modify number digits in weld symbol?

[ptc-726111]

I am new to using the pro/welding model in Pro-E Wildfire 4.0 (experience in using welds in SolidWorks). I am having a problem modify the number of digits for the weld fillet radius (3mm = .11811") from 5 to 2 places. Any ideas on how to do this?

I talked to Pro-E tech support, and was told to change the default_dec_places in the config.pro file. However, it does not help with any of the welds already created in the assembly, so I am thinking there is another setting for the weld symbol in the config.pro file. Another question, if a weld symbol is deleted in a drawing, how do you get the weld symbol to show again in the drawing?

Do any have a useful document on suggested techniques for creating welds in Pro-E, and modify the weld features / symbols?

Chris
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[BenLoosli]

The only way to change existing decimal place level is to manually edit all of the weld symbols.
Once you have set the config,pro setting, all NEW weld symbols will have 2 decimal places.

Thank you,

Ben H. Loosli
USEC, INC.

[DanMcCaherty]

The only way to change existing decimal place level is to manually edit
all of the weld symbols.
Once you have set the config,pro setting, all NEW weld symbols will have 2
decimal places.

I'm going from memory so I may be wrong here, but I was thinking the
default appearance of the values in a symbol was controlled by the symbol
file --- not the configuration file. For example, if you wanted to
control the number of digits to the right of the decimal to be 1 for VAR_X
in a weld symbol, you would modify that library symbol to read VAR_X [.1]
.... or something like that. I'm not sure if all existing symbols get
changed, but my guess is that they would. Or at least they should if you
have made a change to the library symbol. I seem to recall a peculiarity
in weld symbols where it saves the symbol appearance into the model so a
later change to the library symbol & a model regen has no effect on the
symbol appearance. If that's true, then you would still have to modify
each symbol for existing welds.

Chris, can you tell us how ProWELD stacks up against SolidWorks? Can you
define a solid weld that may be meshed in SW? IMHO, this is the biggest
limitation of Pro/WELD. Clear into Creo 1 they STILL can't define a weld
that is solid and mesh-able for FEA. Very disappointing.

Dan McCaherty

[ptc-726111]

Dan,

I have not yet done any FEA on welds in SolidWorks (mostly static FEA solids or shells for sheet metal parts). However, instead of using the actual weld feature, SolidWorks uses an Edge Weld Connector (see attached image). I have not done any FEA in Pro-E, and instead export the files over to SolidWorks to do an FEA study, so I cannot comment on Pro-E's FEA capabilities either.

As far as creating welds in SolidWorks, I prefer to work in weldment function which treats the file as one part (Top Down Design) with separate solid bodies used to create a cut-list. The solid bodies are not merged together, and can be exported as separate parts if needed. The weld fillet beads can be added (see image) as features which are recognized as welds.

It is possible to create weld beads in a SolidWorks assembly as an assembly feature, but I do not like to do that. The reason is that the assembly weld bead creates a separate part (at least as of SW2010). So you could have two parts welded togther with several weld bead parts in the directory. For that reason, I prefer to add welds only to individual parts or to a weldment part (similar to an assembly in TDD) containing multiple solid bodies (weldments).

As far as which is better for creating welds (Pro-E or SolidWorks), I cannot say for certain as I typically focus more on designing injection-molded or sheetmetal parts that do not require welding. Most people I know just use the welding annotations (symbols) either in Pro-E or SolidWorks. I am thinking both could use improvement in creating weld features.

Chris