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Creating Expanded Metal Mesh

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Message 1 of 11
GSE_Dan_A
29165 Views, 10 Replies

Creating Expanded Metal Mesh

Hello all,

 

As my journey through Inventor 2012 continues, I have the task of creating Expanded Metal Mesh.I have the basic sketch of the shape and all is well.  My question is how to pattern the sketch of the shape so that I dont have to copy or mirror over 100 of these sketches/outlines to form the pattern?  Essentially I want my mesh to fill in a 30' x 30' square.


Thanks all!

GSE Consultants Inc.
Windsor, ON. Canada
10 REPLIES 10
Message 2 of 11
jtylerbc
in reply to: GSE_Dan_A

There are textures and color styles available in Inventor to "fake" expanded metal, without actually modelling it.  Unless there is a specific reason you need the real geometry, I'd recommend using them (modifying as needed) to create your mesh.  I used a sketch to create some geometry to use as a guide for scaling the texture to achieve the size I wanted.

 

Cutting the real geometry uses up a lot of memory, so don't do it unless you really need to.

 

If you need accurate weights, you can create a material style with a density that produces the average weight of the material (which you should be able to get from your supplier, probably in lb / sq ft).

 

I've set this up for a couple of our commonly used sizes (will add more as needed).  I've attached one as an example.  This version is set up for #9, 3/4" flattened expanded metal.  I've also changed the primary color of the texture to Red (from the default Gray version), since most of our equipment is painted red.

Message 3 of 11
GSE_Dan_A
in reply to: jtylerbc

Essentially I need it to show how we are welding it to our frame.  So I suppose just a texture would infact work.  Also I am using the exact same size 3/4 #9F.  I tried opening your attachment with no luck.  Thanks for your reply!

GSE Consultants Inc.
Windsor, ON. Canada
Message 4 of 11
JDMather
in reply to: GSE_Dan_A


@GSE_Dan_A wrote:

 I tried opening your attachment with no luck. 


When you download tell it to save as Screen.ipt rather than that long name.


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Message 5 of 11
GSE_Dan_A
in reply to: JDMather

Thanks JD!
Now as far as scale is concerned, how accurate is it?  I need it to be fairly accurate because I need to determine if my frame needs to be adjusted in order to allow the Metal Mesh to be welded properly (based on standard metal mesh sheet sizes). 

Also the texture does not show up in my idw... this is where I need it to show as I would like to show how the mesh is welded.  Thanks again guys for your help.... much appreciated!

GSE Consultants Inc.
Windsor, ON. Canada
Message 6 of 11
jtylerbc
in reply to: GSE_Dan_A

I would describe it as "visually close," but won't guarantee dimensional accuracy.  I took the opening width from some specs I had, drew a sketch with a line that long, and scaled the texture until it was close enough to look right.  For my purposes, that's really all that was required.

 

The weight is correct, though.  In fact, the only reason it is modeled as 12" x 12" was to verify the weight against the specs.

 

With regards to the drawing, you are correct.  It will not show up unless you use shaded views on the drawing.  On the drawings where we show these types of screens, our views typically are shaded anyway, so it's not a problem for us.

Message 7 of 11
GSE_Dan_A
in reply to: jtylerbc

Hmmm that may be problematic... Ill have to see what the boss says Smiley Very Happy

I will admit it does look pretty fancy!  Thanks again jtylerbc and JD!

GSE Consultants Inc.
Windsor, ON. Canada
Message 8 of 11
mcgyvr
in reply to: GSE_Dan_A

Applying a hatch pattern in the IDW might be a decent workaround versus having to shade the view... Autodesk really needs to give us some better functionality for this.. Forcing a shaded view is not a proper solution IMO.



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Message 9 of 11
JDMather
in reply to: GSE_Dan_A


@GSE_Dan_A wrote:

Thanks JD!
Now as far as scale is concerned, how accurate is it? 


 

You can create your own color (texture) and scale it to be fairly accurate if it is not already close.

 


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Message 10 of 11
GSE_Dan_A
in reply to: JDMather

I placed the Metal Mesh view over the frame view in my drawing so I only had to shade view the metal mesh... looks pretty good!

 

See pic below for end result

GSE Consultants Inc.
Windsor, ON. Canada
Message 11 of 11
joemapes6629
in reply to: GSE_Dan_A

If you have a autocad hatch pattern it can be used in your inventor drawing also.

I use my expanded metal hatch pattern in my inventor drawings.

Create a sketch in the drawing view you want to use the hatch pattern in.

Use project geometry to create the hatch boundry and insert the hatch pattern of your choice.

 

when prompted to sellect a hatch pattern select OTHER.

In the select hatch pattern pane select LOAD and navigate to the ACAD.PAT file stored on your computer.

Select the required hatch pattern and load it

 

see the attached image

 

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