helical sweep in NX4?
helical sweep in NX4?
(OP)
In NX4, every time I try to sweep a section along any type of curve, the section twists along the way in an unexpected way, and I get a weird twisted solid. It's been a few versions ago since I've been at a CAD terminal regularly, so either I'm dreaming, or it used to be really easy to do a swept section along a guide in previous versions of UG.
Right now I'm trying to sweep a simple triangle section up a helix, such that the triangle section turns along the helix (i.e. the inside point of the triangle always stays on the inside for one full revolution. Any suggestions on how to approach this?
Thanks.
Right now I'm trying to sweep a simple triangle section up a helix, such that the triangle section turns along the helix (i.e. the inside point of the triangle always stays on the inside for one full revolution. Any suggestions on how to approach this?
Thanks.





RE: helical sweep in NX4?
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
NX Product Line
UGS Corp
Cypress, CA
http://www.ugs.com
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/
RE: helical sweep in NX4?
RE: helical sweep in NX4?
RE: helical sweep in NX4?
Somewhat off-topic, somewhat on-topic:
Given that it's obvious (at least to me) that new users constantly struggle with what are simple Sweeps in competing softwares, are there any plans to revamp the current Sweep command in NX so that the user can expect to get the oriented sweep like the above? If not, then would you feel it would be such a bad idea to break the Sweep command down a little further....or should I ask how would UGS development feel about that?
I understand the need to have multiple types of Sweeps, or the additional options, but it appears to me that many users struggle to figure out that magic little trick of choosing the correct orientation. Maybe come up with a new Advanced Sweep that allows for all the other sweep types or choices but make the current FFF Sweep the feature that does a little more assuming or as simple as possible as far as the orientation is concerned.
I rarely see novice CATIA users struggle as much with the Sweep command compared to NX, and there is far less interaction with the dialogs as well. Yes, I know the dialogs are changing in NX but it's not really the dialogs that introduce the confusion, but more along the lines of what is required user input in order to produce a final shape. I guess the real question is could the whole Sweep definition (for simple sweeps only) be simpler for situations like above in NX or is it as simple as it can get the way it is now?
Not bashing or criticizing, just throwing around ideas based on experiences with other softwares
Tim Flater
Senior Designer
Enkei America, Inc.
www.enkei.com
Some people are like slinkies....they don't really have a purpose, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.
RE: helical sweep in NX4?
Now longterm, all of these complex surface/free form functions are being reviewed for seriuos and more fundimental rearchatecting, but for now, we're trying to get to a certain level of consistency first and then we'll work on the more detailed aspects.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
NX Product Line
UGS Corp
Cypress, CA
http://www.ugs.com
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/
RE: helical sweep in NX4?
RE: helical sweep in NX4?
Granted, this 'Show Results' may not be as nice or as efficient as a true dynamic preview, but it does provide some of the benefits and it is being applied in a more consistent and broadly available manner than when it was the old 'Confirm Upon Apply' which you had to trigger at the start of the process whereas now this option will become available when the system is able to perform the operation at the same time the OK button goes 'Green'. And over time, we will continue to add, in addition to the 'Show Results' a true 'Preview' option, to as many modeling operations as possible.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
NX Product Line
UGS Corp
Cypress, CA
http://www.ugs.com
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/
RE: helical sweep in NX4?
Have there been changes to the Align by Points option. I remember struggling with this once while doing a complex sweep with 12 sections and having to pick blend point one for each section then pick blend point two for all sections and so on. I had to set up a screen layout to do this efficiently but even then it was annoying. It would be nice if these could be defined for each section and have the point numbers shown on screen for each section.
Michael
RE: helical sweep in NX4?
In NX 5, we have taken what we did for the NX 4 Surface Thru Curves and implemented a similar scheme for BOTH Surface Thru Curves and Free Form Swept. What it does is automatically create a series of points, based on the shapes and number of curves in each section. These 'points' are displayed with a sort of rubber-banded line connecting the points on each section with the corresponding point on the next section. And while in this 'point alignment' mode, the user is allowed to drag the points along their part of the section curves so that you can define the exact alignment you desire. I think this will go a long way to make this sort of control more usable and should result in more predicatable model shapes.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
NX Product Line
UGS Corp
Cypress, CA
http://www.ugs.com
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/