Presented By Jeff Parker for Yakima SolidWorks User Group

Part One Theory & Basics

Sheet Metal Theory
Definitions & Formulas Bending Theory

Part Two Adv. Topics

Bend Tables
Advanced Shapes Forming Tools
Using & Creating

Tools Overview
What tools are available? Special Tool Options

Sheet Metal Configurations Drawing Creation Using Imported Bodies Best Practices Compilation

How to Start Part

Start with SM Features Model Part then add SM

Features

Examples

Examples

Examples

Examples

Sheet Metal Theory

Definitions:

Bend Allowance Length of the arc through the bend area at the neutral axis. Bend Angle Angle of the arc formed by the bending operation. Bend Compensation Amount by which the material is stretched or compressed by bending.

Bend Lines The straight lines where the flange boundary meets the bend area.
Inside Bend Radius Radius of the arc on the inside surface of the bend area. K-factor Defines the location of the neutral axis. (distance from the inside of the material to the neutral axis divided by the material thickness). Mold Lines For bends of less than 180 degrees, the mold lines are the straight lines where the surfaces of the flange bounding the bend area intersect. Neutral Axis Looking at the cross section of the bend, the neutral axis is the theoretical location at which the material is neither compressed nor stretched. Set Back - For bends of less than 180 degrees, the set back is the distance from the bend lines to the mold line.

Sheet Metal Theory

Formulas:

Bend Allowance = Angle * (PI / 180) * (Radius + K-factor * Thickness) Bend Deduction = Bend Allowance (2 * Set Back) Inside Set Back = tan (Angle / 2) * Radius Outside Set Back = tan (Angle / 2) * (Radius + Thickness)

Calculating Bends forYour Equipment

Calculating the correct flat pattern layout is crucial. Lets start with a simple L bracket. The picture shows that the legs of the bracket are 2 and 3. The material thickness is 0.036, the inside radius is 0.125, and the angle of bend is 90 degrees. The flat length is the total of the flat portion of both flanges plus the length through the arc of the bend area. Do you calculate that on the inside of the material or the outside? Neither! This is where the K-factor comes into play. The K-factor is the percentage of the material thickness where there is no stretching or compressing of the material, for example, the neutral axis. For this simple L bracket, I will use a K-factor of 0.42. The formula is: Bend Allowance = Angle * (PI / 180) * (Radius + K-factor * Thickness). Plugging in our numbers, we get: Bend Allowance = 90 * (PI / 180) * (0.125 + 0.42 * 0.036) = 0.2200999813105009. So the flat pattern length is 2 + 3 + 0.2201 which is equal to 5.2201. So if you add up the flat length of all the flanges and add one Bend Allowance for each bend area you have the correct flat length of the part. Now we have to subtract two times the material thickness plus the bend radius (also known as the Setback) for each bend area.

Sample 1 Converting to Sheet Metal

Insert Bends vs. Convert to Sheet Metal Tools
Insert Bends Add Bends Select Edges for Bends Rip Edges X X X X X X X

New for 2009

Convert to Sheet Metal

Use Rip Sketches

Inside Radius Auto Relief Control Thickness & Direction

X
X X X

Bend Allowance

Sample 2 Ground Up Tools Review

Overview of Sheet Metal Tools while building a part.

With this we are going to go over the basic Sheet Metal tools

SolidWorks offers, while also introducing some Best Practices for creating sheet metal parts.

Base Flange/Tab Convert to Sheet Metal Insert Bends Lofted-Bend Miter Flange Edge Flange Rip Jog Hem Sketched Bend

Corner-Trim Break-Corner/Corner-Trim Welded Corner Closed Corner Cross-Break No Bends Fold Unfold Flatten Forming Tool

Sheet Metal Notable Tool Options

Bend & Gauge Tables

Sheet metal tables allow you to select from pre setup lists of material types, thicknesses, and inside radii. There are three types of tables, they are bend, gauge, and gauge/bend.
New for 2009 Bend Thickness Radius Different Bend Allowance Values Bend Allowance Type X X X Gauge X X Gauge/Bend X X

X
X

Bend & Gauge Tables

Advanced Forming Shapes

Can you model this formed edge? How about as a mitered edge?

This is probably one of the most complex bend profiles that I

have seen. It is a prime example of a little knowledge of SolidWorks and some planning ahead before starting to model the part.

Forming Tools Using & Creating

Using forming tools

Forming Tools Using & Creating

Creating forming tools Items to consider:
Positioning sketch Material to cut Stopping faces Minimum Radius of Curvature 1. Start with base sized larger than the finished tool. 2. Sketch the layout sketch of tool. 3. Start modeling the tool body of the louver. 4. Add all features wanted for the tool. 5. Add fillet that has the same >= radius than the material. 6. Cut the base from the newly created tool. 7. Create a positioning sketch at the base of the tool.

8. Color all cutting faces red and stopping face RGB(202,209,238)

Sheet Metal Configurations

Configurations are the same with sheet metal parts as with

other parts with the exception that when you add a flatpattern view onto a drawing, SolidWorks automatically creates a derived configuration. By default the derived configuration is called Name of Configuration & SM-FLATPATTERN.

Tip: Use configurations to show the steps to form parts. You can use progressive configurations as a How To reference for forming.

Sheet Metal Drawings

Adding the flat pattern view
Legacy vs. View Palette

Using Model View must select Flat Pattern to import view onto sheet. View Palette allows the user to see preview and quickly add all needed views onto sheet. Also importing of annotations is built into the palette. Use of either technique will produce the same view. The flat pattern view has also been improved over the last couple releases as it now automatically adds the bend notes.

Using Imported Bodies

Importing Options
There are two main methods to convert imported geometry

to sheet metal.
Importing the model and then converting to sheet metal. Using FeatureWorks to automatically read the sheet metal features

into SolidWorks. Tip: To be able to define the radii of the part, first import as a normal part file not a sheet metal part. Then use FeatureWorks to identify the radii. Now remove the radii and then use the Convert to Sheet Metal tool, this will allow you to define your own radii and not be confined by the import model radii.

Best Practices Compilation

Sheet Metal Part Drawing Modeling Modeling a sheet edges metal part. Start Use with tangent set to a non-solid line type to help On existing parts define sheet metal early, this way you can take advantage of the visualize the bends Link to Thickness option. in ISO views. Features.. ALWAYS!!! Name Do not use tangent edges on orthographic or flat pattern Edit flange profiles to add features like holes and cutouts. When using the legacy views. method, take advantage of being able to create multiple flanges with one sketch. Let model the radii, not model it manually. SolidWorks Be aware of the Flip do View button on flat pattern views, this You can model your own reliefs to add further control over their profile and size. helps you orient the flat pattern to match the manufacturing Take manufacturing processes into consideration when modeling the part. practice for the given material. Minimize any reference to bend lines, this is a bad practice as they are volatile and change based on sheet metal options. able Youto can hide/show bend notes and lines. Also you can edit Use tables centralize forming information within the company. theBend/Gauge format of theto bend note in the file bendnoteformat.txt Forming tools do not show on flat patterns. (see Help). Understand the Normal Cut option. bothas XSmart & Y dimensions Showing Use PEM fasteners Components in the BOM for sheet metal parts (example if time allows, if not please contact me for example files).

SolidWorks Sheet Metal Links

http://www.theswgeek.com/category/tutorials/sheet-metal-tutorials/ http://www.sheetmetaldesign.com/ http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&safe=off&num=20&q=solidworks+sheet+metal#