Continue to Site

Welcome to MCAD Central

Join our MCAD Central community forums, the largest resource for MCAD (Mechanical Computer-Aided Design) professionals, including files, forums, jobs, articles, calendar, and more.

Flexible parts?

PSL_Lopes

New member
Hi!

I want to know if ist's possible make the parts flexibles in the assemble. Individual they are rigids, but we want to fold the piece.

It's possible?

Thanks
 
Unfortunately it is not possible to make parts flexible in solidworks. It is not really possible in any "serious" modelling software where the intention is to create a design where e.g. the dimensions, surface curvature, etc. is defined, so that the data could then be taken on further to e.g. manufacture.So no shirts, no flags waving in the wind, no bouncing balls.


In the real world those bendy parts are made in a fixed form - the ball that can bounce is made in a spherical mold!


There is a limited capability to be able to deal with the concept of flexible parts. For example, configurations can deal with modified geometry, and this can approximate to bending parts.


There is an example of a "morphing bottle" on the Solidworks website that can be made to change shape from a coca-cola bottle to a much shorter and fatter bottle, and the technique (a not-too-easy to set-up technique involving modifying acurve and then capturing its intersection on a surface, I believe) gives a result that is something like flexible.
 
I have to disagree with Chris. As a former (recovering?) Pro/E user, I was very familiar with flexible parts. I think Pro/E is still considered serious!


Flexible partswere especially useful for modeling a compressed spring in place without interference. But it could also be used for modeling a flexible assembly, where a mirror or some other piece is "swiveled" one way or another depending on its location in the next higher assembly.


The fabrication modeling was identical for the various uses (think uncompressed spring), but when used in an assembly, it was "flexed" (think compressed spring).


It's one thing I definitely wish SolidWorks had...


Peter
 

Sponsor

Articles From 3DCAD World

Back
Top