Some people aks a question regarding how to model a fanhousing for a centrifugal fan where the central section need tohave hems formed over the circular form of the housing... I seeseveral people saying it was impossible to do with Solidworks....well....
Attached is a zip file (compressed with WinRAR to Zip format)containing a sample of the Fan Housing with the central partmodeled as Sheet metal including the hems.
Open the assembly you will see the entire Fan Housing includingcentral section and side covers, you will see that the centralsection have the following Configurations:
01 - With Side Hems Formed
- Derived Configuration >>> SM-FLAT-PATTERN
02- Fully Formed Part
If you select the first configuration you can see the flat partwith hems, the derived configuration will show the flat pattern andthe last configuration will show the fully formed part (rolledafter forming the hems).
As you will se to do this part is tricky, but you do not need any"special software", There are only a few things that SolidWorks cannot do (if you know how to use it), another issue are the bugs...for some reasons when I change the dimensions of the model (byediting dimensions of the the two skeleton sketches placed at theassembly level) the ecuations change the name of the assembly tothe file name of one of my files (realy weird, since I do nto workwith that particular assembly in over six months), maybe this donot happen to you... I believe is someting on the templates...
The zip file also includes a copy of the forming tool I used toform the air inlet on the side cover of the housing.
Have fun!SolidworksSheet Metal
Attached is a zip file (compressed with WinRAR to Zip format)containing a sample of the Fan Housing with the central partmodeled as Sheet metal including the hems.
Open the assembly you will see the entire Fan Housing includingcentral section and side covers, you will see that the centralsection have the following Configurations:
01 - With Side Hems Formed
- Derived Configuration >>> SM-FLAT-PATTERN
02- Fully Formed Part
If you select the first configuration you can see the flat partwith hems, the derived configuration will show the flat pattern andthe last configuration will show the fully formed part (rolledafter forming the hems).
As you will se to do this part is tricky, but you do not need any"special software", There are only a few things that SolidWorks cannot do (if you know how to use it), another issue are the bugs...for some reasons when I change the dimensions of the model (byediting dimensions of the the two skeleton sketches placed at theassembly level) the ecuations change the name of the assembly tothe file name of one of my files (realy weird, since I do nto workwith that particular assembly in over six months), maybe this donot happen to you... I believe is someting on the templates...
The zip file also includes a copy of the forming tool I used toform the air inlet on the side cover of the housing.
Have fun!SolidworksSheet Metal
