How do you constrain the circumference of a parabola in the sheet metal tool??

Discussion created by Caliopee Petropoulos on Jul 20, 2008
Latest reply on Apr 15, 2010 by Charles McRaven

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I am using a piece of 4X8 sheet metal to bend into a mirror in the shape of a parabola. This is easy to do in real life but not so easy to do in SolidWorks.

How do I create a sheet metal object of this mirror as a parabola and constrain it's circumference to make sure it accurately represents what the 4X8 sheet of flat metal can do?

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Deepak Gupta Jul 20, 2008 8:15 PM
Caliopee,

Not sure what exactly you looking for bt for a try use sweep to make your solid profile and then by using sheet metal tools convert it into sheet metal part.
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- Charles McRaven @ Deepak Gupta on Apr 15, 2010 4:56 PM
  Best thing I can think of is to draw a parabola in the sketch for the base flange. Constrain it to be symmetrical around one of the planes and then dimension it using equation editor and the equation for finding a parabola's circumference based on height and width. You also need a good estimate for K-factor. With parabolic bends, I'm not sure if K=0.5 is accurate enough or not. If you've done it in real life, you can calculate K based on flat pattern length (96 inches in this case) and final circumference.
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Harold Brunt Apr 15, 2010 5:33 PM
Can you tell us what kind of reflector you are trying to model? A CPC or a heliostat or...? I am trying to picture what it is you are trying to create with the sheet metal tool. A curved and rolled form that is shaped like a CPC or a deformed shape like a heliostat or something else? Interesting and curious.

DOH! I got all rev'd up and this thread is ancient! Oh well....
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How do you constrain the circumference of a parabola in the sheet metal tool??

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