Creating Complex Shapes with VarSecSweep and Relations

Pagina 1 di 5

Creating Complex Shapes with VarSecSweep and Relations

October, 2003, by S. K. Nawaz

HELICALLY WOUND WIRE ROPE

By using the Variable Section Sweep option, you can create create complex shapes by sweeping a section along one or more selected trajectories to control the sections orientation, rotation, and geometry. Let us see how you can create the helically wound wire rope in Pro/Engineer. I used Pro/Engineer Wildfire version to create the model above. Basically, three steps are involved to create this model: 1. Creating a first helical surface. 2. Creating a second helical surface along the first helical surface. 3. Creating a protrusion to model the wire rope.

STEP-01: Creating a first helical surface:

Insert -> Helical sweep-> Surface Accept defaults and select FRONT plane as sketching plane and RIGHT plane as right reference. Sketch a centerline through the intersection of RIGHT and TOP planes as shown in FIG-01. Sketch a trajectory at a distance of 100 mm from RIGHT plane to the length of 150 mm as shown in FIG-01.

http://www.mcadcentral.com/articles/templates/proe.asp?articleid=13&zoneid=2

03/08/2007

Creating Complex Shapes with VarSecSweep and Relations

Pagina 2 di 5

FIG-01 Once you are done creating the trajectory, accept it by clicking the checkmark button. Now sketcher places you for creating the profile as shown in FIG-02.

FIG-02 Now draw a horizontal line 20 mm long as shown in FIG-02. (Just a line is enough to create a surface.) Accept the sketch once you are through by clicking the checkmark button. Feed the pitch as 50 mm. Click Preview then the OK buttons to create thehelical swept surface. Your result should look like FIG-03.

FIG-03

STEP-02: Creating a second helical surface along the first helical surface:
Create another surface by selecting the outer edge of helical surface as a trajectory through variable section sweep option and driven by a relation. See the FIG-04 for details.

http://www.mcadcentral.com/articles/templates/proe.asp?articleid=13&zoneid=2

03/08/2007

Creating Complex Shapes with VarSecSweep and Relations

Pagina 3 di 5

FIG-04 Draw a line of 20 mm long at an angle (here dont worry about the value of an angle, since it is driven by relation). Go to TOOLS menu -> RELATIONS In relations editor type the following relation: Sd# = trajpar * 360 * 3 *3 Here, Sd# - - - angular dimension symbol Trajpar - - - trajectory parameter (varies from 0 to 1, which is Pro/E default) 360 * 3 * 3 - - - 3 turns of a second surface per 360 degrees rotation and for 3 turns of a first helical surface. (Hope I explained clearly!) Press the OK button in the relation editor and accept the sketch by clicking the checkmark button in the sketcher. See preview and press the checkmark button from the dashboard. Your result should look like FIG-05

FIG-05 (For the better clarity I used two different colors).

STEP-03: Creating a protrusion to model the wire rope:

Now activate the variable section sweep option or go to INSERT -> Variable Sec. Sweep Press solid option on the dashboard, if surface option is pressed. Select outer edge of the first helical surface as an origin trajectory and outer edge of the second surface as an X-trajectory. Press the sketch button on the dashboard and you will be placed in sketcher mode. Sketch the profile as shown in FIG-06.

http://www.mcadcentral.com/articles/templates/proe.asp?articleid=13&zoneid=2

03/08/2007

Creating Complex Shapes with VarSecSweep and Relations

Pagina 4 di 5

FIG-06 Make sure that the section is clear and with minimum dimensions. (Of course you can have many dimensions, but this suggestion is to make the section simple and legible.) Accept the sketch by pressing the checkmark button in sketcher mode, see preview and accept it by clicking the checkmark button from the dashboard. Hide the surfaces which have been created earlier.

FIG-07 Now the model looks like the wire rope wound helical. If you want, you can apply different colors to the surfaces from: VIEW -> Color and appearances

http://www.mcadcentral.com/articles/templates/proe.asp?articleid=13&zoneid=2

03/08/2007

Creating Complex Shapes with VarSecSweep and Relations

Pagina 5 di 5

Your criticism, suggestions and ideas are most valuable for development of my Pro/E skills.

Related Files

Related Articles

Avg. User Rating

Email This Article To A Friend - Print This Article Articles can be E-mailed to a friend and you can get a printable version of the article. Use your own buttons and links!

>> Search Articles : By Creating a simple form like this on anywhere on your site, you'll get a full search engine for your articles

About Us | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise | Report a Bug | Tell a Friend | Site Map |
Catia | Inventor | Pro/ENGINEER | SolidWorks | Unigraphics
Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | User Agreement | Terms of Use | Copyright Information Copyright 2004-2007, MCAD Central. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.mcadcentral.com/articles/templates/proe.asp?articleid=13&zoneid=2

03/08/2007