Advanced Sheet Metal Design Using NX Cad Challenge_5_Odd Shaped Enclosure

Odd Shaped Enclosure Design using NX CAD Sheet Metal Application:

Objectives:

• To explain the Sheet Metal features and tools used while creating the Odd Shaped Enclosure in NX CAD
• To create an Odd Shaped Enclosure using Sheet Metal Application in NX CAD
• To create a Drawing of the Odd Shaped Enclosure in NX CAD

Introduction:

Sheet Metal: is a term used to refer to any metal with variable thickness, which can be bent and formed into complex shapes. Although having low weight to volume ratio, sheet metals have more strength and durability than plastics and other materials. They provide great applications in industries such as automotive, aerospace, defence, construction, consumer products, among others.

NX CAD: formerly known as NX Unigraphics, is a CAD/CAM/CAE software owned by Siemens Industries Software Inc., since 2007. It is a highly versatile software, especially for product development, wherein it finds its uses right from designing the product, to simulation studies, and even provides manufacturing solutions. Here, the Student Version of NX CAD is utilized for undertaking Sheet Metal Design.

The following Sheet Metal Features and Tools from NX CAD are used to design the Odd Shaped Enclosure:

• Extrude - is used to create a solid feature by extruding a section along a vector.
• Sheet Metal from Solid - is used to build a sheet metal model that takes the shape from a collection of planar faces of a solid.
• Flange - is used to add a flat flange at an angle to a planar face and adds a bend between the two.
• Jog - is used to lift material on one side of a sketch and to add a flange between the two sides.
• Unbend - is used to flatten a bend and the material adjacent to the bend.
• Bead - is used to lift an area of a model inside a sketch that simulates a stamping tool.
• Hole - is used to add a hole to a body with options for counterbore, countersunk, threaded, among others.
• Rebend - is used to restore an unbend feature to its previous bent state, along with any features added after the unbend feature.
• Flat Pattern - is used to create a flat pattern from the formed sheet of the metal part.

Design Methodology:

The usual approach for a Sheet Metal Design is as follows:

Description:

1. Create a sketch on the XZ plane.
   
2. Use Extrude command on the Sketch to create a solid.
   
3. Use Sheet Metal from Solid command and select all the web faces.
   
4. Hide the Solid feature and sketches for better visibility
   
5. Use Flange command to create a flange on one side
   
6. Create a Sketch on the other side
   
7. Use Jog command to lift the material and create a flange
   
8. Use Unbend command on the flat face of the part
   
9. Create beads on the unbent part using Bead command
   
10. Create holes using the Hold command, specifying the locations for the holes
    
11. Use Rebend command on all the unbent faces to get the final design
    
12. Use Flat Pattern command on the flat face of the part and import it into the drawing.

Images of the Odd Shaped Enclosure:

• Front View
  
• Top View
  
• Side View
  
• Isometric View
  

Drawing of the Odd Shaped Enclosure:

Conclusion:

• Hence, the Sheet Metal features and tools in NX CAD are explained.
• An Odd Shaped Enclosure is designed using Sheet Metal Application in NX CAD.
• A Drawing of the Odd Shaped Enclosure is created in NX CAD.