topic Re: Designing “ridges” on a curved surface in Fusion Design, Validate & Document Forum

Designing “ridges” on a curved surface

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 23:29:05 GMT

Hey there Fusion 360 rockstars! I’m new to designing in Fusion and have been grabbing my calipers and random objects around the house to test my progress. I’m at a sticking point with a stupid plastic cup. The cup itself was “easy” but I’ve hit a roadblock with these very fine ridges on the length of the cup. I’ve searched help topics and found “close but no joy” options. Each ridge is approx. 2mm in height, 1mm spacing, and 36 in total. I’ve tried points but 360 doesn’t seem to like the spacing, I’ve tried torus and paths but that was just a mess. Not looking for a complete solve because I like the challenge and you guys probably have better things to do. But if somebody can point me in the right direction, I’d be very appreciative!

-Sas

Re: Designing “ridges” on a curved surface

jeff_strater — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 00:02:05 GMT

This is a specific answer, and not a general one. Rather than think about the ridges after the fact, build them in from the start. This is a radially symmetric (or is it axially symmetric, I forget...) shape, which should imply Revolve. Draw the profile of the cup from a conceptually cut-away view, then revolve it. I'll try to work up an example here in a few mins...

Re: Designing “ridges” on a curved surface

jhackney1972 — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 00:02:43 GMT

I think my model has too many ridges at 36 and way too deep but I tried to follow your dimensions. I think the best way to approach is to uses surfaces. Model is attached.

Re: Designing “ridges” on a curved surface

davebYYPCU — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 00:06:11 GMT

Not many rock stars can see the detail in the photo.

Is it semi circles, in profile / cross section, or some other shape?

create the cross section, one bump one valley, and pattern it.

Might help...

Re: Designing “ridges” on a curved surface

jeff_strater — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 00:29:05 GMT

there are many ways to do this. Here is one way. I used a sketch pattern. Not usually recommended (I'll take some abuse for this, I'm sure...), but the instance count is pretty low, so it works OK. Feature pattern would be more complex here. Here is the sketch:

here is a closeup of one of the ridges:

then, I revolved the whole thing, and shelled it. For some reason, I had to shell outward, the inward failed. Not sure why:

the model is attached. Others have better approaches out there?

Re: Designing “ridges” on a curved surface

laughingcreek — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 00:49:24 GMT

I agree with everyone else.

-revolve the shape

-can't see the profile shape either

-use pattern

rare case of me suggesting a sketch pattern (you usually don't want to use sketch pattern.)

attached is my rendition. I put the pattern in a second sketch. makes things easier to manage. play around with the dims in the first sketch, (open the parameters dialog to change the number of ridges.)

Re: Designing “ridges” on a curved surface

jeff_strater — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 00:58:34 GMT

@laughingcreek , @jhackney1972 so, all 3 of us used sketch pattern. Is this one of the few cases where sketch pattern is a good idea? I struggled trying to think how to do this with a feature pattern, but because the ridges get smaller as they go down the cup, I'm not sure how to get them to adjust... It was easy with sketch pattern.

Re: Designing “ridges” on a curved surface

laughingcreek — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 01:12:13 GMT

@jeff_strater wrote:

...Is this one of the few cases where sketch pattern is a good idea? I struggled trying to think how to do this with a feature pattern, but because the ridges get smaller as they go down the cup, I'm not sure how to get them to adjust...

Good idea? not sure. works fine here, with a straight side profile. more challenging if things get curvy. definitely easiest for this example.

Also brings in to sharp focus the limitations of "pattern on path" in the design environment. would be nice if pattern on path had similar options as sweep (path with guide rail, scale/stretch, etc.).

Re: Designing “ridges” on a curved surface

laughingcreek — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 01:33:57 GMT

possible, but not easier with pattern on path.

and while we're at it, way does "pattern on path" insist on selecting the entire tangent chain for the path? most other commands allow for turning chaining off. Always have to go through extra hi-jinx to isolate the path so it starts and stops at the right spot.

Re: Designing “ridges” on a curved surface

TheCADWhisperer — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 17:18:57 GMT

Be sure to consider Design for Manufacturability (mold release face draft) on those ridges.

Re: Designing “ridges” on a curved surface

chaua — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 10:23:13 GMT

for your case you could use the coil tool around the cup