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Please help me to flatten the 4 sides of this part

Question asked by Mike Hopwood on May 7, 2019
Latest reply on May 28, 2019 by Mike Hopwood

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Hi guys and girls,

I'm completely self taught and because of this, I think I do things the hard way, or at least not the correct way when making parts on Solidworks.

I've been designing a wing for a customer's small Jet-Boat, and now he is happy with it, we need to fabricate it.

Only problem is, I cannot flatten the curved surfaces of the Extruded Boss I have made on Solidworks.

The 4 surfaces need to be flattened so we can CNC cut the parts.

I'm using Solidworks 2013, and as far as I'm aware it doesn't have the flatten surface function.

Can someone please download this file, flatten the 4 sides for me and then send it back as a DXF or DWG?

And/or tell me the method for flattening the surfaces of this part?

Any help would be much appreciated. And I hope this isn't a big ask, to me it seems like this could be done reasonably quickly by someone with a much better knowledge of this program than me

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Wing revised.SLDPRT.zip275.9 KB

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Heiko Sohnholz May 7, 2019 2:26 AM
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Hi,
i would be easy to unfold this using "flatten surface". But it's not so easy to decide WICH surface do you need. That's difficult because of the bevel faces you have. The outer face will be too small in the middle, the inner will be too short...
It's NOT possible to unfold this as a part with it's thickness.
So please tell me, and i will send you the DXF.
Cheers, Heiko
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- Mike Hopwood @ Heiko Sohnholz on May 7, 2019 4:28 AM
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  Hi there, thanks for the reply!
  It is a hollow unit, so it will be made from 4 pieces of 3mm aluminium, welded in a 'corner to corner' arrangement.
  So, there are 3 sides out of the 4 that need to be flattened, as the front face has no curvature, but I still need to pick the shape of it from the drawing for making a cutfile.
  Thanks, Mike
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Heiko Sohnholz May 7, 2019 5:04 AM
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Will not guarantee for the result. I have flatten the outer surfaces.
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- Wing revised.SLDPRT.zip275.9 KB
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Kevin Chandler May 7, 2019 9:21 AM
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Edited preface: This may be an overly hard approach, but...
Hello,

Since this will be sheet metal, to more accurately reflect the flat blank, I would model each face as its own piece, using the solid model as the basis for all.
Insert your part into a new part using Insert>Insert part.
As you work through this, you may find it handy to hide the inserted part (blue) when it's in the way and show it when you need to reference it:
To make your base flange, create a plane off the end and convert entities for one panel.
The sketch below is converted from the wraparound top.
Sheet metal requires tangency and square edges, so you'll need to add tangent relations into your sketch.
Replace bits converted to splines (change splines to construction, do not delete them) with a tangent arc: .
With tangent at both ends, it will emulate the spline. You may need to replace a shallow spline with a line to save on heartache.
The end condition of the base flange is to a place coincident to the far end of the inserted part.
Now you need to side cut to get your profiles:

Create a midplane (yellow) by selecting the two flat faces (green) on each side
On this plane, convert entities again, changing splines to arcs or lines. Complete the sketch by encompassing all of the base flange to the left.
Cut using the options shown:

I don't have the time, but repeat these steps to cut the right side to get that sloped edge.

Here's the top's flat pattern:

Repeat this workflow for each panel. I'd do this with each panel in its own file, then create an assembly to see how well it fits up.

This should be enough to get your started.

Post back if you wish.

Kevin
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- Wing by piece.zip532.6 KB
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Rebecca Bennett May 7, 2019 10:41 AM
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I converted part of your Sketch2 onto the right plane and again onto a plan placed at the opposite end.
I then used those two sketches to create a Sheet Metal Formed Loft Bend.
Then converted your Sketch1 into a new sketch and used that to cut back into shape.

A top curved piece, a bottom curved piece, and two little water skies would be your pieces to weld.

Flat Pattern:
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Maha Nadarasa May 7, 2019 12:32 PM
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- Part2-SM.SLDPRT.zip216.4 KB
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David Sloop May 7, 2019 2:50 PM
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Many have showed you how to do this.
But has anyone else wondered if this will be functional?
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- Maha Nadarasa @ David Sloop on May 7, 2019 3:00 PM
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  Without knowing the system how to find out whether it is functional or not?
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- Paul Salvador @ David Sloop on May 7, 2019 4:31 PM
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  ..going on a limb... maybe a extended cab for a El Camino?
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- Mike Hopwood @ David Sloop on May 14, 2019 10:24 PM
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  Added some photos below
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Mike Hopwood May 7, 2019 8:53 PM
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Thanks so much! To all of you! The best part about it is that I also learned how to solve the problem myself for next time.
What a great forum!
Much much appreciated
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- Rebecca Bennett @ Mike Hopwood on May 15, 2019 10:02 AM
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  Another great thing about this forum is that you can choose the response that was correct or helped you the most and even 'like' the comments that were appreciated ...hint hint.
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  - Paul Salvador @ Rebecca Bennett on May 15, 2019 10:10 AM
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    ...the echoing of waves (likes?) slapping on a aluminum hull.
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Mike Hopwood May 14, 2019 10:42 PM
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Thanks for all the help people! It's now complete and installed on the boat.
Cheers
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- John Pesaturo @ Mike Hopwood on May 15, 2019 10:09 AM
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  Wow Mike ... What a beauty.
  
  I thought most boats were all fiberglass but that's a work of art right there.
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  - Mike Hopwood @ John Pesaturo on May 28, 2019 12:02 AM
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    Thanks mate! Yeah I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. When she's all painted and finished I will upload some more pics.
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- John Stoltzfus @ Mike Hopwood on May 15, 2019 10:22 AM
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  David Sloop - I think its functional
  
  Mike Hopwood wrote:
  
  Thanks for all the help people! It's now complete and installed on the boat.
  Cheers
  
  Awesome stuff Mike Hopwood
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  - Mike Hopwood @ John Stoltzfus on May 28, 2019 12:00 AM
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    Thanks John! Appreciate it
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David Sloop May 20, 2019 10:57 AM
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So is this intended to do anything aerodynamically? Is it just cosmetic? I don't see any air foil shape to it at all. It's pretty impressive modeling and sheetmetal work, regardless.
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- Mike Hopwood @ David Sloop on May 28, 2019 12:00 AM
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  Nothing aerodynamic about it at all. it is purely cosmetic. It is also how air will reach the engine room - see the holes on the lower sheet.
  It is a jet boat, so no aerodynamics are needed for downforce, as the jet unit sucks the boat to the water when it is running... and as for lift, I think the wing would need to be much bigger to be able to take off
  Thanks for the feedback David!
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Please help me to flatten the 4 sides of this part

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