Unistrut Frame Profile(s)

brandon_nichols678

So I build a lot of stuff outta Unistrut™ a.k.a. channel strut, and I recall seeing an OnShape Frame feature tutorial using what I thought were channel strut profiles.

But alas I can find no channel strut in the standard libraries (the 8020 looks great!), and a search of the forums came up empty as well.

Always striving to not reinvent the wheel, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Brandon W. Nichols, PE
Seattle, Washington

glen_dewsbury

You can make your own Unistrut profiles for the frame tool. It won't produce slotted versions of course. That would need to be added after.

Draw sketch in it's own part studio ( can be configured) then look for the TAG tool to set them up. Probably wants it's own document making it easier to control and use in subsequent documents.

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/5e2bf792ada5f90b46d34836/w/fd683928a9281a219958e6ad/e/ed854352884d8d70207bfd9a

https://www.northstarindustries.ca/collections/unistrut/products/unistrut-p1000-20-pl-1-5-8-x-1-5-8-channel

brandon_nichols678

@glen_dewsbury thanks for the leg-up, your example doc was very helpful!

Ran with it to sketch both full depth and low profile channel profiles, and a configurable STRUT FRAME document with add-on slots

While this composite part layout sketch allows frames to be defined 'on demand' in any size with either profile, it is specifically designed to hit the centerline between slots if the #LN is held to even integers, and the #WD held to odd integers, allowing 1/8 of an inch clearance on each end of the contained parts, representing saw blade cut loss.

Result is an actual #LN equal to the nominal, and actual #WD that is 1/2 inch larger than nominal. the extra half inch resulting from two 1.625 width channel struts plus two 1/8 inch saw cut allowances, equaling 3.5 inches instead of value 3 used in config nominals. Most projects using channel strut have a tolerance on the order of ± 1/8 of an inch, so the saw cut losses are really immaterial

Fundamentally holding cut lengths to even integers wherever possible when designing with strut channel minimizes sawcut labor and material waste.

Bottom line, in STRUT FRAME the cut length of the uncontained members equals nominal #LN, and the cut length of the contained members is 3 inches less than nominal #WD..


Having some trouble populating 'Description' field in the composite part cut list, and determining if 'branched versioning' is the right way to handle 'on demand assembly configurations', but these are subjects of future discussions.

eric_pesty

I had a look at this coming from the other thread…

An alternate to using the frame tool is to just create a strut channel part with configurable length via a config variable and insert this in your assembly to create an assembly you can configure "on the fly" using config variable. I haven't setup the slots to adjust their location depending on the length as it takes a bit of math to setup but you could definitely do that…

You can also do the "low profile" channel as a configuration of your profile sketch, there is no need to duplicate it (for this or for the frame).

Also note that your mating scheme is… let's just say "suboptimal"! Using a circular pattern cuts the work in half but even without that you only need one mate per corner bkt:

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/51afdb6e53ee0b8ae409b61e/w/eeb8bfcda23536a115fffb13/e/ed1f46323536a4e49b4dc17c?configuration=Height%3D0.45720000000000005%2Bmeter%3BLow_Profile_%3Dtrue%3BWidth%3D0.5334000000000001%2Bmeter&renderMode=0&tangentEdgeStyle=1&rightPanel=configPanel&uiState=69ae309fd71bcbb5cee62ea6

Also you might want to have a look at how to do the auto naming of the strut as this would be applicable to the composite frame (if you prefer to use that option):