Plates are an integral part of most of the models created in Advance Steel. Folded plates represent folded sheet metal objects such as chutes and hoppers. Folded plates are used to represent lofted sheet metal parts, however Advance Steel is not a sheet metal software, and is lacking features such as corner relief. The only bend relief that is created is a tear relief. As the result, you can use folded plates mainly for representations.
If you need complex folded plates that require detail drawing and .dxf files for laser/plasma cutting, try using Autodesk Inventor and then import them – .dwg into Advance Steel.
Here is how to create folded plates in Advance Steel:
Creating A Folded Plate Without Position Adjustment
Access this tool: Objects Tab > Plates Panel > Create Folded Plate – Without Position Adjustment
This is used to join two existing plates together in order to create a folded plate. When you activate this tool, you will be prompted to identify which plate to connect to. This is the plate that remains stationary. After selecting this plate, you will be prompted to select the plate to be connected. When you are using this tool, if the two plates are positioned away from each other, it is important that their position is not adjusted. Instead, their size will increase on joining. After selecting the second plate, two plates will join and a dialog box will open; here you can specify the angle of the fold, the justification, the radius, and the incremental angle for grip-editing the fold:
The picture below shows a folded plate with a fold angle of 90 degrees. Note the tear bent relief that was created – this is the only type of bent relief that is created on Advance Steel.
If you wish to access the fold menu again after the fold is created, select the bend created between the two plates and double click on the red grip. The dialog box will open and you can edit your fold again:
Creating A Folded Plate With Position Adjustment
Access this tool: Objects Tab > Plates Panel > Create Folded Plate – With Position Adjustment
This tool is used to join two existing plates together in order to create a folded plate by adjusting the position of the second plate. When you activate this tool, begin by selecting the first plate to connect near the edge. This plate will remain stationary. After selecting the first plate, you will be prompted to select the second plate to be connected near the edge. After selecting the second plate, you will be asked to specify the fold angle:
and then the dialog box will be displayed:
Create A Conical Folded Plate
Access this tool: Objects Tab > Plates Panel > Create Conical Folded Plate
You can create a folded plate by blending two closed contour profiles or two beam ends. The contour profiles need to be closed polylines. When you initiate this tool, you will be asked to specify the start shape – select either Contour or Beam:
Once you select a shape and choose Contour or Beam, confirm by pressing ENTER. You will be asked to select the end shape, then select Contour or Beam, and press ENTER. Immediately the dialog box will open:
In the dialog box, you can specify the number of facets per corner, the plate thickness, and the plate justification. Once you done editing these options, the folded plate will be displayed:
Creating A Twisted Folded Plate
Access this tool: Objects Tab > Plates Panel > Create Twisted Folded Plate
This tool is used to create a twisted folded plate by blending two sketch elements such as: lines, arcs, polylines, and splines:
When you start this tool, you will be asked to select the first object near the endpoint from where the plate creation needs to start. Then you need to specify the second object.
The dialog box will open, and you can specify the number of division points to create the plate, plate thickness, justification, and the radius factor:
Once you confirm all the data by clicking OK, your folded plate will appear:
Creating A Circular Plate At The Origin
Access this tool: Objects Tab > Plates Panel > Circular Plate
You can create a circular plate at the origin of the current UCS. When you call out this tool, the Create Circular Plate dialog box will open, and you can specify all the parameters, such as the outer and inner diameter and thickness:
If you do not want to keep a hole in the center, just enter the value of zero. After adjusting values, press OK to confirm. The plate will be created. The plate will be equipped with four green features as shown below. Upon double clicking on the green lines, the Edge Processing menu will open, and you will have the chance to make additional adjustments to your plate:
Checking The Plate Unfolding
Access this tool: Objects Tab > Plates Panel > Check Unfolding
or: Home Tab > Objects Panel (Expanded) > Check Unfolding
This tool is a very important part of the entire process of creating folded plates – it allows you to verify if the plate can be unfolded for laser or plasma cutting. Select Check Unfolding from the menu to perform the verification process.
When you activate this tool, you will be asked to select ‘folded plate’. When you select the plate, you will be asked to confirm if you want to see the unfolded representation. When you confirm that this is really what you want to see, the unfolded representation will be displayed:
Setting The Folded Plate Main Object
Access this tool: Objects Tab > Plates Panel > Set Folded Plate Main Object
or: Home Tab > Objects Panel (Expanded) > Set Folded Plate Main Object
Sometimes you may want to change the main plate. You can do this by using the Set Folded Plate Main Object tool. When you initiate this tool, you will be asked to select the new main plate. You can click on any face of the folded plate in order to use that as the Main Plate.
This concludes the Folded Plate Tutorial. Good luck using all the methods and tools described above. If you find this article valuable, please subscribe to my blog to be notified whenever I publish a new article.
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