Week 9 - Challenge 2 - Switch Bezel Design

Aim: The objective of the project is to design the switch bezel and to do a draft analysis for it by creating the required tooling direction with the help of Bisecting method.

A switch bezel is a car part that contains switches and buttons to control different functions like window control, door lock, media, etc. It is located at the inner portion of the door. The procedure used to create the part was the same as the base bracket one. Class A surface was used to create the tooling axis. Class B surface was created at a distance equal to the thickness which was the identical surface of class A. Class C was formed as the wall of the model and then all three surfaces were joined together and draft analysis was carried out.

DESIGN CONSIDERATION:

Class – A surface should be aesthetically smooth and good.

Class – B surface should have all the supporting features like ribs.

Parting Line should coincide with the B surface since flashing couldn’t affect the aesthetic of Class – A.

Class – C surface should also pass the draft analysis.

EXPLANATION OF BISECTING METHOD: Bisecting method is used to find the proper tooling axis using the dummy tooling axis. In Bisecting method, the bisecting line is used which either bisects the two lines or it will show an error which means the two lines are parallel to each other. To know whether the particular surface is tolerable or not we intersect the surface with the respective plane and get a sketch that consists of two lines with the help of bisecting line option we bisect the line which creates a line at the midpoint of the two lines. Likewise, we create a tooling clearing axis for x and y which will be used to create the main tooling axis using the bisecting line option in the line command.

CREATION OF TOOLING AXIS:

Considering the Ejection from the cavity of the mold after manufacturing the interior trim (switch bezel) must have a nominal 3-degree draft angle. Hence the tooling direction is created by considering the factor and bisecting method is used.

The base surface of the class – A was extracted and a point at the center is created and an axis system was inserted into the topic with the current feature disabled. Then, using project intersection along the yz plane is created and the two inclined lines were drawn inside the positioned sketch.

The next step is to create an axis system on the surface with the created point as the origin. Create a newly positioned sketch with an axis system and Base surface and take the intersection of the Class A surface with the point. Draw two lines on two surfaces of the intersection. Then create a bisecting line for these lines and put the rest lines in construction mode leaving only the bisecting line. This is the tooling axis for the Y-direction. Similarly create a tooling axis for the X-direction (by creating the new sketch, intersecting it, then creating a line at an angle of 3 degrees from the top surface .) Now bisect these two lines that we got(tooling axis for y and x direction) with the point on the surface as a reference point. This line is the final tooling axis that we require. Change the color and thickness of this tooling axis as you want.

Then bisecting lines with the two inclined lines were drawn. Now the same procedure is done along the xz plane but on one side we don’t have inclined lines so the center point is used to extrude a line along the z-direction and gave a measurement of 3 to 6 degrees (Tentatively). With these two lines from sketches 1 and 2, the bisecting line is created and published as Tooling Axis(tooling direction).

CREATION OF CLASS B SURFACE:

For creating the class-B surface the required surface except the offset surface have been extracted and then untrimmed all the surface. Then all the surfaces have been extrapolated to get intersections between them. Since the thickness of the Switch bezel is 2.5 mm the B-Surface was offset to 2.5 mm and the required trim operations must be carried out. To get the radius of fillets the filleted surface is extracted and untrimmed the surface and then the radius is measured.

Trim all three walls. Extract the Base, untrim it, and insert in the new geometrical set. Then Extrapolate it. Offest the walls, the arm rest, and the base to 2.5 mm (thickness of the component) along the proper direction. Trim these surfaces to get the final results.

Finally, the required corners have been filleted to 12.5mm (15mm-2.5mm)[15mm - fillet value of the A-surface, 2.5mm – Thickness of the component] and 11.5mm (14mm-2.5mm) [14mm - fillet value of the A-surface, 2.5mm – Thickness of the component].

CREATION OF CLASS C SURFACE:

The required outer edges of the A-Surface were extracted using Multiple Extract. Then to avoid the patches the curve is smoothened using the Curve Smooth option. Then by using the sweep command, the surface was created with the following feature controls,

Profile type – Line

Subtype – With Draft Direction

Guide Curve – Smooth Curve

Draft Direction – Tooling Axis

Draft Computation Mode – Square

Angle – 3 Degree

Angle Sector – Positive Downward (1)

Length – 20mm

Then, using extrapolate command, the edges were intersected between the surface corners, which eases the trimming operation.

Now the required portion of the C – the surface was trimmed out.

CREATION OF CLOSED SURFACE:

Now the Class – A and Class- C surfaces were joined together by removing the gaps in between them with the help of extrapolation(tangent continuity) and Trim surface.

Then the exact surface of the Switch bezel was trimmed from the above-resulted trim surface with the class-B surface. Then, by defining the part body by using the Closed Surface command in Part Design, the component's solid body is created.

After completion of the above steps, we need to check the boundary connection of the closed surface and then shift to the PART Workbench and add the thickness using the closed surface.

PROCEDURE FOR DRAFT ANALYSIS:

First, the class-A – Surface is checked before creating the Class – B & C surface, and finally the solid body must be analyzed. Both can be done by following the below procedures.

By changing the view mode to custom view parameters – Material mode then the feature draft analysis is enabled.

Then the compass was activated and placed with the tooling axis by dragging the red pointer and then locking it. Then, by selecting the quick analysis mode, the nominal value will be 3 degrees and checked for the component's draft angle.

The green color area shows that it satisfies the 3-degree draft angle. If not satisfied then by using the Running Point tool the area is measured and then altered to get a successful draft for the created tooling direction.

When we moved this option to different edges we found out that most of the edges have 3-degree drafts and appeared to be green and some surfaces have a 2 to 2.35-degree draft. So they appeared blue in color.

Isometric, Front, Side, and Top View

CONCLUSION: Finally, the Class – A, B & C surfaces with the Tooling Direction have been Published and the Switch Bezel is moved on to the designing of the next operation – the creation of B-side features.

ZIP FILE

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ppkyx-zHim4a8uJSG_BQCPcgaaC6trmF/view?usp=sharing