Parabuild can natively unfold cold formed profiles, without the need for any additional module.

Profiles will need to be modeled correctly with fillets to make the unfold work.

The following topics and settings will help you with activating and using the unfolding tools:


  • The Advanced properties of the to be unfolded 3D part has some unfold options :
         

  • The Profile section table also has some unfold options

  • In the Parabuild global settings dialog box, there is an option to choose which K-factor table should be used :


  • The following setting in the Sheet properties allows you to configure the bend annotations contents on the shop drawing :


  • The following properties are available for unfolded parts.
    All of them can be used for annotations, but only PbBillColUnfoldedName can be used in bills :
    • PbBillColUnfoldedName
      This will contain the name of the unfolded plate when the part was already unfolded.
      The name includes the thickness, width and length of the unfolded plate.
    • PbBendRadius
      This will contain the bend radius of a bend line of an unfolded part.
      This will only work in annotations when the annotation arrow points towards a bend-line of an unfolded part on shop drawings.
    • PbBendAnglePlusMinus
      This will contain the bend angle of a bend line of an unfolded part.
      The angle is in degrees and when it is positive, then the bend should be done in the +Z direction of the view.
      This will only work in annotations when the annotation arrow points towards a bend-line of an unfolded part on shop drawings.

    • PbBendAngleUpDown
      This will contain the bend angle of a bend line of an unfolded part.
      The angle is in degrees and will add the suffix Up or Down to indicate the bending direction.
      This will only work in annotations when the annotation arrow points towards a bend-line of an unfolded part on shop drawings.




An example shop drawing with an automatic unfolded view



Rules to adhere to in order to make models unfoldable

These are the current limitations of the unfolding tool :

  • It will only work on profiles, and to a lesser extent on 3D solids
  • It does not work on parts with a closed section such as hollow profiles

  • The bends need to be modeled with fillets. Sharp edges are not yet supported.


  • The plate needs to have the same thickness everywhere


  • The fillets of the bends need to be tangent with the straight faces.


  • The opposing faces of the plates need to be parallel.


  • The radius of the fillet needs to be correct on both sides of the bend. The outer radius needs to be the inner radius plus the plate thickness.


Parabuild cannot automatically heal these geometries yet if they are not modeled according to these rules.
Some of these limitations may be resolved in the future.