Page 47 - MetalForming March 2013

announces the worldwide release of BlankWorks v5.0. BlankWorks provides SolidWorks 2013 users with a fully inte- grated add-in application for develop- ing optimal flat patterns from complex 3D designs.
BlankWorks, commonly used for flat- tening complex 3D sheetmetal compo- nents, also can be employed for flattening a variety of other SolidWorks designs, including vinyl decals, canvas tents, swimming-pool liners, upholstery, boat hulls, aircraft and helicopter parts, insu- lation, thermoform packaging, electron- ics, and consumer product components.
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 encom- passing the flat pattern.
In addition to flat-pattern develop- ment 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 import- ed data. The software also can be used to assess the feasibility of a part for manufacturing.
Forming Technologies Inc.: 905/340-3370; www.forming.com
Tooling Update
“During the past 13 years, a variety of industries that design complex 3D parts manufactured from 2D raw mate- rial have adopted BlankWorks for flat-pat- tern development,” says Dan Marinac, FTI director of business development. “How- ever, 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,” continues Marinac. “Trial- and-error methods traditionally used to develop complex flanges and flat-pattern shapes can take days to weeks to devel- op. Using BlankWorks, users can devel- op flanges and blank shapes for their stampings in less than one minute.”
Among the new features in Blank- Works 5.0 is feature-line mapping, which allows users to map lines and edges from part to flat pattern or curved surface. This becomes important for precisely locating manufacturing details such as surface
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