Simulated Weld

[mark1791]

Hi all

FYI in the Automotive world on vehicle car bodys, the 3D CAD data will have a blue sphere with unique code for the location for a RSW(Resistance spot weld) this denotes a two thickness weld i.e. two panels welded together. Then there would be a Red Sphere for 3 thickness RSW welds. Never 4 Thickness welds as bad resulting in potential issues with weld failure, unable to predict if the weld nugget forms correctly.

For CO2/CMT welding there would be a blue cylinder the length of the weld required on the relevant assembly for the BIW line to show the welders to put it. The points for the RSW would automatically be fed to the robots for programing 3D Cad using Delmia or some other such CAD simulation system to optimize paths and speed. Nothing too fancy as most BIW bodys's have around 4000RSW's, sorting weld sequence of sub assembly's can be fun, ideally the body should use only RSW's if steel, but the reality is the assembly sequence causes issues such that you cannot reach a weld so need to use CO2 or use adhesive instead.

Mark

[bestfit]

Hi everyone,

Just to add a technical comment on how to communicate the specification for welding; most of the time no one needs to have an accurate representation of what happens in the reality; the welding fillet will change according to the raw material, depending of the welding process, depending of the type of welding (shaved , convex or concave welding...)
To define the welding AND the preparation beetween parts to be welded, it exist the EN 22553 /ISO 2553 norme which defines everything about the seam . On a fabrication drawing, you don't need to represent the seam, only to define what you want according to the norm. For 3D representation, you only need either a filet or as told NormandC a triangle extrusion.

I'm looking for the mean to represent the welding according to the norms on the techdraw output...

Best regards
Bestfit

[renatorivo]

What do you think about having a "Welding" object, or a "Welding" property, to be able manage these objects in Groups or in Spreadsheets?

[tomsaw]

Hi!

I would use https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/Sandbox:Lattice2 to generate the arrays!
The Lattice-array is smart enoughto adjust itself according to the length of your weldment-edge:

1. Install and switch to Lattice2 workbench
2. Select the weldment-edge in 3d-area
3. Create a Lattice2-array by clicking "Generate Linear Array" -> "Linear Array: Span / Step"
4. You should see yellow arrows attached on your edge.
6. Select a single 'weldment-ball'-object, Select your new linear array', click "Populate with copies" in Lattice2-workbench
7. Control the amount of copies in properties of the linear array. In this example, the "Step"-property is of your interrest.