Sheet metal development into a 2D shape

ricardo_raimondo

Gents, I have the simple surface of a wing, the result of a surface loft, and I need to "flatten" it to laser cut the material that I will use for the model. I never worked with sheet metal before, and even less using OnShape. Is there any tool in OnShape that I can use to produce this job?
For better clarification, here is the link to the public document: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/7560d4fd6d64071c055519ec/w/bc18b33c15389bd046f1f5b8/e/a7230748955b6eadc41d2afe

S1mon

There is currently no lofted sheet metal tool. Depending on how accurate you need the flat pattern to be, you could simplify the shape, turn that into sheetmetal, flatten and add a little extra material to trim.

glen_dewsbury

Here is a way to get flat sections with out simplifying the shape. You'll still have to work out shaping (bend or roll or both) after the fact.
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/e3f2dce75562bcbd7b431025/w/e2e221a00617964fdf459129/e/397840086800be1ece0ba6bc

Oliver_Couch

FYI most sheet metal CAD tools assume constant cross section of the sheet metal when bending (ie. no necking or bulging when bending) which is true when the bends are fairly large radius. If you have a complex shape at all (particularly the case with formed parts like wing ribs) it won't handle converting it to a flat pattern. You would need to use specialised FEA for that.

To use the sheet metal tool your wing would have to be constant profile, I believe you'd need to approximate your aerofoil with arcs, and recreate it using various radius bends (someone correct me if I'm wrong!)

ricardo_raimondo

glen_dewsbury said:

Here is a way to get flat sections with out simplifying the shape. You'll still have to work out shaping (bend or roll or both) after the fact.
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/e3f2dce75562bcbd7b431025/w/e2e221a00617964fdf459129/e/397840086800be1ece0ba6bc

Thank you Glen. This method I used for my current product build, and is not good enough because the angles between the front and sides and the rear and sides are messed up. It is a good approach but not good enough. (I may be beyond picky, but that is my expectation).

Oliver, I agree with you, as real-life facts endorse your point. I will have to check if Pro-e can do that.

Simon, although I wouldn't say I like all the idea of trimming, it seems that at this point, this is the only reasonable solution. 

Thank you all for taking the time to respond to this thread and for your suggestions and explanations.
Have a good weekend.