Welds - custom feature script

urszula_wachulska

Hello,

nDraft team has developed a prototype of a tool which creates models of weld connections in welded constructions. For now it’s just a sample of what we plan it to be.

On our blog you can read more about our purposes and advantages of modeling weld connections:   https://goo.gl/y5ksvY

We are going to expand this feature script with:

• other types of weld connections,

• weld connections according to other standards,

• geometric data of weld connections and limitation of use included in the csv file

We would like to know the opinions of other constructors and technologists. Any comments about how this feature script works or ideas which would be worth to implement will be appreciated.

If you are enthusiastic about Onshape feature scripts - we are open to cooperation on writing the other functions.

Script can be found here: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/4d1e11aaa3728e4140753327/v/6fce43854572504287864f1c/e/24552dcb22a189d765aa6993

Vierhout

I love this! I have asked onshape several times for this. I hope you continued with the development of this!

I also use it (in Autodesk Inventor) to provide complex assemblies with assemblies and parts of welds. This allows detailed Welding FEA analysis/calculations to be made in FEA / Simsolid programs. Are you going to apply it also in Onshape Assemblies?

Keep up the good work!

bill_daniels

Very valuable work!

[Deleted User]

This is excellent. I would use a lot. I use welds a lot in SWX. Would be good to be able to go around a boss. 

emagdalenaC2i

@urszula_wachulska You should create a free repository on GitHub so that other developers like us can work on it.

MBartlett21

And merge it to Onshape when you want to create a version

bill_daniels

Possibly a silly and difficult to implement request but could you add weld texture like scalloped lines so it's clear to someone looking at the model that the fillet is actually a weld and not a machined surface?

emagdalenaC2i

@mbartlett21Of course

Actually I think this could be a good example to create a project open to all programmers who want to collaborate.

We could take the nDraft's code as starting point and create some branches for the main development lines and use PR (Pull request) so anyone can collaborate.

@urszula_wachulskaif you do not have experience with GitHub, we can create an open repository and help you. We currently have more than 100 repositories (most open) and we have a lot of experience in GitHub https://github.com/Change2improve

emagdalenaC2i

Here you can see a video of a similar project we did before
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCjkPs2fGp0

@bill_daniels actually Onshape don't support textures but it will be easy to set a defined appearance, and even a user customized appearance

MBartlett21

@emagdalenaC2i

I have created a weld feature that will take faces as input, and it can handle weld gaps and non-90-degree angles
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/7c7042b84e1ae5b391af796f

emagdalenaC2i

Ok, let's wait and see what the people of nDraft thinks.

Personally I would like to create an open repository in GitHub for a project like this, which may have many options and many people interested in contributing.

If it is not with this project it can be with any other

NeilCooke

Forgive my github ignorance, but couldn’t you just request edit access then create your own branches?

MBartlett21

@NeilCooke
We can't merge very well for Feature Studios

emagdalenaC2i

Well, @NeilCooke actually Onshape branches and versions use the same philosophy than GitHub...

But the only way I can figure out creating a kind of PR (Pull request) in an Onshape document, approve it and merge is... Using the Release management ;-)

Unfortunately, although all possible collaborators could have Onshape Professional accounts, we belong to different companies...
So, maybe Onshape could add the Release management system to the Standard / Free accounts 

[Deleted User]

mbartlett21 said:

@emagdalenaC2i

I have created a weld feature that will take faces as input, and it can handle weld gaps and non-90-degree angles
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/7c7042b84e1ae5b391af796f

That good as the ndraft uses an edge and Left a gap between the weld bead and Plate as I had a clearance gap. 

MBartlett21

@emagdalenaC2i
Here is mine in a repository:
https://github.com/mbartlett21/weld-featurescript

urszula_wachulska

hello everyone,

we would like to thank you for your interest. All comments are appreciated.

Lately we have been quite busy with finishing an important project as well as preparing quite demanding but rewarding bid offer. All of this caused we had to sideline our weld featurescript for awhile.

Now this crazy deadlines time has calmed down a little bit and we are back on track with welds feature. We collect some more data on weld connections, to ensure appropriate substantive level. On friday we will respond more accurately on your comments.

urszula_wachulska

Vierhout said:

I also use it (in Autodesk Inventor) to provide complex assemblies with assemblies and parts of welds. This allows detailed Welding FEA analysis/calculations to be made in FEA / Simsolid programs. Are you going to apply it also in Onshape Assemblies?

As far as I know, custom features scripts in Onshape work in part studios only. But weld connections can be inserted to assembly as every other part.

For calculations we usually prepare different models of our constructions. We do this by creating another part studio, then we derive parts from original one and merge them using "boolean" command.

Will that work for you? If not, please let me know more specifically what do you need.

urszula_wachulska

Ben_Bartlett said:

That good as the ndraft uses an edge and Left a gap between the weld bead and Plate as I had a clearance ga

We used edges with the thought about v-butt welds - to show which edge should be machined to create necessary bevel.

Our welds custom feature scripts was just a sample - we wanted to show you what we want to do, so it has many limitations.

urszula_wachulska

mbartlett21 said:

@emagdalenaC2i

I have created a weld feature that will take faces as input, and it can handle weld gaps and non-90-degree angles
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/7c7042b84e1ae5b391af796f

We really like your weld custom feature! Great work!

urszula_wachulska

@mbartlett21 @emagdalenaC2i @NeilCooke

As to collaboration:

If it is possible we would like if Onshape team could create for us a development project / document which we could admin. This way we could create a team of collaborators from different companies and keep everything under control. After finishing some stage we could create a public version.

If this is not possible, we can work in public project or go for this GitHub. But in my opinion public project could create some mess. And about GitHub I must say, that I am not familiar with it. I am just a  mechanical engineer not a programmer. Could you tell me something more on how it works and how you see working there?

When programming in gitHub do we get prompts from Onshape? (not sure if i said it properly, what I mean is: when I start typing a command in feature script studio possible commands appear and I find it really helpful)

emagdalenaC2i

@urszula_wachulska

urszula_wachulska said:

If it is possible we would like if Onshape team could create for us a development project / document which we could admin.

You don't need Onshape's assistance to do that. You can create a team in Onshape and share the Welds document with all programmers who request permission to collaborate.

urszula_wachulska said:

And about GitHub I must say, that I am not familiar with it. I am just a  mechanical engineer not a programmer. Could you tell me something more on how it works and how you see working there?

When programming in gitHub do we get prompts from Onshape? (not sure if i said it properly, what I mean is: when I start typing a command in feature script studio possible commands appear and I find it really helpful)

GitHub is not a programming environment or IDE. GitHub is a web-based hosting service for version control using Git. It is mostly used for computer code.
So you would continue programming inside a FeatureStudio in Onshape, in the same way as the other programmers who collaborate in this project. Each programmer can work on their own document in Onshape.

When a programmer makes an improvement or modification in the code, they can upload the code to GitHub and create a PR (pull request). This PR system is more or less like the Release workflow in Onshape. Therefore, you can approve (merge) that PR and create a new version in the Onshape document whenever you want with all the added improvements.

You can take a look at @mbartlett21 repository
https://github.com/mbartlett21/weld-featurescript

I have created a fork of that repository (it is like a copy) https://github.com/Change2improve/weld-featurescript
and have created a new branch (more or less like Onshape's branches) https://github.com/Change2improve/weld-featurescript/tree/Spanish-translation
then I have change the code and create a new PR (pull request) https://github.com/mbartlett21/weld-featurescript/pulls

In that PR you can see the proposed changes or improvements https://github.com/mbartlett21/weld-featurescript/pull/1/files
That is more or less like when you compare two versions or branches in Onshape, but showing the differences in the code instead of the differences in the design.



@mbartlett21 Please, don't merge that stupid PR ;-)

So, bottom line: Onshape is a great application for design and Feature Studios are a great IDE to create custom FeatureScripts features. But Onshape don't provide a release management system that can handle changes in the code of a Feature Studio.

MBartlett21

@emagdalenaC2i
I have just updated the repository from Onshape
PS: You now have some pull requests on your branches

@urszula_wachulska
Public documents only mean that everyone can view it and not edit (unless it is explicitly shared with them)

When programming in GitHub, we will not get popups like Onshape.
You can edit it in Onshape, then copy it into GitHub, where it will work out all the insertions and deletions.
It also will then merge better

emagdalenaC2i

@urszula_wachulska

Here you can see all the code history https://github.com/mbartlett21/weld-featurescript/commits/master

emagdalenaC2i

And the last changes https://github.com/mbartlett21/weld-featurescript/commit/9709dd6b3a47c452bbedbed8e7fb02adccdc70b3

urszula_wachulska

@emagdalenaC2i @mbartlett21 Thanks for explanation!

This looks great, let's do it

Since you are much more proficient in this I hope one of you will take care of this release management, ok?

How about I will send you on monday more detailed plan on what we would like this feature to look like? We will discuss it then and share work?

emagdalenaC2i

@mbartlett21 If you agree we can use you repository in GitHub

@urszula_wachulska you can create one or more issues in the repository https://github.com/mbartlett21/weld-featurescript/issues

Issues can be used to:

- Comment or request new features or improvements of existing ones

- Report errors, so even a non-programmer user can report an issue

This is the usual way for the programmers involved in this project to communicate and define the functionalities to be added.

I have already created an Issue to discuss what improvements could be included in a first version. https://github.com/mbartlett21/weld-featurescript/issues/2

MBartlett21

@emagdalenaC2i
I have just added you as collaborator

@urszula_wachulska
Do you have a github account?

urszula_wachulska

I have just created one. My username is: ula-w

MBartlett21

I have added you as a collaborator. You may need to accept the invite.