It doesn’t matter if you’re making a machine, cast, molded or sheet metal part, Solid Edge will allow you to create your models as fast as you can think. Let’s take a look at this sheet metal modeling demonstration from Solid Edge application engineer, Ben Weisenberger:
For many actions in Solid Edge, you don’t have to select a specific command to work on a part. You can simply click on your geometry, and push, pull or drag however you want.
You can also use the steering wheel—your main point of control in Solid Edge—to rotate parts, sides and faces, or move them in a desired direction or angle.
If you select multiple thickness faces, you can create multiple flanges at one time. You can move multiple parts to the same angle, or you can move these separately.
As Ben demonstrates with the two flanges in this video, you can move them to a new angle at the same time, then move one back—breaking the symmetrical connection—without having to “undo” your action.
To create a deformed feature in Solid Edge, it’s as easy as creating a simple sketch, going into the “Bead” command, and putting in the desired dimensions. From there, it will create your feature—it’s just that easy.
In the video, Ben needs to create a cutout that runs through the clip, including through parts of the flanges. He creates a quick sketch by drawing a line across where he wants the rectangle.
After drawing, a sketch relation will ensure that the drawing/cutout stays centered up on the model. From there, you can easily define any dimensions.
When the cutout is created in our demonstration, you’ll notice that it actually cuts out the end of the model. To rectify this, Ben flattens out the part before it’s bent into shape, keeping the same length of cut.
This is crucial, as Solid Edge allows you to flatten parts before cutting.
Need to create the same face or flange of a part on the other side? You can do that with ease, thanks to the “Mirror” command. And even if you mirror something to another side, you can break the link between these features upon creation.
What if a customer came back and said that they needed a particular part—say the original part that all your other features have since been built from—at a different angle? In any history-based CAD software, you’d be out of luck.
With Solid Edge, it’s as simple as unlocking that feature and moving it to the requested angle. All other features will update accordingly.
Would you like to see a Snackbyte about a specific functionality in NX CAD, NX CAM, Solid Edge or Teamcenter? Send us a Tweet at @prolimglobal or leave a comment below!
