{"id":7892,"date":"2017-05-24T08:20:42","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T15:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/?p=7892"},"modified":"2017-05-24T12:10:27","modified_gmt":"2017-05-24T19:10:27","slug":"fusion-360-sheet-metal-status-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/fusion-360-sheet-metal-status-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheet Metal Preview: Status Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in January we released sheet metal in a limited preview for Fusion 360. The goal of the preview\u00a0was to get feedback on sheet metal rules and flange, while the team finished work on flatten.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/b>Rules<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Based off research and feedback, we have found that people who use sheet metal typically have 5-10 different materials. \u00a0However, a majority of them don\u2019t take the time to create rules that reflect the materials. \u00a0Our objective is to make it so easy to create and reuse a rule, that our\u00a0users all have a custom library. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"One Flange<\/b><\/h2>\n

Depending on the CAD package, there\u00a0are any number of different \u201cflange\u201d sheet metal features. While planning, we kept coming back to one question. Rather than taking the extra time to pick features up, why not pick based off of selection? Our flange tool creates a base, contour, edge and join flange. Not only is this faster for experienced sheet metal users, it is also easier for new ones.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

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What we learned and improved based off feedback<\/b>– Editing and creating new materials was not discoverable. In the beginning we had \u201cduplicate rule\u201d as a way to make a new rule based off of\u00a0a current rule. We learned that this complicated things and changed it to a \u201cnew\u201d button. There was also confusion around use and editing of samples rules. Based off of feedback, we changed to a default library where users can edit and customize to fit their needs. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For flange, there has been a lot of good feedback around the simplicity of the tool. However, one thing we missed was flange width discoverability. In July, there will be enhancements around the dialog dropbox and soon after our initial release in context options.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What else we learned <\/b>– Beyond the improvements to flange and rules, one big discovery was around workflows. I didn\u2019t take into account how much our press\/pull and move tools are loved and\/ or used. Due to the insights of our users, we are going to enhance these tools to follow the sheet metal rules. The work on this will start after our first release.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A new update is coming<\/h1>\n

In our upcoming May update\u00a0\u201cdrum roll\u201d, we’ll be adding flat patterns!!!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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You will be able to create flat patterns of your sheet metal designs! Access it under the modify drop-down menu in your sheet metal preview workspace. <\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

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Once it\u2019s active, select the face you want as stationary, and it\u2019ll flatten your part. Notice that if you already have a flat pattern, Fusion 360 will ask if you want to activate the existing one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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A flat pattern is modal, so once it\u2019s created, you\u2019ll have to \u201cExit Flat\u201d to get back to the bent model.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

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So what\u2019s the difference between flat pattern and unfold? Flat pattern now lets you edit your bend thickness and K factor, whereas if you just did an unfold without the flat pattern tool, those values were not editable. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We have also improved sheet metal rule values defined as functions of thickness<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

In standard sheet metal rules, most dimensions are multiples or fractions of the material thickness. However, these values were previously all hard-coded, meaning that changing the thickness of the material required all of the other values to be updated manually.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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Values can now be defined as parametric functions of the sheet metal thickness, by referring to \u201cThickness\u201d in the expression (e.g. if your bend relief depth should be half of the material thickness, you can type \u201cThickness \/ 2\u201d as your Relief Depth value, and this will calculate the value using the rule\u2019s thickness). The included rules library has also been updated to take advantage of this.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sheet metal flat pattern and bend lines for 2D drawings are also coming<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

For those of you who are part of the preview, you\u2019ll be happy to know that you can now create 2D drawings of your sheet metal flat patterns. First, create a flat pattern of your sheet metal part by going to the modify drop-down menu and select “Create flat pattern”.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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Once you\u2019ve got it, hop over to the drawings workspace and create a drawing from the design. Notice that the representation is now a flat pattern.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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Once it gets transported to the 2D drawings workspace, you\u2019ll have all the existing 2D drawings tools at your disposal.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Notice that you also have the ability to show or hide bend extents by checking\/unchecking the option in the Drawing View dialog. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Associative bend tables and bend datums, and bend notes are not available yet, but they are currently in\u00a0development and will be available in a future update.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s next you ask?<\/b><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our target for the public release of sheet metal is July 24th. \u00a0At this time, sheet metal will be taken out of preview and available for all. \u00a0Once sheet metal is released, we will be focused on providing a solution to the following workflows:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Workflow 2:<\/b> Reuse of other CAD SM models. \u00a0This new workflow will allow you to open another sheet metal model made from a different CAD package, change the rule and flatten.<\/span><\/p>\n

Workflow 3:<\/b> Convert to sheet metal. \u00a0Using this workflow you can start with a shape that represents the sheet metal design as a volume. \u00a0You will then be able to select faces connecting the flanges to convert the shape to a sheet metal model.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nesting:<\/b> Automated nesting of sheet metal components.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is an exciting time for Fusion 360! I look forward to all of your feedback and insights as we continue to add functionality to sheet metal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Look out for a upcoming post about our sheet metal challenge as we approach release.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learn about what we currently have in the sheet metal preview, what’s coming in our next update, and our plans for the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":7928,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-7892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fusion","dhig-theme--light"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSheet Metal Preview: Status Update - Fusion Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about what we currently have in the sheet metal preview, what's coming in our next update, and our plans for the future.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/fusion-360-sheet-metal-status-update\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sheet Metal Preview: Status Update - 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