I really need some help with this one:
I created a family table for a sheet metal part with the intention of listing 8 variations (4 made of carbon steel, and 4 made of stainless steel. Each variation includes the formed part and its associated flat pattern (total of 16 instances in the table).
Our company treats each material choice differently (we bend carbon parts with a Y-factor of 0.71 and stainless parts with a Y-factor of 0.50). The reason for this is because the flat pattern of each part measures out differently dedending on material choice (stainless is always shorter and the amount of difference increases dramatically as the material thickness increases). I need a quick and reliable way to capture that difference in my family table.
I've attempted to resolve this issue several different ways. First, I edited the properties for each material (STEEL and SS) with the values my company uses for fabrication. I basically changed the DENSITY and Y-factor of each. Then I assigned a material to each instance in my table (STEEL or SS). I discovered that made no difference.........the flat patterns of an instance measured the same regardless of its material choice. Second, I investigated how the generic part was set up initially (SETUP \ SHEET METAL \ BEND ALLOW). I thought maybe I could vary the BEND ALLOW among the different instances, but I quickly discovered that didn't work either. Any change to a BEND ALLOW changed the BEND ALLOW to ALL instances in the family table and made them all the same. Not what I expected. On top of that, I learned that the BEND ALLOW parameter cannot be added to a family table.
Finally, I realized that the only parameter I could control was developed lengths (DEV. L). But even this practice requires several iterations and lots of time. You have to first assign a material to all the instances in the table, then record the developed lengths of each bend. Then you have to over-ride the (DEV. L) for each bend in the generic model, and add each of those dimensions to the family table. Then you have to edit the values for each instance in your table. Then, you have to assign the new material and repeat the whole process. Time consuming and easy to mess up if you mis-type.
Surely someone knows of a better way.
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