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Although the sheet metal face feature may be considered the most fundamental of sheet metal features, sheet metal parts consisting of a single face are in the minority. Sheet metal flange features consist of a face and bend connected to an existing face along a straight edge. Flange features are added by selecting one or more edges and specifying a set of options that determine the size and position of the material added. |
While selecting edges for a multi-edge flange, edit glyphs are displayed in the graphics window along bends and where the created flanges share corners. These glyphs allow the bend width and corner parameters to be changed from the defaults of the feature using the Bend Edit or the Corner Editfunctionality. All bend widths and corner parameters can also be reset to the default feature style using the Reset All Bends or the Reset All Cornersfunctionality.
Multi-edge flanges created with the Apply Auto-mitering check box selected (on the Corner tab of the Flange dialog box) have material trimmed from both flanges which may have interfered along the end of each flange.
Corners in flange and contour flange features
Inventor supports the creation of corners during the creation of flange and contour flange features. These corners display the default corner relief shape when the model is displayed as flat. In certain cases, the created flanges can automatically miter when they would otherwise interfere. You can override the corner relief shape during the creation or edit of the feature and displays a glyph in the graphics window when this option is available. Not all corners provide the glyph edit option.
Consider the following model condition:
A flange is added to the top edges as follows:
In this case, the outside radius of the added flange is on the opposite side of the outside radius of the bend between the two selected edges. This condition does not offer an edit glyph during creation or edit.
If however you start with the same initial model condition and create the flange in the opposite direction your model appears as follows:
In this case, three bends converge upon the corner and their outside radii are on the same side as the outside radius of the bend between the selected edges. This condition provides an edit glyph during creation or subsequent edit as follows:
