Hi all!
I need to model a shape that is giving me a lot of trouble on Solidworks!
This shape is a " tower of babel " spring, it is a flat spiral that is pushed axially.
Concretely, this is the shape that appears if you push 1.5mm in the center of this shape:
Do you have any idea how to draw it?
A big thank you in advance,
Youngest child
With the image it's easier!
Sorry, the message went out too quickly! I modified it with the image in question
If I understood correctly, you draw a circle (the one with the smallest Ø)
Then insert, curve/spiral and you tick at the bottom conical helix:
Hello @benjamin_co
Is it
1°) you want to have the flat shape that will deform under the pressure
2°) the deformed spiral which would become flat under the action of the thrust, in the opposite direction of the deformation.
You will have to make the flattening easier if you do it with the sheet metal module.
You should specify what you want to do precisely because there is another solution.
Kind regards
Hi everyone! Thank you very much for the feedback, I'm looking to see if I'm doing well with this feature!
Well I'm still struggling!
The shape is quite complex because in the "pressed" position (=mounted) the central pad is pushed against another part, therefore constrained // to the basic plane of the sheet.
Indeed, it may be easier via the sheet metal module.
I'm studying that tonight!
Actually
Hello
If you come back to us after having struggled, remember to put a sketch, image of what you want. The visual is often easier to understand.
Hello
If there are two positions in your shape, one "depressed" and another "depressed", you should probably go to one configuration of the assembly with a "depressed" configuration with the // constraint active (and the configured shape "depressed") and in the other configuration "not depressed" this constraint would not be active (and the shape configured "not pressed"). This way, you will be able to control both states at your leisure.
Regarding the sheet metal module, I doubt that it will be useful in your case since it is a 3D shape. The sheet metal module only handles straight bends made with a bending machine. We always stay on expandable shapes (hence the unfolded configuration automatically calculated at the end of the tree)
Yes, the sheet metal module is excluded in this case. It can only be used if the range radius is constant and the spiral is a curve with a variable radius.
With a little hacking you can bypass the sheet metal module. The solution is given by Pierre a little earlier. Use the configurations and hide/show them, depending on what you want to show.
See my example. That is my understanding of what has been said.
Babbel.SLDPRT ( 384.3 KB)
It's still a hack but it can help.
Sorry Soring, your example is not a hack but a good solution. When it doesn't want to go through the door, the window sometimes works.
I just allowed myself to complete it a little bit with another possibility. In my attached file (SW2019) I added a " Stone " configuration with two sub-configurations that are differentiated by the angle of the cone supporting the deformed spring. To make the setting of it more user-friendly, I have created a global variable that is configured. For the flattened shape the angle is 90° and for the pressed shape you just have to put the desired angle in the equation editor. Of course, using the tangent function it would have been possible to control the height rather than the angle.
I also used the thicken function that I would have preferred to avoid using the thin extrusion option but this is not offered for an extrusion based on a 3D sketch.
Have a nice day
Babbel comes up modified. SLDPRT (380.1 KB)
Yes, I used the sweeping of a line to get the conical or spiral helix on the surface.
By analogy with the sheet metal module, I have considered that the unfolded length is that of the middle surface of the sheet. So to get the sheet metal I thickened in both directions.
To be closer to reality, the swept section would have to be perpendicular to the propeller
