How to set default unfold rule

[MrJoshuaAU]

Hi everybody,

I have a little problem that i just cant seem work out for myself.

After a long period of time i have finally got a very nice and comprehensive set of materials and Kfactors set up in my sheet metal styles editor.

I have finally got around to setting everything up nicely in the style editor with all materials, thicknesses and kfactors set for each material.

The problem Im encountering is when creating new sheet metal parts from within a project is that the Kfactor doesn't automatically come up for that particular material. For instance if i select 2.0mm Aluminium from the material list the Kfactor should 0.39 but by default the unfold rule is set to "Default Kfactor" i then have to select the drop box and select "by sheet metal rule".

This behaviour doesn't make sense to me. What makes sense to me is if you have set a Kfactor in the sheet metal styles editor then it should default to that Kfactor when you create a new sheet metal part for that particular material and thickness.

Is there a setting i have stuffed up here somewhere? Is it possible to get the Kfactor to set automatically every time you create a new sheet metal part?.

Cheers 

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Joshua,

Either I don't fully understand your problem or Inventor does not offer something you are looking for. Sheet Metal Rule sets up the default material, thickness, bend radius, relief size, and default unfold rule. There are three types of unfold rule: K factor, bend table, and equation. You can create multiple unfold rules for each type. For example, you can have one unfold rule having K factor equal to 0.32 and another one having K factor equal to 0.51.

Each Sheet Metal rule can reference one unfold rule as the default rule. It does not always have to be "Default_KFactor."

Does it make sense?

Many thanks!

[MrJoshuaAU]

OK i may not have made myself clear.

Ill try to explain.

I have 1x Kfactor set for every thickness material in my styles library.

Say i start a new sheet metal part within a project i do a sketch then extrude it say with a contour flange.

I select my sheet metal rule say 2.0mm Aluminium, the Kfactor i have set for that material and thickness is 0.39 in the sheet metal rule.

But by default it does the flat pattern using the default KFactor rule which i think is 0.44.

I have multiple people who use the computer to produce parts through out the day, i d like them to be able to select the thickness and material and know the kfactor is set correctly from default.

I have attached some screen shots to show what i mean.

[johnsonshiue · Accepted solution]

Hi! What you need to do is to open the sheet metal template file and go to Sheet Metal Defaults. Then set Unfold Rule to "By Sheet Metal Rule" and save the change. Make sure all users use the same template file.

Many thanks!