Need help with sheet metal layout development

[sparkyy35]

Can somebody please point me to a tutorial on how to do a layout development please?

[JD Mather]

Help is not a very good thread title.

Do you mean like a sheet metal development - that is a flat pattern of a folded part?

Or do you mean a layout of a residential development?

[sparkyy35]

Well I needed help so I used that sorry. Yes a sheet metal development.

[Cad64]

The thread title has been updated.

[sparkyy35]

Apparently I need a plug in to "unfold" a 3D object, is that correct? Unfortunately I have been unsuccessful at findind a freeware one. I cant believe Autocad doesnt have it. Is anyone aware of one they can point me at please?

[paulmcz]

What figure do you need to make development of? A box, cone, pyramid, bent sheet metal.............?

[sparkyy35]

basically just a part curved object so I guess you could call it a part cylinder but in actuallity it is a loader bucket.

[sparkyy35]

I suppose it is bent sheet metal, although 80mm thick

[paulmcz]

Everything any addons can do, you can do manually in AutoCAD. Read about bending process, bend deduction, K factor, etc. Google is your friend. It is not that difficult.

 

Post a drawing of the part you need to make the development of.

[sparkyy35]

Well I did google "layout development" in autocad but maybe im calling it the wrong term. Can you point me in the right direction or the proper term used by ACAD to perform the task. Im not sure the engineering Co. would appreciate me posting their drawings, thanks.

[paulmcz]

AutoCAD doesn't have any terms of any function to do this. It is purely a drafting software. As I said, anything can be drawn with it. You just have to find the way to get where you want to be. Take a look at one example of how to manually draw a development of a pipe attached to an elbow in this thread. That could get you started. That is what I meant by manually drawing the development.

[JD Mather]

Are you a student?

Autodesk Inventor has sheet metal tools - including a tool to automatically create a flat pattern from a bent part.

 

I suppose it is bent sheet metal, although 80mm thick

attach your dwg here and I'll check if Inventor will unfold it.

[JD Mather]

Well I needed help so I used that sorry. Yes a sheet metal development.

 

Sheet metal developments it a topic that comes up here fairly frequently. A search should turn up some prior threads.

By giving your thread a proper descriptive title it helps others in the future who might search on this topic.

[sparkyy35]

OK it seems that I have to learn how to do it with inventor. I cant believe an application like Autocad wont do such a function but I will get there in the end. Many thanks.

[JD Mather]

I cant believe an application like Autocad wont do such a ....

 

Why can't you believe it? (actually I have seen add-is that are supposed to do this)

I can't believe my Vibe doesn't have the same functionality as a Vette. Both cars are made by the same company (or were before Pontiac division closed).

[Rynz]

Try downloading LITIO. It's like an add-in software for autocad. The demo version is pretty basic but it will give you an idea if the design you want to develope can be made using it.

 

http://www.litio3d.com.ar/

 

There's a video on that site that could help if you get stuck

[Dadgad]

Why can't you believe it? (actually I have seen add-is that are supposed to do this)

I can't believe my Vibe doesn't have the same functionality as a Vette. Both cars are made by the same company (or were before Pontiac division closed).

 

Wouldn't that be a matter of how we chose to define the functionality?

 

They will both get you from point A to B, so if the function was not keyed to acceleration, and was merely 'can it transport you?'

I think we would have to say YES.

Of course if we defined it as being 'does it MOVE you' or 'is it an effective babe magnet',

perhaps the responses might be subtly different.