Hi Guys

Being a woodworker I don't do much sheet metal, just the occasional dabble.  However I have a project where I think it may be a good fit.

The project is still in a conceptual stage.  I have a model that has been given provisional approval for visual but the footprint is going to change.  There will be more sections added and at the moment I am in the dark as to what these changes may be,,  I will have to respond quickly when I find out.

I have some panelled elevations that require 3 Parent Configurations.  Straight (Flat) and Curved (Bent) Concave and Convex.  I foresee there will be multiple radii to work with.

Here's what I have so far.

For the curved sections the construction method will be by lamination of thin strips on a former.  So I will require the flats in any case, but I also considered that I could use the flat (unfolded) config directly for the straight sections.

I am uncertain at the moment of the number and thicknesses of the lamination's.  So glossing over that for now and producing just the external envelope (The construction details aren't important to show the client so I'm kicking that can down the road.)

But the arc lengths are important to make each panel an identical width irrespective of radius/straight/concave/vex.

I'm presuming I could achieve this using a k factor of 1, 0 and 0.5 for my external envelopes.

I've just done a quick feasibility model and I can do this

by having an unfold feature and suppressing it.

I had already started this model before I considered sheet metal so I started with a thin revolve and some equations

Then I used an Insert Bends feature to convert to sheet metal.

I have a reasonably tight schedule for this, so I don't want to blunder into any blind alleys.

So my questions are

Is it a daft idea I should abandon?

If I was starting from scratch, how would I begin to set this up in sheet metal?

Or is what I have so far ok?

It would be nice if I could use the finished conceptual model to later create the laminations.

Or maybe I don't bother modelling them at all.  It could easily get a bit crazy with hundreds of parts that cause more confusion than benefit.

Thanks for looking

I've only had one coffee this morning so hope my question is clear enough.