Bead through bend

[halzimers]

How can I create a bead that follows along the bend radius of
a formed part?

I can offset a plane that will let me create a line going across each surface and through each bend. How can I turn that into a bead?

Is there another approach? How can it be accomplished?

I am using sheet metal design.

 

[MrCATIA]

According to the online Help file, you can add the bead by adding a 3D curve passing through the bend.

 

[halzimers]

How do I create a 3d curve?

 

[MrCATIA]

Lots of ways to create the 3D curve. Here's what I did:

1. made a plane where I wanted the centerline of the bead
2. started a sketch in that plane
3. projected the edges of sheetmetal walls and bend into the sketch
4. trimmed the projected lines back to the length of the bead
5. exited the sketch
6. turned on the Datum option
7. projected the sketch onto the partbody of the sheetmetal part (with the Datum option on, this created a curve that was isolated)
8. turned off the Datum option (so I don't forget to do it later)
9. added the Bead based on this isolated curve

 

[MrCATIA]

Here's another way, using more Sheetmetal tools:

1. Unfold the sheetmetal into it's flat pattern
2. Add a line representing the centerline of the bead (I used Point-Point),
make sure the line is perpendicular to the bends
3. Use the Point or Curve Mapping icon to fold the line into it's bent position
4. Fold the sheetmetal into it's bent postion
5. Add the bead using the Folded Curve

 

[halzimers]

Thanks, both methods work great.

Does the profile have to be perendicular to the bend?

There could be a situation where the profile looks like
your pictures, but isn't perpendicular to all bends.

I can modify the profile in the bend areas so that it
is perpendicular for catia. The die won't do that.

 

[MrCATIA]

Does the profile have to be perendicular to the bend?

I ran into a problem with the second method, so that's why I added the caution. When I just randomly made a point-point line, the bent result was not tangently continuous at the bend. So the bead didn't work.

I'm sure the first method would work fine at any angle.