SpaceClaim Online Help

Sheet metal properties

You can modify the thickness, inner radius, and K-factorParameter of bends in a sheet metal part used to calculate the bend radius. K-factor is a percentage of the metal thickness and depends on factors such as the material and type of bending operation. Relates to the depth of the neutral axis; a line within the sheet where the length does not change when the sheet is bent. The inside of the bend is under compression, the outside is under tension, and the neutral axis occurs somewhere between the midpoint of the material (K-factor=0.50) and a point closer to the inside of the bend (K-factor=0.25). of sheet metal components in the Properties panelArea of the user interface that displays editable details about the selected object(s). This panel is initially displayed on the lower left side of the screen, but can be moved.. Modifying the component's properties affects all the objects in the component. Modified property values appear in bold. You can set the default values for sheet metal components by setting sheet metal options. Delete a modified property value to return it to the default value.

The thickness of sheet metal is maintained with an offset relationship. A sheet metal component retains its properties when you move it into a non-sheet metal component.

To change sheet metal part properties

1. Select the sheet metal component in the Structure treeDisplay in the Structure panel that shows you each of the objects in your design. You can expand or collapse the nodes of the tree to view the objects. You can rename objects, create, modify, replace, and delete objects, as well as work with components..

2. Change the following in the Properties panelArea of the user interface that displays editable details about the selected object(s). This panel is initially displayed on the lower left side of the screen, but can be moved.:

   • Bend Table: The bend table to use for this sheet metal part.

   • Flatten Form: How forms should be represented in the unfolded part. You can choose from the following values:

     • No flatten: The form is shown as-is in the unfolded part.

     • Outline: A dotted line is shown for the extents curve and center cross-hair. The outline is added to the Bends layer on the unfolded part, which is hidden by default. This is the default value.

     • Remove: The form is not shown on the unfolded part.

   • Inner Radius: How the inside radius of a bend is calculated. This field shows you what you have set in the two fields below.

     • Radius: The radius of a bend.

     • Type: Select Thickness Ratio or Absolute.

        

       When the Bend Radius in Sheet Metal options is set to Thickness ratio and you change the sheet metal part thickness for the part, the value for the Inner Radius now changes in the Properties panelArea of the user interface that displays editable details about the selected object(s). This panel is initially displayed on the lower left side of the screen, but can be moved.. In other words, changing the part thickness property will not change all the bend radii, but the displayed bend radius changes to show that there is a problem for you to fix. You can fix them by selecting the desired bends and changing their properties manually.

        

   • K-Factor: The K-Factor is used to calculate the bend radius, and is determined by the material, the type of bend, and the ratio of the bend radius to the thickness of the metal.

   • MaterialProperty that you can assign to an object, consisting of material name and attributes such as density and tensile strength.: You can set the gage for a material used in a sheet metal part. Assigning a gage enables you to control the thickness of a sheet metal part at a more granular level. Gage, or, ‘gauge’, is the thickness of the metal organized by numbers: the smaller the number the thinner the metal. A sheet metal design or component of a design must be assigned a material in order for the gage drop down to display. You cannot select a gage for designs or components that are assigned the ‘Unknown MaterialProperty that you can assign to an object, consisting of material name and attributes such as density and tensile strength.’ option.

     To assign a material, from the Structure treeDisplay in the Structure panel that shows you each of the objects in your design. You can expand or collapse the nodes of the tree to view the objects. You can rename objects, create, modify, replace, and delete objects, as well as work with components. select the design at the top level, or select the component for which you want to assign a material, and then click the MaterialProperty that you can assign to an object, consisting of material name and attributes such as density and tensile strength. Name drop down from the MaterialProperty that you can assign to an object, consisting of material name and attributes such as density and tensile strength. group in the Properties panelArea of the user interface that displays editable details about the selected object(s). This panel is initially displayed on the lower left side of the screen, but can be moved.. From the Thickness group in the Properties panelArea of the user interface that displays editable details about the selected object(s). This panel is initially displayed on the lower left side of the screen, but can be moved., click the gage drop down, and select a gage.

   • Sheet Metal: True or false; determines whether or not the component is a sheet metal part. All sheet metal properties and parameters are removed from a part when you turn off the Sheet Metal property in the Properties panelArea of the user interface that displays editable details about the selected object(s). This panel is initially displayed on the lower left side of the screen, but can be moved.. This includes things like junctions, reliefs, forms, etc.

   • Thickness: The thickness of the sheet metal part.

     You may need to change the inside radius of bends, change the bend or corner reliefs, or alter the geometry after you change the thickness.

To export sheet metal part properties

With a Sheet Metal part selected, the RMB now has an Export Sheet Metal Properties command. It opens the Export Sheet Metal Properties dialog for writing a CSV file. The file has columns for the following properties.

• Thickness

• Area of the flattened part

• Perimeter of the flattened part

• Maximum X and Y extents of the flattened part

• Number of Holes

• Number of Bends

You must first Unfold the part to have the flat properties export.

Example

Changing the thickness of parts caused the S junctions to become no-overlap junctions because the radius was too small for the new thickness. You would need to change the inside radius to convert the junctions back to S junctions on these parts.