allowance values
as shown in the example below. When the specified thickness and bend radius
values are within the table data range but not displayed in the table, the
corresponding bend allowance is calculated by interpolation of the table bend
allowance values. For details, refer to the interpolation method used for
computing bend allowance discussed below. If no conversion equation is defined
then the developed length will be equal to the bend allowance. If the radius and
thickness values are outside the table data range, the bend table is ignored and
the formula defined by Pro/ENGINEER is used.

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Sheetmetal Design

The following example illustrates an equation for specific bend angle ranges:

If ANGLE > 0 or ANGLE < = 90, a known parameter is used to compute the
developed length.

Where,

T = Thickness

ANGLE = Bend Angle

R = Bend Radius

A = Bend Allowance

SFLAT = X + Y - A, where SFLAT is the total strip length

The known parameters that are used to calculate the developed length are:

X = T + R +b

Y=T+R+a

SFLAT = a + b + L

By substitution:

a + b + L = (T + R + b) + (T + R + a) - A

OR,

L = 2 * (T + R)-A which is the CONVERSION equation.

For example, the following program illustrates how a formula defined by


Pro/ENGINEER and a conversion equation are used for interpolation:

FORMULA

IF R<=2

IF ANGLE > 0 & ANGLE < 90

L = (ANGLE * PI/180) * (R + T/2)

ENDIF

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IF ANGLE >= 90 & ANGLE < 180

L = (ANGLE * PI/180) * (R + T/3)

ENDIF

ENDIF

IF R>2

L = (ANGLE * PI/180) * (R)

ENDIF

END FORMULA

CONVERSION

IF ANGLE > 0 & ANGLE <=90

L = 2 * (T + R) - .4285 * A

ELSE

L = 2 * (T + R) - .3567917 * A

ENDIF

END CONVERSION

The following is the equation for the Interpolation Method used for computing
bend allowance:

A1,1*(Ty-T0)*(RY-R0) + A0,1*(T1-Ty)*(Ry-R0) + A1,0*(TY-T0)*(R1-RY)


+ A0,0*(T1-TY)*(R1-RY)

Ay = -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(T1-T0)*(R1-R0)

Where,

A0,0 is allowance for T0,R0

A1,0 is allowance for T1,R0

A0,1 is allowance for T0,R1

A1,1 is allowance for T1,R1

In the above example, T0 < Ty <T1 and R0 < Ry < R1.

When T0 = T1 = Ty, you can use the following formula:

A1,1 (Ry-R0) + A1,0 (R1-Ry)

Ay = -----------------------------

(R1 - R0)

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Sheetmetal Design

In the above example, A1,0 = A0,0 and A1,1 = A0,1.

When R0 = R1 = Ry, you can use the following formula:

A1,1 (Ty -T0) + A0,1 (T1-Ty)

Ay = ------------------------------

(T1 -T0)

In the above example, A0,0 = A1,1 = A1,0

Where,

T = Thickness

R = Radius

• Materials Data—List the materials that the bend table is intended for.

Note: The materials list is case sensitive. Ensure that your part's material type
matches with that in the material's list.

• Table Data—List radii values and sheet metal thickness with their corresponding
bend allowance or developed length. The data is pulled directly from these
columns. The bend table needs at least one column and one row of tabulated
data. You do not have to insert bend allowance data in every cell of the table.
Any value not found in the table data is interpolated. If you only want the
formulae used, enter data that will never be encountered in your design (Radius
= 1000, Thickness = 1000). You must always specify table data for 90° bends.

The standard bend tables such as, Table1, Table2, and Table3 are created for 90°
bends. For bends other than 90°, the values are multiplied by Θ/90, where Θ is the
specific bend angle, in degrees. Remember, bend tables are only applicable for
constant-radius bends. Bends with a varying radius, as in a cone or cylinder,
calculate the developed length using the Y-factor. Bend tables are applied to a
geometry with flange walls based on the arc profiles.
You can set bend tables at any time. However, once a part is associated with a bend
table, its geometry depends on that bend table’s data. Every time the part is
regenerated the associated bend table is referenced for appropriate length values. If
you modify a bend table, all features associated with that bend table are updated
upon regeneration.
If you create your own library of bend tables, point to the appropriate folder with the
configuration option pro_sheet_met_directory_<pathname>. Bend tables specified
by name are looked for in your project’s current directory and in the folder specified
by the configuration option.

Sheet Metal Bend Table Menu


Sheet metal bend tables measure and control the amount of material needed to
make a bend. Bend tables ensure that material behavior is accounted for in your
design.

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With the bend table commands you can:


• Define—Define a new bend table with appropriate data and formulae.

• Delete—Delete a bend table set to your part.

• Edit—Modify an existing bend table.

• Show—Display the bend table set to your part.

• Write—Save the bend table in your directory.

• Set—Assign a bend table to your part.

• Reset—Suspend the use of a bend table and reassigns the Y-factor.

You have two options when setting a bend table for a part:
• From Part—Internal bend table stored into your part. The internal bend table
automatically updates if you apply an external bend table in session.

• From File—External bend table stored in separate files on disc.

Note: You can have internal and external bend tables with the same name. The
content can differ between the table types.

You have two options when setting a bend table for a feature:
• Part Bend Tbl—Reference the bend table associated with the overall part. If no
table is currently set for the part, the Y-factor formula is used.

• Feat Bend Tbl—Reference an independent bend table for the individual feature.
You can select one of the three standard tables or a customized table.

Note: The Part Bend Tbl is typically the most appropriate.

To Edit a Bend Table


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Bend Allow. The BEND ALLOW menu appears.

4. Click Bend Table. The BEND TAB menu appears.

5. Click Edit. The CONFIRMATION menu appears. Note that within a session, you
can only edit bend tables created with, or applied to, the current part.

6. Click Confirm. The BTAB TYPE menu appears.

7. Select the type of bend table to edit:

o From Part—Internal bend table. Saved with the design part.

o From File—External bend table. Saved in a separate file.

The TBL NAMES menu appears, listing all the bend tables associated with the
part.

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Sheetmetal Design

8. Select the bend table to edit. The bend table opens.

9. Edit the bend table as needed:

o Material Name—Name of the material to which the bend table is


applicable.

o Formula—Manage the bend allowance/developed length values with


calculations and logic statements.

o Materials List—List material names between START MATERIALS and END


MATERIALS.

o Table Data—Highlight the cell. Type the new data in the text box. Click the
next cell to edit.

Use the Edit options to edit the bend table. You can add a thickness row or
radius column to the bend table.

10. Click File > Save after entering your data. The bend table is created and writes
out to disk in the current directory.

To Define a Bend Table


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Bend Allow. The BEND ALLOW menu appears.

4. Click Bend Table. The BEND TAB menu appears.

5. Click Define. The BTAB TYPE menu appears.

6. Select the type of bend table to create:

o From Part—Internal bend table. Saved with the design part.

o From File—External bend table. Saved in a separate file.

7. Type the name for the bend table and click . A Pro/TABLE window opens with
an outline table.

8. Type your customized data into the outline table. If you would like to use another
table as your outline, click File > Read from the Pro/TABLE main menu. Then
type the name of the desired file.

9. Click File > Save after typing your data. The bend table is created and writes to
the current directory.

To Set a Bend Table


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Bend Allow. The BEND ALLOW menu appears.

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4. Click Bend Table. The BEND TAB menu appears.

5. Click Set. The CONFIRMATION menu appears.

6. Click Confirm. The BTAB TYPE menu appears.

7. Select the type of bend table to apply:

o From Part—Select a From Part bend table from the BTAB TYPE menu. If
a new From Part bend table was not created during the session the default
From Part bend table is TABLE 1. The TBL NAMES menu appears, listing
all bend tables associated with the part.

o From File—Either select one of the standard bend tables (TABLE 1,


TABLE 2, TABLE 3) from the DATA FILES menu or click Names, to
browse to a custom bend table.

8. Select the bend table to set. The bend table is applied to the part.

To Reset a Bend Table


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Bend Allow. The BEND ALLOW menu appears.

4. Click Bend Table. The BEND TAB menu appears.

5. Click Reset. The CONFIRMATION menu appears.

6. Click Confirm. The bend table is suspended and the Y-factor is assigned.

To Write a Bend Table


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Bend Allow. The BEND ALLOW menu appears.

4. Click Bend Table. The BEND TAB menu appears.

5. Click Write. The TBL NAMES menu appears.

6. Select the bend table to write to your part's current directory. A prompt indicates
your file is stored.

Note: You can set your directory with the pro_sheet_met_dir configuration option.

To Show a Bend Table


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Bend Allow. The BEND ALLOW menu appears.

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Sheetmetal Design

4. Click Bend Table. The BEND TAB menu appears.

5. Click Show. The BTAB TYPE menu appears.

6. Select the type of bend table to display:

o From Part—Internal bend table. Saved with the design part.

o From File—External bend table. Saved in a separate file.

The TBL NAMES menu appears, listing all the bend tables associated with
the part.

7. Select the bend table to show. The bend table opens.

To Delete a Bend Table


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Bend Allow. The BEND ALLOW menu appears.

4. Click Bend Table. The BEND TAB menu appears.

5. Click Delete. The TBL NAMES menu appears, listing all bend tables associated
with the part.

6. Select the bend table to delete. The bend table is removed from the part but still
exists in your directory.

Note: You can suspend using a previously set bend table by setting the Y- or K-
factor.

Example: Sheet Metal Bend Table


Bend tables must use the following layout and data structure to accurately create
your sheet metal design. Comment lines can appear anywhere in a bend table. Each
comment line must start with an exclamation point (!). You must enter FORMULA, END
FORMULA, CONVERSION, END CONVERSION, START MATERIALS, END MATERIALS, and
TABLE exactly as shown:

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

1. Formulae—Calculate the developed length of the sheet metal, if the exact value
is missing from the table data section. You can also write conversion formulas to
manipulate the table data to meet your design needs. Your formulas can contain
logic statements to adjust bend allowance values.

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Sheetmetal Design

2. Material Data—List the materials the bend table is intended for. The materials
listed use the bend table. You receive a warning if your part's material type does
not appear in this list.

Your materials must be listed between START MATERIALS and END MATERIALS.
Enter the material in the first column, uppercase, and one per line.

3. Table Data—List the radii values across the top, sheet metal thickness down the
left side, with the corresponding bend allowance/developed length in the actual
table. The data is pulled directly from these columns. If you only want the
formulae used, enter data that will never be encountered in your design (Radius
= 1000, Thickness = 1000).

4. Interpolated Data—You do not have to insert bend allowance data in every cell
of the table. Any value not found within the table data is interpolated (estimate
values that lie between known values).

Bend Order

About Bend Order Tables


Bend order tables document the dimensioning and order for bend features in your
design. Bend order tables are constructed by fully unbending your part and recording
the bend back process.
The standard bend order table contains the bend sequence number, the number of
bends, the bend number ID, as well as the bend direction, angle, radius and length.
In order to create or work with bend order tables you need your sheet metal part to
be in a bent condition. You cannot create or edit a bend order table on a completely
unbent part.

Unbent Sequence Sequence Sequence Original


One Two Three

With the bend order table commands you can:


• Create a new bend order table or edit an existing table using the Show/Edit
command.

• Display the bend order table and write it to a .bot file using the Info command.

• Delete the existing bend order table using the Clear command.

You can display bend order tables in sheet metal drawings to better illustrate the
bending process for manufacturing.
Note: When you store a bend order table, the file name is <partname>.bot.

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To Create a Bend Order Table


With the part in a bent condition:
1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Bend Order. The BEND ORDER menu appears.

4. Click Show/Edit. The SELECT menu appears.

5. Select a plane or edge to remain fixed while the part completely unbends. Your
part flattens and the SHOW/EDIT menu appears.

6. Click Add Bend.

7. Select the bends for the bend sequence. The sequence can have any number of
bends in any order.

8. Click Next. The selected bends highlight.

9. Select a plane or edge to remain fixed while the highlighted bends bend back.

10. Repeat steps 6 through 8 until your part is completely bent back.

11. Click Done Sel. The SHOW/EDIT menu appears.

12. Click Done. The bend order table is created.

To Edit a Bend Order Table


With the part in a bent condition:
1. Click Edit > Set Up. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Bend Order. The BEND ORDER menu appears.

4. Click Show/Edit. The SELECT menu appears.

5. Select a plane or edge to remain fixed while your part completely unbends. Your
part flattens and the bend geometry in bend sequences highlights.

6. Click the desired SHOW/EDIT menu option:

o Next—Proceeds to the next sequence.

o Skip—Skips a specified number of sequences. You enter the number.

o Add Bend—Adds a bend or bends to the sequence. If you select a bend


that is currently being used in a later sequence, you can move it to the
current sequence. You cannot select a bend that has already been bent
back in a previous sequence.

o Delete Bend—Removes a bend from the current sequence. Use this if you
plan to add the bend to a later sequence.

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Sheetmetal Design

o Insert—Inserts a bend sequence after the previous bend sequence.

7. Select the bend to edit.

8. Click Done. The SELECT menu appears.

9. Click Done Sel. The bend order table changes are saved.

To Get Bend Order Table Info


With the part in a bent condition:
1. Click Edit > Set Up. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Bend Order. The BEND ORDER menu appears.

4. Click Info. The bend order table for the part opens in an INFORMATION
WINDOW.

To Clear a Bend Order Table


With the part in a bent condition:
1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Bend Order. The BEND ORDER menu appears.

4. Click Clear. To discard the bend order table, you are prompted to click YES at the
prompt. The existing bend order table is deleted from the part.

Example: Bend Order Table


Sheet metal bend order tables use the following layout and data structure:

• Bend Seq—Display the bend sequence number and orders the bends for
creation.

• #Bends—Display the number of bends taking place in a bend sequence.

• Bend#—Display the original bend order creation number.

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• Bend Direction—The bend direction tells which way to make the bend:

IN—Convex bend on the driving side. For example, a bend less than 180° on the
driving side (acute or obtuse).

OUT—Concave bend on the driving side. For example, a bend greater then 180°
on the driving side (oblique).

• Bend Angle—Display the angle of the bend.

• Bend Radius—Display the radius of the bend.

• Bend Length—Display the length of the bend.

Fixed Geometry

About Fixed Geometry


Fixed geometry sets a default surface, edge or plane to remain fixed whenever you
unbend or bend back your sheet metal part. The fixed geometry setting helps ensure
consistency in your fixed geometry selection.
To unbend or bend back your sheet metal part you need to define a surface, edge or
plane to remain fixed. Whether or not you use the fixed geometry setting, a good
practice is to specify the same fixed geometry element for every unbend and bend
back feature.
When working with fixed geometry you can:
• Set a surface to remain fixed with the Select command.

• Highlight the current fixed geometry selection with the Show command.

• Delete the current fixed geometry selection with the Clear command.

After you set a fixed geometry element it is automatically selected during feature
creation. You are prompted with the following message: Default fixed geometry
highlighted. Use the "Fixed Geom" to select new.

To Select Fixed Geometry


With your sheet metal part open:
1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Fixed Geom. The FIXED GEOM menu appears.

4. Click Select. The SELECT menu appears.

5. Select the surface, edge, or plane to set as the default fixed geometry.

6. Click Done/Return. The fixed geometry is selected.

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Sheetmetal Design

To Clear Fixed Geometry


With your sheet metal part open:
1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Fixed Geom. The FIXED GEOM menu appears.

4. Click Clear. The CONFIRMATION menu appears and the fixed geometry
highlights in red.

5. Click Confirm. The fixed geometry is cleared.

To Show Fixed Geometry


With your sheet metal part open:
1. Click PART > Set Up. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Fixed Geom. The FIXED GEOM menu appears.

4. Click Show. The fixed geometry highlights in red.

Design Rules

About Design Rules


Design rules are guidelines for your design. Examples include minimal slot widths
and depths based on the materials and manufacturing process for your part. Design
rules can be ignored during the design process, if desired.

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You enter specific design standards into a rule table and assign the table to your
part. You can develop as many tables as you need. And you can edit the table data
at any time. The standard rule table contains the following default sheet metal
design rules:
• MIN_DIST_BTWN_CUTS—Checks the distance between two cuts or punches.
(Default: 5T)

1. 2T or 3T or Greater

2. Stock Thickness (T)

• MIN_CUT_TO BOUND—Checks the distance between a part edge and a cut or


punch. (Default: 2T)

• MIN_CUT_TO_BEND—Checks the distance between a bend-line and a cut or punch.


(Default:2.5*T+R)

Where,

H = Distance between the lowest edge and the hole

T = Sheet metal thickness

R = Bend radius

Min H = 1.5*T+R

• MIN_WALL_HEIGHT—Checks the minimum bend height of formed walls. (Default:


1.5*T+R)

• MIN_SLOT_TAB_WIDTH—Checks the minimum width of the slot. (Default: T)

• MIN_SLOT_TAB_HEIGHT—Checks the minimum length of the slot.

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Sheetmetal Design

For example, both MIN_SLOT_TAB_WIDTH and MIN_SLOT_TAB_HEIGHT are shown


in the following figure:

1. Slot Height

2. Slot Width (T)

• MIN_LASER_DIM—Checks the minimum distance between contours that have to be


laser cut. (Default: 1.5*T).

The design rules above are standard rules. You cannot add new rules or change the
names of the existing rules. However, you can customize your design rules by
setting up Pro/ENGINEER relations.
After you define and assign a design rules table you can test your part design against
the assigned design rules table with the Design Check command. The design check
displays design rule violations along with the rule name, formula, and dimensional
values to help determine why your criteria was not met. Use your industry
judgement for acceptable and unacceptable design rule violations.
Note:
• You can only check design rules for planar surfaces.

• In order to save the part size, Pro/ENGINEER does not store comments of the
rule table.

Design Rules Menu


Design rules are general standards for your design. The design rules are entered and
stored in a rule table. You can:
• Define—Define a set of design rules in a rule table.

• Delete—Delete the design rules for your part.

• Edit—Edit an existing set of design rules.

• Show—Display the design rules assigned to your part.

• Write—Save the rule table to a directory. ( file extension .rul)

• Assign—Assign a set of design rules to your part.

• Unassign—Deactivate the design rules table from your part. (It will not be
applied to the part anymore.)

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To Define the Design Rules


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Design Rules. The RULE MGMT menu appears.

4. Click Define.

5. Type a name for the rule table and click . A Pro/Table window opens a rule
table template listing the default sheet metal rules.

6. Edit the rule table as necessary.

7. Click File > Save after entering your data. The design rules are defined.

To Assign the Design Rules


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Design Rules. The RULE MGMT menu appears.

4. Click Assign. The USE RULE menu appears.

5. Define the type of rule table to assign:

o From Part—Assigns a rule table defined during the part's session. Select a
rule table from the TBL NAMES menu listing all rule tables associated with
the part.

o From File—Assigns a rule table stored in your directory. Select a rule table
from the DATA FILES menu or click Names to navigate to the appropriate
rule table using the Open dialog box.

The RULE MGMT menu appears.

6. Click Done/Return. The rule table is assigned.

To Show the Design Rules


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Design Rules. The RULE MGMT menu appears.

4. Click Show. The TBL NAMES menu appears, listing all rule tables associated
with the part.

5. Select the rule table to display. The rule table opens.

To Write the Design Rules


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

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Sheetmetal Design

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Design Rules. The RULE MGMT menu appears.

4. Click Write. The TBL NAMES menu appears, listing all rule tables associated
with the part.

5. Select the rule table to write to your directory.

6. Type a name for the rule table and click . The rule table writes to your
directory. It has the file extension .rul.

To Edit the Design Rules


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Design Rules. The RULE MGMT menu appears.

4. Click Edit. The TBL NAMES menu appears, listing all rule tables associated with
the part.

5. Select the rule table to edit. The rule table opens.

6. Edit the rule table as needed.

7. Click File > Save after entering your data. The design rules are redefined.

To Delete the Design Rules


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Design Rules. The RULE MGMT menu appears.

4. Click Delete. The TBL NAMES menu appears, listing all rule tables associated
with the part.

5. Select the rule table to delete. The rule table is deleted.

To Unassign the Design Rules


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Design Rules. The RULE MGMT menu appears.

4. Click Unassign. The rule table is unassigned.

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Example: Design Rule Table


The sheet metal design rule table uses the following layout and data structure. You
can customize the rule data to guide your design process, however you can not add
new design rules or modify the naming conventions of the existing rules:

The standard rule table contains the following default sheet metal design rules:
• MIN_DIST_BTWN_CUTS—Check the distance between two cuts or punches.
(Default: 5T)

• MIN_CUT_TO BOUND—Check the distance between a part edge and a cut or punch.
(Default: 2T)

• MIN_CUT_TO_BEND—Check the distance between a bend-line and a cut or punch.


(Default:2.5*T+R)

• MIN_WALL_HEIGHT—Check the minimum bend height of formed walls. (Default:


1.5*T+R)

• MIN_SLOT_TAB_WIDTH—Check the minimum width of tabs. (Default: T)

• MIN_SLOT_TAB_HEIGHT—Check the minimum length of tabs. (Default: 0.7)

• MIN_LASER_DIM—Check the minimum distance between features to be laser cut.


(Default: 1.5*T)

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Sheetmetal Design

Defaults and Parameters

About Sheet Metal Defaults and Parameters


Sheet metal defaults and parameters automate routine tasks to help streamline your
part design. You can predefine some common feature geometry to ensure design
consistency and to save time by reducing menu selections.
With the defaults and parameters commands you can:
• Set new sheet metal defaults and parameters to a part or design or you can use
the Retrieve command to apply existing defaults and parameters.

• Modify existing sheet metal parameters using the Edit command.

• Save and writes the sheet metal parameter file (.smd) to your directory using the
Save command.

At first glance you may not notice a difference between a default and a parameter,
however the two elements function uniquely:
• Parameter—Hold a numeric value which can be specified in relations and
formulas.

• Default—Reduce the number of menu selections.

You can set your defaults and parameters when you first open the part, as the part is
in-progress, or by importing an independent .smd parameter file. Remember,
defaults and parameters are saved with your parts but you can change their values
in-session.

List of Sheet Metal Defaults


The following options are solely sheet metal defaults. The value of these defaults
reduce the number of menu selections.

Default Description

SMT_MATERIAL Defines the sheet metal material


properties.

SMT_K_FACTOR Defines the K-factor used to measure


developed length.

SMT_Y_FACTOR Defines the Y-factor used to measure


developed length.

SMT_PART_BEND_ALLOW_DFLTS Defines the feature level Part Bend


Table. If set to Yes, the feature reads
the Part Bend Table by default.

SMT_DFLT_RADIUS_SIDE Defines the default radius side. If Auto


then the RADIUS SIDE menu is not
displayed.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

Default Description

SMT_DFLT_CRNR_REL_TYPE Defines the default corner relief type. If


set to Manual, you are prompted to
specify the corner relief type during
feature creation. You are also prompted
for appropriate corner relief dimensions.

If set to Auto, the corner relief step is


skipped and the matching default depth
and width values are accepted
automatically. Empty rows in the table
are automatically filled.

Note: If you use the dashboard to


define a corner relief, you must ignore
the Auto or Manual attributes and apply
a default value. Empty rows in the table
are automatically filled.

SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_TYPE Defines the default type of bend relief. If


set to Manual, you are prompted to
specify the bend relief type during
feature creation. You are also prompted
for appropriate bend relief dimensions.
If set to Auto, the bend relief step is
skipped and the default values for depth
and width are accepted automatically
from SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_DEPTH,
SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_WIDTH, and
SMT_DFLT_BEND_ANGLE.

SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_DEPTH Defines the depth of obround or


rectangular relief. (Example: Tan to
bend.)

SMT_DFLT_DEPTH_OPTION Defines the default depth option for SMT


class-cut. (Example: Blind)

SMT_GAP Defines the miter cut gap between the


two wall segments. (Example: Thickness
or Thickness*0.5)

SMT_DFLT_EDGE_TREAT_TYPE Defines the default edge rip type.

SMT_SHARPS_TO_BEND Automatically converts any sharp edges


to bends when sketching and creating
an extruded wall.

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Sheetmetal Design

List of Sheet Metal Defaults and Parameters


The following options simultaneously act as both, sheet metal defaults and
parameters. The sheet metal defaults and parameters hold numeric values that are
used in relations and reduce the number of menu selections when creating features.

Default/Parameter Description

SMT_THICKNESS Defines the default thickness for


sheet metal.

SMT_DFLT_BEND_RADIUS Defines the default bend radius.

SMT_DFLT_BEND_ANGLE Defines the default bend angle.

SMT_DFLT_CRNR_REL_WIDTH Defines the width of corner relief.

SMT_DFLT_CRNR_REL_DEPTH Defines the depth of circular,


rectangular, or obround relief.

SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_WIDTH Defines the width of bend relief.

(Example: Thickness or 34.)

SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_ANGLE Defines the default bend relief angle.


(Example: 47.) Note: This parameter
is only relevant for stretch relief.

SMT_DFLT_EDGE_TREAT_WIDTH Defines the width of edge rip.

SMT_DFLT_MITER_CUT_WIDTH Defines the width of miter cut.

SMT_DFLT_MITER_CUT_OFFSET Defines the default miter cut offset


value.

To Assign and Retrieve a Sheet Metal Defaults and Parameters File


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Parameters. The Sheetmetal Parameters dialog box opens, displaying


the parameters currently assigned to the part.

o To retrieve and assign an existing defaults and parameters file, click .


The Load Configure File dialog box opens.

Navigate to the appropriate .smd file. Click OK. The parameters are
retrieved and assigned.

o To assign a new set of defaults and parameters, edit the table as


necessary.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

4. Click OK. The Sheetmetal Parameters dialog box closes.

To Edit Sheet Metal Defaults and Parameters


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Parameters. The Sheetmetal Parameters dialog box opens.

4. Select the cell to edit. The data highlights and a drop-down menu opens.

5. Select the new default value.

o You can select from the drop-down menu or enter specific Value data for
the SMT_MATERIAL, SMT_K_FACTOR, SMT_Y_FACTOR, SMT_THICKNESS,
SMT_DFLT_BEND_RADIUS, SMT_DFLT_BEND_ANGLE,
SMT_DFLT_CRNR_REL_WIDTH, SMT_DFLT_CRNR_REL_DEPTH,
SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_DEPTH, SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_WIDTH, and
SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_ANGLE parameters.

displays in the Status column if you change the Value column data.

o You can click to define all the Attribute parameters as Auto.

o You can click to reset the entire Sheetmetal Parameters table to


the original defaults.

o You can click to reset an entire row to the original defaults.

o You can click to reset an entire column to the original defaults.

o You can delete a parameter from a Value column cell that originally did not
have data entered. Highlight the cell and press Delete.

2. Click OK to save the parameters with the part - or - to save the parameters
to a directory file.

To Save Sheet Metal Defaults and Parameters


1. Click Edit > Setup. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Parameters. The Sheetmetal Parameters dialog box opens.

4. To save the sheet metal parameters with the part, click OK. The parameters are
saved and the Sheetmetal Parameters dialog box closes.

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Sheetmetal Design

Alternatively, to save the sheet metal parameters in the specified directory:

o Click or File > Save, the Save As dialog box opens.

o Enter a file name and click OK. The parameters are saved.

o Click OK, the Sheetmetal Parameters dialog box closes.

Example: Sheet Metal Defaults and Parameters Table


The sheet metal defaults and parameters table uses the following layout and data
structure. The elements that function as both defaults and parameters are marked
with red boxes. All unmarked elements function solely as defaults.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

The sheet metal defaults and parameters table contains five columns. Each column
has default information already set. If the column contains a dash (-), then the
corresponding information is not available for a particular operation.
• Name—List the default or parameter name. Because the name is a symbolic
string, parameter names can be used in relation formulas.

Note: You cannot edit the default or parameter names.

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Sheetmetal Design

• Value—Set a value to automatically highlight in the Menu Manager. For


example, Outside Radius.

• Attribute—Set how the default or parameter value will be accepted on the Menu
Manager.

o Manual—Requires you to accept the default setting as you work through


the Menu Manager. For example, Outside Radius is highlighted on the
RADIUS SIDE menu. You must click Done/Return to accept the default
value.

o Auto—Automatically accepts the default setting and brings you to the next
section of the Menu Manager. For example, set SMT_DFLT_RADIUS_SIDE
to Auto to skip the RADIUS SIDE menu.

o Add Relation—Create a relation between the defined dimension and the


parameter, when the attribute is set to Auto. For example, if the
SMT_DFLT_BEND_ANGLE parameter is set to Auto and Add Relation is Yes, a
relation is added between the bend angle in your design and the parameter.

o Status—If you modify the Value column data, is displayed in the Status
column indicating that you have changed the Pro/ENGINEER default value to a
user defined default value.

Sheetmetal Design Configuration Options

About Configuring Sheetmetal Design


Sheetmetal Design configuration options enable you to customize your sheet metal
design environment. For example, you might specify constants for neutral bend lines,
enable corner relief notes and punch axis points, set directory locations, or define
certain material behavior in your sheet metal design.
Your sheet metal configuration options, like all Pro/ENGINEER configuration options:
• Are set from the Options dialog box (Tools > Options).

• Are stored in a config.pro file.

• Use the default value unless you manually set the configuration option.

You can set and save multiple combinations of configuration options ( config.pro
file), with each file containing settings unique to certain design projects.
Sheetmetal Design Help lists the configuration options unique to sheet metal
designs. The options are arranged in alphabetical order. Each topic contains the
following information:
• Configuration option name.

• Brief description and notes describing the configuration option.

• Default and available variables or values. All default values are followed by an
asterisk (*).

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

To Set Sheet Metal Configuration Options


1. Click Tools > Options. The Options dialog box opens.

2. Click the Show only options loaded from file check box to see currently
loaded configuration options or clear this check box to see all configuration
options. The configuration options display.

3. Select the configuration option from the list or type the configuration option
name in the Option box.

4. In the Value box type or select a value.

Note: The default value is followed by an asterisk (*).

5. Click Add/Change. The configuration option and its value appear in the list. A
green status icon confirms the change.

6. When you finish configuring Sheetmetal Design, click Apply. The configuration
options are set.

Note: We recommend that you set your configuration options before starting a new
sheet metal session.

default_abs_accuracy
value

Defines the default absolute part accuracy.


If you do not define default values for the default_abs_accuracy configuration
option, Pro/ENGINEER assigns 0.0005 inch or 0.0125 mm as the default values,
depending on the unit system that you use.

feat_place_follow_unbend
no, yes
no—The feature placement does not follow the unbend feature.
yes—The feature placement follows the unbend feature.

initial_bend_y_factor
0.500000
The y-factor value is set to 0.500000.
Specify a constant used to determine the neutral bend line for a sheet metal part.
This value is always used for non-regular bends. It is only used for regular bends
when a bend table is not specified.

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Sheetmetal Design

merge_smt_srfs_without_seam
yes, no

yes—Remove the edge between merged same-surface sheet metal surfaces.


no—Create an edge between merged same-surface sheet metal surfaces.
Specify whether to create or remove an edge when merging same-surface sheet
metal surfaces.

pro_sheet_met_dir
<full directory path>

Set the default directory for your user-defined bend tables. If not set the supplied
Sheetmetal Design bend tables are used.
You must type the <full directory path> in Value box.
For example, c:\program files\ptc\sheet metal projects

pro_smt_params_dir
<full directory path>

Specify the directory to save/retrieve sheet metal parameters files. Type the full path
name to avoid problems.
You must type the <full directory path> in Value box. For example, c:\program
files\ptc\sheet metal projects

punch_axis_points
no, yes

no—Disable the creation of punch axis points in sheet metal cuts and punches.
yes—Enable the creation of punch axis points in sheet metal cuts and punches.
Controls the creation of punch axis points in sheet metal cuts and punches.

smt_allow_flip_sketch
yes, no

Controls if the Flip Angle and Flip profile commands are available for flat walls and
flange walls, respectively.
yes—The Flip Angle command is available for flat walls and the Flip profile
command is available for flange walls. You can flip the sketch using flat and flange
wall tools.
no—The Flip Angle command is unavailable for flat walls and the Flip profile
command is unavailable for flange walls.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

smt_bend_notes_dflt_display
yes, no
yes—Bend notes display.
no—Bend notes do not display.
Defines the default state of bend note display.

smt_bend_notes_direction_down
default

default—Uses to indicate downward bends.


You can customize your bend line note symbol by modifying the symbol source files.
Define the symbol used to indicate a downward bend in sheet metal mode.
Note: To return to the default bend line note symbols type default in the Value box.

smt_bend_notes_direction_up
default

default—Uses to indicate upward bends.


You can customize your bend line note symbol by modifying the symbol source files.
Define the symbol used to indicate an upward bend in sheet metal mode.
Note: To return to the default bend line note symbols type default in the Value box.

smt_bend_notes_order
&type&direction&angle
&type&direction&angle—Display the bend type first, the bend direction second,
and the bend angle last. Define the order of bend note symbols and values within
your bend notes.

smt_bend_notes_type_formed
default

default—Uses to indicate formed bends.


You can customize your bend line note symbol by modifying the symbol source files.
Define the symbol used to indicate a formed bend in sheet metal mode.
Note: To return to the default bend line note symbols type default in the Value box.

smt_bend_notes_type_rolled
default

default—Uses to indicate rolled bends.

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Sheetmetal Design

You can customize your bend line note symbol by modifying the symbol source files.
Define the symbol used to indicate a rolled bend in sheet metal mode.
Note: To return to the default bend line note symbols type default in the Value box.

smt_crn_rel_display
yes, no

yes—Corner relief notes will display.


no—Corner relief notes will not display.
Controls the display of corner relief notes.

smt_mp_method
cg, mass, both
cg—Mass Properties calculation is performed on current state of sheet metal part.
mass—Suppressed flat pattern and flat forms are temporary resumed before mass
properties calculation of sheet metal part.
both—Both mass and cg methods are calculated.
Determines whether or not to include suppressed flat patterns and flat forms in your
design's mass properties calculation.

smt_outside_mold_lines
yes, no

yes—Outside mold lines are created during the flat pattern creation.
no—Outside mold lines are not created during the flat pattern creation.
Determines which mold lines to create during the flat pattern creation.

system_sheetmetal_color
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000— Red=0.00, Green=0.00, Blue=0.00
Specifies the default color in which sheet metal parts are displayed. The three
decimal values specify (in order) a percentage of red, green and blue in the resulting
color. For example, 0 0 49 specifies a medium blue.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

template_sheetmetalpart
inlbs_part_sheetmetal.prt, empty, <filename>
inlbs_part_sheetmetal.prt—Use the inlbs_part_sheetmetal.prt file as the default
template.
empty—Do not use a template.
<filename>—Use a specific file as your template.
Specifies the filename of the default sheetmetal part model template. After you set
this option, it takes effect immediately in the current session of Pro/ENGINEER.

Designing in Sheetmetal Design

About Designing in Sheet Metal


Your sheet metal design can involve both solid and sheet metal application features.
Be sure to keep your design intent and feature creation order in mind throughout the
entire design process.
You can utilize the following sheet metal features:
• Notch and Punch—Create templates used to cut and relieve sheet metal walls.

• Wall—Create the sheet metal material that is the base of your design.

• Bend, Unbend, Bend Back—Enable you to interchange between bent and


unbent conditions.

• Flat Pattern—Flatten your entire sheet metal part for manufacturing.

• Form, Flatten Form—Enable you complexly shape the sheet metal and flatten it
for manufacture.

• Rip—Create rips to relieve and control the sheet metal.

• Cut—Remove material from the sheet metal wall.

• Deform Area—Control sheet metal stretching.

• Conversion—Convert a solid part into a sheet metal part, capable of


manufacture.

• Edge Bend—Bend box-edges into rounds.

• Corner Relief—Relieve corners to prevent unwanted deformation.

You can also:


• Utilize solid features, including patterns, copy, mirror, chamfers, holes, rounds,
and solid cuts.

• Support multiple manufacturing requirements by creating inheritance features.

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Sheetmetal Design

Possible Sheet Metal Design Approach


Consider the following design approach when creating your sheet metal design:
1. Create the basic sheet metal parts in sheet metal mode. Since many of the
components will be held in place with screws or bent tabs, you might want to
leave the creation of these features for later when the components are
assembled.

2. Assemble all the major internal components relative to each other. Include
simple supporting structures, or sheet metal parts that are not completely
defined at this time, to place the components. Less important components can
also wait.

Components and Sheet Metal


Platform, Before Assembly

3. Create or modify the sheet metal parts using the internal components as
references, if required. Those references aid you in adding any support walls,
form features for stiffening panels, and notches or punches for fastening the
components.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

4. After the cabinet and supporting structures are defined add any remaining sheet
metal or assembly features.

Components and Sheet Metal Enclosure, After Assembly

5. Create and/or select a bend table to provide material allowances when unbending
the part. You could also do this before the first step in the design.

6. In sheet metal mode, create a bend order table to define the bending sequences
for each part.

7. Add a Flat State instance. This creates your flat pattern for drawing and
manufacturing. The bend table data ensures that the flat pattern’s geometry is
accurate.

8. Creating drawings to document your parts. You can include both the generic (as
designed) part and the Flat State instance (multi-model drawing). Show the
dimensions each model. Then add the bend order table as a note.

Conversion

About Converting to Sheet Metal Parts


Converting solid parts to sheet metal parts enables you to modify your existing solid
design with sheet metal industry features. The conversion can serve as a shortcut in
your design process because you can reuse existing solid designs to reach your sheet
metal design intent and you can include multiple features within a single conversion
feature. After you convert a part to sheet metal, it acts as any other sheet metal
part.
A complete conversion may require two steps:
• Basic conversion—Make a basic conversion of the solid part that allows you to
work in the sheet metal mode.

• Sheet Metal Conversion Feature—If the converted part is not manufacturable


(able to be unbent), create a sheet metal conversion feature to add alterations
like rips, bends, and corner relief.

The basic conversion defines how you want to use the existing solid part in your
sheet metal design. You can either shell out the part, by selecting walls to remove,
or you can assign a driving surface, which is the surface that carries the part’s
geometry (driving side). Block-like parts typically use the shell option to convert to
sheet metal while thin protrusions with constant thickness typically use the driving

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Sheetmetal Design

surface option. All of the solid part’s geometry is referenced to create the FIRST
WALL in the sheet metal part.

Solid Part Basic Conversion Conversion Unbent Part


Feature

After you convert the solid part it may still be undevelopable in sheet metal. Creating
a conversion feature using some of the following features enables you to make the
sheet metal part manufacturable:
• Point Relief—Places datum points on edges selected or created asynchronously.
The datum points act as point relief. They can:

o Define a point break that divides an existing edge into two separate edges
that can be partially ripped and partially bent.

o Define the end of a rip connection.

o Define point relief at vertices of bends and rips.

o Edge Rips—Makes a rip along the edge, which enables you to unbend your sheet
metal part. Corner edges can be open, blind, or overlapping.

• Rip Connects—Connects rips with planar, straight-line rips. The rip connects are
sketched with point-to-point connections, which require you to define rip
endpoints. The rip endpoints can be datum points or vertices and must either be
at the end of a rip or on the part border. The rip connects cannot be collinear
with existing edges.

• Bends—Converts sharp edges to bends. By default, the inner radius of the bend
is set to the thickness of the sheet metal. When you specify an edge as a rip, all
non-tangential intersecting edges convert to bends when you click OK or
Preview in the dialog box.

• Corner Reliefs—Places relief in selected corners.

Converting Back to Solid Parts


Converting your sheet metal part back to a solid part enables you to modify the solid
part and make any design changes. Be sure to consider the effects your alterations
will have in the sheet metal environment, especially with respect to unbending.
You can alter the solid part in the following ways:
• Insert Features—Alters your solid part design without having to convert from
sheet metal to a solid part and back again. You can insert new features before
the sheet metal conversion feature in your design by clicking Feature > Insert

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

Mode on the PART menu in the Menu Manager. Doing this enables the menu
commands and features for solid parts.

If inserting features does not meet your design needs, you can convert a sheet
metal part back to a solid part in the following ways:

• Suppress the Conversion Features—Suppresses the sheet metal conversion


feature (the Smt Conversion feature appears in the Model Tree) and modifies the
solid part. By suppressing this feature (click Edit > Suppress) you can work on
the original part and resume the suppressed conversion features when needed.

• Delete the Conversion Features—Deletes the first sheet metal feature (FIRST
WALL) in the model tree by clicking Edit > Delete. Remember, when you delete
this feature, every feature after it will also delete.

To Convert to Sheet Metal


1. Open the existing solid part in Standard mode.

2. Click Applications > Sheetmetal. The SMT CONVERT menu appears in the
Menu Manager.

3. Define how to convert the solid part to sheet metal:

• Driving Srf—Select the wall to carry the part’s geometry (driving side of the
part).

o Click Driving Srf.

o Select the desired driving surface on the part. You are prompted for the
wall thickness.

o Type the wall thickness and click . The FIRST WALL feature is created
and the part opens in sheet metal mode.

o Shell—Select wall(s) to remove to create a shell part.

o Click Shell. The FEATURE REFS menu appears.

o Select one or more surfaces to remove and then click Done Refs. You are
prompted for the wall thickness.

o Type the wall thickness and click . The FIRST WALL feature is created
and the part opens in sheet metal mode.

If your part needs to be adjusted for manufacture, continue with step 4.

4. Click on the sheet metal toolbar or click Insert > Conversion. The SMT
CONVERSION dialog box opens.

5. Highlight a conversion element (described below) and click Define. The


appropriate menu appears in the Menu Manager.

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Sheetmetal Design

Repeat Step 5 for any of the conversion elements below:

• Point Reliefs:

o Click Add to create a new point relief.

o Select an existing datum point or an edge to place the new datum point on.

o Place the datum point by using:

Offset—Set the point a specified distance from a plane.

Length Ratio—Set the point location as a decimal fraction of the edge


length (range 0.0 through 1.0).

Actual Len—Enter a value for the actual distance along the edge.

o Click Done Sel > Done after defining all point reliefs. You return to the
SMT CONVERSION dialog box.

• Edge Rip:

• Click Add to create an edge rip.

• Select the desired edges to rip using the RIP PIECES menu. If you created
point reliefs, select the edge pieces to rip.

o Click Done Sets. You return to the SMT CONVERSION dialog box.

You can customize the corner type for each edge rip at any time:

o Click Redefine from the RIP PIECES menu. The PIECE SEL menu
appears.

o Select the edge piece to redefine. The RIP PIECES dialog box opens.

o Highlight Corner Type and click Define. The CORNER DEF menu appears.

o Select the desired corner type (Open, Blind, or Overlap) and then click
Done.

o Click Ok in RIP PIECES dialog box.

• Rip Connect:

o Click Add to create a new rip piece connection.

o Select the first endpoint for the rip piece. A series of dashed lines radiates
from the rip's first endpoint to possible second endpoints.

o Select the second endpoint of the rip piece from the possible endpoints
identified by a dashed line. The extraneous dashed lines clear and the new
connecting rip line displays.

o Click OK on the RIP CONNECT dialog box.

o Click Done Sets on the RIP CONNECT menu. You return to the SMT
CONVERSION dialog box.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

o Bends:

o Click Add to create a new bend.

o Select the edges to bend.

o Click Done Sel > Done Sets after selecting all edges to bend. You return
to the SMT CONVERSION dialog box.

o Corner Reliefs:

o Click Add to create new corner relief.

o Select the 3D note for each corner needing similar relief. Click Done Sel.

o Select the type of corner relief:

No Relief—No relief is added. The corner retains the rip characteristic.

None—Generate a square corner. The default V-notch characteristic is


removed.

Circular—Add a circular relief. The corner has a circular section removed.

Obround—Add an obround relief. The corner has an obround section


removed.

o Define the relief dimensions:

Thickness—Use a default radius that is equal to the thickness of the sheet


metal wall.

Thickness * 2—Use a default radius that is twice the thickness of the


sheet metal wall.

Enter Value—Use the absolute value that you type in the Enter
dimension value box.

o Click Done Sets after applying all corner relief. You return to the SMT
CONVERSION dialog box.

6. Click OK on the SMT CONVERSION dialog box. The conversion feature is


created.

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Sheetmetal Design

Working with Rip Connects


Rip connects join existing rips with planar, straight-line rips. The rip connects are
sketched with point-to-point connections, which require you to define rip endpoints.
The rip endpoints can be datum points or vertices and must either be at the end of a
rip or on the part border. The rip connects cannot be collinear with existing edges.

Selecting the First Rip Connecting the Rips


Endpoint

1. Two existing edge rips.

2. The first endpoint defined for the rip connect.

3. The series of possible second endpoints, based on the first rip connect endpoint.

4. The two existing edge rips.

5. The completed rip connect.

Example: Sheet Metal Conversion


The following examples depict the two types of sheet metal conversions; driving
surface and shell. Block-like parts typically use the shell option to convert to sheet
metal while thin protrusions with constant thickness typically use the driving surface
option.

Original Solid Part

Original solid part maintains a constant thickness.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

Driving Surface Conversion

1. Driving surface of FIRST WALL sheet metal feature.

Original Solid Part

Original box-like solid part.

Shell Conversion

2. Sheet metal surface to remove before creating the FIRST WALL sheet metal feature.

Wall

About Walls
A wall is any section of sheet metal material in your design. There are two main
types of walls in Sheetmetal Design:
• Primary walls—Are independent and do not need another wall to exist. Primary
walls can be Unattached, Flat, Extruded, Revolve, Blend, Offset, Variable
Section Sweep, Swept Blend, Helical Sweep, From Boundaries, Blend
Section To Surfaces, Blend Between Surfaces, Blend from File, Blend
Tangent to Surfaces.

• Secondary walls—Are dependent on at least one primary wall. They are


children to primary walls. Secondary walls include all the primary walls, as well as
Flat, Flange, Extend , Twist, and Merge.

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Sheetmetal Design

If you are designing a part from scratch a primary wall must be your first feature. All
feature options are unavailable until after you create the primary wall. You can then
add any applicable sheet metal and solid-class features to your design.
When you create secondary walls you have the option of making the wall attached or
unattached. Except for extend walls, secondary walls can either be attached to a
whole edge, or to a portion of the edge (which is a partial wall). An attached
secondary wall can use an:

Automatically generated wall Wall without a bend


with a bend angle

The unattached wall option enables you to create walls separate from the primary
wall. You could potentially create the side walls before knowing what the middle
section should look like. However, keep in mind that secondary walls are dependent
on the primary wall. If you delete the primary wall the secondary wall will also
delete.
Note: While the unattached wall option resembles an Assembly, it is not. Eventually
you must connect or merge the walls.

Unattached

Sheet metal walls have a constant thickness. The wall's thickness is formed by
offsetting the sheet metal part's offset surface from its driving surface. The side
surfaces form after the part is fully regenerated.
Many sheet metal walls require some kind of relief. Without relief some unwanted
ripping or stretching may occur. Automatic relief is available for walls.

About Wall Relief


Wall relief helps control the sheet metal material and prevents unwanted
deformation.
For example, an unrelieved secondary wall might not represent the accurate, real life
model you need due to material stretching. By adding the appropriate relief, like
StrtchRelief, your sheet metal wall will meet your design intent and enable you to
create an accurate flat model.

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You can create five types of wall relief:


• No Relief—Attach the wall using no relief.

• StrtchRelief—Stretch the material for bend relief at wall attachment points.

• Rip Relief—Rip the existing material at each attachment point.

• RectRelief—Add a rectangular relief at each attachment point.

• ObrndRelief—Add an obround relief at each attachment point.

No Relief StrtchRelief Rip Relief RectRelief ObrndRelief

Types of Walls
The following is a quick-reference to guide you in selecting the wall type that most
accurately meets your design intent.
The following type of walls are used in actual designs:
• Flat—You can attach a flat wall to a twisted wall, revolve wall, or a planar
surface. The attachment edge must be straight or defined by the driving or offset
surface. If you want a new wall in the same plane as adjacent wall, insert a flat
wall without a bend. You can also insert a flat wall with a bend at a sharp edge
using flat.

• Extruded—You can attach an extruded wall to any edge that is straight and
defined by the driving or offset surface. You can insert an extruded wall with or
without a bend.

• Swept—You can attach a swept wall to any surface, includes straight or nonlinear
edges of the driving or offset surface. Select the edges in any order. You can
define a chain by selecting an edge, which includes all the edges tangent to the
edge. You can also select a predefined collection of edges in the mode or select
an opposite chain that is offset with thickness or a chain that cannot be
transformed by a bend or unbend operation.

Difference between Flat Walls and Flange Walls


Sheet Metal (SMT) Design extrudes the flat section of a closed loop to create a flat
wall. SMT design may also use an open loop aligned with vertices of an attachment
edge and extrude it to create a flat wall. A flat wall is always planar and even and
can either be a primary wall or a secondary wall.

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Sheetmetal Design

Note:
• A wall is any section of sheet metal material in your design.

• A primary wall is an independent wall that does not need another wall to exist.

• A secondary wall is a wall that is dependent on at least one wall for its existence.
Secondary walls are children of primary walls.

SMT Design sweeps an open section along a selected trajectory or a selected edge
reference to create a flange wall. SMT Design may also use a cross-sectional sketch
along an attachment edge to create a flange wall. The attachment edge may not be
linear and the surface adjacent to the attachment edge may not be planar.
SMT Design uses both tangent and non-tangent chains to create flange walls. A
flange wall is always a secondary wall.

About Importing and Exporting User Defined Profiles and Sections


You can import all 2D sections or profiles located in the working folder for
Sheetmetal Design. You can also browse and import a 2D section file to use it as a
profile. Pro/ENGINEER validates the selected file and if the sketch satisfies the
criteria for validation, imports the sketch directly.
You can also save or export the current defined profile as a 2D section in the working
folder directly or specify a different location other than the working folder to save the
profile.

About Validating a Sketch in Pro/ENGINEER


When you click Open in the Open dialog box to import a sketch, Pro/ENGINEER
validates the selected sketch to determine if it satisfies the criteria for validation.
The validation criteria for flange profiles and flat sections are different.

Validation Criteria for Flange Profile


A valid 2D section sketch that you use as a flange profile must include the following
features:
• A coordinate system as the first section entity

• One continuous open loop

The following figure shows an example of a flange profile.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

Validation Criteria for Flat Section


A valid 2D section sketch that you use as a flat section or shape must include the
following features:
• A coordinate system as the first section entity.

• A horizontal centerline through the first coordinate system must be the second
entity of the section.

• A second coordinate system must be the third entity of the section. This
coordinate system must lie on the horizontal centerline to the left of the first
coordinate system. These coordinate systems must be placed at the ends of the
attachment edge. The section must contain these coordinate systems only.

• The distance between the two coordinate systems must be represented by a


dimension.

• One continuous open loop must be present in the section.

• The loop’s ends must be aligned with the centerline.

• The loop must be located above the centerline.

• The loop must not intersect with the centerline between the coordinate systems.

• The dimension between the coordinate systems and the opposite edge must
correspond to the side dimension as shown in the following figure.

1. Distance between the two coordinate systems

2. A coordinate system

3. The edge opposite the coordinate system

4. The side dimension

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Sheetmetal Design

Flat

About Flat Walls


A flat wall is a planar or even or unbent section of sheet metal. It can either be a
primary wall, the first wall in your design, or a secondary wall, dependent on the
primary wall. Flat walls can take any flat shape.
If the flat wall is a primary wall, then only the Insert > Sheetmetal Wall >
Unattached command is available. Using the unattached flat wall tool, you can
create a primary unattached flat wall. Unattached walls require closed loop sketches.
If the flat wall is a secondary wall, you must sketch the wall as an open loop aligned
with the highlighted vertices of the attachment edge. The surface adjacent to the
attachment edge must be planar. You can create an attached flat wall using Insert
> Sheetmetal Wall > Flat.
The following example shows an attached flat wall with radius:

Existing Wall Flat Wall Sketch Completed Flat Wall


(open loop)

1. Attachment Edge

Note:
• You can create a flat wall with an angle but without a bend, or without an angle
and a bend.

• If you create flat walls with predefined profiles using dimensions that are
calculated with reference to the bottom surface of an existing wall, then you must
attach a predefined section to an offset edge to use such walls.

• Using the Sketch option in the Shape dialog box, you can convert predefined 2D
sections without external references to a 3D section with external references.

To Create a Flat Wall

1. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Flat. The SMT dashboard appears.

2. Select a valid attachment edge to insert a flat wall. A valid edge is an edge that is
straight or defined by the driving or offset surface.

The selected edge is displayed in the Placement collector on the SMT


dashboard. A rectangular section (wall) is created by default.

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Note: Options on the dashboard are also available through the shortcut menus
when you right-click the handle or the flat wall.

3. From the list on the dashboard,

a. Select one of the predefined wall profiles, that is, one of Rectangle,
Trapezoid, L, T, or User Defined.
b. Specify the required bend angle from the list in the bend angle box or
select the default bend angle.
Alternatively, you can select Flat from the list in the bend angle box to
create a flat wall without a bend angle. On selecting a Flat angle, the bend
allowance and relief options become unavailable.

4. If you specify a bend angle, the Offset option becomes available.

a. Click Offset on the SMT dashboard.


b. Click Offset wall with respect to attachment edge and select one of the
following options:
o Add to part edge—Appends the wall to the attachment edge without
trimming the height of the attachment wall.

o Automatic—Offsets the wall and maintains the original height of the


attachment wall.

o By Value—Offsets the wall at a specific distance. You can also drag the
handle to adjust the offset value.

5. If required, click Shape to change the dimensions of the section.

a. Click Sketch to define a sketch with user-defined values or change the


geometry of the predefined section. The Sketch dialog box opens.
b. If required, flip the sketch view direction, change the reference, or view
orientation, and click Sketch.

c. Click on the sketcher toolbar to complete defining the sketch.


6. Click Properties on the SMT dashboard.

a. Accept the default feature name or rename it if required.

b. Click to view the information of the feature element data in the


Pro/ENGINEER browser.
The default thickness is displayed.

7. Click to apply and save the changes made to the feature.

To Create a Flat Wall With a Bend

1. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Flat. The SMT dashboard appears.

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Sheetmetal Design

2. Select a valid attachment edge to insert a flat wall. A valid edge is an edge that is
straight or defined by the driving or offset surface.

The selected edge is displayed in the Placement collector on the SMT


dashboard. A rectangular section (wall) is created by default.

Note: Options on the dashboard are also available through the shortcut menus
when you right-click the handle or the flat wall.

3. From the list on the dashboard,

a. Select one of the predefined wall profiles, that is, one of Rectangle,
Trapezoid, L, T, or User Defined.
b. Specify the required bend angle or drag the handle to set the wall angle.
4. If required, click Shape to change the dimensions of the section.

a. Click Sketch to define a sketch with user-defined values or change the


geometry of the predefined section. The Sketch dialog box opens.
b. If required, flip the sketch view direction, change the reference, or view
orientation, and click Sketch.

c. Click on the sketcher toolbar to complete defining the sketch.


5. Click Offset on the SMT dashboard.

6. Click Offset wall with respect to attachment edge and select one of the
following options:

o Add to part edge—Appends the wall to the attachment edge without


trimming the height of the attachment wall.

o Automatic—Offsets the wall and maintains the original height of the


attachment wall.

o By Value—Offsets the wall at a specific distance. You can also drag the
handle to adjust the offset value.

7. Click to change the thickness of the flat wall to the opposite side of the
sketch plane.

Note: The default bend thickness and dimension values are applied to the bend
at the attachment edge. Bend Allowance on the dashboard is available by
default.

8. Click Bend Allowance on the dashboard.

a. Under Developed Length calculation, click A Feature Specific Set Up


to determine how the bend deformation is to be calculated for a specific
feature and select one of the following options:
o By K Factor—Computes the developed length using the K-factor. K-factor
is the ratio between the distance from the neutral bend line to the inside
bend radius and the sheet material thickness.

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

o By Y Factor—Computes the developed length using the Y-factor. Y-factor


is the ratio between the neutral bend line and material thickness.

o By Bend Table—Controls calculations for the length of flat material


(developed length) needed to make a bend.

b. Click By Bend Table to select one of the three Pro/ENGINEER bend tables
or click Browse to select a user-defined bend table.
9. Type the required bend radius value or select a predefined radius value, that is,
one of Thickness, Thickness * 2, or By Parameter from the list on the
dashboard. You can also change the bend radius by using the handle on the flat
wall.

10. Click to dimension the outer surface of the part or click to dimension
the inner surface of the part.

11. Click Relief and define one of the following types of bend relief to use. Rip relief
is the default.

a. Click Define each side separately to specify the wall relief type for each
side of the wall, where Side 1 indicates the start point of the attachment
edge and Side 2 indicates the endpoint of the attachment edge.
b. Specify the type of bend relief to apply.
o No Relief—Maintains the existing material shape and does not control the
bend behavior.

o Rip—Rips the existing material.

o Stretch—Stretches the existing material.

o Rectangular—Adds a rectangular relief.

o Obround—Adds an obround relief.

Note:

o You can also define a bend relief for each side of the section separately.

o If you select the Add to part edge option for the Offset wall with
respect to attachment edge command and

Create a wall with trimmed wall, the relief is located on the attachment
edge.

Create a wall with extended wall, the relief is located on the current created
wall.

c. Define the relief's width:


o Thickness—Uses a default radius equal to the thickness of the sheet metal
wall.

o Thickness * 2—Uses a default radius that is twice the thickness of the


sheet metal wall.

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Sheetmetal Design

o By Parameter—Uses the default bend relief type specified in the


Sheetmetal Parameters dialog box.

o Enter Value—Uses the absolute value that you type in the Enter
dimension value box.

d. Specify a relief depth for the Rectangular and Obround types of reliefs or
drag the handle to adjust the relief depth.
12. Click Properties.

a. Accept the default feature name or rename it if required.

b. Click to view the information of the feature element data in the


embedded browser.

13. Click to apply and save the changes made to the feature.

To Create an Unattached Flat Wall

1. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Flat. The SMT
dashboard appears.

Alternatively, you can use a sketched feature (closed loop) as a section for
creating an unattached flat wall. By default, the sketched plane is the driving
surface.

2. Click References on the dashboard. The Sketch slide-up panel appears.

o If a sketched feature already exists, clicking Unlink breaks the association


between the sketched feature and its internal section.

Click Edit on the Reference panel and modify the internal sketch.

o If a sketched feature does not exist, click Define and select the reference
sketch plane using the Sketch dialog box.

a. Select the default view orientation or select a new view reference to sketch
the unattached flat wall.
b. Sketch the unattached flat wall.

c. When the sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar.


3. Type a value for the wall's thickness using the thickness input panel.

Note: The thickness input panel is available only for the first unattached wall.

4. Click to flip the thickness direction, if required.

Note: If the first wall exists in the sheet metal design, the unattached flat wall
automatically adopts its thickness.

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You can flip the driving surface side only for a second unattached flat wall using
Options on the SMT dashboard.

5. When done, click on the SMT dashboard. An unattached wall is created.

To Create a Flat Wall by Importing User Defined Sections

1. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Flat. The dashboard appears.

2. Select a valid attachment edge to insert a flat wall. A valid edge is an edge that is
straight or defined by the driving or offset surface.

The selected edge is displayed in the Placement collector on the dashboard. A


rectangular section or wall is created by default.

Note: The options on the dashboard are also available through the shortcut
menus when you right-click the handle or the flat wall.

3. From the list on the dashboard, select User Defined.

4. Click Shape > Open to import a shape. The Open dialog box opens. The files in
the working directory are listed in the dialog box.

5. Select a file or sketch with a 2D section and click Open to import the sketch.
Pro/ENGINEER validates the selected sketch and determines if it satisfies the
criteria for validation. If the sketch does not satisfy the criteria for validation, a
File Open dialog box, indicating that the selected 2D sketch cannot be used as a
profile, opens. However, if the sketch satisfies the criteria for validation, the
sketch is imported and added to the list of pre-defined profiles.

The Shape panel displays the sketch and lists all the dimensions in the sketch.

6. If required, double-click the dimensions in the dimensions list and change the
values. The changed values for dimensions are dynamically updated in the
imported profile.

Note: If you enter an invalid value for a dimension, Pro/ENGINEER displays a


warning indicating that the value you entered is invalid. Click OK and redefine
the value for dimensions.

7. Specify values for Offset, Relief, and Bend Allowance.

8. Click to dimension the outer surface of the part or click to dimension


the inner surface of the part.

9. Click Properties on the dashboard.

o Accept the default feature name or rename it if required.

o Click to view the information of the feature element data in the


embedded browser.

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Sheetmetal Design

The default thickness is displayed.

10. Click to apply and save the changes made to the feature.

Note:
When you edit or move the user defined profile from the working folder,
Pro/ENGINEER indicates that the profile has been redefined. When you open the
feature referencing the profile, an Edit Definition dialog box appears indicating that
you redefined this feature and the file that includes the used profile cannot be found.
However, the used profile was copied when this feature was created and this internal
copy is used.

To Flip Angle of a Flat Wall


1. Set the smt_allow_flip_sketch configuration option to yes to make the Flip
Angle command available.

2. Right-click in the graphics window and click Flip Angle.

Note:
• If you flip the angle of a 2D section using the Flip Angle command, the section
moves to an offset edge to retain the symmetry around the attachment wall. If
you flip the angle of a 3D section, Pro/ENGINEER mirrors the section about a
plane that is located at half the thickness of the section.

• If you click the Sketch option in the Shape dialog box after flipping the angle,
the Flipped Wall dialog box appears and displays a message stating that you
have activated Sketcher while the wall is flipped, so the sketch would be edited in
its original position and flipped back after you exit Sketcher.

To Export a User Defined Profile or Section


1. On the dashboard, click Shape > Save As to save an existing flat wall shape. On
the dashboard, click Profile > Save As to save an existing flange wall profile.
The Save a Copy dialog box opens.

2. In the New Name box, type a new name for the shape or profile.

3. Click OK.

The shape or profile is saved as a 2D section in a sketch file in the working folder.
Note:
• You cannot export all 3D sections.

• You must use coordinate systems at the ends of the attachment edge correctly.

• The dimension scheme of 3D sections may change when you export it, especially
if the section contains external references.

• You must consider the constraints, external references, and sketcher orientation
when you export a section.

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Flanged Walls

About Flange Walls


You can perform the following operations with the flange wall functionality:
• Redefine extruded walls to swept walls and vice versa, if required.

• Use and modify predefined internal profiles. Predefined profiles also include the
hem profiles.

• Specify the material direction for the attached wall.

• Specify a bend for an extrude or sweep.

• Modify developed length for swept walls.

• Redefine extruded walls.

• Specify the view reference and orientation before activating the sketch.

• Obtain the developed length information for swept walls.

• Add bends on sharp edges for extruded and swept walls.

• Sketch nontangent sections for swept walls.

• Define a wall trimming by using the offset dimension or maintain the attachment
wall height.

• Define corner reliefs for nontangent points and its new placement.

• Add a rectangular relief to the corner type of relief.

• Add an SMT parameter dimension gap.

• Define edge treatment or edge rips for nontangent edges.

• Specify nontangent segments in the profile.

• Allow automatic excluding of a wall segment.

• Define miter cuts located atthe intersection of two walls.

Note: By default, a flange wall is a swept wall unless you switch to an extrude wall.
Pro/ENGINEER cannot create extruded walls in the following conditions:
• The Placement collector contains a non-linear attachment edge.

• The Placement collector contains more than one edge.

Note:
• If you created flat walls with predefined profiles using dimensions that are
calculated with reference to the bottom surface of an existing wall, then you must
attach a predefined section to an offset edge to use such walls.

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Sheetmetal Design

• Using the Sketch option in the Profile dialog box, you can convert predefined
(2D) sections without external references to a 3D section with external
references.

Types of Predefined Flange Wall Profiles


A flange wall is a folded sheet metal edge. You can place flanges on straight, arched,
or swept edges.
You can attach different predefined wall profiles to the attachment edge or create
user-defined wall profiles. Typically, following are the three types of flange wall
profiles:
• Most frequently used—I, Arc, and S

• Hem—Open, Flushed, Duck, C, and Z

• User-defined

In the following table, the Hem profile is highlighted in yellow.

Open Flushed Duck C Z

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In the following table, the most frequently used profiles are highlighted in yellow.

I Arc S

1. 1.00 inside

2. 1.00 inside

3. 1.00 inside

You can modify attributes for each flange before and after placing the flange.
However, you cannot change the material thickness direction for the Open, Flushed,
Duck, C, and Z type of flanges. By default, bend radius and material thickness
direction are applied only to the profile that is not tangent to the attachment wall at
the sketch plane view. For a Flushed type of flange, you can create only a rip type of
relief. Whereas, stretch relief is not applicable for a Duck type of flange.
For an I, Arc, and S type of flange, you can change the bend radius and material
thickness to other side of the section.
Flange walls increase the wall height of your design. If your flange design requires a
specific wall height, you can set the flange walls to maintain the overall length of the
wall using Offset wall with respect to attachment edge.

Standard wall profile Wall profile with an offset wall


height

1. T=20.00

2. 6.00

3. T=20.00

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Sheetmetal Design

Depending on where you position the flange, you may need to add bend relief. The
bend relief will help control the sheet metal material and prevents unwanted
deformation. You can automatically set the relief attributes (type, width, depth, and
angle) by defining bend relief defaults and parameters. If the defaults and
parameters are not applicable, they are ignored.
You can either simultaneously or individually define the bend relief sides. If you
define the sides individually, you can assign different relief types to each side.

Wall with an Obround and Rectangular Relief

Swept

About Swept Walls


A swept wall follows the trajectory formed by the attachment edge. When you sketch
a cross-section along the attachment edge, the wall sweeps along that edge. The
attachment edge may not be linear and the adjacent surface may not be planar. You
can use a tangent or nontangent chain as a placement chain to create a swept wall.
Note: Using Sheetmetal Wall > Flange, you can extrude with or without a bend
and sweep with or without a bend.
You can create a swept wall by specifying a trajectory, material side, profile, bend,
relief, and offset.

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To create an attached extruded wall, specify an attachment edge, material side,


profile, wall length, bend, and relief.

Swept Wall Geometry

1. Attachment surface

2. Trajectory edge (Attachment edge)

3. Cross-section sketch

You can create two types of swept walls:

No Radius (looking from above) Use Radius (looking from below)

For Swept Walls No Radius: For Swept Walls Use Radius:

• If the line of intersection between • The line of intersection between the


the sketching plane and the sketching plane and the attachment
attachment surface is not a straight surface must be a straight line.
line, the swept wall must be
attached tangentially to the • Pro/ENGINEER creates a fillet of the
specified radius along the attachment edge.
adjacent surface at the attachment
That fillet takes material away from the
edge.

• The angle between the attachment adjacent surface. To prevent this, click
edge and surface cannot exceed to make the bend radius unavailable and
180 degrees. If you need a larger sketch the desired radius with an arc.
angle, use the opposite side of the
• If you specify the radius to be "r," a fillet of
sheet metal (an offset surface
radius r is formed along the trajectory
instead of the driving surface, or
edge, between the attachment surface and
vice versa).
the swept wall.

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You can use swept walls to manually create hem walls and flanges.
• You cannot add a bend on a swept wall if you select a hem profile.

• You cannot add a bend on a swept wall if the sketch is attached to the
attachment edge with a tangent constraint.

• For a flushed hem, edge is not a valid trajectory for flanges.

• You can attach walls to some straight edges of a swept wall or hem, but, you
cannot select the edges that are deformed while unbending or bending.

• Using Edge Treatment, you can create an edge rip along the edge between two
nontangent wall segments. For a concave edge, by default you can apply only an
open type of edge rip.

• You can define a corner relief for swept walls that have tangent wall segments.

• You can define miter cuts for swept walls at each intersection of two tangent wall
segments.

• You cannot apply the Stretch, Rectangular, or Obround type of reliefs for a
flange wall that is created with a non-planar surface edge chain.

To Create a Swept Wall Without a Bend


1. Select a valid attachment edge for the swept wall. A valid edge must be one of
the following,

o One by One—Selects individual edges, one at a time. Includes straight or


nonlinear edges of the driving or offset surface. Select the edges in any
order.

o Tangent Chain—Defines a chain by selecting an edge, which includes all


the edges tangent to the edge.

o Intent Chain—Selects a predefined collection of edges in the model.

o Surface Chain—Constructs a surface loop chain that uses all the edges of
the surface that define the selected edge. You must hold down SHIFT and
right-click several times to select an edge.

You can select an opposite chain that is offset with thickness or a chain that
cannot be transformed by a bend or unbend operation.

Note: Options available on the dashboard are also available through the shortcut
menus when you right-click on the handle or the swept wall.

2. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Flange to open the SMT dashboard.

The selected edge is displayed in the Placement collector on the SMT


dashboard. A swept wall is created by default.

Click Details in the Placement slide-up panel to change the type of selected
edge using the Chain dialog box.

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3. From the list on the dashboard, select one of the predefined wall profiles, that is,
one of I, Arc, S, Open, Flushed, Duck, C, Z, or User Defined, where, Open,
Flushed, Duck, C, Z are predefined hem profiles.

Note: When creating a swept wall, you can specify both bend radius and bend
allowance for the I, Arc, and S profile types. However, for all hem features, you
can specify only the bend allowance.

4. Click Profile on the SMT dashboard to,

o Change the dimensions of the section, if required.

o Click Sketch, the Sketch dialog box opens. By default, the End of wall
option is selected for a swept wall.

o Flip the profile, if required.

Note: The Add bends on sharp edges option is available only if the
modified section has sharp corner bends.

o Click Add bends on sharp edges if required.

5. Click Length and select one of the following directions to specify the wall length:

o or Chain End—Creates a swept wall till the ends of the attachment


wall.

o or Blind—Trims or extends the swept wall in either direction from the


chain end by a specific value.

o or To Selected—Trims or extends the swept wall in either direction to


the selected point, curve, plane, surface, axis, or edge.

6. Click Offset on the SMT dashboard.

7. Click Offset wall with respect to attachment edge and select one of the
following options:

o Add to part edge—Appends the wall to the attachment edge without


trimming the height of the attachment wall.

o Automatic—Offsets the wall and maintains the original height of the


attachment wall.

o By Value—Offsets the wall at a specific distance. You can also drag the
graphic handle to adjust the offset value.

Note: Relief is available for all profiles irrespective of whether you selected
the Add Bend check box or not.

8. Click . The bend thickness and dimension values become unavailable. These

values are available by default. You can specify a bend allowance only if

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(bend radius) is switched on. However, for all the hem profiles and user-defined
profiles with nonlinear segments, you can change the bend allowance.

9. Click to change the thickness of the flange wall to the other side of the
sketch plane.

10. Click Properties on the SMT dashboard.

a. Accept the default feature name or rename it as required.

b. Click to view the information of the feature element data in the


embedded browser.

11. Click to apply and save the changes made to the feature.

To Create a Swept Wall With a Bend


1. Select a valid attachment edge for the swept wall. A valid edge must be one of
the following,

o One by One—Select individual edges, one at a time. Includes straight or


non-linear edges of the driving or offset surface. You can select the edges
in any order.

o Tangent Chain—Define a chain by selecting an edge, which includes all the


edges tangent to the edge.

o Intent Chain—Select a predefined collection of edges in the model.

o Surface Chain—Constructs a surface loop chain that uses all the edges of
the surface that define the selected edge. You must hold down SHIFT and
right-click several times to select an edge.

You can select an opposite chain that is offset with thickness or a chain that
cannot be transformed by a bend or unbend operation.

Note: Options available on the dashboard are also available through the shortcut
menus when you right-click on the handle or the swept wall.

2. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Flange to open the SMT dashboard.

The selected edge is displayed in the Placement collector on the SMT


dashboard. A swept wall is created by default.

a. Click Details to change the type of selected edge using the Chain dialog
box.
b. If you have selected a tangent chain, the Allow automatic segment
exclusion check box becomes available. Click Allow automatic segment
exclusion to exclude a wall segment that is overlapped by bend surfaces of
the neighbouring wall segments.

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Note: A wall segment is excluded when most of the area of its bend surface
is overlapped by bend surfaces of the neighbouring wall segment or
segments. When excluding segments, a long wall segment has higher
priority than short wall segments.

3. From the list on the dashboard, select one of the predefined wall profiles, that is,
one of I, Arc, S, or User Defined.

4. Click Profile on the SMT dashboard to do the following:

o Change the dimensions of the section, if required.

o Click Sketch, the Sketch dialog box opens. By default, the End of wall
option is selected for a swept wall.

o Flip the profile, if required.

Note: The Add bends on sharp edges option is available only if the
modified section has sharp corner bends.

o Click Add Bends On Sharp Edges if required.

5. Click Length and select one of the following directions to specify the wall length:

o or Chain End—Creates a swept wall till the ends of the attachment


wall.

o or Blind—Trims or extends the swept wall in either direction from the


chain end by a specific value.

o or To Selected—Trims or extends the swept wall in either direction to


the selected point, curve, plane, surface, axis, or edge.

6. Click Offset on the SMT dashboard.

7. Click Offset wall with respect to attachment edge and select one of the
following options:

o Add to part edge—Appends the wall to the attachment edge without


trimming the height of the attachment wall.

o Automatic—Offsets the wall and maintains the original height of the


attachment wall.

o By Value—Offsets the wall at a specific distance. You can also drag the
handle to adjust the offset value.

Note: Relief is available for all profiles irrespective of whether you selected
the Add Bend check box or not.

8. Click to change the thickness of the flange wall to the other side of the
sketch plane.

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Note: The default bend thickness and dimension values are applied to the bend
at the attachment edge. Bend Allowance on the dashboard is available by
default.

9. Click Bend Allowance on the dashboard.

a. Under Developed Length calculation, click A Feature Specific Set Up


to determine how the bend deformation is to be calculated for a specific
feature and select one of the following:
By K Factor—Computes the developed length using the K-factor. K-factor
is the ratio between the distance from neutral bend line to inside material
surface and the sheet material thickness.

By Y Factor—Computes the developed length using the Y-factor. Y-factor


is the ratio between the neutral bend line and material thickness.

b. Under Developed Length for Arcs, click Use Bend Table and select one
of the three system bend tables or click Browse to select a user-defined
bend table.
10. Type the required bend radius value or select a predefined radius value, that is,
one of Thickness, Thickness * 2, or By Parameter from the list on the
dashboard. You can also change the bend radius using the handle on the swept
wall.

Note: The By Parameter option is available only if the bend radius is defined in
the Sheetmetal Parameters table before feature creation.

11. Click to dimension the outer surface of the part or to dimension the
inner surface of the part.

12. Click Properties on the SMT dashboard.

a. Accept the default feature name or rename it as required.

b. Click to view the information of the feature element data in the


embedded browser.

13. Click to apply and save the changes made to the feature.

To Create a Flange Wall by Importing User Defined Profiles


1. Select a valid attachment edge for the swept wall. A valid edge must be one of
the following,

o One by One—Select individual edges, one at a time. Includes straight or


non-linear edges of the driving or offset surface. You can select the edges
in any order.

o Tangent Chain—Define a chain by selecting an edge, which includes all the


edges tangent to the edge.

o Intent Chain—Select a predefined collection of edges in the model.

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o Surface Chain—Constructs a surface loop chain that uses all the edges of
the surface that define the selected edge. You must hold down SHIFT and
right-click several times to select an edge.

You can select an opposite chain that is offset with thickness or a chain that
cannot be transformed by a bend or unbend operation.

Note: Options available on the dashboard are also available through the shortcut
menus when you right-click on the handle or the swept wall.

2. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Flange to open the SMT dashboard.

The selected edge is displayed in the Placement collector on the SMT


dashboard. A swept wall is created by default.

o Click Details to change the type of selected edge using the Chain dialog
box.

o If you have selected a tangent chain, the Allow automatic segment


exclusion check box becomes available. Click Allow automatic segment
exclusion to exclude a wall segment overlapped by bend surfaces of the
neighboring wall segments.

Note: A wall segment is excluded when most of the area of its bend surface is
overlapped by bend surfaces of the neighboring wall segment or segments. When
excluding segments, a long wall segment has higher priority than short wall
segments.

3. From the list on the dashboard, select User Defined.

4. Click Profile > Open to import a shape. The Open dialog box opens. The files in
the working directory are listed in the dialog box.

5. Select a file or sketch with a 2D section and click Open to import the sketch.
Pro/ENGINEER validates the selected sketch and determines if it satisfies the
criteria for validation. If the sketch does not satisfy the criteria for validation, a
File Open dialog box, indicating that the selected 2D sketch cannot be used as a
profile, opens. However, if the sketch satisfies the criteria for validation, the
sketch is imported and added to the list of pre-defined profiles.

The Profile panel displays the sketch and lists all the dimensions in the sketch.

6. If required, double-click the dimensions in the dimensions list and change the
values. The changed values for dimensions are dynamically updated in the
imported profile.

Note: If you enter an invalid value for a dimension, Pro/ENGINEER displays a


warning indicating that the value you entered is invalid. Click OK and redefine
the value for dimensions.

7. Flip the profile, if required.

Note: Add bends on sharp edges is available only if the modified section has
sharp corner bends.

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8. If required, click the Add Bends On Sharp Edges check box to add bends on
sharp corner bends.

9. Specify values for Length, Offset, Edge Treatment, Miter Cuts, Relief, and
Bend Allowance, if required.

10. Click to dimension the outer surface of the part or click to dimension
the inner surface of the part.

11. Click Properties on the dashboard.

o Accept the default feature name or rename it if required.

o Click to view the information of the feature element data in the


embedded browser.

The default thickness is displayed.

12. Click to apply and save the changes made to the feature.

Note:
When you edit or move the user defined profile from the working folder,
Pro/ENGINEER indicates that the profile has been redefined. When you open the
feature referencing the profile, an Edit Definition dialog box appears indicating that
you redefined this feature and the file that includes the used profile cannot be found.
However, the used profile was copied when this feature was created and this internal
copy is used.

To Flip Profile of a Flange Wall


1. Set the smt_allow_flip_sketch configuration option to yes to make the Flip
profile command available.

2. Click Profile tab on the dashboard and click Flip profile.

Note:
• If you flip the angle of a 2D section using the Flip profile command, the section
moves to an offset edge to retain the symmetry around the attachment wall. If
you flip the angle of a 3D section, Pro/ENGINEER mirrors the section about a
plane that is located at half the thickness of the section.

• If you click the Sketch option in the Profile dialog box after flipping the angle,
the Flipped Wall dialog box appears and displays a message stating that you
have activated Sketcher while the wall is flipped, so the sketch would be edited in
its original position and flipped back after you exit Sketcher.

To Perform Edge Treatment


1. Select a nontangent edge chain.

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2. Click Edge Treatment on the SMT dashboard to specify the type of edge rip and
its dimensions for every pair of intersecting wall segments. The edge rip is
created with reference to the offset wall and not the attachment edge.

The selected pairs of edges are displayed in the edges list. The first edge in the
list is selected by default.

3. Select one of the following types of rips and click Done:

o Open—(default) Create standard open edges.

Note: You cannot create a flange wall with open type of edge rip if the
selected reference has a concave vertex.

o Gap—Create a gap along the edge rip using a specific dimension.

Select a value or specify a new value for the gap width. The default value is
taken from the SMT_GAP parameter set in the SMT Parameters table.

o Blind—Customize the blind edge rip using a specific dimension.

Specify the extend or trim value for the two intersecting wall segments or
select a predefined dimension, that is, one of Thickness, Thickness*2, or
Thickness/2 from the list on the dashboard.

o Overlap—Create a standard overlapping edge rip. Click Flip to reverse the


overlap direction.

Note: The Add Gap option is available only when you select the Overlap
type of edge rip. On selecting Add Gap, the gap dimensions are displayed.

Specify a value for the gap width or select a predefined dimension, that is,
one of Thickness, Thickness*2, or Thickness/2 from the list on the
dashboard.

To Define Miter Cuts


1. Select a tangent edge chain.

2. Click Miter Cuts on the dashboard.

3. Click the Add Miter Cuts check box if it is not selected by default. Miter cuts are
added between the intersecting tangent wall segments. This option is selected by
default.

4. Specify the miter cut dimensions, such as the miter cut width and offset. You can
specify a default width for the miter cut using the SMT_GAP parameter.
Pro/ENGINEER uses half the specified width value to cut the material from each
side of the centerline of the miter cut.

The value specified for Offset defines the distance between the end of the miter
cut and the placement chain. If the intersecting wall segments are tangent, you
cannot define an offset.

5. Click the Keep all deform areas check box to retain the deformation area of the
miter cut. A deformation area is a section of sheet metal that helps to accurately

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stretch the material when you unbend the sheet metal part. If the Keep all
deform areas check box is not selected, the deformation area of the miter cut is
removed completely.

Note:

o You cannot apply miter cuts to non-tangent wall segments.

o When the deformation area of the miter cut is retained, Pro/ENGINEER


automatically adds a rip to the deformed area. This rip connects the miter
cut to the point that represents the deformation area. This rip enables the
geometry to regenerate.

Limitations of Flange Walls Created with Miter Cuts


You can create a miter cut by removing the deformation area only when the bend
radius of the wall is equal to the thickness and if the edge fillet radius is smaller than
the fillet radius.
The following example illustrates a flange wall created with a miter cut after
removal of the deformation area:

A flange wall with miter cut profile after you unbend the geometry, is as shown
below:

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If the inside bend radius of a sweep trajectory is zero then the trajectory is not a
valid edge or chain to create a flange wall with miter cut.

a. Flange wall with miter cut can not be created. Both zero R and non-zero R do not work.

b. Zero bend radius

If the inside bend radius is zero and Add bends on sharp edges option is not
available, then you cannot create a miter cut profile for a flange wall with multiple
bend sections.

Extruded

About Extruded Walls


An extruded wall extends from an edge into space. You can sketch the side section of
the wall and project it out a certain length. It is a primary wall, the first wall in your
design, or a secondary wall, dependent on the primary wall.
You can create three types of secondary extruded walls: unattached, no radius, and
use radius. If the extruded wall is a primary wall, you can only create an unattached
flat wall.
When you are designing a secondary extruded wall, make sure to select a sketching
plane normal to the attachment edge. If the extruded wall must be tangent to an
adjacent surface, make sure the entity at the attachment point is tangent. The
adjacent surface must be planar or must be a twist wall. In all cases, the attachment
edge must be a straight line.

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Sheetmetal Design

The following is an example of an attached extruded wall use radius:

Existing Wall Extruded Wall Sketch Completed Extruded


Wall

1. Attachment Edge

To Create an Extruded Wall Without a Bend


1. Select an attachment edge for the wall. A valid edge is an edge that is straight
and defined by the driving or offset surface.

2. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Flange to open the SMT dashboard.

The selected edge is displayed in the Placement collector on the SMT


dashboard. A swept wall is created by default.

Note: Options available on the dashboard are also available through the shortcut
menus when you right-click on the handle or the extruded wall.

3. Select a wall profile from the list on the dashboard.

4. Click Profile on the SMT dashboard to,

a. Change the dimensions of the section, if required.


b. Click Sketch and select Through Reference to specify the sketch plane
reference, and define a sketch with user-defined values, if required.
Note: Through Reference is not available if the attachment edge is
nonlinear.

c. Flip the profile, if required.


d. Click Add Bends On Sharp Edges if the section has nontangent entities.
0. Click Length and select one of the following directions to extrude the wall for
each side of the sketch plane:

o or None—Does not extrude the wall.

o or Chain End—Creates an extruded wall till the ends of the attachment


wall.

o or Blind—Extrudes a section from the sketching plane by the specified


depth value.

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o or To Selected—Extrudes a section to a selected point, curve, plane,


surface, axis, or edge.

o or Symetric—Extrudes a section on both sides of the sketch plane by


half the specified length value in each direction.

6. Click Offset on the SMT dashboard.

7. Click Offset wall with respect to attachment edge and select one of the
following options:

o Add to part edge—Appends the wall to the attachment edge without


trimming the height of the attachment wall.

o Automatic—Offsets the wall and maintains the original height of the


attachment wall.

o By Value—Offsets the wall at a specific distance. You can also drag the
graphic handle to adjust the offset value.

Note: Relief is available for all profiles irrespective of whether you selected
the Add Bend check box or not.

8. Click to change the thickness of the flat wall to the opposite side of the
sketch plane.

9. Click to make bend radius unavailable. By default, bend radius is available.

Note: Bend radius is unavailable if you select a hem profile or sketch a segment
tangent to the attachment edge. But is available if the profile has at least one
nonlinear segment.

10. Click Properties on the SMT dashboard.

a. Accept the default feature name or rename it as required.

b. Click to view the information of the feature element data in the


embedded browser.

11. Click to apply and save the changes made to the feature.

To Define Reliefs
1. Select nontangent wall segments for which you want to apply the relief.

2. Click Relief on the SMT dashboard.

3. Under Relief Category, select one of the following types of reliefs:

o Bend Relieves—Create a relief at the attachment edge.

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o Corner Relieves—Create a relief between two intersecting wall segments


that are connected by excluded wall segments.

4. If you select Bend Relieves, define one of the following types of bend relief. By
default, Rip relief is selected.

a. Click Define each side separately to specify the wall relief type for each
side of the wall, where, Side 1 indicates the start point of the wall
trajectory and Side 2 indicates the endpoint of the wall trajectory.
b. Indicate the type of bend relief to apply.
o No Relief—No relief is added. Maintains the existing material shape and
does not control the bend behavior

o Rip—Rips the existing material

o Stretch—Stretches the existing material

o Rectangular—Adds a rectangular relief

o Obround—Adds an obround relief

c. Define the relief's width for the Stretch, Rectangular, Obround type of
reliefs:
o Thickness—Uses a default radius that is equal to the thickness of the sheet
metal wall.

o Thickness * 2—Uses a default radius that is twice the thickness of the


sheet metal wall.

o By Parameter—Uses the default bend relief type specified in the


Sheetmetal Parameters Table.

Note: This option is available only if the bend relief type is defined in the
Sheetmetal Parameters table before feature creation.

o Enter Value—Uses the absolute value that you type in the Enter
dimension value box.

d. Specify a relief depth for the Rectangular and Obround type of relief's or
drag the graphic handle to adjust the relief depth.
o Up to Bend—Calculates and displays the depth of the rectangular relief up
to the bend.

o Tangent to Bend—Calculates and displays the depth of the obround relief


until tangent to the bend.

5. If you select Corner Relieves, select one of the following type of corner relief.
By default, V Notch relief is selected. The default corner relief type is taken from
the SMT_DFLT_CRNR_REL_TPE parameter set in the Sheetmetal Parameters
table.

a. Indicate the type of corner relief to apply.

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o No Relief—Maintains the existing material shape, does not control the


bend behavior, and does not add any corner relief.

o V Notch—Adds a V shaped relief.

o Circular—Adds a circular relief and allows you to modify the diameter


dimension and center location of the circular relief. Pro/ENGINEER adds
material between the bends corner and corner relief as needed in case of
negative depth value.

o Rectangular—Adds a rectangular relief and allows you to modify the


dimension and width of the rectangular relief. Pro/ENGINEER adds material
between the bends corner and corner relief as needed in case of negative
depth value.

o Obround—Adds an obround relief and allows you to modify the diameter


dimension and center location of the obround relief. Pro/ENGINEER adds
material between the bends corner and corner relief as needed in case of
negative depth value.

b. Define the relief's width for the Circular, Rectangular, Obround type of
reliefs:
o Thickness—Uses a default radius that is equal to the thickness of the sheet
metal wall.

o Thickness * 2—Uses a default radius that is twice the thickness of the


sheet metal wall.

o By Parameter—Uses the default bend relief type specified in the


Sheetmetal Parameters table.

Note: This option is available only if the bend relief type is defined in the
Sheetmetal Parameters table before feature creation.

o Enter Value—Uses the absolute value that you type in the Enter
dimension value box.

c. Specify a relief depth for the Rectangular and Obround type of relief's or
drag the graphic handle to adjust the relief depth.
o Up to Bend—Calculates and displays the depth of the corner relief up to
the bend.

o Tangent to Bend—(for circular relief only) Calculates and displays the


depth of the corner relief until tangent to the bend.

o Thickness—Uses a default radius that is equal to the thickness of the sheet


metal wall.

o Thickness * 2—Uses a default radius that is twice the thickness of the


sheet metal wall.

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To Create an Extruded Wall With a Bend


1. Select an attachment edge for the wall. A valid edge is an edge that is straight
and defined by the driving or offset surface.

2. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Flange to open the SMT dashboard.

The selected edge is displayed in the Placement collector on the SMT


dashboard. An extruded wall is created by default.

Note: Options available on the dashboard are also available through the shortcut
menus when you right-click on the handle or the extruded wall.

3. Select a wall profile from the list on the dashboard.

4. Click Profile on the SMT dashboard to do the following:

a. Change the dimensions of the section, if required.


b. Click Sketch and select Through Reference to specify the sketch plane
reference, and define a sketch with user-defined values, if required.
Note: Through Reference is not available if the attachment edge is
nonlinear.

c. Flip the profile, if required.


d. Click Add Bends On Sharp Edges if the section has sharp corner bends.
0. Click Length and select one of the following directions to extrude the wall for
each side of the sketch plane:

o or None—Does not extrude the wall.

o or Chain End—Creates an extruded wall till the ends of the attachment


wall.

o or Blind—Extrudes a section from the sketching plane by the specified


depth value.

o or To Selected—Extrudes a section to a selected point, curve, plane,


surface, axis, or edge.

o or Symetric—Extrudes a section on both sides of the sketch plane by


half the specified length value in each direction.

6. Click Offset on the SMT dashboard.

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7. Click Offset wall with respect to attachment edge and select one of the
following options:

o Add to part edge—Appends the wall to the attachment edge without


trimming the height of the attachment wall.

o Automatic—Offsets the wall and maintains the original height of the


attachment wall.

o By Value—Offsets the wall at a specific distance. You can also drag the
handle to adjust the offset value.

Note: Relief is available for all profiles irrespective of whether you selected
the Add Bend check box or not.

8. Click to change the thickness of the flat wall to the opposite side of the
sketch plane.

Note: The default bend thickness and dimension values are applied to the bend
at the attachment edge. Bend Allowance and Relief on the dashboard are
available by default.

9. Click Bend Allowance on the dashboard.

a. Under Developed Length calculation, click A Feature Specific Set Up


to determine how the bend deformation is to be calculated for a specific
feature and select one of the following:
By K Factor—Computes the developed length using the K-factor. K-factor
is the ratio between the distance from the neutral bend line to the inside
bend radius and the sheet material thickness.

By Y Factor—Computes the developed length using the Y-factor. Y-factor


is the ratio between the neutral bend line and material thickness.

b. Under Developed Length for Arcs, click Use Bend Table and select one
of the three system bend tables or click Browse to select a user-defined
bend table.
10. Type the required bend radius value or select a predefined radius value, that is,
one of Thickness, Thickness * 2, or By Parameter from the list on the
dashboard. You can also change the bend radius by using the handle on the
extruded wall.

Note: By Parameter is available only if the bend radius is defined in the


Sheetmetal Parameters table before feature creation.

11. Click to dimension the outer surface of the part or click to dimension
the inner surface of the part.

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12. Click Relief and define one of the following types of bend relief to use. By
default, Rip relief is selected.

a. Click Define each side separately to specify the wall relief type for each
side of the wall, where, Side 1 indicates the start point of the wall
trajectory and Side 2 indicates the endpoint of the wall trajectory.
b. Indicate the type of bend relief to apply.
o No Relief—Maintains the existing material shape and does not control the
bend behavior.

o Rip—Rips the existing material.

o Stretch—Stretches the existing material.

o Rectangular—Adds a rectangular relief.

o Obround—Adds an obround relief.

Note:

o You can also define a bend relief for each side of the section separately.

o If you select the Add to part edge option for the Offset wall with
respect to attachment edge command and

Create a wall with trimmed wall, the relief is located on the attachment
edge.

Create a wall with extended wall, the relief is located on the current created
wall.

c. Define the relief's width for the Stretch, Rectangular, Obround type of
reliefs:
o Thickness—Uses a default radius that is equal to the thickness of the sheet
metal wall.

o Thickness * 2—Uses a default radius that is twice the thickness of the


sheet metal wall.

o By Parameter—Uses the default bend relief type specified in the


Sheetmetal Parameters table.

o Enter Value—Uses the absolute value that you type in the Enter
dimension value box.

13. Click Properties on the SMT dashboard.

a. Accept the default feature name or rename it if required.

b. Click to view the information of the feature element data in the


embedded browser.

14. Click to apply and save the changes made to the feature.

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To Create an Unattached Extruded Wall

1. Click or Insert > Extrude. The SMT dashboard appears. If a feature


already exists, then the unattached extruded wall automatically adopts its
thickness. Otherwise, by default, the first wall is created.

Alternatively, you can use a sketched feature as a section for creating an


unattached extrude wall. By default, the sketched plane is the driving surface.

2. Click Placement on the dashboard. The Sketch slide-up panel appears.

o If a sketched feature already exists, clicking Unlink breaks the association


between the feature and its sketch. An internal sketch is created using a
copy of the sketch.

Click Edit in the Reference panel and modify the internal sketch.

o If a sketched feature does not exist, click Define and select the reference
sketch plane.

a. Select the default view orientation or select a new view reference to sketch
the wall.
b. For extrusion, sketch an unattached wall.

c. When the sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar.


3. Click Options to specify the extrude depth value.

To specify how far the wall should extrude, under Depth, select one of the
following:

o or Blind—Extrudes a section in the first direction from sketch plane to


the specified depth value.

o or Symmetric—Extrudes a section on both sides of the placement


reference by half the specified depth value in each direction.

o or To Selected—Extrudes a section in the first direction of the


specified reference to the selected point, curve, plane, or surface of a solid
geometry.

For a second unattached extruded wall, the following options are available:

o To Next—Extrudes a section in the first direction up to the next surface.

o Through All—Extrudes a section in the first direction to intersect with all


surfaces.

o Through Until—Extrudes a section in the first direction to intersect with a


selected surface.

4. If the first wall or any other feature already exists in the part, on clicking Insert
> Extrude, the SMT cut options become available.

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a. Click to disable the cut options. The options under SheetMetal


Options in the Options slide-up panel become available. You can use
these options to create sharp edges.
b. Click Add bends on sharp edges. The Bend Allowance option on the
dashboard becomes available.
c. Specify the inside or outside radius.
Note: If the extrude wall is not the first wall in your design, you can flip the
driving surface.

5. Click to flip the depth direction of the extrude, if required.

6. Click Bend Allowance on the dashboard.

a. Under Developed Length calculation, click A Feature Specific Set Up


to determine how the bend deformation is to be calculated for a specific
feature and select one of the following:
o By K Factor—Computes the distance ratio between the inside radius of the
bend, the neutral bend axis, and the sheet metal thickness.

o By Y Factor—Computes the ratio based on the neutral bend line with


respect to the thickness of the material.

Note: If you clear the A Feature Specific Set Up check box, then the part Y-
factor and bend table are used to calculate developed length.

b. Under Developed Length for Arcs, click Use Bend Table and select one
of the three system bend tables or click Browse to select a user-defined
bend table.

7. Click to thicken the sketch and type the wall's thickness value using the
thickness input panel.

Note: The thickness input panel is available only for the first unattached
extruded wall.

8. Click to flip the material direction of the extrude between one side, the other
side, or both sides of the sketching plane, if required.

9. When done, click on the SMT dashboard. An unattached extruded wall is


created.

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Revolve

About Revolve Walls


A revolve wall rotates about an axis. You sketch the side section of the wall and
revolve it about a sketched centerline. A revolve wall can be a primary or secondary
wall.
The revolution of the wall can either be entered as an exact variable or selected from
standard values:
• Variable—Enter an exact number, in degrees, to revolve the wall.

• 90—Revolve the wall 90°

• 180—Revolve the wall 180°

• 270—Revolve the wall 270°

• 360—Revolve the wall 360°

• Up to Pnt/Vtx—Revolve the wall up to a specified point or vertex

• Up to Plane—Revolve the wall up to a specified datum plane

Sketch Variable 270° Up to Plane


(60°)

To Create a Revolve Wall

1. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Revolve. The
Unattached Wall: Revolve dialog box opens and the ATTRIBUTES menu
appears.

2. Define the attributes (where the wall should thicken from) and click Done.

o One Side—Specify the wall thickness to one side of the sketching plane.

o Both Sides—Specify the wall thickness to both sides of the sketching


plane. You must define the from and to sides separately.

3. Reference and sketch the wall. Your sketch must include a center line.

Note: You can use Sketch > Feature Tools > Thicken to change the direction
of material thickness for sections with an open loop and specify the thickness.

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4. When the sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar.

5. Select the direction to thicken the wall: Okay or Flip - to change the direction.

6. Type the thickness value for the wall and click . The REV TO menu appears.

7. Define the wall’s revolution angle. Either select a default value from the menu or
click Variable, and type the exact value in degrees.

8. Click OK on Unattached Wall: Revolve dialog box. The wall is created.

Blend

About Blend Walls


A blend wall connects at least two sections by combining the characteristics of each
section. You sketch the multiple boundaries of the wall sections and then connect
them using one of the three types of blends available:
• Parallel: All blend sections lie on parallel planes in one sketch.

• Rotational: Blend sections are rotated a maximum of 120 degrees about the Y-
axis. You sketch each section individually and align them using coordinate
systems.

• General: Blend sections are rotated about and translated along the X-, Y-, Z-
axes. You sketch each section individually and align them using coordinate
systems.

The following examples shows the sketch and resulting parallel blend wall:

Sketch (Toggled and Second Parallel Blend Wall


Sections)

To Create a Parallel Blend With a Regular Section

1. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Blend. The BLEND
OPTS menu appears.

2. Click Parallel to define the blend type.

3. Click Regular Sec to define the sketch type and then Done. Sketch Sec is
selected by default.

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The Unattached Wall: Blend, Parallel, Regular Sections dialog box and the
ATTRIBUTES menu appears.

4. Define the blend attributes, Smooth or Straight, to connect the sections with
smooth curves or straight lines, respectively.

5. Click Done. the SETUP SK PLN and SETUP PLANE menus appear.

6. Select or create a sketching plane, or use the sketching plane of the last feature
with the 3D section. The DIRECTION menu appears.

7. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to select the direction of viewing the
sketching plane. The SKET VIEW menu appears.

8. Select or create a horizontal or vertical reference for sketching.

9. Select a perpendicular surface, an edge, or vertex relative to which the section is


dimensioned and constrained.

10. Sketch the first section of the blend wall. Change the sketch for the next section:
Sketch > Feature Tools > Toggle Section.

11. Sketch the next section. When the sketch is complete, click on the sketcher
toolbar.

12. Specify whether to add or remove material (material side). The DIRECTION
menu appears.

13. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to define the direction of feature
creation

14. Type the depth or depths for the additional sections and click .

15. Click OK on the Unattached Wall: Blend, Parallel, Regular Sections dialog box.
The wall is created.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

To Create a Parallel Blend With a Projected Section

1. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Blend. The BLEND
OPTS menu appears.

2. Click Parallel to define the blend type.

3. Click Project Sec to define the sketch type and then Done. Sketch Sec is
selected by default.

The Unattached Wall: Blend, Parallel, Projected Sections dialog box and the
SETUP SK PLN and SETUP PLANE menus appear.

4. Select or create a sketching plane, or use the sketching plane of the last feature
with the 3D section. The DIRECTION menu appears.

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5. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to select the direction of viewing the
sketching plane. The SKET VIEW menu appears.

6. Select or create a horizontal or vertical reference for sketching.

7. Select a perpendicular surface, an edge, or vertex relative to which the section is


dimensioned and constrained.

8. Sketch the first section of the blend wall. Change the sketch for the next section:
Sketch > Feature Tools > Toggle Section.

9. Sketch the next section. When the sketch is complete, click on the sketcher
toolbar.

10. Specify whether to add or remove material (material side). The DIRECTION
menu appears.

11. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to define the direction of feature
creation.

12. Type the depth or depths for the additional sections and click .

13. Click OK in the Unattached Wall: Blend, Parallel, Projected Sections dialog box
to create a parallel blend.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

To Create a General Blend

1. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Blend. The
Unattached Wall: Blend, General, Sketched Sections dialog box opens and
the BLEND OPTS menu appears.

2. Click General to define the blend type. Regular Sec is selected by default.

3. Click Select Sec to select the section entities or Sketch Sec to define the sketch
to use, and then Done.

o If you select Select Sec, the Unattached Wall: Blend, General,


Selected Sections dialog box and the ATTRIBUTES menu appears.

a. Define the blend attributes (Straight or Smooth) and then click Done.
The CRV SKETCHER and PICK CURVE menus appear.
b. Use the CRV SKETCHER to select one of the following:
Pick Curve—Select 3D curves or edges to create section entities and select
a loop or chain of entities using the PICK CURVE menu.

Blend Vertex—Create a placeholder entity for blend section.

Start Point—Modify section start point.

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Sec Info—Get information about section entities and dimensions using the
SEC INFO menu.

Delete—Delete or undelete section entities and dimensions using the


DELETION menu.

Undo—Undo a sketcher command.

Redo—Redo a sketcher command.

c. Click Done/Return. You are prompted to define the next section. Click Yes
to continue or No to abort.
d. When finished, click Done from the CRV SKETCHER menu. The
DIRECTION menu appears.
o If you select Sketch Sec, the Unattached Wall: Blend, General,
Sketched Sections dialog box and the ATTRIBUTES menu appears.

a. Define the blend attributes (Straight or Smooth) and then click Done.
The SETUP SK PLN and SETUP PLANE menus appear.
b. Select or create a sketching plane, or use the sketching plane of the last
feature with 3D section. The DIRECTION menu appears.
c. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to select the direction of feature
creation. The SKET VIEW menu appears.
d. Select or create a horizontal or vertical reference for sketching.
e. Select a perpendicular surface, an edge, or vertex relative to which the
section will be dimensioned and constrained.
f. Sketch the first section of the blend wall. Make sure you include a

coordinate system in the sketch. When the sketch is complete, click on


the sketcher toolbar.
g. Type the appropriate rotating angle for the second blend section. You must
enter values for the x, y, and z-axes.
h. Sketch the next section. Make sure you include a coordinate system in the

sketch. When the sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar.


i. If you want to add more sections to the blend wall, type Yes and repeat
steps 4 to 6 for each additional section. Else, type No. The DIRECTION
menu appears.
4. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to select the direction to thicken the wall.
The material side from where to remove or add material is defined.

5. Optionally, you can swap the driving surface.

6. Click OK to close the dialog box. A general blend wall is created.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

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To Create a Rotational Blend

1. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Blend. The BLEND
OPTS menu appears.

2. Click Rotational to define the blend type. Regular Sec is selected by default.

3. Click Select Sec to select the section entities or Sketch Sec to define the sketch
to use, and then Done.

o If you select Select Sec, the Unattached Wall: Blend, Rotational,


Selected Sections dialog box and the ATTRIBUTES menu appears.

a. Define the blend attributes (Straight or Smooth, and Open or Closed)


and then click Done. The CRV SKETCHER and PICK CURVE menus
appear.
Note: You can create a Open or Closed type of blend if you select the
Select Sec option.

b. Use the CRV SKETCHER to select one of the following:


Pick Curve—Select 3D curves or edges to create section entities and select
a loop or chain of entities using the PICK CURVE menu.

Blend Vertex—Create a placeholder entity for blend section.

Start Point—Modify section start point.

Sec Info—Get information about section entities and dimensions using the
SEC INFO menu.

Delete—Delete or undelete section entities and dimensions using the


DELETION menu.

Undo—Undo a sketcher command.

Redo—Redo a sketcher command.

c. Click Done/Return. You are prompted to define the next section. Click Yes
to continue or No to abort.
d. When finished, click Done from the CRV SKETCHER menu. The
DIRECTION menu appears.
o If you select Sketch Sec to define the sketch to use, the Unattached
Wall: Blend, Rotational, Sketched Sections dialog box and the
ATTRIBUTES menu appears.

a. Define the blend attributes (Straight or Smooth, and Open or Closed)


and then click Done. The SETUP SK PLN and SETUP PLANE menus
appear.
b. Select or create a sketching plane, or use the sketching plane of the last
feature with 3D section. The DIRECTION menu appears.

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c. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to select the direction of viewing
the sketching plane. The SKET VIEW menu appears.
d. Select or create a horizontal or vertical reference for sketching.
e. Select a perpendicular surface, an edge, or vertex relative to which the
section will be dimensioned and constrained.
f. Reference and sketch the first section of the blend wall. When the section

sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar.

g. Type a rotation angle for the section and click . You return to a blank
sketching window.
h. Sketch the next section of the blend wall. Be sure to include a coordinate

system. When the section sketch is complete, click on the sketcher


toolbar.
4. If you want to add more sections to the blend wall, type Yes else, type No. The
DIRECTION menu appears.

5. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to select the direction to thicken the wall.
The material side from where to remove or add material is defined.

6. Optionally, you can swap the driving surface.

7. Click OK to close the dialog box. A rotational blend wall is created.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

Offset

About Offset Walls


An offset wall is a reflection, of a quilt or surface, set a specified distance from the
original. You can select an existing surface or sketch a new surface to offset. Unless
you convert a solid part, an offset wall cannot be the first feature created in your
design.
You can create three types of offset walls: Normal to Surf, Controlled Fit, and
Auto Fit.

To Create an Offset Wall

1. Click or click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Offset. The
Unattached Wall: Offset dialog box opens.

2. Select the quilt or surface to offset the wall from.

3. Type the offset distance and click .

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4. Select the direction to thicken the wall: Okay or Flip - to change the direction.

5. Define the type of offset wall you need. Highlight Offset Type and click Define.
Select the appropriate type:

o Normal to Surf—Create the offset normal to the quilt or surface.

o Controlled Fit—Create the offset at a controlled distance.

o Auto Fit—Automatically fit the offset from the quilt or surface.

You can further customize the offset wall with the Leave Out, MaterialSide, and
Swap Side options.

6. Click OK in the Unattached Wall: Offset dialog box. The wall is created.

Advanced

About Advanced Walls


Advanced walls create contoured walls. The type of advanced walls available are;
• Section to surface

• Surface to surface

• Tangent to surface

• Variable section sweeps

• Helical sweeps

• Boundary blends

• Swept blends

• Blend from file

Advanced walls are contours that are difficult to unbend and are not used frequently
used.

To Create an Advanced Wall


1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached.

2. Select one of the following types of advanced walls:

o Variable Section Sweep—Creates a swept feature by sweeping a section


along the selected trajectories and by controlling the section’s orientation,
rotation, and geometry along the trajectory.

o Swept Blend—Creates a swept blend using the origin trajectory and a


chain of datum curves or edges.

o Helical Sweep—Creates a helical sweep by sweeping a section along a


helical trajectory.

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o From Boundaries—Creates a boundary blend from the surface boundaries.

o Blend Section to Surfaces—Creates an advanced wall as a blend from a


surface to the tangent surfaces.

o Blend Between Surfaces—Creates a smooth surface or a solid transition


between two surfaces.

o Blend From File—Imports a blend from file.

o Blend Tangent to Surfaces—Creates a blend tangent to the surface.

To Create a Section-to-Surface Blend


1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Blend Section to Surfaces.
The Unattached Wall: Section to Surfaces Blend dialog box opens and the
SELECT menu appears.

2. Select surfaces to define a tangent boundary.

3. Click OK. The surfaces must be tangent to each other. The SETUP SK PLN,
SAME/NEW, and SETUP PLANE menu appears.

4. Select or create a sketching plane, or use the sketching plane of the last feature
with 3D section for the section boundary. The DIRECTION menu appears.

5. Click Okay to accept the default direction for feature creation, or Flip to reverse
the direction. The SKET VIEW menu appears.

6. Select or create a horizontal or vertical reference for sketching.

7. Select a perpendicular surface, an edge, or vertex relative to which the section is


dimensioned and constrained.

8. Sketch the section boundary. The section must be closed.

9. When the section sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar. The
DIRECTION menu appears.

10. Define the MaterialSide to specify the direction from which to add or remove
material.

11. Accept the default direction or reverse the direction for feature creation.

12. Optionally, swap the driving surface, if required.

13. Click OK to close the Unattached Wall: Section to Surfaces Blend dialog
box.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify the material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

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To Create a Surface-to-Surface Blend


1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Blend Between Surfaces.
The Unattached Wall: Surface to Surface Blend dialog box opens and the
SELECT menu appears.

2. Select the datum surface to which the blend is tangent at the first end.

3. Select the second surface.

4. Define the MaterialSide to specify the direction from where to add or remove
material.

5. Accept the default direction or reverse the direction for feature creation. The
direction of thickening is defined.

6. At the prompt, type the material thickness.

7. Click OK to close the Unattached Wall: Surface to Surface Blend dialog box.

To Import a Blend
1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Blend From File. The
Unattached Wall: Blend from File dialog box opens, and the GET COORD S
and SEL COORD S menus appear.

The coordinate systems used in the model are displayed in the SEL COORD S
menu.

2. Select or create a coordinate system from the SEL COORD S menu to locate the
imported blend data. The Open dialog box opens.

3. Specify the file name. The file extension must be .ibl. The DIRECTION menu
appears.

4. Define the MaterialSide to specify the direction from where to add or remove
material.

5. Accept the default direction or reverse the direction for feature creation. The
direction of thickening is defined.

6. At the prompt, type the material thickness.

7. Click OK to close the Unattached Wall: Blend from File dialog box.

To Create a Tangent-to-Surface Blend


1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Blend Tangent to
Surfaces. The Unattached Wall: Tangent Surface dialog box opens, and the
GEN SEL DIR and SELECT menu appears. The Results tab is selected by
default.

2. Specify the pull direction: One Sided or Two Sided.

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3. Select a plane to which the direction will be perpendicular to. The DIRECTION
menu appears.

4. To select the direction for feature creation, click Okay to accept the default
direction or Flip to reverse the direction.

5. Click the References tab. The CHAIN and SELECT menu appears.

a. Under Draft Line, select a line or curve.


b. Under References, select a surface tangent to the draft line.
6. Click the Options tab.

a. Optionally, under Closing Surfaces, select a surface that will be a closing


surface.
b. Optionally, under Spine Curves, select a curve.
c. Under Cap Angle, specify the required cap angle value.
7. Optionally, click the Curves tab to include or exclude curves from the tangent
draft geometry creation.

8. Click to apply and save the changes made to the feature.

Variable Section Sweep

About Variable Section Sweeps


A variable section sweep enables you to create a feature by sweeping a section along
the selected trajectories by controlling the section’s orientation, rotation, and
geometry along the trajectory.
A variable section sweep allows you to create a swept feature by controlling the
following characteristics:
• NrmToOriginTraj—The section plane remains normal to the origin of trajectory
throughout its length. You can specify the section orientation and rotation. For
this method, you must select the origin of the trajectory and the X-Trajectory.
The X-Trajectory defines the section’s horizontal vector. The origin of the section
(crosshairs) is always located on the Origin Trajectory with the X-axis pointing
towards the X-Trajectory.

• Pivot Direction—The section plane remains normal to the Origin Trajectory as it


is viewed along the Pivot Direction. The upward direction of the section remains
parallel to the Pivot Direction. The Y-axis of the section is always normal to the
selected direction. The section normal trajectory is determined by projecting the
Origin Trajectory in the Pivot Direction onto a plane normal to the Pivot Direction.
For this method, you must select the Origin Trajectory and define the Pivot
Direction.

• Norm To Traj—Two trajectories must be selected to determine the location and


orientation of the section. The Origin Trajectory determines the origin of the
section along the length of the feature. The section plane remains normal to the

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Normal Trajectory along the length of the feature. For this method, you must
select the Origin Trajectory and the trajectory to which the section will be
normal.

You can define multiple additional trajectories to which the vertices of the section
can be aligned. As the section plane is swept along the Origin Trajectory, its
intersections with the longitudinal curves represent the known points for section
alignment and dimensioning.
You can specify whether you want to vary the section as it moves along the sweep
trajectories by defining the Section Type element in the Variable Section Sweep
dialog box. Choose Constant from the SECTION TYPE menu to maintain the same
section, or Variable from the SECTION TYPE menu to adjust the section size as it
sweeps along the trajectory.

Using the Variable Section Sweep Menu


Using the VAR SEC SWP menu, define the trajectory using one of the following:
• Sketch Traj—Sketches the trajectory.

o Select or create a sketching plane or use the sketching plane of the last
feature with a 3D section. The DIRECTION menu appears.

o Select the direction to thicken the wall. Click OK or Flip to change the
direction.

o Select the reference for sketching the plane.

• Select Traj—Allows the selection of a datum curve.

o Select any type of chain, curve or edge to add to the chain, and click Done.
The DEFAULT TAN menu appears.

o Click Accept to accept the default tangent surfaces or Reject to reject the
default and select the individual surfaces.

o Sel Tan Traj—Allows the selection of a datum curve with tangency conditions or
references.

o Select any type of chain, curve or edge to add to the chain, and click Done.
The DEFAULT TAN menu appears.

o Click Accept to accept the default tangent surfaces or Reject to reject the
default and select the individual surfaces.

To Create a Variable Section Sweep Using the Normal to Origin


Trajectory
1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Variable Section Swept
Blend. The BLEND OPTS menu appears.

2. Click NrmToOriginTraj to create a cross-section normal to the origin of the


trajectory.

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3. Click Done. The Unattached Wall: Variable Section Sweep, Norm to Origin
Traj dialog box opens and the VAR SEC SWP menu appears.

4. Select one of the following trajectory options to specify a trajectory that defines
the section origin and click Done.

o Sketch Traj—Sketches the trajectory using the sketch plane and


orientation.

o Select Traj—Selects a datum curve using the CHAIN menu.

o Sel Tan Traj—Selects a datum curve with tangency conditions or


references using the CHAIN menu.

5. Accept the default tangent surfaces or select individual surfaces.

6. Specify a trajectory that defines a section horizontal to the vector using the VAR
SEC SWP menu.

7. Specify optional trajectories using the VAR SEC SWP menu and click Done.

8. Define a section.

Note: You can use Sketch > Feature Tools > Thicken to change the direction
of material thickness for sections with an open loop and specify the thickness.

9. When the section sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar.

10. Optionally, swap the driving surface, if required.

11. Click OK in the Unattached Wall: Variable Section Sweep, Norm to Origin
Traj dialog box to generate the swept blend feature.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify the material
thickness and click OK to complete feature creation. You can also use Sketch >
Feature Tools > Thicken to change the direction of the material thickness for
sections with an open loop.

To Create a Variable Section Sweep Using the Specified Direction


1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Variable Section Sweep.
The SWEEP OPTS menu appears.

2. Click Pivot Dir to create a section normal to the origin of the trajectory when
viewed from any direction.

3. Click Done. The Unattached Wall: Variable Section Sweep, Pivot Direction
dialog box opens and the GEN SEL DIR menu appears.

4. Define the sweep direction using one of the following:

o Plane—Selects a normal reference plane as direction

o Crv/Edg/Axis—Selects a curve, edge, or axis

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o Csys—Selects a coordinate system and then selects x-, y-, z-axis of the
coordinate system as the direction.

The DIRECTION menu appears.

5. Click Okay to accept the default direction or Flip to reverse the direction. The
VAR SEC SWP menu appears.

6. Select the following trajectory options to specify a trajectory that defines the
section origin and click Done.

o Sketch Traj—Sketches the trajectory using the sketch plane and


orientation.

o Select Traj—Selects a datum curve using the CHAIN menu.

o Sel Tan Traj—Selects a datum curve with tangency conditions or


references using the CHAIN menu.

7. Accept the default tangent surfaces or select individual surfaces.

8. Specify optional trajectories in the VAR SEC SWP menu.

9. Define a section.

Note: You can use Sketch > Feature Tools > Thicken to change the direction
of material thickness for sections with an open loop and specify the thickness.

10. When the section sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar. The
DIRECTION menu appears.

11. Define the MaterialSide to specify the direction from where to add or remove
material. Accept the default direction or reverse the direction for feature creation.

12. Optionally, swap the driving surface, if required.

13. Click OK in the Unattached Wall: Variable Section Sweep, Pivot Direction
dialog box to generate the swept blend feature.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify the material
thickness and click OK to complete feature creation.

To Create a Variable Section Sweep Using the Normal to the Specified


Trajectory
1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Variable Section Sweep.
The SWEEP OPTS menu appears.

2. Click Norm To Traj to create a cross-section normal to the specified trajectory.

3. Click Done. The Unattached Wall: Variable Section Sweep, Normal to Traj
dialog box opens and the VAR SEC SWP menu appears.

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4. Select the following trajectory options to specify a trajectory that defines the
section origin and click Done.

o Sketch Traj—Sketches the trajectory using the sketch plane and


orientation.

o Select Traj—Selects a datum curve using the CHAIN menu.

o Sel Tan Traj—Selects a datum curve with tangency conditions or


references.

The SEC ORIENT menu appears.

5. Select one of the following to specify section orientation and click Done.

o Norm to Surf—Allows you to select a surface that determines the section’s


upward direction, then select or sketch the trajectory that defines the
section plane normal. Choose Flip an Okay to select the upward direction.
Norm to Surf is available only if the Origin Trajectory belongs to a surface.

o Use Norm Traj—Allows you to select a trajectory that defines the section
plane normal.

The SWEEP TRAJ menu appears.

6. Select or create a trajectory that defines a section plane normal using the CHAIN
menu. When finished, click Done.

7. Optionally, specify additional trajectories using the VAR SEC SWP menu and
click Done.

8. Define a section.

Note: You can use Sketch > Feature Tools > Thicken to change the direction
of material thickness for sections with an open loop and specify the thickness.

9. When the section sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar. The
DIRECTION menu appears.

10. Define the MaterialSide to specify the direction from where to add or remove
material.

11. Accept the default direction or reverse the direction for feature creation.

12. Optionally, swap the driving surface, if required.

13. Click OK in the Unattached Wall: Variable Section Sweep, Normal to Traj
dialog box to generate the swept blend feature.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify the material
thickness and click OK to complete feature creation.

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From Boundaries

About Boundary Blends


With the Boundary Blend tool, you can create a boundary blended feature between
reference entities that defines the surface in one or two directions. The first and last
entities selected in each direction define the surface boundary. Adding more
reference entities, such as control points and boundary conditions, allows you to
more fully define the surface shape.
The following are the rules for selecting reference entities:
• Curves, part edges, datum points, and ends of curves or edges can be used as
reference entities.

• In each direction, reference entities must be selected in consecutive order.


However, reference entities can be reordered.

• For blended surfaces defined in two directions, the outer boundaries must form a
closed loop. This means that the outer boundaries must intersect. If the
boundaries do not terminate at the intersection points, Pro/ENGINEER
automatically trims them and uses the relevant portion.

• Curves selected for blending need not contain the same number of entities.

To Create a Surface with Blended Cross-sections Between Curves


1. Click Insert > Sheemetal Wall > Unattached > From Boundaries. The
BNDRS OPTS menu appears.

2. Click Blended Surf and then Done. The Unattached Wall: Blended dialog box
opens and the CRV OPTS and SELECT ITEM menus appear.

3. Select one of the following from the SELECT ITEM to define the reference
curves:

o Curve—Selects an entire datum curve chain.

o Point/Vertex—Selects a datum point, curve or edge point.

o Chain—Selects a chain of curves or edges using the CHAIN menu.

4. Define or change the advanced geometry options using the advanced surface
control tools.

5. Optionally, define or change the boundary conditions. The BOUNDARY menu


lists all the available surface boundaries.

6. Select the boundary for which you want to define boundary conditions and click
Done. The BNDRY COND menu appears.

7. Select one of the following boundary condition:

o Free—No tangency conditions are set along the boundary.

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o Tangent—The blended surface is tangent to the reference surface along


the boundary.

o Normal—The blended surface is normal to the reference surface or datum


plane. For conditions other than Free, accept the defaults or select
reference surfaces.

8. Optionally, define or change the connected vertices in both the directions by


specifying the blend control points.

9. Optionally, define or change the boundary influence on the surface shape.

10. Click OK to close the Unattached Wall: Blended dialog box.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

To Create a Boundary Blend from More than Four Boundaries


1. Click Insert > Sheemetal Wall > Unattached > From Boundaries. The
BNDRS OPTS menu appears.

2. Click N-Sided Surf and then Done. The Unattached Wall: N-Sided dialog box
opens and the CHAIN menu appears.

3. Select individual curves or edges as references that form a loop.

Note: You must select at least five boundaries (references) in the consecutive
order for the N-sided surface. Using the One By One option in the CHAIN menu,
select at least five curves or edges forming a loop.

4. When finished, click Done.

Note: The boundaries of the N-sided surface cannot include tangent edges or
curves.

5. At the prompt, type the material thickness.

6. Optionally, define or change the boundary conditions. The BOUNDARY menu


lists all the available surface boundaries.

7. Select the boundary for which you want to define boundary conditions.

8. Click Done. The BNDRY COND menu appears.

9. Select one of the following boundary condition:

o Free—Does not set the tangency conditions along the boundary.

o Tangent—Makes the blended surface tangent to the reference surface


along the boundary.

o Normal—Makes the blended surface normal to the reference surface or


datum plane. For conditions other than Free, accept the defaults or select
reference surfaces.

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10. Click OK in the Unattached Wall: N-Sided dialog box to complete feature
creation.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

To Create a Boundary Blend With Conic Cross-sections Between Curves


1. Click Insert > Sheemetal Wall > Unattached > From Boundaries. The
BNDRS OPTS menu appears.

2. Click Conic Surf, Shouldr Crv, or Tangent Crv.

3. Click Done. The Unattached Wall: Conic, Tangent Curve dialog box opens
and the CRV OPTS and SELECT ITEM menus appear. Boundaries is selected
by default.

You can also select one of the following from the CRV OPTS menu:

o Approx Dir—Specifies curves to approximate the surface.

o Tangent Crv—Specifies the tangent curve.

OR

Shouldr Crv—Specifies the shoulder curve.

4. Select two bounding curves for the conic blend.

5. Select one of the following from the SELECT ITEM menu to define the reference
curves and click Done:

o Curve—Allows you to select curves to define the opposite surface


boundaries. You must select an entire datum curve chain.

o Chain—Allows you to select a chain of curves or edges using the CHAIN


menu.

6. Specify the tangent curve or shoulder curve. The SELECT ITEM menu appears.

7. Select curves or edges to define the tangent curve or shoulder curve and click
Done Curves.

8. At the prompt, type the conic parameter value. Specify a parameter value
between 0.05 and 0.95. Sections of the surface are one of the following types
according to their conic parameter value:

o 0.05 < parameter < 0.5 - ellipse

o parameter = 0.5 - parabola

o 0.5 < parameter < 0.95 - hyperbola

9. At the prompt, type the material thickness.

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10. Click OK to close the Unattached Wall: Blended dialog box.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

Swept Blend

About Swept Blends


A swept blend requires a single trajectory (the Origin Trajectory) and multiple
sections. To define the Origin Trajectory of the swept blend, you can sketch a curve
or select a chain of datum curves or edges.
You must sketch the sections to be blended at the specified segment vertices or
datum points on the Origin Trajectory. To orient a section, you can specify the
rotation angle about the z-axis, or use the Pick XVector or Norm to Surf options,
or both.
The limitations are as follows:
• A section cannot be located at a sharp corner in the Origin Trajectory.

• For a closed trajectory profile, you must sketch sections at the start point and at
least one other location. Pro/ENGINEER uses the first section at the endpoint.

• For an open trajectory profile, you must create sections at the start and end
points. You cannot skip the placement of a section at these points.

• You cannot dimension sections to the model because modifying the trajectory
invalidates these dimensions.

• You cannot select a composite datum curve for defining sections of a swept blend
(Select Sec). Instead, you must select one of the underlying datum curves or
edges from which a composite curve is determined.

• If you choose Pivot Dir and Select Sec, all selected sections must lie in planes
that are parallel to the pivot direction.

• You can control geometry that is swept and blended by using an area graph and
by controlling the perimeter of the feature between the sections.

• An area graph represents the exact area of the cross-section of the swept blend
at selected locations on the Origin Trajectory. You can add or remove points on
the Origin Trajectory at which to specify the swept blend sectional area. You can
also change the graph value at user-defined points.

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The following table lists terminology common to variable section sweeps and swept
blends.

OPTION DEFINITION

NrmToOriginTraj The section plane remains normal to the Origin


Trajectory throughout its length. The generic
sweep also behaves similarly.

Pivot Direction Two trajectories must be selected to determine


the location and orientation of the section. The
Origin Trajectory determines the origin of the
section along the length of the feature. The
section plane remains normal to the Normal
Trajectory along the length of the feature.

Norm To Traj The section plane remains normal to the Origin


Trajectory as it is viewed along the Pivot
Direction. The upward direction of the section
remains parallel to the Pivot Direction.

To Create a Swept Blend Normal to the Origin of Trajectory


1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Swept Blend. The BLEND
OPTS menu appears.

2. Click either Select Sec or Sketch Sec to select or sketch section entities.

3. Click NrmToOriginTraj to create a cross-section normal to the origin of the


trajectory and click Done.

• If you select Select Sec, the Unattached Wall: Swept Blend, Norm to Origin
Traj, Selected Sections dialog box opens and the SWEEP TRAJ menu appears.
Select a normal surface to define the orientation for the cross-section using the
SWEEP TRAJ menu.

a. Select one of the following trajectory options to specify a trajectory that


defines the section origin and click Done.
o Sketch Traj—Allows you to sketch a trajectory using the sketching plane
and orientation. The SETUP SK PLN and SETUP PLANE menus appear.

—Select or create a sketching plane, or use the sketching plane of the last
feature with the 3D section for the section boundary. The DIRECTION
menu appears.

—Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to accept the default direction.
The SKET VIEW menu appears.

—Select or create a horizontal or vertical reference for sketching.

—Select a perpendicular surface, an edge, or vertex relative to which the


section is dimensioned and constrained.

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—Sketch the section boundary. The section must be closed. When the

section sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar. The CRV


SKETCHER and PICK CURVE menus appear.

o Select Traj—Allows you to select a datum curve using the CHAIN menu.

—After selecting the curves, click Done. The CHOOSE menu appears.

—Click Accept to accept the selection or Next to next selection. The CRV
SKETCHER and PICK CURVE menus appear.

b. Select the appropriate entity and click Done/Return. You are prompted to
continue sketching the next section by clicking Yes or No. The DIRECTION
menu appears.
• If you select Sketch Traj, the Unattached Wall: Swept Blend, Norm to
Origin Traj, Sketched Sections dialog box opens and the SWEEP TRAJ menu
appears.

a. Specify a trajectory that defines section origin using the SWEEP TRAJ
menu and click Done. The SEC ORIENT menu appears.
b. Specify section orientation using one of the following and click Done:
o Pick XVector—Allows you to select an axis, straight edge/curve, or plane
normal to determine the section’s positive x-axis. Use options in the GEN
SEL DIR menu to select a horizontal reference. The system displays a red
arrow, indicating the positive direction for the X-vector. Choose Flip or
Okay to determine the direction for the operation.

Note: The Pick XVector option is available only for the trajectories defined
with the Select Traj option.

o Automatic—The system automatically determines the section’s orientation.


If you select this option for the first section, then the x-axis is determined
by the curvature vector at the beginning of the Origin Trajectory.

When you select Automatic for a section other than the first, the system
determines the X-vector automatically based on the previous section
orientation and the behavior of the Origin Trajectory.

o Norm to Surf—Use the adjacent surface section normal to determine the


section upward direction of the horizontal plane for sweep section. If you
select this option for the first section, then all sections use the same
reference surfaces as the upward direction.

If the Origin Trajectory has only one adjacent surface, then the system
automatically selects this surface, highlighted in blue, as the reference for
the section orientation. A red arrow appears, indicating the upward
direction. Choose Flip or Okay to specify the upward direction.

If the Origin Trajectory has two adjacent surfaces, the system prompts you
to select a surface for the section orientation. The default surface is
highlighted in blue. You can accept the default surface or select the other

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one. A red arrow appears, indicating the upward direction. Choose Flip or
Okay to specify the upward direction.

c. The system highlights endpoints and vertices along the Origin Trajectory.
Use one of the following from the CONFIRM menu to select points at which
you want to specify additional sections.
Accept—Sketches or selects a section at this highlighted location

Next—Goes to the next point

Previous—Returns to the previous point

d. For each vertex or datum point where you define a section, specify the
section's rotation angle about the z-axis (with a value between -120 and
+120 degrees).
4. Select or sketch the entities for each section, depending on whether you choose
Select Sec or Sketch Sec, respectively.

5. Click Done to exit Sketcher. The DIRECTION menu appears.

6. Click Okay to accept the default direction to thicken the wall or Flip to reverse
the direction. The material side from where to remove or add material is defined.

7. When all cross-sections are sketched or selected, unless you want to define
optional elements, select OK in the Unattached Wall: Swept Blend, Norm to
Origin Traj, Selected Sections dialog box to generate the swept blend feature.

8. Optionally, click Blend Control and then Define. This allows you to control
shape with cross sectional area or perimeter. The BLEND CONTROL menu
appears.

9. Select one of the following bend control conditions and click Done/Return:

o Set Perimeter—Varies the cross-sectional perimeter approximately


between sections, linearly.

o Area Graph—Controls the cross-sectional area of the feature.

o Center Crv—Creates a curve passing through the center of the blend


sections.

10. If you select Select Sec, optionally, you can define Tangency if you want the
blend to be tangent to any surface at the first end.

a. At the prompt, press ENTER (Yes) to create a tangent blend. Else, type No.
b. Select a surface for the highlighted entity and click OK. You are prompted
to specify a tangent blend at the other end.
11. Optionally, swap the driving surface, if required.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

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To Create a Swept Blend Using Direction


1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Swept Blend. The BLEND
OPTS menu appears.

2. To select or sketch section entities, click Select Sec or Sketch Sec.

3. Click Pivot Dir to create a section normal to origin of the trajectory when viewed
from any direction and click Done.

o If you select Select Sec, the Unattached Wall: Swept Blend, Pivot
Direction, Selected Sections dialog box opens.

o If you select Sketch Sec, the Unattached Wall: Swept Blend, Pivot
Direction, Selected Sections dialog box opens.

The GEN SEL DIR menu appears.

4. Define the sweep direction using one of the following:

o Plane—Selects a normal reference plane as the direction

o Crv/Edg/Axis—Selects a curve, edge, or axis

o Csys—Selects a coordinate system and then selects x-, y-, and z-axis of
the coordinate system as the direction

The DIRECTION menu appears.

5. Click Okay to accept the default direction or Flip to reverse the direction. The
SWEEP TRAJ menu appears.

6. Select one of the following trajectory options to specify a trajectory that defines
the section origin and click Done.

o Sketch Traj—Allows you to sketch a trajectory using the sketch plane and
orientation.

o Select Traj—Allows you to select a datum curve using the CHAIN menu.

The DIRECTION menu appears.

7. Click Okay to change the direction of thickness or Flip to reverse the direction.
The direction in which you want to add or remove material is defined.

8. Optionally, click Blend Control and then Define. This allows you to control
shape with cross sectional area or perimeter. The BLEND CONTROL menu
appears.

9. Select one of the following bend control conditions and click Done/Return:

o Set Perimeter—Varies the cross-sectional perimeter approximately


between sections linearly.

o Area Graph—Controls the cross-sectional area of the feature.

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o Center Crv—Creates a curve passing through the center of the blend


sections.

10. Optionally, define Tangency if you want the blend to be tangent to any surface
at the first end.

a. At the prompt, press ENTER (Yes) to create a tangent blend. Else, type No.
b. Select a surface for the highlighted entity and click OK. You are prompted
to specify a tangent blend at the other end.
11. Optionally, swap the driving surface, if required.

12. Click OK to create a swept blend.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

To Create a Swept Blend Normal to the Specified Trajectory Using a


Selected Section
1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Swept Blend. The BLEND
OPTS menu appears.

2. Click Select Sec to select section entities.

3. Click Norm To Traj to create a cross-section normal to the origin of trajectory.

4. Click Done. The Unattached Wall: Swept Blend, Norm to Traj, Selected
Sections dialog box opens and the SWEEP TRAJ menu appears.

5. Select one of the following trajectory options to specify a trajectory that defines
the section origin and click Done.

• Sketch Traj—Allows you to sketch a trajectory using the sketching plane and
orientation. The SETUP SK PLN and SETUP PLANE menus appear.

a. Select or create a sketching plane, or use the sketching plane of the last
feature with the 3D section for the section boundary. The DIRECTION
menu appears.
b. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to select the direction for
viewing the sketching plane. The SKET VIEW menu appears.
c. Select or create a horizontal or vertical reference for sketching.
d. Select a perpendicular surface, an edge, or vertex relative to which the
section is dimensioned and constrained.
e. Sketch the section boundary. The section must be closed. When the section

sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar. The SWEEP TRAJ


menu appears.
• Select Traj—Allows you to select a datum curve using the CHAIN menu.

a. Specify a trajectory that defines a section origin.

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b. Click Done. The CHOOSE menu appears.


c. Click Accept to accept the trajectory or Next for next selection. The
SWEEP TRAJ menu appears.
d. Select or sketch a trajectory that defines section plane normal. The CRV
SKETCHER and PICK CURVE menus appear.
e. Select the appropriate entity and click Done/Return. You are prompted to
define another section.
f. Click Yes to continue or No to abort. The DIRECTION menu appears.
6. Click Okay to accept the default direction to thicken the wall or Flip to reverse
the direction. The material side from where to remove or add material is defined.

7. When all cross-sections are selected, unless you want to define optional
elements, select OK in the Unattached Wall: Swept Blend, Norm to Origin
Traj, Selected Sections dialog box to generate the swept blend feature.

8. Optionally, click Blend Control and then Define. This allows you to control
shape with cross sectional area or perimeter. The BLEND CONTROL menu
appears.

9. Select one of the following bend control conditions and click Done/Return:

o Set Perimeter—Varies the cross-sectional perimeter approximately


between sections, linearly.

o Area Graph—Controls the cross-sectional area of the feature.

o Center Crv—Creates a curve passing through the center of the blend


sections.

10. Optionally, define Tangency if you want the blend to be tangent to any surfaces
at the first end.

a. At the prompt, press ENTER (Yes) to create a tangent blend. Else, type No.
b. Select a surface for the highlighted entity and click OK. You are prompted
to specify a tangent blend at the other end.
11. Optionally, swap the driving surface, if required.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

To Create a Swept Blend Normal to the Specified Trajectory Using a


Sketched Section
1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Swept Blend. The BLEND
OPTS menu appears.

2. To select or sketch section entities, click Sketch Sec.

3. Click Norm To Traj to create a cross-section normal to the origin of trajectory


and click Done. The Unattached Wall: Swept Blend, Norm to Traj, Sketched
Sections dialog box opens and the SWEEP TRAJ menu appears.

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4. Select one of the following trajectory options to specify a trajectory that defines
section origin and click Done.

• Sketch Traj—Sketches the trajectory using the sketching plane and orientation.
SETUP SK PLN and SETUP PLANE menus appear.

a. Select or create a sketching plane, or use the sketching plane of the last
feature with the 3D section for the section boundary. The DIRECTION
menu appears.
b. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to select the direction for
viewing the sketching plane. The SKET VIEW menu appears.
c. Select or create a horizontal or vertical reference for sketching.
d. Select a perpendicular surface, an edge, or vertex relative to which the
section is dimensioned and constrained.
e. Sketch the section boundary. The section must be closed. When the section

sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar. The SWEEP TRAJ


menu appears.
• Select Traj—Specify a trajectory that defines section origin using the CHAIN
menu and click Done. The SEC ORIENT menu appears.

a. Select one of the following to specify section orientation and click Done:
o Pick XVector—Select an axis, straight edge/curve, or plane normal to
determine the section’s positive X-axis. Use options in the GEN SEL DIR
menu to select a horizontal reference. The system displays a red arrow,
indicating the positive direction for the X-vector. Choose Flip or Okay to
determine the direction for the operation.

Note: The Pick XVector option is available only for the trajectories defined
with the Select Traj option.

o Automatic—The system automatically determines the section’s orientation.

If you select this option for the first section, then the X-axis is determined
by the curvature vector at the beginning of the Origin Trajectory.

When you select Automatic for a section other than the first, the system
determines the X-vector automatically based on the previous section
orientation and the behavior of the Origin Trajectory.

o Norm to Surf—Use the adjacent surface section normal to determine the


section upward direction of the horizontal plane for sweep section. If you
select this option for the first section, then all sections use the same
reference surfaces as the upward direction.

If the Origin Trajectory has only one adjacent surface, then the system
automatically selects this surface, highlighted in blue, as the reference for
the section orientation. A red arrow appears, indicating the upward
direction. Choose Flip or Okay to specify the upward direction.

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If the Origin Trajectory has two adjacent surfaces, the system prompts you
to select a surface for the section orientation. The default surface is
highlighted in blue. You can accept the default surface or select the other
one. A red arrow appears, indicating the upward direction. Choose Flip or
Okay to specify the upward direction.

b. The system highlights endpoints and vertices along the Origin Trajectory.
Use one of the following from the CONFIRM menu to select points at which
you want to specify additional sections.
o Accept—Sketches or selects a section at this highlighted location.

o Next—Goes to the next point.

o Previous—Returns to the previous point

c. For each vertex or datum point where you define a section, specify the
section's rotation angle about the z-axis (with a value between -120 and
+120 degrees). You are prompted to define two such sections.
5. Select or sketch the entities for each section, depending on whether you choose
Select Sec or Sketch Sec, respectively.

6. Click Done to exit Sketcher. The DIRECTION menu appears.

7. Click Okay to accept the default direction to thicken the wall or Flip to reverse
the direction. The material side from where to remove or add material is defined.

8. When all cross-sections are sketched or selected, unless you want to define
optional elements, select OK in the Unattached Wall: Swept Blend, Norm to
Origin Traj, Selected Sections dialog box to generate the swept blend feature.

9. Optionally, click Blend Control and then Define. This allows you to control
shape with cross sectional area or perimeter. The BLEND CONTROL menu
appears.

10. Select one of the following bend control conditions and click Done/Return:

o Set Perimeter—Varies the cross-sectional perimeter approximately


between sections, linearly.

o Area Graph—Controls the cross-sectional area of the feature.

o Center Crv—Creates a curve passing through the center of the blend


sections.

11. If you select Select Sec, optionally, you can define Tangency if you want the
blend to be tangent to any surface at the first end.

a. At the prompt, press ENTER (Yes) to create a tangent blend. Else, type No.
b. Select a surface for the highlighted entity and click OK. You are prompted
to specify a tangent blend at the other end.

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12. Optionally, swap the driving surface, if required.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

Helical Sweep

About Helical Sweeps


You can create a helical sweep by sweeping a section along a helical trajectory.
The trajectory is defined by both the profile of the surface of revolution (which
defines the distance from the section origin of the helical feature to its axis of
revolution) and the pitch (the distance between coils). The trajectory and the surface
of revolution are construction tools that do not appear in the resulting geometry.
Use the following ATTRIBUTES menu options in mutually exclusive pairs to define
the helical sweep feature:
• Constant—The pitch is constant.

• Variable—The pitch is variable and defined by a graph.

• Thru Axis—The cross section lies in a plane that passes through the axis of
revolution.

• Norm To Traj—The cross section is oriented normal to the trajectory (or surface
of revolution).

• Right Handed—The trajectory is defined using the right- hand rule.

• Left Handed—The trajectory is defined using the left-hand rule.

To Create a Helical Sweep With a Constant Pitch Value


1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Helical Sweep. The
Unattached Wall: Helical Sweep dialog box and the ATTRIBUTES menu
appears.

2. Click Constant in mutually exclusive pairs of the following:

o Thru Axis—The cross-sectional plane passes through the axis of revolution

o Norm To Traj—The cross-sectional plane will be normal to trajectory

o Right Handed—Allows you to create a trajectory using the right hand rule

o Left Handed—Allows you to create a trajectory using the left hand rule

3. Click Done. The SETUP SK PLN and SETUP PLANE menus appear.

4. Select or create a sketching plane, or use the sketching plane of the last feature
with the 3D section for the section boundary. The DIRECTION menu appears.

5. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to select the direction for viewing the
sketching plane. The SKET VIEW menu appears.

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6. Select or create a horizontal or vertical reference for sketching.

7. Select a perpendicular surface, an edge, or vertex relative to which the section is


dimensioned and constrained.

8. Sketch the profile of the surface of revolution. The sketched entities must form
an open loop. You must sketch a centerline to define the axis of revolution.

Note: If you select Norm To Traj, the profile entities must be tangent to each
other (C1 continuous).

o The profile entities must not have a tangent that is normal to the centerline
at any point.

o The profile starting point defines the sweep trajectory starting point. You
can modify the starting point using the Sketch > Feature Tools > Start
Point.

9. When the section sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar.

10. At the prompt, type the pitch value (the distance between the coils).

11. Sketch a cross-section that will be swept along the trajectory.

Note: You can use Sketch > Feature Tools > Thicken to change the direction
of material thickness for sections with an open loop and specify the thickness.

12. When the section sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar. The
DIRECTION menu appears.

13. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to accept the default direction.

14. At the prompt, type the thickness value and click .

15. Optionally, you can swap the surface, if required.

16. Click OK in the Unattached Wall: Helical Sweep dialog box to create a helical
blend.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

To Create a Helical Sweep With a Variable Pitch Value


1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Unattached > Helical Sweep. The
Unattached Wall: Helical Sweep dialog box and the ATTRIBUTES menu
appears.

2. Click Variable in mutually exclusive pairs of the following:

o Thru Axis—The cross-sectional plane passes through the axis of revolution

o Norm To Traj—The cross-sectional plane will be normal to trajectory

o Right Handed—Allows you to create a trajectory using the right hand rule

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o Left Handed—Allows you to create a trajectory using the left hand rule

3. Click Done. The SETUP SK PLN and SETUP PLANE menus appear.

4. Select or create a sketching plane and side surface, or use the sketching plane of
the last feature with the 3D section for the trajectory. The DIRECTION menu
appears.

5. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to select the direction for viewing the
sketching plane. The SKET VIEW menu appears.

6. Select or create a horizontal or vertical reference for sketching using the SKET
VIEW menu.

7. Select a perpendicular surface, an edge, or vertex relative to which the section is


dimensioned and constrained.

8. Sketch a trajectory. The sketched entities must form an open loop. You must
sketch a centerline to define the axis of revolution. After you regenerate your

profile sketch successfully, click on the sketcher toolbar.

Note: If you select Norm To Traj, the profile entities must be tangent to each
other (C1 continuous).

o The profile entities must not have a tangent that is normal to the centerline
at any point.

o The profile starting point defines the sweep trajectory starting point. You
can modify the starting point using the Sketch > Feature Tools > Start
Point.

9. At the prompt, type the pitch value (the distance between the coils) at trajectory
start and end. The GRAPH and DEFINE GRAPH menus appear. While the profile
section is displayed in the Pro/ENGINEER graphics window, the initial pitch graph
is displayed in the PITCH_GRAPH window.

10. Click Define from the GRAPH menu.

You can select one of the following from the DEFINE GRAPH menu:

o Add Point—Adds a reference point to the graph by selecting a point in the


profile section, or the start or end point. Enter the desired pitch value at
this point. The system locates the selected control point along the X-axis of
the graph and draws a line with the length equal to the specified pitch
value.

o Remove Point—Removes a pitch control point by picking it in the profile


section.

o Change Value—Changes the value of the pitch at any selected control


point, including the start or end point. Select a point in the profile section to
change its value and enter the new value.

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11. Click Add Point to sketch points, then select points on the profile geometry, and
dimension them. It is easier to dimension the control points if you put them on
the centerline that defines the axis of revolution.

12. While in the profile section, sketch points to be used as the control points in the
pitch graph. These control points define how the pitch value changes along the
axis of revolution.

13. Finalize the graph by transferring the pitch control points from the profile sketch
onto the graph and click Done/Return from the DEFINE GRAPH menu.

To check the graph data, click Info in the GRAPH menu. The system displays
the Information Window with the pitch data table.

14. Click Done from the GRAPH menu.

15. Sketch a cross-section that will be swept along the trajectory.

Note: You can use Sketch > Feature Tools > Thicken to change the direction
of material thickness for sections with an open loop and specify the thickness.

16. When the section sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar. The
DIRECTION menu appears.

17. Click Flip to reverse the direction or Okay to accept the default direction.

18. At the prompt, type the thickness value and click .

19. Optionally, you can swap the surface, if required.

20. Click OK in the Unattached Wall: Helical Sweep dialog box to create a helical
blend.

Note: When creating the first wall, after sketching the section, specify material
thickness and click OK to complete the feature creation.

Twist

About Twist Walls


A twist wall is a spiraling or coiling section of sheet metal. The twist forms around an
axis running through the wall's center, as if by turning the wall ends in opposite
directions by a relatively small, specified angle. You can attach the twist to a straight
edge on an existing planar wall.

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The twist wall typically serves as a transition between two areas of sheet metal
because it can change the plane of a sheet metal part. The twist can be rectangular
or trapezoidal.

Twist Wall Twist Wall Dimension

Start Width: (75 )Width of the twist wall at the


attachment edge.

End Width:(5 )Width at the end of the twist wall.

Twist Length: (100 )Length of the twist wall,


measured from the attachment edge to the end of
the twist axis.

Twist Angle: (120 )Angle of twist.

Developed Length: (100 )Length of the twist wall,


when untwisted.

Note:
• You can only add a flat or extruded wall to the end of a twist if the additional wall
has no radius and is tangent to the twist.

• You can unbend a twist wall with the regular unbend command.

• The twist axis runs through the wall's center, perpendicular to the attach edge.

• You cannot use a radius with twist walls.

To Create a Twist Wall


1. Click Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Twist. The TWIST dialog box opens and the
FEATURE REFS menu appears.

2. Select the attachment edge for the twist wall. The TWIST AXIS PNT and
FEATURE REFS menus appear.

3. Select a datum point on the attachment edge to locate the twist axis, which is the
centerline of the twist wall. It is perpendicular to the start edge and coplanar with
the existing wall:

o Select Point—Choose an existing datum point.

o Use Middle—Create a new datum point at the midpoint of the attachment


edge.

Note: If you intend to roll the material in a spiral, be conscious of the material
length. Otherwise, your roll bend will fail if the material bends through itself.

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4. Define the twist wall dimensions:

o Start Width—Width of the twist wall at the attachment edge. Type a value

and click .

o End Width—Width at the end of the twist wall. Type a value and click .

o Twist Length—Length of the twist wall, measured from the attachment

edge to the end of the twist axis. Type a value and click .

o Twist Angle—Angle/rotation of the twist wall. Type a value and click .

o Devel Length—Length of the twist wall, when untwisted. Type a value and

click .

5. Click OK on the TWIST dialog box. The wall is created.

Extend

About Extend Walls


An extend wall lengthens an existing wall. You can extend the wall from a straight
edge on existing wall to either a planar surface or a specified distance. You can close
gaps between walls and model various overlap conditions.
The extend wall is typically utilized at corners.

Tangent Inside Edges Tangent Right Outside Edge

Corner with extend wall added to Corner with extend walls added to
the tangent inside edges. the tangent left inside edge and
tangent right outside edge.

To Create an Extend Wall

1. Click or Insert > Sheetmetal Wall > Extend. The WALL Options:
Extend dialog box opens.

2. Select the straight edge to extend. The EXT DIST and SETUP PLANE menus
appear.

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3. Define how to extend the wall:

o Up To Plane—Extends the wall up to a plane.

Select an existing datum plane or make a new datum plane.

o Use Value—Extends the wall at a specified distance.

Select a default value from the menu or click Enter, and type the exact
distance value.

4. Click OK on the WALL Options: Extend dialog box. The wall is created.

Merge

About Merge Walls


A merge wall combines at least two unattached walls into one part. The merger
requires that:
• The walls butt against each other (tangent).

• The driving sides of each wall match. If the colors of the walls do not match you
can use the Swap Sides command in Unattached Wall dialog box.

Unattached Tangent Walls Merge Wall

1. Unattached wall.

2. Base wall to which the unattached wall is merged.

Note: The walls have matching driving sides.


To create the merge you must define the following elements in the WALL Options
dialog box:
• Basic Refs—Select surfaces of the base wall.

• Merge Geoms—Surfaces of the wall to be merged.

• Merge Edges—(optional) Add or remove edges deleted by the merge.

• Keep Lines—(optional) Control the visibility of merged edges on surface joints.

Note: Only unattached walls can merge with the base wall.

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To Create a Merge Wall

1. Click or Insert > Merge Walls. The WALL Options: Merge dialog box
opens and the FEATURE REFS menu appears.

Note: You can merge only flat walls including the unattached walls.

2. Select the base wall surfaces you want the unattached wall to be merged with.

3. Select the unattached wall surfaces you want to merge to the base wall.

4. Click OK on the WALL Options: Merge dialog box. The walls are merged.

Rip

About Rips
A rip shears or tears your sheet metal walls, especially along seams. If your part is a
continuous piece of material it cannot be unbent without ripping the sheet metal.
Create a rip feature before unbending. When you unbend that area of the model, the
material will break along the rip section. In general, a rip is a zero-volume cut.
There are three types of sheet metal rips available:
• Regular—Creates a sawcut along a sketched rip line. You select a surface and
sketch the rip line. You can select boundary surfaces to protect certain surfaces
from the rip.

• Surface—Cuts and exclude an entire surface patch from the model. You select a
surface to rip out. Surface rips remove model volume.

• Edge—Creates a sawcut along an edge. You select the edge to rip. The resulting
corner edges can be open, blind, or overlapping.

Regular Rip Surface Rip Edge Rip

While edge rips are intended for unbending your part, you can customize the corner
type to be open, overlapping, or cut/extended to a specific depth. You can create rips
with open or overlapping corners.
You can create multiple versions of a regular rip by setting bounding surfaces—a
surface that will not be ripped. The rip extends around the model until it meets the
edges of the bounding surface. If your rip design requires most of the surfaces not to

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be ripped, you can exclude all the surfaces (as bounding surfaces) and select/remove
the desired surfaces that need to be ripped.

No Bounding One Bounding Bounding Surfaces


Surfaces Surface

1. Bounding surface

2. Multiple bounding surfaces

Note: If you add wall relief after a rip the sheet metal may have larger, more
unpredictable ripping than desired.

To Create a Regular Rip

1. Click or Insert > Shape > Rip. The OPTIONS menu appears.

2. Click Regular Rip. Click Done. The Rip: (Regular Type) dialog box opens.

3. Reference and sketch the rip. All entities must form one continuous open chain
with endpoints that align to surface edges or silhouettes. When the sketch is

complete, click on the sketcher toolbar.

To define the boundary surface, highlight Bound Surf in the Rip dialog box and
click Define. The FEATURE REFS menu appears. Select the surfaces to exclude
from the rip feature and then click Done Refs and Done/Return.

4. Click OK on the Rip dialog box. The rip is created.

To Create a Surface Rip

1. Click or Insert > Shape > Rip. The OPTIONS menu appears.

2. Click Surface Rip and then Done. The RIP:(Surface Type) dialog box opens
and the FEATURE REFS menu appears.

3. Select the surface(s) to rip out. The selected surfaces highlight in the active
window.

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You can add and remove rip surfaces by highlighting Surface in the
Rip:(Surface Type) dialog box and clicking Define. After you modfiy the
surface selections click Done Refs.

4. Click OK on the Rip:(Surface Type) dialog box. The rip is created.

To Create an Edge Rip

1. Click or click Insert > Shape > Rip. The OPTIONS menu appears.

2. Click Edge Rip. Click Done. The Rip :(Edge Type) dialog box opens and the
RIP PIECES menu appears. By default, Add is selected.

3. Select an edge or edges to rip.

You can also customize the corner type for each edge rip as follows:

o Click Redefine from the RIP PIECES menu. The PIECE SEL menu
appears.

o Select the edge piece to redefine. The RIP PIECES dialog box opens.

o Highlight Corner Type and click Define. The CORNER DEF menu appears.

o Select the desired corner type and click Done:

Open—Create standard open corner edges.

Blind—Customize the open corner using a specific dimension.

Overlap—Create standard overlapping corner edges.

o Click Ok in the RIP PIECES dialog box.

4. Click Done Sets after selecting and defining all desired edges. The selected
edges highlight in the active window.

5. Click OK on the Rip :(Edge Type) dialog box. The edge rip is created.

Working with Edge Rips


An edge rip is a sawcut along an edge. Like all rips, edge rips are intended to help
unbend your part. Depending on your design needs you can customize the corner
type of the edge rip to be open, cut/extended to a specific depth, or overlapping.

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As you customize the corner type edge rip drag-handles appear. The handles snap to
the corner edges. The following explains how the edges and system behave when
you customize the edge:
• Open edge rip—The edge rip remains open, however, drag-handles appear for
each edge. If you click on the handles the edge is defined as blind (see Blind
edge rip below).

Open Edge Rip with Drag-handles Open Edge Rip

• Blind edge rip—Drag-handles and dimensions appear for each edge coming into
the corner.

To set the depth of the edge, you can double-click the edge dimension and then
type or select a new dimension or you can use the drag handle and drag the
corner edge to its new location (which can be within the confines of the edge or
extend beyond the intersecting edges).

You can also establish relations by selecting Thickness or Thickness*2 from


the dimension box. The relation is set using the smt_thickness parameter. It is
removed if you type a value or define the edge as open or overlapping.

Blind Edge Rip with Drag-handles and Blind Edge Rip


Dimension Box

• Overlap edge rip—Drag-handles appear for each edge and an arrow indicates
the overlap direction. One edge automatically overlaps the other. You can reverse
the overlapping edge by clicking Flip on the CORNER DEF menu.

Overlapping Edge Rip with Drag-handles and Overlapping Edge


Direction Arrow Rip

Note:
• You can redefine the edge rip type in the middle of defining the edge by clicking
one of the other commands. For example, if while defining a blind edge rip you

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discover it should be overlapping, simply click Overlap and the blind dimensions
are aborted.

• Dimensions only appear with your model when you are creating a blind edge rip.

Cut

About Sheet Metal Cuts


A sheet metal cut removes material from your part. The cut is made normal to the
sheet metal surface, as if the part were completely flat, even if it is in a bent state.
The cut adopts the sheet metal material's natural behavior, like bending and
warping, when the part is bent.
You sketch cuts on a plane and project them onto the sheet metal wall. The driving
side, offset side, or both driving and offset sides of the sheet metal wall can drive the
cut direction.

Sheet Metal Cut (Solid) Solid Cut Behavior Sheet Metal Cut (Thin)
Behavior Behavior

You can create three types of cuts:


• Sheet Metal Cut (solid)—Removes solid sections of the sheet metal wall.

• Sheet Metal Cut (thin)—Removes only a thin section of material, like a thin cut
made with a laser.

• Solid Cut—Removes solid sections of the sheet metal wall. You can extrude,
revolve, sweep, blend, use quilts and make advanced solid cuts. To make a
defined-angle cut, you must use the solid cut. Solid cuts can be made on an
edge. See the Part Modeling Functional Area for information about solid cuts.

Note: Always use the sheet metal solid cut, unless you need tapered edges.

Because sheet metal cuts are surface cuts, you cannot make a cut to partially
remove wall thickness. For example, you can not cut a 1cm deep hole in a 10cm
thick wall. This may make the Blind depth command somewhat difficult to
understand. The Blind depth command applies to cutting on bends. You can sketch
the cut to the edge of the bend and project it a blind depth down the bent wall,
saving you the time of unbending the wall, making the cut, and bending back the
wall.

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Original Wall Blind Cut Sketch Blind Cut

Note:
• A cut cannot cross two bend lines.

• A cut can never be made on an edge.

• Cutting on angles or bend areas might require a larger dimension scale for proper
clearance.

• Cuts can be used to create notch and punch UDFs.

About Cuts and Datum Axes


Individual datum axes are automatically created for each circular cut that intersects
more than one sheet metal wall.
The created axes behave like all other axes; they have an ID, can be referenced, can
be turned on/off on the main toolbar, and follow the cut during any bending and
unbending.

Sketch Sheet Metal Part With Unbent Sheet Metal Part


Circular Cuts With Cuts

Projecting Datum Curves


When you develop geometry in the formed (bent) state you can project datum
curves to communicate information from the bent state to the flat state. You sketch
and project a curve onto the surface of the sheet metal part.

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You place the curve by either following a surface when the model is bent or unbent,
or by following a surface during a bend back operation (if the part is in the unbent
state).

Original Part Projected Curve Formed Part with Cut


Following Curve

See the Part Modeling module for more information about working with projected
datum curves.

To Create a Sheet Metal Cut (Solid)

1. Click to create a sketch feature.

2. Select the sketched feature and click or Insert > Extrude to activate the
extrude tool.

Alternatively, you can activate the extrude tool first and then create a sketch
using Placement > Edit on the SMT dashboard.

3. Click (extrude as solid) if it is not selected by default. The cut options


become available for selection.

4. Click Options to define the extrusion depth of the cut.

To specify how far the wall should extrude, under Depth, select one of the
following options:

o Blind—Removes material in the first direction from the sketch plane to the
specified depth value.

o Symmetric—Removes material on both sides of the placement reference


by half the specified depth value in each direction.

o To Next—Removes material in the first direction up to the next surface.

o Through All—Removes material in the first direction to intersect with all


surfaces.

o Through Until—Removes material in the first direction to intersect with a


selected surface.

o To Selected—Removes material to intersect with the selected point, curve,


plane, or surface of a solid geometry.

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5. Accept the current direction or click to reverse the direction of extrude along
the sketch plane, if required.

6. Click Insert > Extrude. If the first wall or any other feature already exists in the

part, the SMT cut options become available on the dashboard. However,
(SMT cut) is not available for the first wall.

If (SMT cut) is not already selected, click to remove the material.

7. Click . The SMT cut options become unavailable.

8. Accept the current direction to remove the material or click to reverse the
direction of extrude to the other side of the sketch.

9. Click . The sheet metal cut (solid) is created.

To Create a Sheet Metal Cut (Thin)

1. Click to create a sketch feature.

2. Select the sketched feature and click or Insert > Extrude to activate the
extrude tool.

Alternatively, you can activate the extrude tool first and then create a sketch
using Placement > Edit on the SMT dashboard.

3. Click (extrude as solid) if it is not selected by default. The cut options


become available for selection.

4. Click Options to define the extrusion depth of the cut.

To specify how far the wall should extrude, under Depth, select one of the
following options:

o Blind—Removes material in the first direction from the sketch plane to the
specified depth value.

o Symmetric—Removes material on both sides of the placement reference


by half the specified depth value in each direction.

o To Next—Removes material in the first direction up to the next surface.

o Through All—Removes material in the first direction to intersect with all


surfaces.

o Through Until—Removes material in the first direction to intersect with a


selected surface.

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o To Selected—Removes material to intersect with the selected point, curve,


plane, or surface of a solid geometry.

5. Accept the current direction or click to reverse the direction of extrude along
the sketch plane, if required.

6. Click Insert > Extrude. If the first wall or any other feature already exists in the

part, the SMT cut options become available on the dashboard. However,
(SMT cut) is not available for the first wall.

If (SMT cut) option is not already selected, click to remove the material.

7. Click . The SMT cut options become available.

8. Click one of the following to define the side on which to create the cut.

o —Removes material normal to both the driven and offset surfaces.

o —Removes material normal to the driven surface. This option is


selected by default.

o —Removes material normal to the offset surface.

9. Click to create a thin cut and type the wall's thickness value using the
thickness input panel.

10. Accept the current direction to remove the material or click to reverse the
direction of the extrude between one side, the other side, or both sides of the
sketch, if required.

11. Click . The sheetmetal cut (thin) is created.

Form, Flatten Form

Form

About Forms
A form is a sheet metal wall molded by a template (reference part). Merging the
geometry of a reference part to the sheet metal part creates the form feature. You
use assembly type constraints to determine the location of the form in your model.
When doing so, be mindful of placement references and references to other features
in the model.

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You can create two types of sheet metal form features, punch and die. Each form
type can create the same geometry:

Punch Punch Form


Reference Part

Molds the sheet metal wall using only the


reference part geometry. Punch forms use the
entire form reference part to create the correct
geometry.

Die Die Form Reference


Part

Molds the sheet metal using the reference part


to form the geometry (convex or concave)
surrounded by a bounding plane. Die forms
need a plane surface/boundary plane (2)
surrounding the entire die shape to apply the
correct geometry. The seed surface (1) gathers
the surrounding geometry to create the
appropriate form shape.

To simulate real manufacturing needs, create your form reference part in the
standard application. If you use a sheet metal reference part, the sheet metal to be
formed should conform to the driving side of the component part. When creating a
form model, keep the following in mind:
• Convex surfaces—Must have a radius that is larger than the thickness of the
sheet metal or equal to zero if the form is mated to the sheet metal geometry.

• Concave surfaces—Must have a radius that is larger than the thickness of the
sheet metal or equal to zero if the form is aligned to the sheet metal geometry.

• Combination surfaces—The form can contain a combination of convex and


concave geometry, creating hollows. The hollows in the form must not drop
below the base plane or mating surface.

• Coordinate systems—You can create a coordinate system reference within the


form to define where to strike the part during the manufacturing process.

You can create multiple form placement scenarios by enabling or disabling the
specific constraints. For example, you might place a louver form with constraints that
force the opening to face the outside edge of the wall while also having a constraint
that forces the opening towards the center of the wall. By enabling or disabling the
constraints, you can quickly change your sheet metal design.
Note:
• You can pattern both types of form features.

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• You can create UDFs based on the forms. Any elements you define when creating
the form are modifiable when placing it as a UDF. The one exception is form type,
die or punch, which cannot be changed at that time.

Forms with Hollows


Your form can contain a combination of convex and concave geometry, creating
hollows.
The hollows in the form must not drop below the base plane or mating surface,
meaning all the form geometry must be on the same side of the base plane.
Note: Make sure that the distance between the hollow surface and the outer surface
allows for the material thickness of the sheet metal.

Form Reference Part Allow for Material


Thickness

1. Allowance for the sheet metal material thickness

To Create a Die Form

1. Click or Insert > Shape > Form. The OPTIONS menu appears.

2. Click Die.

3. Define how to use the punch reference part and click Done:

o Reference—The form is dependent on a saved punch part. Any changes


made to the saved part parametrically update when you regenerate the
sheet metal part. If the saved part cannot be located the sheet metal form
geometry freezes.

o Copy—The form uses copied geometry and is independent of the saved


form part.

4. Open the punch reference part. The punch reference part opens in a separate
window. The FORM and Form Placement dialog box opens.

Predefined constraints appear automatically in the constraint list. Constraint


Enabled is selected by default whenever a pre-defined constraint is selected.

5. Select the required reference constraint on the reference part and the
corresponding reference constraint on the sheetmetal part, in any order, to
define a placement constraint. When a pair of valid references is selected an
appropriate constraint type is automatically selected.

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6. The references and constraints are displayed in the Navigation and Collection
area. Before selecting references, change the constraint type from the
Constraint Type list.

7. In the Constraint Type box, select one of the following types of constraint to
use for the reference:

o Automatic—Constrains the form references using a constraint type chosen


by the system.

o Mate—Constrains two surfaces to touch, either coincident and facing each


other or parallel and facing each other.

o Align—Constrains two planes to be coplanar, either coincident and facing in


the same direction or parallel and facing in the same direction..This option
also aligns revolved surfaces or axes to be coaxial.

o Insert—Inserts a male revolved surface into a female revolved surface,


making their respective axes coincident.

o Coord Sys—Constrains the coordinate system of the form reference part to


the coordinate system of the sheet metal part. Both coordinate systems
must exist before starting the assembly process.

o Tangent—Constrains two surface to be tangent.

o Pnt On Line—Constrains a point to be in contact with a line.

o Pnt On Srf—Constrains a point to be in contact with a surface.

o Edge On Srf—Constrains an edge to be in contact with a surface.

o Fix—Fixes form at current location.

o Default—Assembles form at default location.

8. Any constraint listed in the Constraints area may be selected and changed as
required. Change the constraint type, use the Flip button to toggle Mate and
Align, modify the offset value, or allow/disallowing system assumptions.

Note:

o To delete a constraint, select the constraint, and right-click to select


Delete.

o To create additional constraints, click New Constraint. The previously


configured constraints are removed and a new constraint appears with the
previous constraint displayed. Choose a predefined constraint type or
configure a new constraint. additional constraints.

o Remove or add additional constraints to resolve conflicts. Clear the


Constraint Enabled check box to disable a constraint.

o The Pro/ENGINEER constraint orientation assumptions are enabled by


default. Clear the Allow Assumptions check box to disable Pro/ENGINEER
placement assumptions.

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o To turn a constraint off, right-click and select Disable or Enable to turn it


on.

9. In the Offset box, select how to offset the references:

o Offset—Determines the distance between the two references.

o Oriented—Constrains two surfaces to be parallel. An offset value is not


specified.

o Coincident—Constrains two surfaces to be touching. An offset value is not


specified.

10. Click when the status is Fully Constrained, Partially Constrained, or No


Constraints. The system places the reference part with the current constraints. A
reference part cannot be placed in the sheetmetal part if the status is Constraints
Invalid. You must complete the constraint definition first.

11. Select a boundary plane from the reference part. The boundary plane is the
surface surrounding the die geometry.

12. Select a seed surface from the reference part. The seed surface can be any
section of the actual die geometry.

o To exclude surfaces, select Exclude Surf in the FORM dialog box and click
Define. Select the form feature surface(s) to exclude and click Done Refs.

o To designate a coordinate system, select Csys in the FORM dialog box and
click Define.

o To change the tool name, select Tool Name in the FORM dialog box and
click Define.

13. Click OK on the FORM dialog box. The die form is created.

To Create a Punch Form

1. Click or Insert > Shape > Form. The OPTIONS menu appears.

2. Click Punch.

3. Define how to use the punch reference part and click Done:

o Reference—The form is dependent on a saved punch part. Any changes


made to the saved part parametrically update when you regenerate the
sheet metal part. If the saved part cannot be located the sheet metal form
geometry freezes.

o Copy—The form uses copied geometry and is independent of the saved


form part.

4. Open the punch reference part. The punch reference part opens in a separate
window. The FORM and Form Placement dialog box opens.

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Predefined constraints appear automatically in the constraint list. Constraint


Enabled is selected by default whenever a pre-defined constraint is selected.

5. Select the desired constraint on the reference part and the corresponding
constraint on the sheet metal part, in any order, to define a placement
constraint. When a pair of valid references is selected an appropriate constraint
type is automatically selected.

6. The references and constraints are displayed in the Navigation and Collection
area. Before selecting references, change the constraint type from the
Constraint Type list.

7. In the Constraint Type box, select one of the following types of constraint to
use for the reference:

o Automatic—Constrains the form references using a constraint type chosen


by the system.

o Mate—Constrains two surfaces to touch, either coincident and facing each


other or parallel and facing each other.

o Align—Constrains two planes to be coplanar, either coincident and facing in


the same direction or parallel and facing in the same direction. This option
also aligns revolved surfaces or axes to be coaxial.

o Insert—Inserts a male revolved surface into a female revolved surface,


making their respective axes coincident.

o Coord Sys—Constrains the coordinate system of the form reference part to


the coordinate system of the sheet metal part. Both coordinate systems
must exist before starting the assembly process.

o Tangent—Constrains two surface to be tangent.

o Pnt On Line—Constrains a point to be in contact with a line.

o Pnt On Srf—Constrains a point to be in contact with a surface.

o Edge On Srf—Constrains an edge to be in contact with a surface.

o Fix—Fixes form at current location.

o Default—Assembles form at default location.

8. Any constraint listed in the Constraints area may be selected and changed as
required. Change the constraint type, use the Flip button to toggle Mate and
Align, modify the offset value, or allow/disallowing system assumptions.

Note:

o To delete a constraint, select the constraint, and right-click to select


Delete.

o To create additional constraints, click New Constraint. The previously


configured constraints are removed and a new constraint appears with the

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previous constraint displayed. Choose a predefined constraint type or


configure a new constraint.

o Remove or add additional constraints to resolve conflicts. Clear the


Constraint Enabled check box to disable a constraint.

o The Pro/ENGINEER constraint orientation assumptions are enabled by


default. Clear the Allow Assumptions check box to disable Pro/ENGINEER
placement assumptions.

o To turn a constraint off, right-click and select Disable or Enable to turn it


on.

9. In the Offset box, select how to offset the references:

o Offset—Determines the distance between the two references.

o Oriented—Constrains two surfaces to be parallel. An offset value is not


specified.

o Coincident—Constrains two surfaces to be touching. An offset value is not


specified.

10. Click when the status is Fully Constrained, Partially Constrained, or No


Constraints. The system places the reference part with the current constraints. A
reference part cannot be placed in the sheet metal part if the status is
Constraints Invalid. You must complete the constraint definition first.

11. Select the surface to use for the punch geometry: Okay or Flip - to change the
direction.

o To exclude surfaces, select Exclude Surf in the FORM dialog box and click
Define. Select the form feature surface(s) to exclude and click Done Refs.

o To designate a coordinate system, select Csys in the FORM dialog box and
click Define.

o To change the tool name, select Tool Name in the FORM dialog box and
click Define.

12. Click OK on the FORM dialog box. The punch form is created.

Tip: Creating Punch and Die Reference Parts


To simulate real manufacturing needs, your form's reference part must be created in
the standard application.
When creating the reference part:
• Try and keep the datum planes in the center and references to a minimum. This
will make dimensioning and placing the form easier.

• The base of a die form must be a plane surface (boundary plane) surrounding the
actual die. A punch form does not need this base plane, except, if the base plane

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is used for placing the form (in this instance the base plane could be a datum
plane).

• Concave angles and bends in the form must have either a zero radius or a radius
greater than sheet metal thickness.

• The reference part can contain hollows. All the form geometry must protrude
from one side of the base plane. Make sure the hollow accounts for the sheet
metal thickness or else the material inside the hollow will overlap and the form
will fail.

The form reference part can contain geometry for multiple die or punch models:
• You can create an infinite number of die models. Be sure to leave an appropriate
distance between each die instance.

• You can create punch models with two sides. You select the desired side when
mating the surfaces.

Multi-die Reference Part Dual Punch Reference Part

Flatten Form

About Flatten Forms


A flatten form unbends punch or die forms and returns the features to their original
flat state. In order to create flat sheet metal surfaces where punch or die forms exist
you need to use a flatten form feature. You can flatten multiple form features at the
same time. Flatten form features are typically created at the end of the design
process, when you are preparing your model for manufacture.

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The flatten form option adjusts the width of the part after flattening, ensuring the
material volume after flattening is the same as before flattening.

Form (before flattening) Flatten Form

Width: 9.00 Width: 9.00

Thickness: 1.0 Thickness: 1.0

Chamfer cross-section area: Chamfer cross-section area:

0.50 x (0.40 x 0.40) = 0.08 0.50 x (0.40 x 0.40) = 0.08

Sheet side cross-section: Sheet side cross-section:

(9.0 x T) – 0.08 (9.0 x T) – 0.08

When creating a flatten form, consider:


• A form can be flattened if it is located on a plane.

• A form that crosses a bend can only flatten after you unbend the bend. However,
if the form is higher than the bend radius it cannot be unbent or flattened. You
must suppress the form.

• To accurately compensate for mass, you should use the flattened surface area for
real life calculations.

About Stamped Edges


Stamped edges are sheet metal edges modified by solid class features, like
chamfers, rounds, holes, and cuts. You can use stamped edges to denote multiple
types of sheet metal geometry (for example, a radius in the corner of a cut) or to
show edge treatments to make the sheet metal a nonconstant wall thickness.
Stamped edges can be used for both cosmetic and structural requirements (wall
strength). The stamped edge is intended to increase design efficiency where you
need to create complex geometry that sheet metal specific features cannot.

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Because stamped edges use solid class features, you will create them using the
Dashboard functionality. See the Fundamentals or Part Modeling modules for
information and instructions on creating solid features using the Dashboard.
As you prepare your sheet metal design for manufacture you need to flatten your
design. In order to accurately flatten stamped edges, you should create a Flatten
Form feature. The flatten form calculates the flat pattern for the stamped edges
based on the assumption that the volume of the material in the part is the same
both before and after it is flattened. You have the option, however, to modify the
volume that is transformed.
The following example shows the adjustments made to the width of the part after
flattening, ensuring the material volume before and after flattening is the same.

Before Flattening After Flattening

Width (9.00), Thickness (1.00) Width (8.92), Thickness (1.00)

Chamfer cross section area: 0.50 x (0.40 x Sheet side section: Wflat x T = (W -
0.40) = 0.08 0.08/T)*T

Sheet side cross section: (9.00 x T) - 0.08 therefore

Wfalt = W - 0.08/T = 9.00 - 0.08/1.00 =


8.92

1. Chamfer on sheet metal edge

2. Stamped edge flattened with a Flatten Form feature.

Note: When creating rounds and chamfers be sure to the sheet metal thickness and
the desired geometry (angle or radius) into account.

To Create a Flatten Form

1. Click or Insert > Shape > Flat Form. The FLATTEN dialog box opens.

2. Highlight Form and click Define. The FEATURE REFS menu appears.

3. Select the form feature from the model tree or select each individual section to
flatten.

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Note: All form sections must be selected.

4. Click Done Refs after all the form sections are selected.

5. Click OK on the FLATTEN dialog box. The flatten form is created.

Notch and Punch

About Notches and Punches


Notch and punch are templates used to cut and relieve sheet metal walls. In
Sheetmetal Design, notches and punches both perform the same function and have
the same menu commands, so the one you choose depends on your naming
convention. Industry standards place notches on edges and punches in the middle of
the sheet metal wall.

Notch Punch

Notches and punches are manufacturing operations made using the following three
phases:
• Phase One—Create the desired type of cut on a sheet metal part.

• Phase Two—Convert the cut into a user-defined feature (UDF). This UDF is
saved in your directory and can be included in multiple designs. It carries the file
name extension, .gph.

• Phase Three—Place the notch or punch UDF on the desired sheet metal part.

You can create a reference part to help place your notch or punch UDF. Typically,
you want to keep the reference part simple. The reference part carries the file name
extension: gp.prt. Remember, create your UDFs in Sheet Metal mode because UDFs
created in Part mode do not work on sheet metal parts.

UDF Reference Sheet Metal Punch


Part Placement

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Each sheet metal notch and punch has a specific tool that defines its shape. The
same tool is referred to when and wherever you use that UDF. Because of the tool
dimensions, you cannot scale the size of the sheet metal notch and punch UDF. In
order to change the size of these UDFs you must reassign the appropriate reference
tool used in manufacturing.

About Skipped References


Skipped references are notch or punch placement references that have not been
defined. Skipped references can be either intentional, if you are unsure of a notch or
punch placement reference, or unintentional. In either situation, you must define a
skipped reference to place a notch or punch correctly.
Skipped references are reported with the status comment References are missing.

Defining Skipped References


To define any skipped references for your notch or punch you use the same options
and prompts originally used when you began placing the feature in your design.
After you have answered each UDF placement prompt, if you intentionally skipped
any references an Information Window opens and the CONFIRMATION menu
appears. Click Confirm to redefine the skipped references on the base part, or the
actual notch or punch. You enter the feature creation environment. The dialog box
for the feature with skipped references appears.
Note: To return to the references you skipped, click Cancel. Then select the
references you need to specify from the GP REFS menu. You return to the original
UDF prompt. Pro/Engineer displays the feature dialog box and lists skipped
references and variable elements. To reconcile the skipped reference, highlight the
element to fix and click Define on the feature dialog box.
Depending on the type of reference skipped you are defining, you need to use one of
the following procedures to define your references:
• The skipped reference is used by an element other than a sketched section.

For the skipped reference, you enter into the feature creation environment
enabling you to redefine the element that uses the skipped references.

• If the skipped reference is a sketching plane or horizontal reference for a section.

If you redefine a sketching plane or horizontal references, the dialog box for the
feature using the skipped reference appears. From the dialog box, select the
Section element and click Define. Click Sketch Plane and define the reference
as appropriate.

• If the skipped reference is used by a section other than the sketching plane or
horizontal reference.

If you must redefine a section reference (for example, edges used as


dimensioning references), the dialog box for the feature using the skipped
reference appears. Select the Section element and click Define. Choose the

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appropriate sketch option from the Section menu; the part reappears in the
sketching view and the Section Place menu appears with the following options:

o DragAndDrop – Places the existing UDF section directly on the part. When
you enable this option the section is outlined in red. Use the mouse to move
the section to its new location. Place the section by left-clicking the mouse.
Dimension the section to the part and regenerate. The middle mouse button
quits section placement.

Note: The DragAndDrop option is not available for sections fully aligned or
created with the Use Edge option.

o Create New - Discards the existing UDF section and creates a new section.
Select Confirm to verify your action. Sketch a new section.

When you redefine a missing reference used by several features double check to see
if:
• The skipped reference has a single prompt for all features. You must redefine the
reference for each use. For example, if you use an edge to place a hole and a cut,
and you set up a single prompt for both features, you must reselect the reference
edge for both the hole and the cut if you skip the edge reference when placing
the notch or punch.

• The skipped reference has individual prompts for all features. You only have to
redefine the reference for the feature where it is skipped.

To Create a Notch/Punch UDF


1. Create a simple sheet metal part with the desired cut feature. Be sure to keep
references to a minimum and to sketch a coordinate system in the cut.

2. Click Tools > UDF Library. The UDF menu appears.

3. Click Create.

4. Type a name for the notch or punch UDF in the UDF name box and click . The
UDF OPTIONS menu appears.

5. Define the type of UDF file to create and click Done:

o Stand Alone—The UDF is functional by itself. Create a complete .gph file.


You can just pass the UDF file along and to recreate the part.

o Subordinate—The UDF is driven by the current model. Create a .gph file,


but with less information than the stand alone file. You need to pass along
the .gph file and the current model to re-create the part.

If you chose Stand Alone and want to create a reference part, type Y;
otherwise, type N.

6. Click Add on the UDF FEATS menu. The SELECT FEAT menu appears.

7. Define the UDF feature using either Select, Layer, or Range, and then click
Done > Done/Return.

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8. Type Y for the prompt: Are you defining a UDF for PUNCH or NOTCH
feature? <Y/N>.

Note: If you do not have a coordinate system in the feature, the UDF creation is
aborted. The following error message appears: Selected CUT must have a
coordinate system in the section. You can still complete the remaining steps,
but your UDF will be undevelopable because the coordinate system is needed for
manufacturing.

9. At the prompt, you are prompted to specify a tool name. Ensure that you enter
the correct tool name because the tool is referenced when and wherever the UDF
is used. This tool name prompt confirms you are creating a useable UDF. The
SYMMETRY menu appears.

10. Define the symmetry flag for the tool:

o X Axis—The tool is symmetrical about the X-axis of the coordinate system.

o Y Axis—The tool is symmetrical about the Y-axis of the coordinate system.

o Both—The tool is symmetrical about both the X and Y-axis of the


coordinate system.

11. Type a prompt for the highlighted surface. Use simple naming conventions that
will help you place the UDF. You need to type a prompt for each reference made
during the cut creation. The MOD PRMPT and SET PROMPT menus appear.

12. Click Done/Return after naming all prompts.

13. Click OK on the UDF dialog box. The notch or punch UDF is created.

To Place a Punch

1. Click or click Insert > Shape > Punch. Alternatively, you can also place a
punch using Insert > User Defined Feature.

The Open dialog box opens.

2. Browse to the appropriate UDF file (.gph). The Insert User-Defined Feature
dialog box opens.

3. Select one of the following:

o Make features dependent on dimensions of UDF—Creates a group that


is dependent on the UDF.

o Advanced reference configuration—Places UDF by mapping references.

o View source model—By default allows you to retrieve and show source
model in a separate window.

Advanced reference configuration is the default.

Note: You cannot select Make features dependent on dimensions of UDF


and Advanced reference configuration together.

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4. Click OK. The User Defined Feature Placement dialog box opens.

5. Select references of the UDF features using the references of the original features

and click . The DIRECTION menu appears.

6. Click Okay to accept the default direction or Flip to reverse the direction. The
GRP PLACE menu appears.

7. Select one of the following or click Done to create a new UDF group. The punch
is placed.

o Redefine—Redefines the group elements.

o Show Result—Lists the geometry in the group under the GROUP PREVIEW
menu.

o Info—Displays information of the current UDF group in an Information


Window.

To Place a Notch

1. Click or click Insert > Shape > Notch. Alternatively, you can also place a
notch using Insert > User Defined Feature.

The Open dialog box opens.

2. Browse to the appropriate UDF file (.gph). The Insert User-Defined Feature
dialog box opens.

3. Select one of the following:

o Make features dependent on dimensions of UDF—Creates a group that


is dependent on the UDF.

o Advanced reference configuration—Places UDF by mapping references.

o View source model—By default allows you to retrieve and show source
model in a separate window.

Advanced reference configuration is the default.

Note: You cannot select Make features dependent on dimensions of UDF


and Advanced reference configuration together.

4. Click OK. The User Defined Feature Placement dialog box opens.

5. Select references of the UDF features using the references of the original features

and click . The DIRECTION menu appears.

6. Click Okay to accept the default direction or Flip to reverse the direction. The
GRP PLACE menu appears.

7. Select one of the following or click Done to create a new UDF group. The notch is
placed.

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o Redefine—Redefines the group elements.

o Show Result—Lists the geometry in the group under the GROUP PREVIEW
menu.

o Info—Displays information of the current UDF group in an Information


Window.

Tip: Creating and Using Notches and Punches


In order for you to use a user defined feature (UDF) for a notch or punch be sure to:
• Only include one feature in a notch or punch definition. If you select more than
one feature, the group is treated as a regular UDF – you are not asked for tool
information. If you try and place a regular notch or punch UDF an incomplete
UDF warning appears because the notch or punch cannot be used in
manufacturing. To create more than one cut for your notch or punch use a cut
with more than one contour in its section.

• Include a coordinate system in the section sketch. You need the coordinates for
manufacturing and tool axis symmetry. You cannot create or place the UDF
without a coordinate system.

• Enter the proper tool ID for the UDF. The tool ID refers to that same tool when
and where ever you use the UDF.

When creating notch or punch UDFs, consider:


• Limiting the number of references you use. The more references used in creating
the cut, the more will be needed when placing the UDF. One way to decrease the
UDF references is to click No when asked if your sketched lines should be aligned.
What is the minimum number of references you can have? (The least I’ve had
was 4)

• Creating notches intended to relieve bends after creating and unbending the
bend. You can use the bend geometry to place, dimension and align the notch.

• Creating datum plane references asynchronously when setting up the sketching


plane. This eliminates creating extra datum planes before placing the UDF.

• Locating all dimension references to sheet metal edges rather than datum planes.
The edge location carries the UDF as the sheet metal is bent and unbent. It also
eliminates creating extra datum planes before placing the UDF.

• Using relations in the reference part to reduce the number of variable dimensions
needed when placing the notch or punch. (Relation example: Cut height is always
0.5 of wall height.)

• Creating punch axis points while sketching the cut. These special datum points
are unbent and bent back with the feature. You can dimension to them in
drawings.

• When you are creating a table-driven notch or punch, you can modify any tool
name instance for in the table.

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Bend, Unbend, Bend Back

Bend

About Bends
A bend forms the sheet metal wall into an angular or roll shape. You sketch a bend
line and determine the bend's direction with direction arrows or your sketching view.
The bend line is a reference point for calculating the developed length and creating
the bend geometry.
Bends can be added at any time during the design process, as long as a wall feature
exists. You can add bends across form features, but you cannot add them where
they cross another bend. Depending on where you place the bend in your sheet
metal design, you may need to add bend relief.
There are two main types of bends:

Angle—Bend a specific radius and angle. Direction arrows


determine the bend location. The angle bend either forms on
one side of the bend line or equally on both sides.

Roll—Bend a specific radius and angle, which is determined by


both the radius and the amount of flat material to bend.
Sketching view affects the bend location. The roll bend forms
in the direction you view your sketch.

If you intend to roll the material in a spiral, be conscious of the


material length. Your roll bend will fail if the material bends
through itself.

There are three bend options available for each angle or roll bend:

Regular Bend w/Transition Bend Planar Bend

Create a normal bend Deform the surface Create a bend around


with no transition between the bend and an axis that is
surfaces. an area you want to perpendicular to the
keep flat. driving surface and
the sketching plane.

Note:
• You cannot copy a bend with the mirror option.

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• While you can generally unbend zero-radius bends, you cannot unbend bends
with slanted cuts across them.

• Bends can improve wall stiffness by increasing the moment of inertia.

• You can modify the developed length of a bend area using the DEV LENGTH
menu. Modifying the developed length affects both the unbent geometry and
bend back features.

To Change the Developed Length


By default, the calculation of the developed length is based on the Y-factor and K-
factor values defined in the Part Bend Table or the Feature Bend Table.
1. Select the feature on the Model Tree for which you want to modify the developed
length and right-click. The shortcut menu appears.

2. Click Edit. The dimensions are displayed on the graphics window.

3. Double-click the developed length, the DEV LENGTH menu appears.

4. Click Enter Value to change the developed length. You are prompted to specify
the new developed length.

OR

Click Rtrn to Driven to drive the dimensions by the bend table or Y-factor,
specify the new developed length, and click .

5. Regenerate the model. The new value overrides the default developed length.

Modifying the developed length affects both the unbent geometry and bend back
features.
Note:
• If you change the radius, the developed length changes accordingly unless you
explicitly override the developed length.

• If you change the developed length, the bend radius is not affected and loses its
relativity with the developed length.

• If you have changed the developed length using Enter Value and then changed
the bend radius, the developed length does not change after regenerating the
model.

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About Bend Radius


The bend radius determines the angle of the bend. Bends are made along the axis of
the radius. You can dimension bends in the following ways:

Specified Surface Inside of Bend Outside of Bend

(Offset Side or (Inside Rad) Sheet (Outside Rad)


Driving Side) metal parts typically
dimension to the
inside radius.

Make sure you add material thickness to the desired radius. If you create the bend
when adding an extruded wall, you can thicken the sketch section and re-dimension
to the inside of the bend. For extruded or swept walls, you can specify No Radius and
manually sketch the radius in the section.

Zero-Radius Bends
You can enter zero for the bend radius. The resulting geometry shows a sharp edge
on the side to which the bend is dimensioned. If you want the geometry to show a
radius, enter a very small value (0.0001). For sheet metal thickness this should not
matter.
You can generally unbend zero-radius bends. If you want to unbend the sheet metal
part make sure the bend has a small radius. You cannot unbend bends with slanted
cuts across them.

Zero-bend Radius Zero-bend Radius (inside


(outside radius) radius)

About Bend Relief


Bend relief helps control the sheet metal material behavior and prevents unwanted
deformation.
For example, an unrelieved bend might not represent the accurate, real life model
you need due to material stretching. By adding the appropriate bend relief, like
RipRelief, your sheet metal bend will meet your design intent and enable you to
create an accurate flat model.

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After you sketch and regenerate the bend, the RELIEF menu appears with the
following relief options:
• No Relief—Create the bend without any relief.

• StrtchRelief—Stretch the material to provide relief where the bend crosses an


existing edge of the fixed material.

• RipRelief—Cut the material at each bend endpoint. The cuts are made normal to
the bend line.

• RectRelief—Add a rectangular relief at each bend endpoint.

• ObrndRelief—Add an obround relief at each bend endpoint.

No Relief StrtchRelief Rip Relief RectRelief ObrndRelief

You can either assign bend relief individually or you can set automatic bend relief
using the SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_TYPE default.

About Bend Lines


Bend lines determine the location and shape for the bend geometry in your sheet
metal parts. You sketch a bend line and determine the bend's direction with direction
arrows or your sketching view.
Note: Select two references before inserting a bend line.

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The bend line is a reference point for calculating the developed length and creating
the bend geometry. The behavior of the bend geometry is determined by the bend
line location, the bend angle, and the fixed geometry.

Bend Line Sketch

Bend One Bend Two Bend Three

1. Bend line

2. Fixed geometry

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You can adjust the bend line to make the resulting bend geometry coplanar with the
side of the sheet metal. Make sure any added bend relief does not exceed the
developed length of the bend.

Non-coplanar Surfaces Coplanar Surfaces

BLA = L - ( R + T )

Where:

BLA = Bend line adjustment

L = Developed length of the bend (determined from a bend table or


formula)

R = Inside radius of the bend

T = Thickness of the sheet metal

RL = Relief length ( = cutback length in rip relief)

1. Original bend line

2. Fixed geometry and bend side

3. Adjusted bend line

4. Fixed geometry and bend side

About Bend Line Notes


Bend line notes describe basic information about the bend type, bend direction, and
bend angle. The bend line notes are automatically created for each bend in your
design. Because the notes are parametric and aligned with the bend they, enable
you to easily provide drawing dimensions and bend annotations, which allow
manufacturers to program their bending machines, locate punch positions, and
create dimension inspection documents.

Example: Bend Line


Note

90°

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You can add bend line notes to drawings and the bend line notes are also present in
any flat state instances you create.
You can customize both the display order and bend line note symbols used in your
designs. You can change the order of the note elements by setting the
smt_bend_notes_order configuration option. You can customize the default bend
line note symbols or create your own symbols by modifying the symbol source files.
The following table defines each bend line note element:

Bend Line Note Description Default


Element Symbol

Bend Type

Formed Inside bend radius is equal to or


smaller than ten-times the sheet
metal thickness.

(Inside Bend Radius =< Thickness


* 10)

Rolled Inside bend radius is greater than


ten- times the sheet metal
thickness.

(Inside Bend Radius > Thickness *


10)

Bend Direction

Up Inside Radius is on the sheet


metal's driving surface.

Down Inside Radius in on the sheet


metal's offset surface.

Bend Angle

Pro/E measures the inside angle of


the bend. The bend angle displays
according to the format set in the 45°
ang_units configuration option.

In order for bend line notes to display, the last feature in your active part design
must be a Flat Pattern feature and the following conditions must be met:
• Bend Notes must be enabled (View > Sheetmetal Notes > Bend Notes).

• 3D Notes must be enabled (Tools > Environment).

• Notes must be selected to display in your model tree (Settings > Tree Filters).

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• smt_bend_notes_dflt_display (configuration option) is set to yes. Note: The


default for bend line notes is yes. In order to not see the bend line notes you
need to set the configuration option to no.

To Customize Bend Line Notes


You can customize each of the symbols used in bend line notes (formed, rolled, up,
and down).
1. Make a backup copy of the following files, the backup will be used to restore the
original files:

o <loadpoint>/text/usascii/special.src

o <loadpoint>/<machine_type>/text/usascii/special.fnt

2. Open <loadpoint>/text/usascii/special.src with an appropriate file editor


and make the desired changes. As you modify the file remember that "m" means
move, "d" means draw, and numbers are x and y coordinates:

o To modify the "rolled bend" text symbol, change the section just after the
lines:

# Upside-down U rolled bend

"code 128 80"

o To modify the "formed bend" text symbol, change the section just after the
lines:

# Formed bend

"code 131 83"

o To modify the "down arrow" signifying bend down, modify the instructions
after the lines:

# Down arrow

"code 129 81"

o To modify the "up arrow" signifying bend up, modify the instructions after
the lines:

# Up arrow

"code 130 82"

3. After completing your modifications, compile the font with the command:

<loadpoint>/<machine_type>/obj/compile_font

<loadpoint>/text/usascii/special.src

<loadpoint>/<machine_type>/text/usascii/special.fnt

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Note:
• You can copy the .fnt file to another machine's
<loadpoint>/<machine_type>/text/usascii/special.fnt of the same
machine type.

• You can copy the .src file between machines of different types, and recompile it
on the new machine type.

About Annotation Plane for Bend Notes


Pro/ENGINEER assigns a default annotation plane for each bend note. This default
annotation plane is always relative to the driving surface of the part.
You can change the default annotation plane of a bend note by using the CURRENT
ANNOTATION ORIENTATION dialog box. When you change the annotation plane,
Pro/ENGINEER synchronizes the bend direction with the annotation plane.
The bend direction of each bend note is determined by the geometry and the
annotation plane. When you place the bend note and the annotation plane is parallel
to the Sheetmetal walls in flat state, Pro/ENGINEER updates the bend direction, that
is, Pro/ENGINEER flips the directions if the offset surface is closer to you. A flat state
is a completely unbent copy of a part. In the Drawing mode, the bend direction of
the note is updated based on the view, that is, the surface that is closest to you.
The following figure is an example of a base model with a driving surface and an
offset surface. The driving surface indicated in green is closer to you as compared to
the offset surface.

1. Driving surface

2. Offset surface

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The following figure is an example of a base model with the viewing direction in the
downward direction. The driving surface is indicated in green.

1. Bend note with bend direction in the upward direction

2. Driving surface

3. Annotation plane

4. Viewing direction

The following figure is an example of a base model with the offset surface in the
upward direction and the viewing direction in the downward direction. The driving
surface is indicated in green.

1. Offset surface

2. Driving surface

3. Bend note with bend direction in the downward direction

4. Annotation plane

5. Viewing direction

To Define Annotation Orientation by Plane or Named Orientation


1. Click Settings > Tree Filters. The Model Tree Items dialog box opens.

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2. Under Display, click the Annotations check box.

3. Click OK.

4. Click Unbend on the Model Tree. The bend notes are displayed on the Model
Tree under Unbend.

5. Select a bend note on the Model Tree. The selected bend note is highlighted in
the graphics window. Alternatively, to select all bend notes in the graphics
window, select the Annotation filter from the selection filter on the status bar
below the dashboard.

6. Right-click the selected bend note in the graphics window and click Current
Orientation. The CURRENT ANNOTATION ORIENTATION dialog box opens.

7. To define the annotation orientation by plane, click Reference Plane and select
a datum plane or a flat surface to which you want the bend note to be parallel.
The active annotation grid plane is displayed and shows the default viewing and
text directions. The text direction is the direction in which you read the text.
Alternatively, to define the annotation orientation by named orientation, click
Named orientation and select a named orientation from the list. The active
annotation grid plane is displayed and shows the default viewing and text
directions.

8. Click Flip next to Viewing Direction to flip the viewing direction and the text
direction of the bend note.

9. In the Text Rotation box, type a value for the angle of text rotation or select a
value from the list. The direction of the arrow in the graphics area is updated
accordingly.

Note: The default rotation angle of the annotation plane is 0.

10. If you have defined the annotation orientation by plane, Freeze Annotation
Plane reference is available. If required, click Freeze Annotation Plane
reference to freeze the annotation plane reference. The bend notes that use this
annotation do not reference the datum plane or flat surface.

11. Click OK.

Regular

About Regular Bends


A regular bend forms the sheet metal wall, around a neutral bend axis, into angular
or roll shapes. You sketch a bend line and determine the location of the bend with
direction arrows or sketching view. The regular bend is the bend you will use most
often. It has no transition surfaces.
There are two types of regular bends available:
• Angle—Bends a specific radius and angle.

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• Roll—Bends a specific radius, but the angle is determined by both the radius and
the amount of flat material to bend.

Bend Line Sketch Regular Bend Regular Bend (Roll)


(Angle)

1. Bend line

To Create a Regular Bend

1. Click or click Insert > Bend Operation > Bend. The OPTIONS menu
appears.

2. Define the type of bend to create:

o Angle—Create a bend with a specific radius and angle.

o Roll—Create a bend with a specific radius and an angle, where the angle is
determined by both the radius and the amount of flat material to bend.

3. Click Regular on the BEND OPT menu. Click Done.

4. Select the bend table to use and click Done\Return:

o Part Bend Tbl—Reference the bend table associated with the overall part
for developed length.

o Feat Bend Tbl—Reference an independent bend table for the individual


feature for developed length.

5. Define the radius side and click Done/Return:

o Inside Rad—Measure the radius from the inside surface of the part.

o Outside Rad—Measure the radius from the outside surface of the part.

6. Select the surface to bend. Reference and sketch the bend line. The bend line
must be a line and can only be one entity. You must align the line ends to the

outside edges of the sheet metal wall. When the sketch is complete, click on
the sketcher toolbar. The BEND SIDE menu appears.

7. Define the side of the bend line to create the bend:

o Flip—Change the direction of the bend creation.

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o Okay—Accept the selected direction.

o Both—Create the bend equally on both sides of the bend line.

8. Define the direction in which to make the bend: Okay or Flip—to change the
direction.

9. Define the type of bend relief to use:

• No Relief—Do not control the bend behavior.

• w/ Relief—Control the bend behavior at each attachment point:

o No Relief—Maintain the existing material shape.

o StrtchRelief—Stretch the existing material.

o Rip Relief—Rip the existing material.

o RectRelief—Add a rectangular relief.

o ObrndRelief—Add an obround relief.

10. Define the relief's width:

o Thickness—Use a default radius that is equal to the thickness of the sheet


metal wall.

o Thickness * 2—Use a default radius that is twice the thickness of the


sheet metal wall.

o Enter Value—Use the absolute value that you type in the Enter
dimension value box.

o From Table—Select the appropriate radius value from the list. The radii
values are defined in the bend table assigned to the part. The From Table
command is unavailable if a bend table is not assigned to the part.

11. Type the bend relief's angle and click .

If necessary, repeat steps 9, 10 and 11 for each highlighted end.

12. Either select one of the standard bend angle values or click Enter Value, and
type the exact bend angle value (in degrees).

13. Define the bend radius:

o Thickness—Use a default radius that is equal to the thickness of the sheet


metal wall.

o Thickness * 2—Use a default radius that is twice the thickness of the


sheet metal wall.

o Enter Value—Use the absolute value that you type in the Enter
dimension value box.

14. Click OK on the BEND Options dialog box. The bend is created.

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Planar

About Planar Bends


A planar bend forces the sheet metal wall around an axis that is normal
(perpendicular) to the surface and sketching plane. You sketch a bend line and form
the planar bend around the axis using direction arrows. While this type of bend is not
utilized on the factory floor, it can help you reach your overall design intent.
There are two types of planar bend available:
• Angle—Bends a specific radius and angle.

• Roll—Bends a specific radius, but the angle is determined by both the radius and
the amount of flat material to bend.

Planar Bend Sketch Planar Bend (Angle) Planar Bend (Roll)

Note: The neutral point for a planar bend is placed according to the current Y-factor.
Bend tables are not applicable.

To Create a Planar Bend

1. Click or click Insert > Bend Operation > Bend. The OPTIONS menu
appears.

2. Define the type of bend to create:

o Angle—Create a bend with a specific radius and angle.

o Roll—Create a bend with a specific radius and an angle, where the angle is
determined by both the radius and the amount of flat material to bend.

3. Click Planar on the BEND OPT menu. Click Done.

4. Select the bend table to use and click Done\Return:

o Part Bend Tbl—Reference the bend table associated with the overall part.

o Feat Bend Tbl—Reference an independent bend table for the individual


feature.

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5. Select the surface to bend. Reference and sketch the bend line. When the sketch

is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar. The BEND SIDE menu appears.

6. Define the side of the bend line to create the bend:

o Flip—Change the direction of the bend creation.

o Okay—Accept the selected direction.

o Both—Create the bend equally on both sides of the bend line.

7. Define the area to remain fixed: Okay or Flip—to change the direction.

8. Either select one of the standard bend angle values or Enter Value, and enter
the exact value (in degrees).

9. Define the radius:

o Thickness—Use a default radius that is equal to the thickness of the sheet


metal wall.

o Thickness * 2—Use a default radius that is twice the thickness of the


sheet metal wall.

o Enter Value—Use the absolute value that you type in the Enter
dimension value box.

10. Define the side of the bend axis to create the bend: Okay or Flip – to change the
direction.

11. Click OK on the BEND Options dialog box. The bend is created.

w/Transition

About w/Transition Bends


A w/Transition (with transition) bend shapes one section of a sheet metal plane while
leaving another section flat or with different bend conditions. You sketch multiple
sections: first the section containing the bend line, then one or more sections to
remain flat or bent differently. The flat/bent differently sections are transition areas.
You can create one or more transition areas for each with transition bend. Each
transition area sketch must consist of two lines. One line needs to be adjacent to the
bend area. Sketch this line first. A second line must complete the transition area.
There are two types of with transition bends available:
• Angle—Bend a specific radius and angle.

• Roll—Bend a specific radius, but the angle is determined by both the radius and
the amount of flat material to bend.

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The following example shows a w/transition sketch and the resulting roll bend:

w/Transition Bend w/Transition Bend


Sketch (Roll)

1. Bend line

2. Transition area sketch

Note:
• w/Transition bends do not accept bend relief.

• If your design calls for a cut in a transition area, either create it before you make
the w/Transition bend or by unbending the bend, making the cut, and using the
bend back feature.

To Create w/ Transition Bend

1. Click or click Insert > Bend Operation > Bend. The OPTIONS menu
appears.

2. Define the type of bend to create:

o Angle—Create a bend with a specific radius and angle.

o Roll—Create a bend with a specific radius and an angle, where the angle is
determined by both the radius and the amount of flat material to bend.

3. Click w/Transition on the BEND OPT menu. Click Done.

4. Select the bend table to use and click Done\Return:

o Part Bend Tbl—Reference the bend table associated with the overall part.

o Feat Bend Tbl—Reference an independent bend table for the individual


feature.

5. Define the radius side and click Done/Return:

o Inside Rad—Measure the radius from the inside surface of the part.

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o Outside Rad—Measure the radius from the outside surface of the part.

6. Select the surface to bend. Reference and sketch the bend line. When the sketch

is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar. The BEND SIDE menu opens.

7. Define the side of the bend line to create the bend:

o Flip—Change the direction of the bend creation.

o Okay—Accept the selected direction.

o Both—Create the bend equally on both sides of the bend line.

8. Define the direction in which to make the Bend: Okay or Flip—to change the
direction.

9. Define the references for the transition area. The previous line “grays out.”

10. Sketch the transition area(s). The first line you sketch dictates the side that
should remain bent.

If you want to define another transition area, type Yes. Otherwise, type No.

11. Select one of the standard bend angle values or select Enter Value to enter the
exact value (in degrees)

12. Define the radius:

o Thickness—Use a default radius that is equal to the thickness of the sheet


metal wall.

o Thickness * 2—Use a default radius that is twice the thickness of the


sheet metal wall.

o Enter Value—Use the absolute value that you type in the Enter
dimension value box.

13. Click OK on the BEND Options dialog box. The bend is created.

Unbend

About Unbends
The unbend feature flattens any curved surface on the sheet metal part, whether it is
a bend feature or a curved wall.
There are three types of unbend available:
• Regular—Unbends most bends in a part. You select an existing bend or wall
feature to unbend. If you select all bends, you create a flat pattern of your part.

• Transition—Unbends undevelopable surfaces, such as blended walls. You select


stationary surfaces and specify a cross-sectional curve to determine the shape of
the unbend feature.

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• Xsec Driven—Unbends undevelopable surfaces, such as hems and flanges. You


select stationary surfaces and specify a cross-sectional curve to determine the
shape of the unbend feature.

When creating an unbend you are asked to designate a surface or edge to remain
fixed. Your choice changes the default view of your model. Try to pick major surfaces
that you want to keep in the same position. If possible, be consistent and use the
same surface when creating several unbend features. You can save design time and
maintain consistency by setting an automatic fixed geometry element (Set Up >
Fixed Geom).
Features created after the unbend are children/dependent on the unbend. If you are
only temporarily unbending the part and do not need the unbend to maintain your
design intent, you should delete the unbend. By keeping it, you are merely crowding
the model tree with extra features that slow down part regeneration. Remember, if
you delete an unbend that has features created after it, those additional features will
also delete.
To sketch the flat state of walls that cannot be unbent due to complicated and non-
regular geometry, use the Metamorph option. With the DEFORM CONTROL menu
you can highlight and sketch contours of corresponding deformation areas. The
formed state of the wall suppresses and that flat state becomes active after the
unbend feature creation. The DEFORM CONTROL menu is available in the unbend
dialog box when you select Unbend All.

Unbending Undevelopable Surfaces


Undevelopable (deformed) surfaces, like wall features with complex curved surfaces,
typically must be unbent for manufacture.
To unbend the deformed material the unbend must be simple. The defining rule is
that all surfaces to be unbent must either have an outside edge or be adjacent to an
area that has an outside edge. The outside edge or adjacent area serves as a way for
the deformation to escape and the material to stretch.
Developed length is not calculated for unbent deform areas.
Note: If your unbend fails and you receive an error message citing undevelopable
regions, try one of the following:
• Regular Unbend with Surface Rip—Remove the existing surface(s) between
the undevelopable regions and outside edges.

• Regular Unbend with Edge Rip—Make a tear along the surface edge that
extends from the undevelopable region to the outside. Think of the edge rip as a
contact between an enclosed undevelopable region and the outside.

• Regular Unbend with Deform Areas—Divide an existing surface into a number


of smaller adjacent ones. One or more of the smaller surfaces contacts an
enclosed undevelopable surface. Likewise, one or more of the smaller surfaces
contacts an outside edge.

• Sketch Unbend with Deformed Areas—Sketch the flat state of the


deformation area using the Metamorph option.

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To Unbend Undevelopable Surfaces

1. Click or click Insert > Bend Operation > Unbend. The UNBEND OPT
menu appears.

2. Click Regular. Click Done.

3. Select the plane or edge to remain fixed during the unbend.

4. Define the sections to unbend:

o UnbendSelect—Select specific bend surfaces to unbend. Click Done Sel >


Done Refs after picking all the desired bends.

o Unbend All—Unbend all bends and curved surfaces.

5. Select the surface(s) to deform. They need to have an edge on the outside of the
part.

6. Click Done Sel. The FEATURE REFS menu appears.

7. Click Done Refs after picking all desired deform areas.

8. Click OK on the Unbend dialog box. The unbend is created.

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About Punch Axis Points


A punch axis point is a reference point that moves with a feature during both the
unbend and bend back operations. You must set the punch_axis_points
configuration option to enable such points.

1. Placement of punch axis point, in 2. Cut with resulting punch axis


Sketcher. point and datum point.

3. Unbent part, displaying actual positions of punch axis and datum points.

1. Point

2. Punch axis point

3. Datum point

4. Punch axis point

5. Datum point

• Like a regular datum point, the punch axis point appears in the part, has a
standard point symbol, and an assigned name (for example, PNT0).

• Unlike a regular datum point, the punch axis point is not a separate feature. The
point moves with the placement plane of its parent feature during the unbend
and bend back operations. It is comparable to the feature axis in a revolved cut
in part mode.

• You can dimension to a punch axis point in detail drawings.

To Create a Punch Axis Point


1. Ensure that you have set the punch_axis_points configuration option to yes.

2. Click Sketch > Point or Sketch > Axis Point.

Note:

o Both Sketch > Point and Sketch > Axis Point create punch axis points.
However, the Axis Point also creates an axis.

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o The punch axis point moves with the placement plane of its parent feature
during the unbend and bend back operations.

2. Click anywhere in the sketcher window to place the point or axis point.

Continue defining the cut, punch, or notch feature.


Note:
• After an SMT cut is created with punch axis points, Pro/ENGINEER does not check
for the punch_axis_points configuration option.

• You cannot remove punch axis points by setting the punch_axis_points


configuration option to no.

Best Practices: Unbend and Bend Back


Remember, the proper use of the unbend and bend back features is very important
for robust design. Consider these best practices when utilizing the unbend and bend
back features:
• Do not add unnecessary pairs of unbend/bend back features; they inflate the part
size and might cause problems at regeneration.

• If you add an unbend feature (or bend back) feature just to see how your model
looks flattened (unbent), delete the sample unbend feature before proceeding
with your design.

• If you specifically want to create features in a flattened state you should add an
unbend feature. Create the features you need in the flattened state and then add
a bend back feature. Do not delete the unbend feature in this case, features that
reference the unbend feature might fail regeneration.

• If you want a projected datum curve to follow a sheet metal bend, project the
curve after creating an unbend feature. The curve will follow the sheet metal
surface when you bend back the sheet metal wall.

Regular

About Regular Unbends


A regular unbend is a generic unbend that applies to almost all sheet metal unbends.
You can unbend both a wall and a bend, the material must be developable and able
to unbend. You cannot unbend nonruled surfaces using a regular unbend feature.
You have the option of unbending all surfaces and bends or selecting specific areas:
• UnbendSelect—Select specific bend surfaces to unbend.

• Unbend All—Unbend all bends and curved surfaces.

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Formed Part Unbend Select Unbend All

After you unbend an area you can continue to add features, like cuts and rips.
Remember, the features following the unbend are children/dependent on the
unbend. If you delete the unbend the features will also delete. If you are temporarily
viewing the unbent model, be sure to delete the unbend feature before adding
features. The unnecessary features can slow down part regeneration and
development time.
If you add walls that intersect when they are unbent, Pro/E highlights the
intersecting edges in red and warns you with a prompt.

To Create a Regular Unbend

1. Click or click Insert > Bend Operation > Unbend. The UNBENT OPT
menu appears.

2. Click Regular. Click Done.

3. Select the plane or edge to remain fixed during the unbend.

4. Define the sections to unbend:

o UnbendSelect—Select specific bend surfaces to unbend. Click Done Sel >


Done Refs after picking all the desired bends.

o Unbend All—Unbend all bends and curved surfaces.

5. Click OK on the Unbend dialog box. The unbend is created.

Transition

About Transition Unbends


A transition unbend flattens non-developable geometry that cannot be unbent with a
regular unbend. Non-developable geometry has bending in more than one direction.
The transition geometry is temporarily removed from the model, so you must define
that geometry to utilize the feature. The developable surfaces can then unbend. The
transition geometry is placed back into the flat pattern.
After you unbend an area you can continue to add features, like cuts and rips.
Remember, the features following the unbend are children/dependent on the
unbend. If you delete the unbend the features will also delete. If you are temporarily
viewing the unbent model, be sure to delete the unbend feature before adding

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features. The unnecessary features can slow down part regeneration and
development time.

To Create a Transition Unbend

1. Click or click Insert > Bend Operation > Unbend. The UNBEND OPT
menu appears.

2. Click Transition. Click Done.

3. Define any planes or edges to remain fixed during the unbend. The selected
entities highlight. Remember, both the driving and offset sides of a surface must
be selected for the selection to be valid.

4. Click Done Sel > Done Refs after picking all the desired planes and edges.

5. Define any surfaces to be deformed and complete the transition unbend feature.

Xsec-Driven

About Xsec-Driven Unbends


A Xsec Driven (cross section) unbend. You can unbend undevelopable sheet metal
geometry, like walls curved in more than one direction. The unbend consists of a
series of cross sections along a curve that are projected onto a plane.
The cross section term refers to the curve you use to influence the shape of the
unbent wall. You can either select an existing curve or sketch a new curve. Whether
you select or sketch the curve it must be coplanar with the fixed edges you define. If
you sketch the curve be sure to dimension/align the curve. The curve you select or
sketch will affect the unbent state of the part. Remember, the curve can be a
straight line.

Sheet Metal Part Xsec Driven Unbend

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After you unbend an area you can continue to add features, like cuts and rips.
Remember, the features following the unbend are children/dependent on the
unbend. If you delete the unbend the features will also delete. If you are temporarily
viewing the unbent model, be sure to delete the unbend feature before adding
features. The unnecessary features can slow down part regeneration and
development time.
You can not bend back a cross section unbend.
Note: The cross sections created must not intersect within the unbent geometry.

To Create a Xsec-Driven Unbend

1. Click or click Insert > Bend Operation > Unbend. The UNBENT OPT
menu appears.

2. Click Xsec Driven. Click Done.

3. Select the needed attach chain and options on the CHAIN menu

4. Click Done after selecting the edges needed.

5. Define the curve to control the cross sections as they unbend:

o Select Curve—Select a curve on a plane that is coplanar with the fixed


edges.

o Sketch Curve—Sketch the cross section curve. The curve can be a straight
line.

6. Define the side of the bend to remain fixed: Okay or Flip—to change the
direction.

7. Click OK on the Xsec Driven Type dialog box. The unbend is created.

Bend Back

About Bend Back


The bend back feature enables you to return unbent surfaces to their formed
position. As a rule you should only bend back a fully unbent area.

Bent Part Bend Back All Bend Back Select

Note:
• If you partially bend back a regular unbend containing a deform area the original
bent condition might not be obtainable.

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• Sheetmetal Design examines the contours of each bend back section. Contours
partially intersecting a bend area are highlighted. You are prompted to confirm
whether the section bend back or remain flat.

• You can not bend back a cross section (Xsec-Driven) unbend.

To Create a Bend Back

1. Click or click Insert > Bend Operation > Bend Back. The BEND BACK
dialog box appears.

2. Select the plane or edge to remain fixed while you unbend the part. The
BENDBACKSEL menu appears.

3. Define the section to bend back:

• BendBack Sel—Bend back selected sections.

• BendBack All—Bend back all sections.

If you chose to bend back selected sections:

o Select the surface or edge to bend back. Be sure to select an UNBEND


feature.

o Click Done Sel. The FEATURE REFS menu appears.

o Click Done Refs.

If you chose to bend back all sections:

o Click Done.

4. Click OK on the BEND BACK dialog box. The part bends back.

Corner Relief

About Corner Relief


Corner relief helps control the sheet metal material behavior and prevents unwanted
deformation. To utilize the corner relief option you must have at least one ripped
edge and the 3D notes turned on (Tools > Environment).

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You can create four types of corner relief:

No Relief None Circular Obround

No relief is Generate a Add a circular Add an obround


added. The square corner. relief. The corner relief. The corner
corner retains The default V- has a circular has an obround
the default V- notch section removed. section removed.
notch characteristic is
characteristic. removed.

There are four possible ways to apply corner relief to bends or converted parts:
• Create the corner relief as a feature ( Feature > Create > Corner Relief)

• Create default relief automatically while unbending (Set Up > Corner Relief)

• Create default relief for all corners in the model or part templates (Set Up >
Parameters)

• Define the corner relief in the conversion feature dialog box (Feature > Create
> Conversion)

You can use and dimension corner relief that is smaller than the deformation area
bordered by the tangent lines of the intersecting bends.

To Create Corner Relief (Feature)

1. Click or click Insert > Corner Relief. The GET SELECT menu appears.

2. Select the 3D Note(s) needing similar corner relief. Click Done Sets.

3. Define the corner relief to apply:

o No Relief—No relief is added. The corner retains the rip characteristic.

o None—Generates a square corner. The default V-notch characteristic is


removed.

o Circular—Adds a circular relief. The corner has a circlular section removed.

o Obround—Adds an obround relief. The corner has an obround section


removed.

4. Define the dimensions for the relief:

o Thickness—Uses a default radius that is equal to the thickness of the sheet


metal wall.

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o Thickness * 2—Uses a default radius that is twice the thickness of the


sheet metal wall.

o Enter Value—Uses the absolute value that you type in the Enter
dimension value box.

To relieve another corner, click Add. Click Done Sets after selecting all desired
corners.

5. Click OK on the CORNER RELIEF dialog box. The corner relief is created.

To Set Corner Relief (Default)


1. Click PART > Set Up. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Corner Relief. The CRNR TYPE menu appears.

4. Define the type of relief to use as the default:

o No Relief—No relief is added. The corner retains the rip characteristic.

o None—Generate a square corner. The default V-notch characteristic is


removed.

o Circular—Add a circular relief. The corner has a circlular section removed.

o Obround—Add an obround relief. The corner has an obround section


removed.

5. Define the dimensions for the relief:

o Thickness—Use a default radius that is equal to the thickness of the sheet


metal wall.

o Thickness * 2—Use a default radius that is twice the thickness of the


sheet metal wall.

o Enter Value—Use the absolute value that you type in the Enter
dimension value box.

6. Click Done/Return. The default corner relief is set.

Deform

About Deformation Areas


A deformation area is a section of sheet metal that helps to accurately stretch the
material when you unbend the sheet metal part. You may need to create these areas
when unbending sections that:
• Do not extend to the edge of the model

• Bend in more than one direction

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The deformation area acts as a bridge between the multiple direction bend section
and the outside edges of the part. The deformation area must be tangent to both the
undevelopable surface and an outside edge.

Multi-direction Bends Distorted Surfaces Deformation Areas

1. Multi-direction bends

2. Undesirable surface distortion upon regular unbend

3. Accurate stretching due to deformation areas

You can either create the deformation area before unbending the section or you can
define the area during the unbend. To prevent undesirable distortion, it is
recommended that you define the deformation area before unbending and then use
it as the fixed surface during the unbend.
The developed length of unbent sheet metal geometry reflects the proper values.
Sheetmetal Design approximates deformation area geometry by attaching vertices
with a line segment. The geometry does not become thinner or thicker. Because
developed length is typically determined empirically, you sketch the deformation
area geometry.

Deformation Area Sketch

4. Multi-direction bend section

5. Deformation area sketch

Note:
• You can use a deformation feature to define edges for edge rips or to split
surfaces for bend line development.

• You can add features to deformation areas when the areas are unbent. Be sure to
bend back the area after you add any features.

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To Create a Deformation Area

1. Click or click Insert > Bend Operation > Deform Area. The DEFORM
AREA dialog box opens and the SETUP PLANE menu appears.

2. Reference and sketch the deform area. The deformation area must be a closed
section, in contact with the undevelopable region, and have an outside edge.

When the sketch is complete, click on the sketcher toolbar.

Sketching Technique: Select a common edge between the undevelopable


region and the deformation area. Click Use Edge from the GEOM TOOLS menu.
Then select the outside edge of the deform area and two points on that outside
edge as vertices. Connect the two outside edge vertices to the vertices of the
undevelopable surface on the common edge.

3. Click OK on the DEFORM AREA dialog box. The deform area is created.

Edge Bend

About Edge Bends


An edge bend converts nontangent, box-type edges to bends. Depending on the
material side you choose to thicken, some edges appear rounded while others have
distinctly sharp edges. The edge bend option enables you to quickly round the edge.

Sharp, Nontangent Edges Edge Bends

By default, the bend parameters are set to the following values:


• Bend Table—Part Bend Table

• Radius Type—Inside Radius

• Radius—Default radius, else Thickness.

If your design requires different bend parameters you can either change the entire
model’s bend parameters or you can customize the values for each edge individually
by redefining specific edges.

To Create an Edge Bend

1. Click or click Insert > Edge Bend. The Edge Bend dialog box opens and
the Bend Pieces menu appears in the Menu Manager.

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2. Select the edge or edges to bend and then click Done Sets.

3. Click OK on the Edge Bend dialog box. The edge bend is created.

To Customize an Edge Bend


1. Click PART > Feature. The FEAT menu appears.

2. Click Redefine. The SELECT FEAT menu appears.

3. Select the desired edge bend from the model tree – or – select the desired edge
bend from the graphics window. The edge bend highlights on the model.

4. Select Edge Bend on the EDGE BEND dialog box. Click Define. The BEND
PIECES and PIECE SEL menus appear.

5. Select the edge piece(s) to customize. Each edge you select is subject to any
value change. Click Done after selecting all desired edges. The Redefine Bend
Settings dialog box opens.

6. Select the bend element you want to redefine. Click Define. The appropriate
menus open for each element:

• Bend Table –

o Part Bend Tbl—Reference the bend table associated with the overall part.

o Feat Bend Tbl—Reference an independent bend table for the individual


feature.

• Radius Type –

o Inside Rad—Measure the radius from the inside surface of the part.

o Outside Rad—Measure the radius from the outside surface of the part.

• Radius –

o Thickness—Use a default radius that is equal to the thickness of the sheet


metal wall.

o Thickness * 2—Use a default radius that is twice the thickness of the


sheet metal wall.

o Enter Value—Use the absolute value that you type in the Enter
dimension value box.

7. On the BEND PIECES dialog box, click OK. You return to the EDGE BEND dialog
box.

If you have redefined all the desired edge bend(s), click Done Sets. If you want
to change additional edges, click Redefine.

8. Click OK on the EDGE BEND dialog box. The edge bend is customized.

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Inheritance

About Sheet Metal Inheritance Features


Sheet metal inheritance merges geometry and feature data from a reference (base)
part to your existing (target)sheet metal part. Because inheritance is a one-way
associate merge, the data moves from the base to the target without physically
modifying the design model.
Inheritance features are useful in sheet metal because different factories
manufacturing your product may have slight variations in tool shapes. Inheritance
enables you to submit the same model design to multiple manufactures, who in turn
use inheritance features to adjust the design data for manufacture in their factory
without modifying your design.
Finally, you merge the data and create the feature, however you can still make post-
merge changes like dimension and feature status modifications.

Inheritance Feature Behavior (Sheet Metal)


In general, sheet metal inheritance features behave the same as Part mode
inheritance features. Each feature type uses a reference part and requires you to
specify geometry and feature data applicable for change. The features also enable
you to make post-merge changes, such as dimension and feature status
modifications. Like Part mode inheritance features, sheet metal inheritance features
always use reference (base) parts to obtain geometry and feature data.
The following list highlights some key sheet metal inheritance feature characteristics.
See the Advanced Assembly Extension module for more information on using
inheritance features:
• If the existing (target) sheet metal part includes a FIRST WALL feature then the
reference (base) part can not contain solid geometry, even if the base part is a
sheet metal part. The base part can only contain nonsolid geometry such as
datums and surfaces.

• If the existing (target) sheet metal part does not include a FIRST WALL feature
then the reference (base) part can either contain solid sheet metal geometry or
nonsolid geometry, such as datums and surfaces.

• You can not create inheritance features for existing (target) and reference (base)
features that contain a Thicken feature. If the target part contains a Thicken
feature the inheritance command is not available. If the base part contains a
Thicken feature you are prompted with an error message.

• The thickness of the sheet metal wall is driven by the FIRST WALL feature,
which can be in either the reference (base) part or the existing (target) part. You
can remove this thickness dependency by adjusting the VAR DIMS or
DEPENDENCY options in the inheritance feature dialog box. Set the
DEPENDENCY option to Independent.

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• Inheritance features containing a FIRST WALL feature can not be suppressed


(added to the Var Feats list) or erased.

• Bend allowance measurements are calculated using the bend allowance from the
part the feature is in. For example, a feature created in the reference (base) part
will be calculated according to the base model bend allowance. A feature created
in the existing (target) part will be calculated according to the target model bend
allowance.

• Relations can not be added to the VAR DIMS list because they are read only.

• The sheet metal bend radius is only accessible for the VAR DIMS list if you
define the radius as a numeric value. For example, d1 = 15 enables you to add
the radius to the list while d1 = smt_thickness() does not.

• The sheet metal developed length is only accessible for the VAR DIMS list if you
define the developed length as a numeric value. For example, L = 15 enables
you to add the developed length to the list.

• Any part Set Up commands (sheet metal parameters table, corner relief, bend
order) are taken from the existing (target) part.

• You can copy more than one inheritance feature into a target part.

• Sheet metal inheritance features have the same capabilities with relations,
parameters, redefining, and modifying.

To Create a Sheet Metal Inheritance Feature


1. Click Insert > Shared Data > Inheritance from Other Model. The LOCATE
MDL menu appears and the Inheritance dialog box opens.

2. Either click Select and select the reference (base) part from an open window or
click Open and open the appropriate base part. The LOCATION menu appears.

3. Either click Default and use automatic coordinate system selection or click
Coord Sys and select the appropriate coordinate system.

4. Initially, all data from the reference part are present in the inheritance feature.
Define the data for the following inheritance feature options:

o Attributes—Add or remove material geometry.

o Varied Dimensions—Select specific dimensions propagated from the


reference part. These dimensions will be added to the Varied Dimensions
table. You may then change the value of the dimension in the table by
entering a new value.

o Varied Features—Select the features propagated from the reference part


that you would like to define as variable. You may then choose to suppress
or erase the variable feature before creating the inheritance feature. If you
choose not to suppress a variable feature upon creation of the inherited
feature, you will be allowed to suppress that feature within the inheritance
feature later. You can resume suppressed features.

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o Variable Parameters—Select and modify parameter values while


preserving the same type, context, and attributes of the base model.

o Detail Item—Select and modify geometry tolerances.

o Copy Notes—Define whether 3D notes are copied to the inheritance


feature. In Pro/ENGINEER, 3D notes can be copied to the derived object,
but cannot be modified in the derived object. Inherited 3D notes can not be
deleted or erased except by using the Copy Notes option in the inheritance
feature.

o Dependency—Make the Inheritance feature dependent or independent of


the reference part. Making an inheritance feature Dependent will create a
dependency between the derived object and the reference part. If changes
are made in the reference part, they will be reflected in the derived object.
An independent inheritance feature will not update when the reference part
is modified. Use the Global Reference Viewer to show external
dependencies.

5. Click OK on the Inheritance dialog box. The inheritance feature is created.

Note: You can modify a sheet metal model that has a copied by reference part only
when the referenced part is open in the current session. Otherwise, the following
warning is displayed in the message area:
Some reference parts are unavailable. Modification of the sheetmetal
part is not allowed

Preparing for Manufacture

About Preparing for Manufacture


Manufacturing preparation helps ensure that your sheet metal design can actually be
manufactured. You can analyze your design's geometry, obtain reports, and create
flat versions of your model. By making manufacturing preparations you can isolate
any problem areas and correct them before they reach the factory floor.
You can use the following options to prepare your model for manufacture:
• Report—Obtains information on bends, radii, and specific design rules
established for your sheet metal part.

• Flat Pattern—Flattens your sheet metal part when the design is complete.

• Measure—Determines any curve lengths, angles, surface areas, or distances for


the sheet metal part. This command is found on the Analysis menu.

• Surface Analysis—Evaluates your ability to unbend the sheet metal part.

• Flat State—Flattens your sheet metal part at various stages in the design
process.

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Reports

About Reports
Reports provide information on bends, radii, and specific design rules established for
your sheet metal part. The reports enable you to investigate your design and ensure
that it adheres to company standards. Reports are typically needed before
manufacturing the part.
To show information in text format, set the info_output_format configuration
option to text. The default is html.
Each text report is displayed in a separate window. However, the HTML report is
displayed in the Pro/ENGINEER browser. You can view, edit, or save the text report
to a file.
You can access the following types of reports in the text format:
• Bend Report—Lists detailed information about bends in the part.

• Radii Report—Lists detailed information about the bend radii in the part.

• Design Check—Lists detailed information about how your design complies with
the Design Rules that you have defined.

The following reports are displayed in the HTML format:


• Used K and Y Factors by Part—Lists all values of the K- and Y-factors that are
used by the part or features.

• Bend Tables Associated with Part—Lists detailed information about bend


tables used in the part.

• Bends Containing Feature Bend Table—Lists the assigned bend tables used
by the features.

• Bends Allowance—Lists information of bends assigned to a feature with or


without a 90 degree bend angle.

• Bend Radii—Lists detailed information about the bend radii of features.

• Design Rules - Violations Check—Lists detailed information about how your


design complies with the Design Rules that you have defined.

To Access Text Reports


1. Click Info > Sheetmetal. The Sheetmetal Info dialog box opens.

2. Click the required report. You can only access one report at a time.

o Bend Report—Lists detailed information about bends in your part. The


report lists information on bends assigned to a Feature Bend Table and
bends that are not 90 degrees. The report also provides part information,
including the part name, material code, thickness, and the appropriate bend
allowance (Y- or K-factor, or bend table).

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o Radii Report—Lists detailed information about the bend radii in your part.
The report lists any bend radii that match the values in an assigned bend
table or the default radius. The report provides the feature ID, dimension
parameter name, radius value, radius type, and the inside radius name.
The report also provides part information, including the part name, material
code, thickness, and appropriate bend allowance (Y- or K-factor, or bend
table).

o Design Check—Lists detailed information about how your design complies


with the assigned design rules. The report lists any violations in the model.
The report provides information about the design rule name, design rule
formula, required rule value, current rule value, and the reference IDs of
features that violate design rules defined for the bend table. To obtain this
report, you must first define a rule table (Design Rules) and assign it to
your sheetmetal part. Design check is performed only for planar walls.

3. Specify where to output the results to:

o Screen—Displays the report in a separate window.

o File—Saves the report in the part's working directory.

4. Click OK. The report is processed.

Example: Reports in Text Format


• Bend Report

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• Radii Report

• Design Check

To Access HTML Reports


1. To show information in HTML format, ensure that the info_output_format
configuration option is set to html. The default is html.

2. Click Info > Model. The Sheet Metal part information is displayed in the
Pro/ENGINEER browser.

3. Click the required report. You can access the following type of reports:

o Used K and Y factors by Part—Lists all values of the K- and Y-factors


that are used by the part or features and the type of factor assigned to it.
The type of factor can be either Part Assignment or Feature Specific.

o Bend Tables Associated with Part—Lists detailed information about


bend tables used in the part.

o Bends Containing Feature Bend Table—Lists the assigned bend tables


used by the features.

o Bends Allowance—Lists information of bends assigned to a feature with or


without a 90 degree bend angle. The modified bend allowance value is
displayed with an associated tag named manually. This value does not use
an equation.

o Bend Radii—Lists detailed information about the bend radii of features.

o Design Rules - Violations Check—Lists detailed information about how


your design complies with your defined Design Rules. The report lists any
violations in the model. The report lists any violations in the model. The
report provides information about the design rule name, design rule
formula, required rule value, current rule value, and the reference IDs of

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features that violate design rules defined for the bend table. To obtain this
report, you must first define a rule table (Design Rules) and assign it to
your sheet metal part. A design check is performed only for planar walls.

Example: Reports in HTML Format


• Used K- and Y-factors by Part

• Bend Tables Associated with a Part

• Bends Containing Feature Bend Table

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• Bends Allowance

• Bend Radii

• Design Rules - Violations Check

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Flat Pattern

About Flat Patterns


A flat pattern is equivalent to the unbend all feature, it flattens any curved surface,
whether it is a bend feature or a curved wall. However, unlike the unbend all, the flat
pattern feature automatically jumps to the end of the model tree to maintain the flat
model view.

Sheet Metal Part Flat Pattern (with Bend Notes)

The flat pattern is helpful if you are constantly toggling between the solid and flat
versions of the design. If you add new features to your design the flat pattern
suppresses. It automatically resumes after the feature is added. If you do not want
to flip between the flat pattern and solid views for each new feature, manually
suppress and resume the flat pattern as needed. Sometimes you need to tweak the
flattened version of your design to ensure the manufactured version is accurate
You can create a flat pattern early in your design process so you can simultaneously
create and detail your sheet metal design.
Note: You can only create one flat pattern per part; after you create it, the flat
pattern option becomes unavailable.

To Create a Flat Pattern

1. Click or click Insert > Bend Operation > Flat Pattern. The GET SEL
menu appears.

2. Select a plane or edge to remain fixed when the part is unbent or bent back. The
flat pattern is created.

Example: Tweaked Flat Pattern


Sometimes you need to tweak the flattened version of your design to ensure the
manufactured version is accurate. For example, you may need to modify the corner
of an flattened box to account for unwanted deformation during the unbending

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Sheetmetal Design

process. If you add a tweak feature to an unbent sheet metal part generally you
must suppress the protrusion before you can bend the model back.

Tweaked Flat Pattern

1. Box with rounded sides


and top. Vertical round
surfaces ripped out.

2. Box flattened with Flat Pattern feature.


Note the deformations at the corners after
unbending.

3. Flat Protrusion feature


added to tweak the corner
geometry.

Flat State

About Flat States


A flat state is a completely unbent copy of your part. It streamlines the creation of
flat patterns needed in manufacturing because you can create any number of flat
states, at any time in your design process, whether your part is fully formed or fully
flat. Flat states are managed with family tables.

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With the flat state commands you can:


• Produce a new flat state instance with the Create command.

• Transfer any features you added specifically to a flat state from the flat state to
the generic part with the Update command. The only exceptions are features
you specifically suppressed. You can then delete or suppress desired features
which, in turn, are deleted or suppressed in any other flat state in that part's
family table.

• List the flat state instances related to the generic part you have open with the
Show command. Select a flat state instance and it opens in a separate window.
You can make any needed design changes.

Fully Formed Part Flat State (original) Flat State (modified)

While flat states are copies of the generic part, you can edit individual flat state
instances to make any necessary modifications. Any new features you add to a flat
state are enabled in that specific flat state instance but suppressed in the generic
part. Any features you delete from a flat state are suppressed in the specific flat
state instance but still enabled in the generic part. Keep in mind that any features
you add to the generic part, after you create the flat state, are added to all flat state
instances.
When you create a flat state instance, the unbend or the flat state is automatically
added to the end of the generic part's model tree. Any modifications made to the
generic do not affect the flat state. Therefore, in the generic, a flat state works
exactly as a flat pattern. Any features added to the generic are automatically
reordered to always be inserted before the unbend.
When you create a flat state instance it automatically adds to the generic part's
family table. And every feature change you make in the flat state instance records in
the generic part's family table. A new feature receives a new column. A deleted
feature also receives a new column, unless the appropriate column already exists.
Note: Features added to flat state instances behave like features added to regular
family table parts. However, if you suppress a flat protrusion or unbend, you cannot
resume them with the Resume > All command. You must resume those features
individually (Resume > Feat ID or Resume >By Table).

To Create a Flat State


1. Click Edit > Set Up. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

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Sheetmetal Design

3. Click Flat State. The FLAT STAT menu appears.

4. Click Create.

5. Type a name for the flat state instance and click .

If this is the first flat state instance for the generic part, the PART STATE menu
appears. Define the state the part is in:

• Fully Flat—The part is already unbent (or fully flat).

o Click Fully Flat. The Select dialog box opens.

o Select the unbend features that you used to unbend your part and click OK.

o Define the state to put the generic part in and click Yes or No.

• Fully Formed—Your part is bent (or as designed).

o Click Fully Formed. The Select and the Regular Type dialog box opens.

o Select a plane or edge to remain fixed while the part is unbent/bent back.

o Click OK in the Regular Type dialog box. The FLAT STAT menu appears.

6. Click Done/Return. The flat state is created.

To Show a Flat State


1. Click PART > Set Up. The PART SETUP menu appears.

2. Click Sheet Metal. The SMT SETUP menu appears.

3. Click Flat State. The FLAT STAT menu appears.

4. Click Show. The Flat Models menu appears, listing all the flat states associated
with the part.

5. Select the desired flat state to show. The flat state opens in a separate window.

Detailing Your Sheet Metal Designs

About Detailing Your Sheet Metal Designs


Sheet metal drawings are the blue-prints of your sheet metal design. They enable
you to effectively communicate the layout and details needed for manufacture.
Because drawings are associative, any changes made to the part are updated in the
drawing - and vice versa.

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The following is a multi-model sheet metal drawing which displays some essential
sheet metal detail functionality:

Multi-model Sheet Metal Drawing

1. Model One

2. Model Two of the multi-model drawing

3. Bend order table

4. Bend line notes

5. Driven dimensions

You can document the creation of the part using various views of the part and any
usual detailing capabilities. For example, you can:
• Display your part both in a designed condition and in a completely flattened
condition, in the same drawing. Sheet metal drawings are typically multi-model
drawings.

• Display bend order tables and bend ID notes for various views and models.

• Annotate your sheet metal drawing with bend line notes, which contain
information about the bend type, bend direction, and bend angle. You can
customize which model views display the notes, although generally only the flat
view of the model is annotated with bend line notes.

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Sheetmetal Design

While you can customize the position of your bend line notes, the following
default placement formats are available in your sheet metal drawings:

o Horizontal bends:

a. Bend down—Below the bend line.


b. Bend up—Above the bend line.
o Vertical bends:

a. The bend line note is below the leader line which is terminated with a dot.
• Display the driven dimensions in your design. You can automatically ordinate the
dimensions in your drawing using the Automatic command. This command
saves you time when detailing and organizing your sheet metal model in
drawings.

To Create a Sheet Metal Drawing


Before proceeding, close all working windows.
1. Click File > New. The New dialog box opens.

2. Under Type, click Drawing.

3. In the Name box, type a name for your new sheet metal drawing.

o If you want to use the default template, click OK. Pro/ENGINEER opens a
new drawing.

o If you want to use a custom template:

Clear Use default template and click OK. The New File Options dialog
box opens.

Browse to the desired template. Click OK. The template file is assigned and
Pro/ENGINEER opens a new drawing.

Note: If an object type is not supported by a template the Use default


template option is not available. For template-supported file types, if you
always want to see the New File Options dialog box, set the
force_new_file_options_dialog configuration option to Yes. Remember,
this configuration setting may be overridden by your system administrator
in the config.sup file.

You can now add views of your sheet metal parts, display dimensions, bend line
notes, bend order tables, and other detailing information. See the Detailing module
for information on creating and customizing your sheet metal drawings.

To Create Automatic Ordinate Dimensions


1. Create a drawing of the model for which you want to create ordinate dimensions
automatically.

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2. In the drawing window, click Insert > Dimension > Auto Ordinate. You are
prompted to select one or more surfaces.

3. Select one or more surfaces for which you want to create ordinate dimensions.
The AUTO ORDINATE menu appears.

Note: You must select surfaces belonging to the same view of the drawing.

4. Click Select Base Line.

5. In the same view from which you selected the surface or surfaces, select a
reference line to create the ordinate dimensions. The reference line can be an
edge, curve, or datum plane.

The ordinate dimensions are created automatically and are displayed in the view.

To Display Bend Line Notes in Drawings


With your drawing open:
1. Click View > Show and Erase. The Show / Erase dialog box opens.

2. Click Show.

3. Under Type, click .

4. Under Show By, click the option (Feature, Part, View, Feature and View,
Part and View, or Show All) where to display the bend line notes.

5. Use the Options and Preview tabs to define what and when the bend notes
display.

6. Click Close. The bend line notes display in your drawing.

To Display Bend Order Tables in Drawings


With your drawing open:
1. Click View > Show and Erase. The Show / Erase dialog box opens.

2. Click Show.

3. Click .

4. Click Show All. The Confirm dialog box opens, asking: Are you sure that you
want to show all?

5. Click Yes. The bend order table appears in the top left corner of the drawing. The
bend ID notes appear on the flattened view.

6. Click Done Sel. The Close button is now available on the Show / Erase dialog
box.

7. Click Close. The bend order table and bend ID notes are displayed.

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Glossary

Glossary for Sheetmetal Design


Term Definition

bend allowance The length of flat sheet metal


required to make a bend of a specific
radius and angle.

bend back To return unbent surfaces to their


formed position to make a structured
arrangement.

bend order table A list of bend sequences that


document the dimensioning and
order for bend features in a design.

bend table A bend table accounts for variations


in materials and helps us calculate
the flat length needed to make a
bend.

corner relief A technique in which a circular


section is removed from sheetmetal
to help meet the design intent by
accounting for material stretch while
modeling.

curved surface A bent surface or wall.

cut solid To remove solid sections of material


from the sheetmetal wall. The
material is removed in a direction
that is normal to the sheetmetal
wall.

deformation area A section of sheetmetal that helps to


accurately stretch the material when
you bend the sheetmetal part.

develop The length of flat sheetmetal


required to make a bend.

drive surface A surface of a part that is used as a


reference for all sheetmetal
calculations and constructions; the
other surfaces are offset from this
surface by a specified thickness.

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Term Definition

edge rip A technique in which sheetmetal is


cut or torn along the edges to help
meet the design intent by accounting
for material stretch while modeling.

extruded wall A solid structure of sheet metal that


extends from an edge into space.

flat state A completely unbent instance of a


sheetmetal part.

form die A device used for cutting out or


stamping material, especially a part
on a machine that punches shaped
holes in, or cuts sheetmetal.

form tool A tool that is used as a cast or mold


to impart its shape to a sheetmetal
part.

formed state The intent model having a definite


shape or structure.

fully formed Having attained a definite structure


as intended.

mold line Intersection of the flat wall


extensions.

notch A cut in the surface or edge of a


sheetmetal.

point relief A point that divides an existing edge


into two separate edges. These two
edges can be separately bent.

regular bend A feature that creates a bend on a


flat section of a part. The bend must
be straight, contain only one sketch
entity and not cross other existing
bends.

relief angle An angle that is formed by a surface


of a workpiece with respect to
another surface of the workpiece and
provides clearance for cutting
operation without any deformation in
the model.

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Term Definition

relief point A point from where a sheetmetal wall


is sheared or torn, especially along
seams.

rip To shear or tear sheet metal walls,


especially along seams.

rip relief A technique in which sheetmetal is


cut or tore along the walls, especially
along the seams to help meet the
design intent by accounting for
material stretch while modeling.

roll bend A feature that creates a bend


specified by a sketched entity
showing the location of the bend, a
bend angle, and a radius. The bend
angle can a value less than or
greater than 90.

sawcut A toothed cut.

sharp corner A projecting part where two edges of


sheetmetal meet; this part is capable
of cutting or piercing.

sharp edge A thin sheetmetal edge capable of


cutting or piercing.

sheet metal A metal formed into thin and flat


pieces. It is one of the fundamental
forms used in metalworking and can
be cut and bent into a variety of
shapes.

split edge A feature that splits an edge into


two.

stamped edge Sheetmetal edges modified by


cutting or embossing features on it.

stamping Using a tool to cut or emboss


sheetmetal.

stretch relief A technique in which sheetmetal is


stretched to help meet the design
intent by accounting for material
stretch while modeling.

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Term Definition

transition surface A surface which blends together two


surfaces.; for example an airplane
wing and the plane's body.

twist wall A spiraling or coiling section of sheet


metal that extends from an edge into
space.

unbend To flatten a sheetmetal feature.

194
Index
A clearing ....................................25

Adjusting bend lines .................... 149 creating ....................................24

Advanced walls displaying in drawings............... 190

advanced wall types ... 98, 103, 106, editing ......................................24


115
example....................................25
creating ....................................95
obtaining info ............................25
Advanced walls .............................95
Bend Order Tables ........................23
Allowance and length of bends ........10
Bend relief ................................. 148
Angle bend type.......................... 146
Bend report................................ 179
Assembly .....................................45
Bend Tables
Auto fit ........................................94
defining .............................. 17, 19
Automatic Ordinate Dimensions .... 189
deleting ....................................21
B
editing ......................................18
Base part ................................... 176
example....................................21
Bend allowance and developed length
layout.......................................21
inheritance features.................. 176
resetting ...................................20
Bend allowance and developed length
...............................................10 setting ......................................19

Bend angle...................................10 showing ....................................20

Bend Back writing ......................................20

creating .................................. 170 Bend Tables .................................14

Bend Back ................................. 169 Bends

Bend conversion ...........................46 about planar ............................ 159

Bend features...............................23 about regular........................... 156

Bend line notes about w/Transition ................... 160

customizing ............................. 153 bending back ........................... 170

displaying in drawings............... 190 creating planar......................... 159

Bend line notes........................... 151 creating regular ....................... 157

Bend lines.................................. 149 creating w/Transition ................ 161

Bend Order Tables radius ..................................... 148

relief ...................................... 148

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unbending............................... 162 smt_bend_notes_type_formed .....42

Bends........................................ 146 smt_bend_notes_type_rolled .......42

Blend walls smt_crn_rel_display ...................43

create general ...........................91 smt_mp_method ........................43

creating parallel ................... 89, 90 smt_outside_mold_lines ..............43

creating rotational ......................93 system_sheetmetal_color ............43

to import ..................................97 template_sheetmetalpart.............44

Blend walls ..................................89 Configuration Options ....................39

Block-like parts.............................46 Controlled fit ................................94

Blue-prints ................................. 187 Controls........................................ 9

BOT file .......................................23 Conversion Formula.......................14

Boundary Blends...........103, 104, 105 Converting to sheet metal

Bounding surfaces....................... 122 example....................................51

C To Convert to Sheet Metal ...........48

Chamfers ................................... 138 Converting to sheet metal ..............46

Circular ..................................... 170 Converting to solid parts ................47

color ...........................................43 Corner Relief

config.pro configuring notes .......................43

setting ......................................40 converting.................................46

config.pro ....................................39 creating feature ....................... 171

Configuration Options setting default ......................... 172

feat_place_follow_unbend ...........40 Corner Relief .............................. 170

initial_bend_y_factor ..................40 Corner type................................ 122

merge_smt_srfs_without_seam....41 Cuts

pro_sheet_met_dir .....................41 creating sheet metal solid.......... 128

pro_smt_params_dir ..................41 creating sheet metal thin........... 129

punch_axis_points......................41 creating solid-class ...................... 7

smt_bend_notes_dflt_display.......42 punch_axis_points......................41

smt_bend_notes_direction_down..42 Cuts .......................................... 126

smt_bend_notes_direction_up .....42 Cuts and datum axes................... 127

smt_bend_notes_order ...............42

196
Index

D writing ......................................30

Dashboard ............................. 7, 126 Design Rules ................................27

Datum axes and cuts ................... 127 Design standards ..........................27

Datum curves............................. 127 Designing in sheet metal ................44

Default edge and surface ...............26 Detailing for manufacture............. 187

Default plane................................26 Developed length and bend allowance


....................................10, 11, 13
Defaults.......................................33
Die and punch reference parts ...... 136
Defaults and parameters
Die form
assigning ..................................35
To Create a Die Form ................ 132
editing ......................................36
Die form .................................... 130
example....................................37
Dimension values ........................... 5
List of defaults ...........................33
Dimensioning and order .................23
List of defaults and parameters ....35
Directory .....................................41
retrieving ..................................35
Distorted surfaces ....................... 172
saving ......................................36
Drawings
Defaults and parameters ................33
creating .................................. 189
Deformation Areas
Drawings ................................... 187
creating .................................. 174
Driving surface conversion .............46
Deformation Areas ...................... 172
E
Design approach ...........................45
Edge bends
Design check .............................. 179
creating .................................. 174
design environment.......................39
customizing ............................. 175
Design intent................................44
Edge bends ................................ 174
Design Rules
Edge rip conversion .......................46
assigning ..................................30
Edge rips
defining .............................. 29, 30
Working with ........................... 124
deleting ....................................31
Edge rips ................................... 122
editing ......................................31
Extend walls
example....................................32
creating .................................. 120
showing ....................................30
Extend walls............................... 120
unassigning ...............................31

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Extruded Walls creating with a bend ...................58

creating unattached....................86 creating without a bend...............57

creating with a bend ...................83 Flat walls .....................................57

creating without a bend...............79 Flatten forms

Extruded Walls .............................78 creating .................................. 139

F Flatten forms.............................. 137

Feat Bend Tbl ...............................17 Follow .........................................40

Feature Forms

creating solid .............................. 7 creating a die .......................... 132

modifying................................... 6 creating a punch ...................... 134

obtaining information................... 9 flattening forms ....................... 137

referencing................................. 6 tip

reordering ...............................6, 9 punch and die reference parts . 136

resuming ................................... 2 with hollows ............................ 132

suppressing ................................ 2 Forms........................................ 130

Feature ................................. 1, 2, 6 From File .....................................17

Feature geometry .........................33 From Part ....................................17

Features in sheet metal .................44 G

Fixed Geometry Guidelines ....................................27

clearing ....................................27 H

selecting ...................................26 Helical Sweeps.....................115, 116

showing ....................................27 Holes ........................................ 138

Fixed Geometry ............................26 Hollows ..................................... 132

flat forms.....................................43 I

flat patterns ......................... 43, 184 Inheritance features

Flat States creating .................................. 177

creating .................................. 186 feature behavior....................... 176

showing .................................. 187 Inheritance features .................... 176

Flat States ................................. 185 INITIAL_BEND_Y_FACTOR..............11

Flat walls Inside of bend ............................ 148

creating unattached....................61 Inside radius ................................11

198
Index

Interface....................................... 7 MIN_SLOT_TAB_WIDTH .................27

K MIN_WALL_HEIGHT.......................27

K- and Y-factors Model tree .................................... 9

setting k- and y-factors...............13 mold lines ....................................43

K- and Y-factors............................11 Multi-model................................ 187

L Multiple direction bend................. 172

Length developed..........................10 N

Length Formula ............................14 Neutral bend line ..........................11

line for bends ............................. 146 No Relief.................................... 170

lines in sketches ............................ 5 Nontangent edges ....................... 174

M Normal to surf ...................... 94, 101

Maintaining consistency .................. 9 Note symbols ...............................42

Manufacturing ............................ 178 Notes (bend line)

Mass in drawings ............................. 190

compensating for ..................... 137 Notes (bend line) ........................ 151

Mass ...........................................43 O

mass properties ............................43 Obround relief ...................... 53, 148

material stretching ...................... 172 Offset walls

Material thickness .........................10 creating offset ...........................94

Measurement ............................. 178 Offset walls ..................................94

Merge geometry ......................... 176 Options .......................................39

Merge walls Order and dimensioning .................23

creating .................................. 122 Ordinate Dimensions ................... 189

Merge walls................................ 121 Outside of bend .......................... 148

Merging surfaces...........................41 Overlapping walls........................ 120

Metamorph option ....................... 162 P

MIN_CUT_TO BOUND ....................27 parameters ..................................35

MIN_CUT_TO_BEND ......................27 Parameters and defaults ................33

MIN_DIST_BTWN_CUTS.................27 Parameters files ............................41

MIN_LASER_DIM...........................27 Part Bend Tbl ...............................17

MIN_SLOT_TAB_HEIGHT................27 Patterns..................................... 184

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Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

Planar Bends .............................. 159 Revolve walls

Point relief ...................................46 creating revolve .........................88

Primary walls................................52 Revolve walls ...............................88

Project datum curves................... 127 Rip connects

Punch and die reference parts....... 136 working with..............................51

Punch form Rip connects.................................46

To Create a Punch Form ............ 134 Rip relief .............................. 53, 148

Punch form ................................ 130 Rips

Punches and notches Creating edge rips .................... 124

Placing.............................143, 144 Creating regular rips ................. 123

Punches and notches ..... 41, 140, 142, Creating surface rips................. 123
145, 165
Working with edge rips.............. 124
R
Rips .......................................... 122
Radii report ................................ 179
Roll bend type ............................ 146
Radius of bend ........................... 148
Rounds ...................................... 138
Rectangular relief.................. 53, 148
S
Reference part............................ 130
Same-surface merge .....................41
References sketching
Secondary walls ............................52
skipped references ................... 141
Setting up..................................... 9
References sketching...................... 6
Sheet metal parts
Regular Bends ............................ 156
creating new............................... 2
Regular rips ............................... 122
obtaining information................... 9
Regular unbends ......................... 166
Sheet metal parts .......................... 1
Relief ........................... 53, 148, 170
Shell conversion............................46
Reports
Sketching
creating .................................. 184
deformation areas .................... 172
example.................................. 184
to thicken................................... 5
HTML format ....................181, 182
Sketching ..................................... 5
text format.......................179, 180
SMT_DFLT_ATTRIBUTES ................33
types...............................179, 181
SMT_DFLT_BEND_ANGLE ...............35
Reports ..................................... 179
SMT_DFLT_BEND_RADIUS .............35

200
Index

SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_ANGLE ........35 perform edge treatment ..............75

SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_DEPTH ........33 Swept walls..................................67

SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_TYPE...........33 T

SMT_DFLT_BEND_REL_WIDTH........35 Tapered edges ............................ 126

SMT_DFLT_CRNR_REL_DEPTH ........35 Target part................................. 176

SMT_DFLT_CRNR_REL_TYPE...........33 Thicken line................................... 5

SMT_DFLT_CRNR_REL_WIDTH........35 Thin protrusions............................46

SMT_DFLT_DEPTH_OPTION ............33 Toolbar

SMT_DFLT_RADIUS_SIDE ..............33 customizing ................................ 7

SMT_K_FACTOR............................33 using ......................................... 7

SMT_PART_BEND_ALLOW_DFLTS....33 Toolbar......................................... 7

SMT_SHARPS_TO_BEND ................33 Transition .................................. 118

SMT_Y_FACTOR ............................33 Transition unbends...................... 167

SMT-MATERIAL .............................33 Twist walls

Solid features creating .................................. 119

stamping edges ....................... 138 Twist walls ................................. 118

Solid features ................................ 7 U

Specified surface......................... 148 Unbend

Stamped edges........................... 138 about regular........................... 166

Stretch relief ........................ 53, 148 about transition ....................... 167

Surface Analysis ......................... 178 about xsec-driven..................... 168

Surface and edge defaults ..............26 bend back ............................... 170

Surface Blends ....................... 96, 97 best practices .......................... 166

Surface rips................................ 122 creating a regular ..................... 167

Swap sides................................. 121 creating a transition.................. 168

Swept Blends ....... 107, 110, 111, 112 creating an xsec-driven ............. 169

Swept walls Unbend ..................................... 162

creating with a bend ............. 64, 71 Unbending Undevelopable Surfaces

creating without a bend......... 67, 69 to unbend undevelopable surfaces


........................................... 164
defining miter cut ................. 76, 77
Unbending Undevelopable Surfaces163
defining reliefs ...........................80

201
Sheetmetal Design - Help Topic Collection

unbent part................................ 185 swept wall .................................67

Undevelopable surface ................. 172 twist wall ................................ 118

V wall relief ..................................53

Variable Section Sweeps . 99, 100, 101 wall types .................................54

W Walls...........................................52

w/Transition Bends...................... 160 X

Walls Xsec-driven unbends ................... 168

advanced wall............................95 Y

blend wall .................................89 Y- and K-factor

extend wall ............................. 120 changing developed length ........ 147

extruded wall.............................78 default equation .........................10

flange wall .......................... 64, 65 setting y- and k-factors ...............13

flat wall ....................................57 Y- and K-factor .............................11

merge wall .............................. 121 Y-factor .......................................10

offset wall .................................94 Z

revolve wall ...............................88 Zero-radius bends ....................... 148

202

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