Folding panels along curves

Folding a panel along a curve involves the following of a panel's surface of the curved contour of another object. The folding takes place in two parts: (1) folding a panel to match the radius of the curved object and (2) deforming the panel along the object's curved contour.

Example: Folding a lid along a curved object

The procedure that follows describes a general case, in which a lid is folded along a curve. The procedure consists in (1) the folding of the lid at the correct angle and (2) the curving of the lid relative to the curved contour.

IMPORTANT: To carry out the deforming and folding, you need to know the name of the object to which you will refer the curving. To learn the name of an object, press CTRL + SHIFT, and then point to the object: the name appears in the lower left corner of the work area. Object names are combinations of letters and figures and appear as, for example, ASC8.A5; A5; or similar.

The folding is defined in the 3D environment.

STEP 1: To fold an object (lid) along a curved object

1. In the graphical area, select the lid. To do this, do any of the following:

• In the tabular area, select the object.
• In the graphical area, click the object in the panels list.

2. In the tabular area, create a new step.
3. With the object selected, in the contextual edit bar, in Action, select Fold; in Angle type the function 90–abs(objsweep(A45)/2).

NOTE: The function serves to fold the selected object along the curve of the specified object, in this case A45. The following scheme describes the angles that take part in the folding and how they are calculated.

4. Press ENTER for the function to take effect and the panel to fold.

After the lid has been folded, it needs to be curved to follow the curved outer contour of the object.

STEP 2: To curve the lid along the curved outer contour

1. In the graphical area, select the object that you want to curve. To do this, do any of the following:

• In the tabular area, select the panel.
• In the graphical area, click the panel in the panels list.

2. In the tabular area, create a new step.
3. With the object selected, in the contextual edit bar, in Action, select Deform; in Angle type the function objradius(A45).

The function serves to curve the object according to the curve of the specified object, in this case A45.

The lid is curved relative to its reference object, A45.