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Sheet metal bends resulting in an in-plane bend

Question asked by Peter Taraschi on Jun 27, 2016
Latest reply on Jun 28, 2016 by Skylar Hagler

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Hello

I am trying to create a sheet metal part with realistic bends but I am struggling to find the sheet metal feature(s) that will let me do what I am imagining. I want to create something similar to the attached part with a constant 1'' wide, 0.0625'' thick piece of material. I gave up and wound up with a part that has multiple widths and an impossible bend. We have thin copper foil that can be easily manipulated so something that looks roughly like this is possible in reality but it will have many odd bends that are difficult to define. Does anyone know of a series of standard sheet metal bends that can result in this in-plane "turn"? I tried to bend it back and forth in some pattern that would eventually lead to this turn but I was unable to get it to work.

Skylar Hagler Jun 28, 2016 1:54 PM

Correct Answer

Ok, using several sketch bends, here's the closest I could get. Seems to me that this is about how it would really look. Only way to get it "prettier" would be to add a LOT more sketched bends. Maybe this will help some?

See the reply in context

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lens heat strap v3.SLDPRT.zip155.1 KB

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Skylar Hagler Jun 28, 2016 10:03 AM

I noticed in your part that you have the bend radius set to 1/4". Is that actually the case? Seems quite large for 1/16" thick material.

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Peter Taraschi @ Skylar Hagler on Jun 28, 2016 12:24 PM

I am not sure what the actual case is to be honest. This part will actually be a stack of multiple pieces of thin copper foil that will be manipulated by hand to route it between the two mounting points. I wanted to represent it in solidworks as accurately as I can manage but it will never be a perfect representation due to the poorly defined nature of the part that will exist in reality. The closer I get, the more confidence I have in defining an overall length for the strips of foil-that is my main goal.

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Steve Calvert Jun 28, 2016 10:33 AM

Peter, I took a different look at it because I try and make the biggest section of the piece flat. The final bend, which is the trickiest, I edited the sketch to allow me to make the angle you had (I just eyeballed it)

Steve C

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Peter Taraschi @ Steve Calvert on Jun 28, 2016 12:24 PM

Thanks for taking a look Steve. That looks great. While that is an improvement on my part, I was specifically trying to figure out how to use sheet metal features to create that right-hand hook that occurs on the central flat section near the blue origin shown in your screenshot. This part will be made from one strip of copper that is 1'' wide whereas it looks like the part you created (and the part I initially uploaded) would have to be cut from a sheet and then have the bends done at either end.

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Steve Calvert @ Peter Taraschi on Jun 28, 2016 12:33 PM

This is what I did.

Steve C

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Skylar Hagler @ Peter Taraschi on Jun 28, 2016 12:50 PM

Peter,

That right hand hook is not going to be possible using a 1" strip without overlapping some sections. Is that what your trying to model, the overlap?

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Peter Taraschi @ Skylar Hagler on Jun 28, 2016 1:54 PM

Well if overlap is required then maybe that is what I am trying to model. I was picturing something like a series of sketch bends that would point the strip in the correct direction, step by step. I was unable to figure it out but I do not know if that is because of limitations in my brain or because physical limitations make it impossible.

I think in reality you can end up with jog bends that have different bend radii on either side of the part so you get an in-plane turn. It is like a jog up and then a jog back down again with a varying bend radius along the width of the part. I think this also results in having more material in the jog bend at one end of the width relative to the other side of the part (so the jog bend will be slanted at an angle relative to the plane that I am trying to make the turn in). That may distort the part in other ways that are not so noticeable in reality but are difficult to model in solidworks.

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Andreas Rhomberg Jun 28, 2016 12:45 PM

Have you tried to use the Sketch Bend feature?

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Peter Taraschi @ Andreas Rhomberg on Jun 28, 2016 12:56 PM

Yeah I tried using Sketch Bend. Doing just one points the part in the wrong direction so I tried doing multiple Sketch Bends back and forth in order to bend the turn, step by step. I got lost in all of the angles and sketches and was unable to get the result that I wanted. It seems like it should be possible so I was wondering if anyone had figured it out.

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Skylar Hagler Jun 28, 2016 1:54 PM

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Part2.SLDPRT.zip209.1 KB

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Peter Taraschi @ Skylar Hagler on Jun 28, 2016 4:02 PM

Ah wow yeah that is definitely the result I wanted but I hadn't thought of doing it like that. That is great. Thank you for taking the time to model that Skylar.

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Skylar Hagler @ Peter Taraschi on Jun 29, 2016 7:43 AM

Not a problem at all! I enjoy things like this. Feel free to message me if you have anything else like this and I'll see what I can do to help.

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12 Replies

Skylar Hagler Jun 28, 2016 10:03 AM
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I noticed in your part that you have the bend radius set to 1/4". Is that actually the case? Seems quite large for 1/16" thick material.
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- Peter Taraschi @ Skylar Hagler on Jun 28, 2016 12:24 PM
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  I am not sure what the actual case is to be honest. This part will actually be a stack of multiple pieces of thin copper foil that will be manipulated by hand to route it between the two mounting points. I wanted to represent it in solidworks as accurately as I can manage but it will never be a perfect representation due to the poorly defined nature of the part that will exist in reality. The closer I get, the more confidence I have in defining an overall length for the strips of foil-that is my main goal.
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Steve Calvert Jun 28, 2016 10:33 AM
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Peter, I took a different look at it because I try and make the biggest section of the piece flat. The final bend, which is the trickiest, I edited the sketch to allow me to make the angle you had (I just eyeballed it)

Steve C
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- Peter Taraschi @ Steve Calvert on Jun 28, 2016 12:24 PM
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  Thanks for taking a look Steve. That looks great. While that is an improvement on my part, I was specifically trying to figure out how to use sheet metal features to create that right-hand hook that occurs on the central flat section near the blue origin shown in your screenshot. This part will be made from one strip of copper that is 1'' wide whereas it looks like the part you created (and the part I initially uploaded) would have to be cut from a sheet and then have the bends done at either end.
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  - Steve Calvert @ Peter Taraschi on Jun 28, 2016 12:33 PM
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    This is what I did.
    
    Steve C
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  - Skylar Hagler @ Peter Taraschi on Jun 28, 2016 12:50 PM
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    Peter,
    That right hand hook is not going to be possible using a 1" strip without overlapping some sections. Is that what your trying to model, the overlap?
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    - Peter Taraschi @ Skylar Hagler on Jun 28, 2016 1:54 PM
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      Well if overlap is required then maybe that is what I am trying to model. I was picturing something like a series of sketch bends that would point the strip in the correct direction, step by step. I was unable to figure it out but I do not know if that is because of limitations in my brain or because physical limitations make it impossible.
      
      I think in reality you can end up with jog bends that have different bend radii on either side of the part so you get an in-plane turn. It is like a jog up and then a jog back down again with a varying bend radius along the width of the part. I think this also results in having more material in the jog bend at one end of the width relative to the other side of the part (so the jog bend will be slanted at an angle relative to the plane that I am trying to make the turn in). That may distort the part in other ways that are not so noticeable in reality but are difficult to model in solidworks.
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Andreas Rhomberg Jun 28, 2016 12:45 PM
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Have you tried to use the Sketch Bend feature?
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- Peter Taraschi @ Andreas Rhomberg on Jun 28, 2016 12:56 PM
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  Yeah I tried using Sketch Bend. Doing just one points the part in the wrong direction so I tried doing multiple Sketch Bends back and forth in order to bend the turn, step by step. I got lost in all of the angles and sketches and was unable to get the result that I wanted. It seems like it should be possible so I was wondering if anyone had figured it out.
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
Skylar Hagler Jun 28, 2016 1:54 PM
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Correct Answer
Ok, using several sketch bends, here's the closest I could get. Seems to me that this is about how it would really look. Only way to get it "prettier" would be to add a LOT more sketched bends. Maybe this will help some?
Attachments
- Part2.SLDPRT.zip209.1 KB
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- Peter Taraschi @ Skylar Hagler on Jun 28, 2016 4:02 PM
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  Ah wow yeah that is definitely the result I wanted but I hadn't thought of doing it like that. That is great. Thank you for taking the time to model that Skylar.
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
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  - Skylar Hagler @ Peter Taraschi on Jun 29, 2016 7:43 AM
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    Not a problem at all! I enjoy things like this. Feel free to message me if you have anything else like this and I'll see what I can do to help.
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Sheet metal bends resulting in an in-plane bend

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