Week 8 - Challenge 5 - Door Trim Lower

OBJECTIVE: To create the Door Trim Lower's Plastic Component using the Class A Surface that is provided. Desired Thickness of the Plastic Component is 2.5mm with 3.2 degrees as the Draft Angle.

Firstly, we have to create the required Tooling-Axis for the given Class A Surface while meeting the requirements of the necessary Draft Angle & then perform the Draft-Analysis Operation on the Class A Surface itself.

After that, we have to create the required Class B & Class C Surfaces using which we have to create the Final Plastic Component and perform Draft Analysis on it as well.

MAIN REPORT:

Types of Surfaces and their importance for an Automotive Plastic Designer:

• Class A Surface: Class A is an aesthetic surface with the highest quality finish. Most Class A Surfaces for an Automotive Component are made using 'Autodesk-Alias' based on the final Concept-Sketch. All Class A surfaces should have 'Curvature-Continuity' which means the continuity between the surfaces should share the same boundary. It is taken as a reference by the Automotive Plastic Designer to create 'Class B' and 'Class C' Surfaces.

• Class B Surface: The Class B Surface resides below the Class A Surface at a certain thickness. It is created using Engineering Principles that consist of all the necessary features such as Ribs, Bosses, Snaps, etc. This surface isn't visible to the observer from the outside.

• Class C Surface: The Class C Surface is the surface created between the Class A and Class B surface to join them with each other.

Now, we will begin by checking the State of Connectivity for the Class A Surface and ensure that there are no gaps between the surfaces as all the surfaces should be joined well together with each other and shouldn't consist of any discontinuities between them.

There are two methods to inspect the State of Connectivity for the Class A Surface:

1. Using the 'Join' Command' from the 'Operations Toolbar':

First, we'll click on 'Join Command' and select our Class A Surface. Then, we have to ensure that the 'Check Connexity' option is marked as shown in the images below. It will check for any gaps that may be present between our surfaces. Then, we'll click on the 'Preview' button and if it doesn't show any 'Connexity Error' on our surface then it means our surface is well-connected and there are no discontinuities between it.

2. Using the 'Boundary' Command' from the Operations Toolbar:

In this case, we have to click on the 'Boundary' command and then select the Class-A Surface. After that, we'll click on the 'Preview' button to highlight all the boundaries that are on the Class-A surface and check if there are any internal boundaries other than the outer edge boundaries.

PROCEDURE TO CREATE THE MAIN TOOLING AXIS:

There are two different methods that we can use to create the Main Tooling Axis for our Class A Surface. When we're trying to create our Main Tooling Axis we always have to focus on the direction in which we're going to create the Main Tooling Axis.

1. Using a Vertex to create a line along the axis which allows us to view all the holes & exposes the maximum surface area of the Class A Surface.
2. Using Inertia Method to find out the Center of Gravity and create a line along it.

First, we'll view the Class A Surface from all three axes to determine the most suitable axis along which the Main Tooling Axis can be created.

DRAFT ANALYSIS FOR THE CLASS A SURFACE USING THE MAIN TOOLING AXIS FROM THE FIRST METHOD:

Now, We will perform a Draft Analysis on the Class A Surface itself using the Main Tooling Axis created using the First Method:

Before starting with a Draft Analysis Operation, we will go to the 'Customize View Parameters' option under the 'View Toolbar'. Then we will enter the 'Customize View Mode' where we will go under the 'Mesh' option and select 'Material' and press 'OK'.

To start the Draft Analysis in the 'Generative Surface Design Workbench', we will go to 'Insert' and then look for the option called 'Analysis'. Once found, we will go under that and click on 'Feature Draft Analysis. This will open the 'Draft Analysis' Dialogue box. There, we will ensure that under 'Mode' we have selected 'Quick Analysis', under 'Display' we will select 'Show or Hide the Color Scale' and then select '3 Degrees' as the permissible draft angle. Then, under 'Direction' we will choose the icon with the symbol of the compass on it which stands for 'Use the Compass to define the new current draft direction'.

PROCEDURE TO CREATE THE CLASS B SURFACE:

We'll start the procedure by creating an offset for the entire Class A Surface at a distance of 2.5mm as that is the desired thickness for our final plastic component.
As this is a complex surface hence the offset will fail to offset every element according to our necessity. It'll select some sub-elements that belong to the filleted regions by themselves that we have to remove to get the rest of the surface that is offsetted.