Tools > Shell Plate Unfold Preview (in Molded Forms) or Tools > Manufacturing Services > Shell Plate Unfold Preview (in Structural Manufacturing) generates a 2D or 3D graphic preview of an unfolded plate shape. This 2D view or private graphic view displays the plate outer contour, frame marks, roll line marks, diagonal lines, a surrounding minimum rectangle, an unfolded surface area, the percentage of material used, and additional attributes.
The software adds the Frame System and Unfold Process settings to the session preferences, as shown in the 2D View below.
Min Rectangle Length
Minimum length of the unfolded plate contour bounding box.
Min Rectangle Width
Minimum width of the unfolded plate contour bounding box.
Min Rectangle Area
Minimum area of the unfolded plate contour bounding box.
Unfold surface area
Active plate contour area.
Percentage of utilization
Factor of Unfold surface area related to Min Rectangle Area.
The attributes listed below display for each contour edge index (Edge1, Edge2, Edge3, and so on).
3D Girth Length
Length of the edge (along the edge length).
Straight Length
Minimum distance between the edge end points. Enables you to see the girth length on the amount of the bending.
Unfold Length
Unfolded 3D Girth Length.
3D % Factor
Scaling impact on the 3D contour to confirm the unfolding scaling impact on the edge. The software calculates this value using the following formula:
3D Factor = (3D Girth Length - Straight Length) / 3D Girth Length * 100
2D % Factor
Scaling impact on the 2D contour to confirm a deformation impact. The software calculates this value using the following formula:
2D Factor = (3D Girth Length - Unfold Length) / 3D Girth Length * 100
The following two diagonal line attributes only display when there are four unfolded outer corners. Unfolded outer contours are marked with numbers.
LL_UR Length
Length of the diagonal line from the lower-left corner to the upper-right corner of the unfolded outer contour.
UL_LR Length
Length of the diagonal line from the upper-left corner to the lower-right corner of the unfolded outer contour.
Shell Plate Unfold Preview Ribbon
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Select Tools > Shell Plate Unfold Preview in Molded Forms.
OR
Select Tools > Manufacturing Services > Shell Plate Unfold Preview in Structural Manufacturing.
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Select the plate to unfold.
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Select the coordinate system from the Frame System.
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Click Finish.