Sheet Metal Global and Feature Properties

Overview

Sheet metal features and context menus are located in the Mechanical Browser panel. See Mechanical Browser for Sheet Metal to understand the general principles. This article describes the particular properties and context menus for each node type in the Mechanical Browser panel.

When working with sheet metal parts, clicking the root node in Mechanical Browser panel, displays the properties of entire drawing. Sometimes these properties are referred to as the global Sheet Metal Context associated with the drawing: each Sheet Metal part shares this context by default.

You can assign a local Sheet Metal context for given solid, which allows to define Sheet Metal parts with different design parameters, and in addition, to change the part thickness. Before BricsCAD V21, all the parts in modelspace had to have the same thickness, which forced the user to spread the parts with a different thickness to different blocks or components. Scenarios with multiple imported bodies engaging SMCONVERT and SMASSEMBLYEXPORT also benefit from this new feature. Another advantage is that the local Sheet Metal context can define its own Bend Table.

Switching the context of a solid to local

Do the following:
  1. Select the body in Mechanical Browser panel.
  2. In Sheet Metal section, switch Context Type from Global context to Context for solid.
Note: The SMCONVERT command, in case of multiple input with different thicknesses, switches some contexts to local automatically.

Sheet metal global properties are located in the bottom part of the Mechanical Browser.

Global Properties Description
Thickness Global sheet metal material thickness.
Bend radius Default radius of bend features; it can be changed per bend as well.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: either ratio or value.
Sharp bend radius limit Maximum bend radius to be considered a sharp (regular) bend. Used in the SMCONVERT and SMRELIEFCREATE commands to distinguish between regular and lofted bends.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: either ratio or value.
Lofted bend subdivisions Sets the default number of subdivisions for unfolded lofted bends.
Bend relief width Width of the cut near a single bend.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: either ratio or value.
Relief extension Size of the bend or corner relief extension.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: either ratio or value.
Corner relief diameter Default diameter of a circular corner relief.

Type: minimal possible or absolute value.
Junction gap Gap between 2 adjacent flanges.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: either ratio or value.
Junction alignment Control the alignment of junction faces with the corresponding corner relief faces.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: either ratio or value.
  • Junction Alignment: enabled or disabled

    Enabled

    Disabled
Miter gap Gap between the thickness faces of a flange or the adjacent bend when splitting, see SMSPLIT.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: either ratio or value.
Miter extension Control the depth cut of an adjacent flange in case of a flange split.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: either ratio or value.
Bead profile radius Radius of a tool, which creates the bead.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: either ratio or value.
Bead round radius Radius of the fillet between the flange and a bead.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: either ratio or value.
Bead fillet radius Radius of the rib control curve filleting. See Working with Form and Bead Features.
  • Type: either profile radius ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: numeric value.
Tab slot number Defines the tab slot number.
Tab height Defines the tab height.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: numeric value.
Tab distance Defines the tab distance.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: numeric value.
Tab length Defines the tab length.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: numeric value.
Tab clearance Defines the tab clearance.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: numeric value.
Tab edge type Controls the tab edge type.
  • Sharp edges: tab edges will be sharp.
  • Round edges: tab edges will be round. Have to define the Tab round radius type and value.
  • Chamfer edges: tab edges will be chamfered. Have to define the Tab chamfer distance type and value.
Open hem gap Defines the hem gap.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: numeric value.
Jog radius Defines the jog radius.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: numeric value.
Jog height Defines the jog height.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: numeric value.
Jog angle Defines the jog angle value.
Unfolding Parameters for the unfolded representation.
Default K-Factor K-Factor for the bend radius equal to the thickness.
Hem relative bend deduction Defines the bend deduction relative to thickness used in hem features unfolding.
Bend table Display the Open dialog for bend tables in CSV file format.
Bend line extent Control how far a bend line extends beyond the unfolding boundary (zero and negative values are allowed).
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute value.
  • Value: either ratio or value.
Form feature unfolding mode Control the appearance of form features in the unfolded representation.
  • Keep: keep the 3D representation of the form feature.
  • Remove: completely remove form features from the unfolded representation.
  • Project: project all edges of form features as 2D entities.
  • Contour: project only the contour of form features as 2D entities.
  • Symbol: place 2D symbols at the insertion points in unfolded representation.
  • Project without center mark: project all edges of form features as 2D entities without center mark.
  • Contour without center mark: project only the contour of form features as 2D entities without center mark.
Bevel unfolding mode Control the bevel unfolding mode (see Working with Bevels article)
  • Keep: keeps all bevel features as they are.
  • Remove: all bevel features are removed.
  • Annotate: each bevel feature is removed and the edge is annotated. This mode is recommended.
Feature properties display automatically when selecting a feature in the Mechanical Browser panel.

Right-click a feature to display the feature context menu.

Feature Context Menus Description
Common tools:
  • Disable: temporarily disable a feature and skip its constraining.
  • Dissolve: remove a feature but keep its geometry. Design intent associated with the geometry of a dissolved feature will be removed.
  • Delete: See the SMDELETE command. Remove features from the Mechanical browser and delete the corresponding geometry in the model.
  • Zoom to: zoom onto the selected feature.
  • Collapse all: collapse the main component including all components and subcomponents.
  • Expand all: expand the main component and all components and subcomponents.
Flange feature Right-click a flange feature:

Flip: swap the sides of a selected flange so that the reference face is on the opposite geometric side of the flange. This operation shifts the flange by its thickness, to preserve the position of the reference face.
Bend feature Right-click on a bend feature:
  • Switch to junction: switch to a junction feature type with a gap between adjacent flanges.
  • Switch to lofted bend: switch to a lofted bend feature.
Lofted Bend feature Right-click on a lofted bend feature:
  • Switch to junction: switch to a junction feature type with a gap between adjacent flanges.
  • Switch to bend: switch to a bend feature.
Wrong Bend feature Right-click on a wrong bend feature:

Repair feature: repair a wrong bend feature by creating a bend feature with proper geometry, if possible.
Bend Relief feature Right click on bend relief feature:

Switch to smooth/round/rip: switch a bend relief to the selected feature type.
Corner relief feature Right-click on corner relief feature:

Switch to V-type/circular: switch a corner relief feature to the selected feature type.
Junction feature Right-click on junction feature:
  • Switch to bend: switch to a bend feature.
  • Switch type of the feature: switch the alignment mode between symmetrical and aligned with one of the flanges.
Miter feature Right-click on miter feature:
Form feature Right-click on form feature:
  • Select same feature: select all form features of the same type in the model.
  • Explode to flanges and bends: explode a form feature into a set of flanges and bends, if possible.
  • Repair feature: recalculate the insertion point of a form feature.
  • Replace...: display the Open dialog box in order to choose a replacement form feature.
Tab feature Right-click on tab feature:
  • Switch to bend: convert a tab feature to a bend feature
  • Switch to junction: convert a tab feature to a junction feature
T-junction feature Right-click on T-junction feature:

Switch to T-tab: convert a T-junction feature to a T-tab feature.
T-tab feature Right-click on T-tab feature:

Switch to T-Junction: convert a T-tab feature to a T-junction feature.
Feature Properties Description
Common property:

Name: the name of the selected sheet metal feature. Optionally type a name for the feature. The default name of a feature is the feature type plus an increment, for example, Flange_1, Flange_2, ...
Flange feature Click a flange feature:

Thickness: current thickness. The value is read-only; it equals the sheet metal component thickness property.
Bend feature Click a bend feature:
  • Angle: current angle of the bend feature; can be changed by the SMFLANGEROTATE command.
  • Radius: current bend radius.
  • Radius type:
    • Thickness ratio: ratio of thickness multiplied by a coefficient.
    • Absolute value: the global value (main sheet metal component properties).
    • Use global value: effective value of the parameter is taken from Sheet Metal context
  • Neutral Surface: Sets the neutral surface for given bend:
    • Global: use global K Factor or Bend Table
    • K Factor : override neutral surface by defining K Factor
    • Bend Allowance (BA) : override neutral surface by defining Bend Allowance
    • Bend Deduction (BD) : override neutral surface by defining Bend Deduction
    • Bend Table : override neutral surface by defining Bend Table
Bend relief Click a bend relief feature:
  • Relief type: current relief type; either rectangular, smooth, round or rip.
  • Width: width of the cut near the bend; either global, thickness ratio or absolute.
Corner relief Click a corner relief feature:
  • Relief type: current relief type; either rectangular 2 bends, rectangular, v-type or circular.
  • Width: width of the cut near corner; either global, thickness ratio or absolute.
Junction feature Click a junction feature:
  • Junction gap: gap between 2 adjacent flanges.
  • Junction gap type: either global, thickness ratio or absolute.
  • Connection type: control the relative position of adjacent flanges; either symmetric or adjacent to one of the flanges.
  • Junction alignment: control the position of the faces of a junction feature;
    • global
    • enabled (aligned with the corresponding corner relief feature faces)
    • disabled.
Miter feature Click a miter feature:
  • Miter gap: gap between the side faces of the miter.
  • Type: either thickness ratio or absolute.
Form feature Click a form feature:
  • Component name: name of form feature component definition.
  • Parameters: contains the parameters of a parametric sheet metal form feature.
Bevel feature Click a bevel feature:
  • Bevel type: defines a type of the bevel, depending on the geometry. Possible values: one-side, land, X- and K- bevel. Upon a bevel type, parameters may alter.
  • Side bevel: parameters of chamfer on one side of this bevel.
  • Orthogonal bevel: parameters of orthogonal side.