We are stuggling to get a flat pattern done from the sheetmetal skin which we boss/extruded over a NACA aerofoil spline. Can anybody suggest a plan?
We are stuggling to get a flat pattern done from the sheetmetal skin which we boss/extruded over a NACA aerofoil spline. Can anybody suggest a plan?
Hi Tom
It is a basic aerofoil shape of a wing. I am not the draftsman and my CAD skills are rather limited although I understand most of the technical term and methodologies of CAD modelling. A wing has ribs which give it the airfoil shape that developes LIFT. The skin fits over these ribs and is rivited to the ribs. We have drawn the ribs in sheetmetal and fitted them inside the spline sketch of the airfoil which we created with imported carthetic x;y coordinates. Now we need to wrap the thin .025" aluminium skin over the airfoil shape mating the inside of the skin with the outer surface of the lip bend in the rib. Then I want to position the rivet holes in the skin and ribs and extrude the rivet whole through both parts. The problem is that SW does not want to onfold the skin and make a flat pattern of it.
Cristo, I have done ellipse by lofting in sheet metal but it is important to have a gap. I know it's not the same as your airfoil. Do you have a seam in your "skin"?
Christo, SolidWorks sheetmetal only supports developable surfaces with simple punch forms. It doesn't have the tools for making stamped, fabric or monocoque parts.
There are add-ins for SolidWorks that add these capbilities. You might look at Blankworks.
Exactflat will even flatten surfaces. They presented at our local SWUG meeting, and it sounds like this would be perfect for you.
www.exactflat.com
Christo, what version of solidworks are you using? I have no clue what a NACA aerofoil spline is? Can you post your part or a picture? Thank you.