When designing sheet metal components, manufacturability is critical. Onshape’s sheet metal design tools are unique in that they allow you to simultaneously design in both the formed and flattened states.
Designing with Manufacturing in Mind
Many design tools today provide some mechanism for designing sheet metal parts, and most even allow you to resolve those parts in their flattened state. In most of those cases, though, that process is very linear: design the part, flatten it, then determine if the part is manufacturable. If there are problems, then you go back, make changes, and re-review the flat pattern, rinse and repeat. This process is simply not very efficient.
Onshape approaches this entire design process differently in a synchronous way, allowing you to view the flat pattern in real-time. As you add any features or make changes to your sheet metal parts, they can be realized instantly in the Sheet metal table and flat view panel, shown in the image below. This streamlines the entire process, giving you insight into the manufacturing process while you design your parts.
Synchronous Flat Pattern Design
Likewise, there are times when it may be easier to design a feature in the flattened state of your design. You would need to realize how those features appear in the formed version of the part. However, some design tools do offer methods to do this, though they often require you to flatten, create the features, and then finally reform the part. Not very efficient.
Onshape again simplifies this process by allowing you to add features to the flat pattern and, in real-time, see those changes in the formed version of the model synchronously. This is extremely useful when you are trying to work with punch tools or dies in the flattened state, and they extend over a bend.
Designing Sheet Metal Parts
This ability to work in either the formed or flattened state at the same time fundamentally changes how you design your sheet metal parts. The video below shows the design process of a pair of sheet metal guards for a packaging machine. Watch to see how to design in both states synchronously.
Interested in learning more about sheet metal in Onshape? You can take a course about the sheet metal design process in the Learning Center at no extra cost.
Want to design sheet metal parts leveraging the flat pattern in real-time? Sign up for the Onshape Discovery Program.
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