If you like our Pro/ENGINEER tips and tutorials and believe the work we do is helping, feel free to contribute financially, by clicking on the Paypal button below! Donating money to proengineertips.com is optional, but it does help pay the bills and keep the site running...
(FLASH) TIPS: Dimensioning Techniques in Pro/E Sketch
Version: Wildfire, Wildfire2.0, Wildfire3.0
Sketcher dimensioning is very important because it directly reflects our 3D model in Pro/E. Most of the geometries are pretty easy and straightforward, however some require special techniques. Below are 5 special case dimensioning techniques in ProE sketcher.
A. Diameter dimension in revolve feature (instead of linear type)
To create the diameter type dimension in sketch, select (LMB)
1: the desired object 2: the centerline (revolve axis) and then 3: the desired object again. After that, hit the MMB to place the dimension.
Or alternatively, select (LMB) 1: the centerline (revolve axis) 2: the desired object and then 3: the centerline (revolve axis) again. After that, hit the MMB to place the dimension.
TUTORIAL: Create surface using 6 Boundaries (N-sided Patch)
Version: 2001, Wildfire, Wildfire2.0, Wildfire3.0
Most of the surface modeling software needs minimum 4 sided boundaries to create a surface due to the free form surface mathematics - NURBS and Bezier. However, when dealing with 5 sided boundaries and above, designer may required dividing the surface into 2 or more pieces.
Using the Pro/ENGINEER parametric surface modeling tool, you are able to create a surface using 5 or more boundaries. This tool, N-Sided Patch, does not provide surface as flexible as the free form surface but it can provide you the quickest solution.
Click here to download the exercise files before you start.
This is a very beneficially old technique which most of the experience pro/users know. However, for those who are new to Pro/ENGINEER, they may not hear about this.
Reducing the Pro/ENGINEER file size is important when we need to transfer the file via internet. For those who are still using dial-up connection, this technique can help them to save a significant amount of the transmission time. Other than that, when we are dealing with email, attachment size is always limited by the company mail or web mail service provider. Due to that, when we have a large file to send out, reducing the Pro/ENGINEEER file size is always the first step that come into our mind.
Most of the users use the data compression method to compress the file size. This is one of the fastest and most popular ways to reduce file size. By compressing the Pro/ENGINEER file, you can easily get more than 30%* of compression. However, this is not the technique that we are going to discuss. This time, we are talking about more than 80%* of file size reduction. How?
* The results are varies by Pro/ENGINEER file type and also different compression utility.
Dies uses boundary plane and seed surface to specify the form geometry. Form feature is created when the specify form geometry interface with the Sheetmetal part. Using dies, you are able to create convex or/and concave form feature.
Below is an example of how the die form feature is created in Pro/ENGINEER.
Sheetmetal form feature require a reference part (tooling) to merge the tool geometry to the sheet metal part in Pro/ENGINEER. So, before creating a form feature in Pro/SheetMetal, you are required to prepare the reference part (tooling) first. There are two types of reference part which you can choose to use, punch or die. Both types basically can create the same result.
The image below illustrates the punch and dies in brief. No specific feature needed to create punch and dies. They are just a solid model with part file format (*.prt).
Partial view is used when we want to create views focused to a specific portion/location. By the name of the partial view, we understand that it is a view which is displaying a part or a portion from the full view. The image below illustrated an example of the partial view.
Below is a tip showing how to create a partial view in Pro/ENGINEER.
Axes for pattern holes in Pro/ENGINEER Drawing normally display perpendicular to the screen. For this case, we may need to change the display to a shared circular axis type which will go thru the centre point of all the holes.
INFO: What is hidden config.pro options in Pro/ENGINEER?
From the name, we understand that these config.pro options are hidden. So, how can it “hidden” and why it is hidden?
To make these config.pro options hidden, PTC does not list them in the config.pro reference manual. Besides, you are not able to get them thru the find tool in config.pro options windows.
PTC makes these config.pro options hidden because they are basically codes in the alpha state. Hence, the hidden config.pro options is not recommended and also not supported by PTC. Don’t worry; using hidden config.pro options will not cause any data corruption. Worst case, it may cause some unexpected exit. If you faced the unexpected exit too frequent, delete the hidden config.pro options and Pro/ENGINEER should works fine.
Clicks here to download the Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire2.0 config.pro reference manual.
ProENGINEER
See also: list of hidden config.pro options in Pro/ENGINEER