Complex Tube Routing [sweeps, multi-plane sketches, 3d sketches?]

charlie_garcia549

Hi folks,

I'm working on routing some tubes with some complex paths. I plan these routes by making a path and then sweeping a tube along it. The manufacturing process imposes a fixed bend radius I need to model in. There are multiple bend planes per tube. In Solidworks, the way I would have done this would have been a 3D sketch. Because it's a 3d sketch, I can filet the sketch (sweep centerline) with the appropriate centerline bend radius, and then sweep a single profile (bonus points because I can define the sketch with external references so tube routings update as other components move).

I figured out one workflow where I make a skeleton sketch, and then add a 3-point plane for each bend I want to do, and then do an in-plane sketch for each bend which did not get modelled in a sketch plane (i.e. any place where two sketches have a coincident point) but this significantly increases the overhead.

A simple case study part -

This tube has two bend planes. I created the sweep path in two sketches. The sketches were able to be joined along a colinear feature, so it only took two sketches to get everything fileted.

This part however will require additional sketches to filet because the two sketches don't join on a co-linear feature. I have some simple tube runs with non-planar strain relief bends which could easily require dozens of sketches using this method, which I'm not excited about.

Any thoughts on a better workflow?

Oliver_Couch

There are some custom features here that may help:

https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/11937/fillet-a-corner-of-2-lines-on-different-planes

NeilCooke

This is the way…

https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/24874/routing-curve-control-point-curve-introduction-of-two-new-features-for-3d-curve-creation/p1