Someone sent me a box shaped file that looks like a sheet metal part, in the iges format. She wants me to “flatten it out” in Solidworks.
Is my thinking wrong, or if this model was created in Solidworks, why wouldn’t it had been sent to me in the sldprt format? That being said, am I also on the right track thinking that this was probably drawn using another CAD system, maybe Catia, or Rhino, or Pro-E? If the latter is true, can a model drawn in one system be edited on another system? I really do not understand the functionality of the different formats used, iges, slt stp etc, other than if something was drawn in Rhino, for example, it can be saved as an iges and opened in Solidworks, but for viewing only? I do know that they are sometimes referred to as “dumb solids”. I see that there is no design tree, just the word “Imported”.
If someone would kindly explain the functions of all the formats used, and the limits involved, I would most certainly appreciate it. This principle has alluded me for some time now.
Thank you, and sorry for the long winded query,
Regina Alden
Ash 4:59 pm on March 18, 2010 Permalink
IGES and STEP (STP) and STL are probably the most common outputted file formats from ProE and Solidworks. Even though the geometry imported into your part is static (dumb solid) you can still modify it by adding cuts or boss features. If your imported geom is infact a Solid body (I hope it is), then you might be able to Flatten it by clicking on a flat surface and go to Insert –> Sheetmetal –> Bends and pray that it works.
Or what you can do is right click on the feature in the model tree and go to Feature Works and see if this function can decode the part, giving you features in your model tree to make the file parametric (not just a dumb solid anymore). It can be a crap shoot if this works or not.
It should work if your part file is not too complex.
If your imported feature is 3D curves then you won’t be able to do much since it won’t be solid geometry to work with. If your imported feature are surface patches, then you will have work to do to get your part solid in order to flatten it.
Hope this helps a little.
Anna Wood 6:49 pm on March 20, 2010 Permalink
Regina,
You can see what CAD system output the iges file (works for step files too) by opening the file in Windows Notepad and reading the header info.
IGES and STEP files are plain text files.
Cheers,
Anna
regina 7:30 am on March 22, 2010 Permalink
Thank you so much Ash and Anna Wood. Due to there being compound bends , radii and bumps probably put in using forming tools, on the part, I was unable to un-bend it, but at least now I have a general picture of what I am dealing with, thanks to you both.
Regina Alden