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Mate 3 tubes with different angles.

Question asked by Rob Hebing on Sep 2, 2015
Latest reply on Sep 3, 2015 by Rob Hebing

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Hi :-)

I was wondering if someone could help me out with a problem I've encountered. I want to make a fairly simple joint of 3 tubes on a groundplane. I'm trying to make the drawing so that I can adapt the angles of the tubes to make different configurations of the part.

In picture 1 you can see that the tubes don't allign perfectly. I've been playing around with floating parts in an assembly and found that it is possible to find a sollution where the tubes do fit together(picture 2 shows it's possible). The idea is to cut the tubes using a CNC laser and then weld them together to make the part.

Any ideas on how to draw this?

Thank you so much in advance!

Rob.

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Babak Shei Sep 2, 2015 2:21 PM

Why not try making part with a weldment and 3d sketch. it will even out the corners, specially if theres 3 links coming to 1 point, you could use a 3-way mitre (Weldment Trimming and the 3-way mitre in SolidWorks - YouTube))

Alternatively, make just one part with a solidcore (without making it hollow yet), with the elevated angle you like, then do a circular pattern with equal spacing. Then at the end shell one of the face to hollow it out.

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Andrew Deboer Sep 2, 2015 6:33 PM

Probably the quickest option, Structural members and weldments will automatically/guide you through mitering the joints in the preset ways (45/Butt ends/etc). If you don't want to go that route, you can make this an assembly and use external references to automatically trim the ends to the required angles.

For the assembly route, you would mate them so that the center of each tube mates up in the center of the joint. Then you can draw cut lines in the assembly from the mid-plane of one of the tubes to the intersection of the two tubes on the outside wall. Each tube would need two planar cuts starting from the center of each tube, one cut for each other tube. And the sketch lines for each plane cut will be the same on two of the tubes (just opposite side is cut), so you might be able to get away with only three planes/sketches for your cuts. Its easiest if you keep the cuts parallel with your vertical (Y) plane (perpendicular to ground (X) plane).

If you set your angles with variables, and dimension the external cuts correctly, it should automatically rebuild if you suddenly change the angle.

There is a third option, but it adds another part to the mix. Basically you would make an assembly. Set your angles with variables, but mate the tubes so that the end edges are coincident with each end edge of the other tube leaving a triangle-esque hole in the middle. Then you would use convert entities to get the face of each tube, and combine them all to get a solid that would fill the gap. Basically this would be your joint blank and then weld the other parts to. This method wouldn't be as clean, and doesn't leave your tubes open to run anything through them. Either way the assembly method will require external references to keep it customizable.

Just remember to make configurations or new parts for the tubes for each different angle configuration of the assembly.

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Rob Hebing Sep 3, 2015 4:44 AM

Thank you so much!

I like all the options that are suggested, and it's much, much appreciated.

I'm not familiar with the weldment functionalities in Solidworks and will have a look at it.

I'll get back to the drawing tomorrow or next week, and kepe you updated. .

Thanks!

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3 Replies

Babak Shei Sep 2, 2015 2:21 PM
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Why not try making part with a weldment and 3d sketch. it will even out the corners, specially if theres 3 links coming to 1 point, you could use a 3-way mitre (Weldment Trimming and the 3-way mitre in SolidWorks - YouTube))

Alternatively, make just one part with a solidcore (without making it hollow yet), with the elevated angle you like, then do a circular pattern with equal spacing. Then at the end shell one of the face to hollow it out.
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Andrew Deboer Sep 2, 2015 6:33 PM
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Probably the quickest option, Structural members and weldments will automatically/guide you through mitering the joints in the preset ways (45/Butt ends/etc). If you don't want to go that route, you can make this an assembly and use external references to automatically trim the ends to the required angles.

For the assembly route, you would mate them so that the center of each tube mates up in the center of the joint. Then you can draw cut lines in the assembly from the mid-plane of one of the tubes to the intersection of the two tubes on the outside wall. Each tube would need two planar cuts starting from the center of each tube, one cut for each other tube. And the sketch lines for each plane cut will be the same on two of the tubes (just opposite side is cut), so you might be able to get away with only three planes/sketches for your cuts. Its easiest if you keep the cuts parallel with your vertical (Y) plane (perpendicular to ground (X) plane).

If you set your angles with variables, and dimension the external cuts correctly, it should automatically rebuild if you suddenly change the angle.

There is a third option, but it adds another part to the mix. Basically you would make an assembly. Set your angles with variables, but mate the tubes so that the end edges are coincident with each end edge of the other tube leaving a triangle-esque hole in the middle. Then you would use convert entities to get the face of each tube, and combine them all to get a solid that would fill the gap. Basically this would be your joint blank and then weld the other parts to. This method wouldn't be as clean, and doesn't leave your tubes open to run anything through them. Either way the assembly method will require external references to keep it customizable.

Just remember to make configurations or new parts for the tubes for each different angle configuration of the assembly.
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Rob Hebing Sep 3, 2015 4:44 AM
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Thank you so much!

I like all the options that are suggested, and it's much, much appreciated.

I'm not familiar with the weldment functionalities in Solidworks and will have a look at it.

I'll get back to the drawing tomorrow or next week, and kepe you updated. .

Thanks!
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Mate 3 tubes with different angles.

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