Creo Sheetmetal Part Templates for Different Materials/Thickness

[wsanders-2]

Hello,

   I am a Creo 5.0.1.0 user & am looking into a way for my company to create a standardized library of materials that connect the following to a single part "template" for sheetmetal:

-material type/thickness

-k-factor

-bend radius

-material properties (structural/thermal/etc.)

I would like for our users to be able to create a new part & select a template for a specific material type & thickness, creating a part that automatically assigns the correct sheetmetal allowances (k-factor & bend radius) & material properties (structural/thermal/etc.).

What would be the best way to go about this?

Thanks,

   Will

[DaveMartin]

Usually you have a minimum number of templates (maybe 1) and your material library contains all the relevant structural, thermal, and sheetmetal properties. How many templates are you looking to have?

Remember, the more templates you have, the more tedious it becomes to update (e.g., when you change GD&T standards, if/when you adopt MBD, etc.).

[KenFarley]

My suggestion would be to look into defining some start parts. For example, I have a few for aluminum, steel, stainless, etc. They're pretty much just empty parts with the parameters we use for drawings already defined, the material specified, etc.

In case you're unfamiliar with this, the place to find the start parts is specified in your "config.pro" file with the specification:

start_model_dir <directory path>

When you start a new part, Creo will provide you with a list of the start part types you specified, if you uncheck the "Use default template" checkbox in the "New" dialog box. For this reason, make sure you name the files something easy to understand so choosing the right one will be simple.

You'll probably have to do some experimentation with it, to see that the factors you wish to include are retained when you start a new part. For example, I notice that even though I set the appearance in the start parts I made so for example aluminum is a bright silver, while titanium is dull slightly brownish, they all come in as the default color. But, if this works for you, it will be pretty simple, and provide a menu-like means of starting parts with the correct parameters.

[rburgess-2]

As long as your "materials" are set, (al6061), and include all required SMT parameters, you can try using relations, something like the part included in my post here.