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Configurations for sheet metal?

Question asked by Scott Leacox on Nov 8, 2018
Latest reply on Nov 12, 2018 by Scott Leacox

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Attached is a file I created that uses configurations for AISC channels.

I'm wondering if the same approach could be used to configure sheet metal once I get upgraded to SW2018 from SW2017

I think this becomes possible in 2018 because I believe bend radius is able to be a global variable.

My goal is to make everything about sheet metal a single choice:

Bend radius

Thickness

Material (weight, look (including floor plate), proper values for possible FEA)

Custom field for material number

I can live with the K factor always being 0.33 or manually edited when needed.

This would be a huge upgrade from my current best solution of using:

Gauge table

Material choice

Manually entry of a material number

With my current method, the chance of making a mistake is huge because all three items always have to be edited if a part changes from say 12 gauge carbon to 12 gauge stainless.

The only cost would be setting up the one file, and that all sheet metal designs would have to start using that one file.

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AISC-CHAN.zip315.0 KB

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Deepak Gupta Nov 8, 2018 9:40 AM

I'm sure it can be done via design table/configuration publisher if you want configuration i the same file. And in case you want new file every time, then look no where other than DriveWorksXpress (a free automation add-in inside SW)

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Scott Leacox @ Deepak Gupta on Nov 8, 2018 11:23 AM

Thanks for the tip Deepak

I am just starting a new system from scratch. Starting all sheet metal file from the same file is not a problem as long as I can use that for assembly driven sheet metal parts. That allows me to have material numbers for each type of sheet mapped inside the file. I am also trying to keep things simple so that any one of 25 other SW users at other locations of the parent company don't have to go through learning curves to use my files. They already use configuration like the channel file I attached. I don't think any of them use Drive Works. Most of the methods they use were established many years ago.

The goal is to make it easy to change the design of an entire sheet metal assembly from Carbon to Aluminum to Stainless as easily as possible. Also as designs grow from small (1' cube) to large (4' cube), the gauges tend to change from 14 to 12 to 10.

In general, I design sheet metal box's

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Deepak Gupta @ Scott Leacox on Nov 8, 2018 11:44 AM

S. Leacox wrote:

Thanks for the tip Deepak

I am just starting a new system from scratch. Starting all sheet metal file from the same file is not a problem as long as I can use that for assembly driven sheet metal parts. That allows me to have material numbers for each type of sheet mapped inside the file.

Yes you can do that. Simple create one base feature in a part file and save that as the template. You can create multiple templates based on the various inputs and use them or change as needed in case of single file/template.

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Elmar Klammer Nov 11, 2018 5:33 AM

DT can work with pros and cons. Bulk changing/updating design tables is not the easiest thing to do.

It depends on how you plan on modeling your components. Multi-body design yes or no plays into this consideration.

Thickness & Material type determine the gauge designation.

The best way I found was to get your designer to model the SM component with the proper thickness and set your Material Library to reflect your proper Material callout. Then simply run a macro to read in your thickness and Material type and compare it to a given list of gauge sizes and Material ID's. Then enter the appropriate values into your configuration properties or cutlist properties. That is fast to model and bulk updates are easy to do. It is easy to manage. Works good with Pack & Go and other design modifications.

The gauge number & Material ID are static text and won't update unless you rerun the process. But that's easy to check against.

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Scott Leacox @ Elmar Klammer on Nov 12, 2018 12:07 PM

The "reading the thickness" bit does not work for me. I have many different materials at 1/8" thick for example. AL sheet, AL floor, CS floor, and a bunch of flat bars.

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5 Replies

Deepak Gupta Nov 8, 2018 9:40 AM
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I'm sure it can be done via design table/configuration publisher if you want configuration i the same file. And in case you want new file every time, then look no where other than DriveWorksXpress (a free automation add-in inside SW)
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- Scott Leacox @ Deepak Gupta on Nov 8, 2018 11:23 AM
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  Thanks for the tip Deepak
  
  I am just starting a new system from scratch. Starting all sheet metal file from the same file is not a problem as long as I can use that for assembly driven sheet metal parts. That allows me to have material numbers for each type of sheet mapped inside the file. I am also trying to keep things simple so that any one of 25 other SW users at other locations of the parent company don't have to go through learning curves to use my files. They already use configuration like the channel file I attached. I don't think any of them use Drive Works. Most of the methods they use were established many years ago.
  
  The goal is to make it easy to change the design of an entire sheet metal assembly from Carbon to Aluminum to Stainless as easily as possible. Also as designs grow from small (1' cube) to large (4' cube), the gauges tend to change from 14 to 12 to 10.
  
  In general, I design sheet metal box's
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  - Deepak Gupta @ Scott Leacox on Nov 8, 2018 11:44 AM
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    S. Leacox wrote:
    
    Thanks for the tip Deepak
    
    I am just starting a new system from scratch. Starting all sheet metal file from the same file is not a problem as long as I can use that for assembly driven sheet metal parts. That allows me to have material numbers for each type of sheet mapped inside the file.
    Yes you can do that. Simple create one base feature in a part file and save that as the template. You can create multiple templates based on the various inputs and use them or change as needed in case of single file/template.
    Like • Show 1 Like1
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Elmar Klammer Nov 11, 2018 5:33 AM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
DT can work with pros and cons. Bulk changing/updating design tables is not the easiest thing to do.
It depends on how you plan on modeling your components. Multi-body design yes or no plays into this consideration.
Thickness & Material type determine the gauge designation.
The best way I found was to get your designer to model the SM component with the proper thickness and set your Material Library to reflect your proper Material callout. Then simply run a macro to read in your thickness and Material type and compare it to a given list of gauge sizes and Material ID's. Then enter the appropriate values into your configuration properties or cutlist properties. That is fast to model and bulk updates are easy to do. It is easy to manage. Works good with Pack & Go and other design modifications.
The gauge number & Material ID are static text and won't update unless you rerun the process. But that's easy to check against.
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- Scott Leacox @ Elmar Klammer on Nov 12, 2018 12:07 PM
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  Correct Answer
  The "reading the thickness" bit does not work for me. I have many different materials at 1/8" thick for example. AL sheet, AL floor, CS floor, and a bunch of flat bars.
  Like • Show 1 Like1
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Configurations for sheet metal?

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