Powerful Flat Pattern Development Integrated in SolidWorks 2013
January 16, 2013 - Forming Technologies Inc. (FTI), the world’s leading developer of software for the design, simulation, and costing of sheet metal components, announces the worldwide release of BlankWorks v5.0. BlankWorks provides SolidWorks® 2013 users with a fully integrated add-in application for developing optimal flat patterns from complex 3D designs.
BlankWorks is most commonly used for flattening complex 3D sheet metal components but has also been employed for flattening a wide variety of other SolidWorks designs ranging from vinyl decals, canvas tents, swimming pool liners, upholstery, boat hulls, aircraft and helicopter parts, insulation, thermoform packaging, electronic, and consumer product components. "Over the past 13 years, a wide variety of industries that design complex 3D parts manufactured from 2D raw material have adopted BlankWorks for flat pattern development", said Dan Marinac, director of business development at FTI. "However, the most common industry served is progressive die tooling design"
"BlankWorks 5.0 gives SolidWorks 2013 users a competitive advantage during the die tryout stage of tooling development. Trial and error methods traditionally used to develop complex flanges and flat pattern shapes can take days to weeks to develop. Using BlankWorks, users are able to develop flanges and blank shapes for their stampings in less than a minute. The accuracy of the developed flanges and blanks is unparalleled in the industry", adds Marinac.
New features in BlankWorks 5.0 include feature line mapping which allows users to map lines and edges from part to flat pattern or curved surface. This is extremely important for precisely locating manufacturing details such as surface edges, holes, bend lines or paint lines on the 2D blank prior to stamping. Further, FTI has added a sketch showing the minimum rectangular blank encompassing the flat pattern. In addition to flat pattern development and flange unfolding, BlankWorks also provides a contour plot indicating the thickening and thinning resulting from the forming process. It accounts for material stretch and deformation as well as bending and can flatten any SolidWorks geometry including imported data. This tool can also be used to assess the feasibility of a part for manufacturing.
About Forming Technologies
Forming Technologies Incorporated (FTI) is the world’s leading developer of computer aided engineering software for design, and simulation of sheet metal components. For the past 24 years, FTI has provided OEMs and suppliers in the automotive, aerospace, and appliance industries with innovative software and training solutions designed to reduce development time and material costs. FTI and its global network of business partners provide sales and technical support to customers in more than 40 countries. For more information, please visit the company’s website (www.forming.com).