Recommended way to model compound 3D curves in sheet metal

[somogyie]

New to F360 here. 

What's the recommended way to model sheet metal brackets with lots of compound curves like these here. 

What I've been doing is using patch workspace, basically layout out a the top of the object, then drawing the 2D outline, and  basic geometry of the planes, splitting the object  into a bunch of faces. Then deleting intermediate faces, moving faces into different planes, and connecting the moved faces with loft sections. Then finally adding a thickness to the final object I'm not really happy with this workflow, and wondering if there's a better way to model these kinds of objects. 

thanks 

[chrisplyler]

F360 isn't capable of folding/unfolding sheet metal with stampings like that. Nor is it able to flange an edge perpendicular (or at an angle really) to a bent/curved flange.

In the real world, those sorts of things require deformation of the metal, and F360 can only handle the deformation of cylindrical or conical bends. It can't handle the mathematics behind compound curves or or radial stretch/compression within the Sheet Metal functionality.

You're just going to have to model it.

[somogyie]

Thanks, 

How would you recommend as the best way to model stamped brackets like this? 

Would the model or the patch workspace be a better choice? Would you recommend:

(a) use the model workspace, solids modeling. Here it would be fairly easy to create one face of this stamping with solids. Then switch to patch, unstitch, keep only the face with the stamping, throw away the solids part, and add thickness. 

(b) start out in patch, and build the entire stamping via the patch workspace, working with sheet instead of solid geometry, and add thickness at the end. 

Hey Chris, the MkI VW Rabbit on your avatar is the same color as my Porsche 912 🙂  

[chrisplyler]

For me, it really depends on the complexity of the shape. I prefer solid modeling, but for some situations patching is just easier.

In the case of those underbody mounting brackets you showed pictures of, I would extrude the main profile, fillet it,  sweep the turned up edges onto it, and fillet them into the rest.

Or, now that I think about it, you could just make one path sketch with the flat-to-arc-to-flat bit, and then sweep the whole profile along it from one end.

[chrisplyler]

For the other piece, I would do what I said above. Sweep (or loft if the shape needs to vary along its length) the profile along a path as a solid, then cut off the bit not needed at an angle, then shell the whole thing to the thickness of the sheet. Then fillet as required.

[chrisplyler]

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@somogyie wrote:

Hey Chris, the MkI VW Rabbit on your avatar is the same color as my Porsche 912 🙂  

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Riviera Blue or Mexico Blue perhaps? Both of those look kinda similar to our MkI's Home-Depot spray-can paint job color.

My new GT3 is Graphite Blue.