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Modeling bent wire

  • Thread starter Thread starter CarnigRing
  • Start date Start date
C

CarnigRing

Guest
Could anyone give me some tips on modeling bent wire products? I've been using simple intersect curves and sweeps so far. The problem is that this can get a little tricky to modify specific dimensions and is a bit unrealistic as it relates to the forming process. For example, something that should be a radius may actually be an ellipse in Pro. Additionally, it would be great to “unbend” the wire and find a starting length. Thanks in advance.
 
You can use the pipe feature (insert > Advanced > Pipe...). Define the points using equations in Excel. Then import them via a *.pts file to create the array. Once created, you can "update" the array at any time and paste new point locations out of Excel into the update dialog (notepad). If you look at the feature info for a pipe feature, it will report the overall length. But this isn't a parameter. Datum Evaluate features can be used to measure trajectory lengths.
There are no tools to unbend a wire like you would sheet metal. But all you really need is the overall length.
 

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