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Holes Around a Spiral
albert_esteruelas
Member Posts: 8 PRO
Helo,
I'm trying to do a SheetMetal model that has a spiral shape and has lots of holes around all the surface. Although tricky, I've managed to get something close to what I want.
The problem is that Onshape is unable to compute all the holes I'm asking it to do. I've tried a Sketch with Linear Pattern inside the sketch, outside the sketch, Linear Pattern of a few holes… My question is, according to theory, which would be the least compute-heavy problem? Onshape refuses to do what I'm asking it to do. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.
Anyways, any help is appreciated!
Comments
Can you share your document? or a picture of what you're modeling or trying to achieve?
Like this? Agree a picture would be helpful. Usually part patterns < feature patterns<sketch patterns for regen time I think. You could test your regen times with different methods and check them with the 'show regeneration times' feature.
This is the SheetMetal. As represented in the image, there should be a matrix of holes all around. The regeneration time isn't a problem since the object can't even generate.
The steps I've followed are Spiral Sketch > Extrude SheetMetal > Sketch only the bottom row of the holes > Try to extrude the holes. As you can see in the image, onshape isn't very happy and can't extrude the first row of holes. The length of the spiral is roughly ~800mm, the height 45mm, holes diameter 1mm and distance between holes 2mm.
I'm afraid I can't share the document.
Thanks for your help
Like this?
@albert_esteruelas … like this?
Well yeah, but the holes are much frequent @john_lopez363. Also, keep in mind that all I'm doing this on a SheetMetal Solid, not a standard one. As stated before, the distance between holes should be roughly 2mm.
@MDesign the length of the SheetMetal should be around 800mm. This is a problem since there are 400 holes only in the first "layer" of holes.
I'm still trying to generate this 3D drawing and I believe it is a computing power related problem.
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/ad63cfeecf84d190cc31ddef/w/c75b3ab381ecee40f0fc36d5/e/1de690f9a65543f1ff340054
This is the file.
My example was only meant as proof of concept. Not for dimensional accuracy. I will post a revised image and explainanstion to show you my feature tree for you to replicate.
This has over 1150 holes so its not a compute problem. Essentially you create the whole thing as a solid without sheetmetal tools and then use the sheetmetal tool at the end to thicken just one face to your desired thickness. I tried doing the holes after converting to sheet metal but then it would be miserable trying to get the holes to line up once bent… which I assume not having them line up would negate the purpose of the holes anyway. but upon doing that I learned you could not pattern features in the flat pattern view. bummer. Disclaimer: I spent next to no time trying to replicate exact dimensions.
Thanks @MDesign for your help, but this doesn't solve the problem I had.
The holes on the SheetMetal don't need to line up. The part is composed of a patterned sheet that is bent afterwards; therefore, the holes don't need to line up. Also, since the holes are made before the bend, they can be evenly spaced with the same distance throughout the entire piece. This is why I'm insisting to make all the holes in the SheetMetal viewport.
TLDR: The holes don't need to line up but need to be evenly spaced.
In this case you will need to do the holes in flat pattern view, and utilize sketch patterns. It seems there's a limit of 100 for sketch patterns and I had to use 3 patterns to get enough holes. Problem is this creates a super long regen time as is the case with excessive sketch patterns. Flat pattern view won't let you feature pattern to take advantage of lower regen times. May be worth an improvement request if not already requested to support feature patterns in flat pattern view. I'm showing 216 sec to regen 1040 holes in a sketch. 😲
After trying for days, I've come to the conclusion that nowadays it is impossible to do a SheetMetal model of what I have in mind. I tried doing the same to a solid instead of a SheetMetal and Onshape managed to not crash in the process, but still faced difficulties. This is an image of what I was attempting to do in the SheetMetal module, which I ended up creating as a solid part. Although similar to the responses of previous comentators you can appreciate that the number of holes is far greater than the other's, probably the reason why Onshape isn't happy with this geometry.
Oh… didn't realize you wanted the whole thing perforated. I thought the pattern was specific to the edges. That's a lotta holes. That sets sketch patterns even farther away as a desirable means to an end. I'll try another method when I get a chance.
I wouldn't say impossible. Just have to be patient for the brain to compute everything. 10min for a single part seems extreme and begs the question, Is there a reason you need to show every single hole vs just a sample of them?
Yes, I need to simulate it, therefore it needs all the holes. It's just a shame how slow this piece is to draw. For the record, I attempted the same in other CAD software, and all of them failed trying it in their respective SheetMetal modules. In Onshape at least I could work around it and find an alternative. Anyway, thanks a lot!
For anyone wondering, these are my build times: