Sheet metal stamp and bend ?

[-Nick-]

Hi,

I'm beyond the limits of my expertise and am possibly using the wrong tools for this job but... I want to get some sheet steel cut and bent and am copying a part which I like.  It's from a racking system and the part I am struggling to draw looks like this:

However, the closest I can get is this :

Clearly my part isn't going to work as the metal adjacent to the semi-circular bends is flush with the main body whereas in the original it is pushed out by a couple of mm.

Is this even possible with Fusion and if not, any suggestions for spoofing it which will not corrupt my flat pattern ?

Thanks in advance.

[sutherland-]

Hi @-Nick- 

It is quite hard to re-create real life bend, since it has many physical aspects when stamping, and sheet metal features in F360 will not be able to recreate exactly the same behavior.

Closest I could get is this:

Making it a little bit thicker on the bend (along Z axis) would make it look even more realistic to the image you have there.

I have attached f3d file.

Hope it helps in any way.

[TheCADWhisperer]

@sutherland- 

Not even close to the real world geometry. 

@-Nick- 

The geometry could be modeled - but Fusion sheet metal tools will not return a Flat Pattern. You will need two different models. 

[-Nick-]

Thanks for the example, however I can't unfold or create a flat pattern from that model as the disk part of the drawing is a separate entity.  I agree that it's good to make it look more realistic but what I really need at the end of the day are a set of plans for cutting and bending. 

Anyway, thanks for taking the time.

[sutherland- · Accepted solution]

@-Nick- 

Ahh, sorry, I missed the part that you need to manufacture it.

I do not know if the fact of having the round circle  is critical for you, but here I made one that can be laser cut and bent afterwards by using flat pattern:

@TheCADWhisperer 

No need to be so harsh next time, kills the willingness to help others, thanks.

[-Nick-]

@sutherland-Thanks for the input.  I think this is the closest I'm going to get in the absence of any way to stamp in Fusion, as far as I'm aware.

[Warmingup1953]

Will you be making bespoke tooling and using a small press? 

[-Nick-]

Not me! I'm just the designer 🙂

[Warmingup1953]

There may well be an easier-to-emulate style?

[-Nick-]

Hi,

Thanks for the post. I have looked at that type of design and that's where I started.  However, these type of designs are often used in pallet racking systems and are overspecified for what I want - I'm supporting loads which are nearer the shelving end of things.  In any event, what I can or can't do will not be decided by what Fusion can or can't do but rather what the sheet metal company I am using can do and that I'll find out on Monday.

Thanks for the interest,