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Rectangular helical sweep feature

hhagedorn
6-Contributor

Rectangular helical sweep feature

Hello out there,

is there anybody out there who knows how to create a rectangular helical sweep Feature, as in the shown black and white Picture?

Rectangular helical sweep feature.jpg

I tried my best to get a solution, but it is not to be used. The gradient is somehow not constant in the red area to the blue area. The reason is the great difference between the inner radius and the outer radius. If the shape of the required rectangle increases, or edge lengths are the same length (quadrangle). Then the slope becomes more linear.

Rectangular helical sweep feature_I.jpgRectangular helical sweep feature_II.jpg

Is there any help out there?

Thanks Heiko

61 REPLIES 61
BHOoi
15-Moonstone
(To:psobejko)

I have the wrapped curves projected through "normal to surface"  onto the tapered surface  and results are pretty satisfactory.

Capture.JPG

BHOoi
15-Moonstone
(To:hhagedorn)

I am getting obsessed  to this a little . I found a way to allow me to sweep along a closed contour in Creo and this allows me to create the helical spring with constant gradient. Just want to share it and please ignore if you are already aware of this trick:

Capture.JPG

TomD.inPDX
17-Peridot
(To:BHOoi)

You might have just hit the nail on the head, BH.

Are you using trajpar in a sweep?

BHOoi
15-Moonstone
(To:TomD.inPDX)

yes, there is a relation in its sketched section. For some reasons, Creo does not allow trajpar to work on closed contour. You may educate me more on this. Thanks.

TomD.inPDX
17-Peridot
(To:BHOoi)

Nope, you are correct that closed loops do not work.

BHOoi
15-Moonstone
(To:TomD.inPDX)

I extended one end of the trajectory curve to avoid both ends meet at the same point (closed loop). With this way, I can sort of "cheat" the creo and it allows me to complete the sweep feature. The excess can then be trimmed off.

TomD.inPDX
17-Peridot
(To:BHOoi)

My only consideration with the tail is the additional work required to manage pitch accurately.

Two half sections will take care of that.

Also looking at the conical/tapered versions.

More and more are sheetmetal rules required to know where to place the origin curve.

K and Y factors should be considered for profile sections not round.

BHOoi
15-Moonstone
(To:TomD.inPDX)

true, the pitch is hard to control in this approach. I try to address this issue by having a continuous sweep trajectory, and this is done by repeating the path section and select them sequentially during sweep. What do you think?

Capture.JPG

manjunathrv
17-Peridot
(To:BHOoi)

Try this. This is the most simplest of all. just 5 features.

You can control pitch, section, radius.....

I think this is where we started.

The problem with this technique is that the pitch is not constant at the intersection.

You will see a "wave" in the long section.

BHOoi
15-Moonstone
(To:TomD.inPDX)

I have a real use case for its application - to model a flex geometry wrapped on a rectangular staright/tapered plastic insert.

With further expansion of the approach, the slant angle I added to the sweep section allows me to produce both straight and tapered geometries. This can be converted to a sheetmetal model and can be flatten to show its flat geometry !

Capture.JPG

TomD.inPDX
17-Peridot
(To:BHOoi)

That is a very interesting way to use the origin string

BHOoi
15-Moonstone
(To:BHOoi)

rectangular_spring.jpg

John.Pryal
12-Amethyst
(To:BHOoi)

Now you are just showing off

TomD.inPDX
17-Peridot
(To:BHOoi)

...now put a parallel one outside this one.

Use the second one to orient the "blade".

This will clean up the corners somewhat.

mhofert
4-Participant
(To:hhagedorn)

Here is a solution using just three features.

It works also as conical version.

It was created with Creo 3.0. If you can`t open it I also can provide Creo 2.0.

Unbenannt 1.bmp

I like your approach to this issue....

Very nice solution!

BHOoi
15-Moonstone
(To:mhofert)

Hi, could you please provide the Creo 2 version? Thanks.

TomD.inPDX
17-Peridot
(To:BHOoi)

I guess you deserve one after all that work

mhofert
4-Participant
(To:BHOoi)

Thanks to Antoni for the Creo 2.0 version.

Here is a short description and some screenshots.

1. Datum point (offset coordinate system)

2. Curve through pionts

   - straight line

   - add fillet radius

3. Sweep

    - Selection plane control >> Normal to Projection ( Direction reference in this case "bottom side" )

I really like the way this turns into a Fresnel lens if you leave the default projection.

All you need is a guide curve to manage orientation of the section.

The true beauty behind this is that if you come up with some very weird shapes.

The challenge with this is to maintain a constant pitch.

If you can manage the math in a spreadsheet properly indexed, the only limit becomes the single radius entry.

Edit:  the attached creo 2 file uses 2 curves allowing for orientation control.  This helps manage the flair on the corners.

It also brings your computer down to its knees if you lack horsepower.

If you play with it, you will also see some of PTC's shortcomings in Sweep.

required solution if possible give part file in 3.0 for detailed understanding . My level in creo is beginner hence requires helpcoil.jpg 

BHOoi
15-Moonstone
(To:mhofert)

Thanks for sharing. This provides another alternative with less steps to model the rectangular coil  . I like it !

For my application, the shape may be quite irregular/odd and inputting the coordinates of those points may be challenging. One example of the models is shown below:

Capture.JPG

The strip (flex) needs to be able to flatten in sheet metal  to illustrate its 2D geometry. Any idea how to simplify the point input?

TomD.inPDX
17-Peridot
(To:BHOoi)

Don't forget that if you can flatten it, you can extrude-cut the diagonals and bend-back to get this result. ...no?

BHOoi
15-Moonstone
(To:TomD.inPDX)

Not sure what's your idea. Can elaborate further?

TomD.inPDX
17-Peridot
(To:BHOoi)

Something like this but I must not be holding my mouth right...

Another brew helped

BHOoi
15-Moonstone
(To:TomD.inPDX)

OK, got it. Thanks,

The strip needs to be continuous and I guess the sweep is still needed.

TomD.inPDX
17-Peridot
(To:BHOoi)

Or you'd be stitching several fragments together to get the full part

In keeping with the idea, however, remember that you can scribe a sketch onto a face while flat.

This could help in selecting an intent curve.

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