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Thread: Flanged lighting holes

  1. #11
    SOLIDWORKS Support Volunteer Jeffrey Meyer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cwilliamrose View Post
    .... It's all in the help documents.
    Go to Help>Search, enter Swept Flange, and then List Topics.

  2. #12
    cwilliamrose's Avatar
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    And to add to Jeffery's post you can look up 'Using Forming Tools with Sheet Metal' in a help search. That page has links to show how to create the tools and how to use them.
    Last edited by cwilliamrose; 02-28-2017 at 06:08 PM.

  3. #13
    I know this is an old thread but thought of something to point out. Features made with forming tools in solid works cannot be flattened. In other words you cannot make a flat pattern with the features. Especially if your part has different radiuses for different features. I am currently working on making tooling for a P-51 wing for a company and I can say this much about solidworks. It is good for designing tooling but not great for making sheet parts. My approach is somewhat different from what most people use but if people are interested, I would be more than happy to elaborate.

  4. #14
    cwilliamrose's Avatar
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    SWx works fine for many sheet metal designs (like making boxes) but compound curves aren't well supported -- even simple stuff like a beveled-edge hole. As for getting flat patterns from parts with forming tool features, I'm not sure that's a big deal for me and it's certainly not an issue for tooling design. Maybe you can elaborate in your use and how this is a problem for you, I'd love to understand it. Thanks!

  5. #15
    I am at work right now so I can post screenshots of what I have done but with the Mustang lightening holes are not just your typical flanged hole. In SW I had tried a swept flange but that doesn't work on a circular hole. The profile must be 90 to the edge of the hole. That combined with the beads, dimples, cutouts, etc., the best way i have found is to create the entire rib as a forming tool. i start with my basic loft. Add sketch planes at the various wing stations. Use an intersection curve to get the wing profile at that station. Referring to the engineering drawings I add the front and rear spar face ref and WRL. Offset the profile of the airfoil by the outer skin thickness. At this point, I extrude out about an inch or so the profile. This is now the start of our form block Which i start adding the features to. Once all of the features have been added to the form, i use move face option and offset the outer edge of the form inward to match the material thickness. Add a fillet to the edge for the bend radius. Save as a forming tool. With this part you now have a starting point to guesstimate a blank for your part as well as a form block. I now create a new part and draw a large rectangle and create a sheet of aluminum. Using the form tool we just made, we can create a wing rib. Trim the flanges to length, extrude cut the tooling holes, and voila... I place these ribs into an assembly to verify everything fits like it should. So modifying of the form tool needs to take place if you are wanting to actually cut out a form block on a cnc machine but that is a different story.

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