Inventor – steps on how to unwrap faces

In today’s blog Sid offers a step by step guide showcasing another new function in Inventor 2020 that enables the user to unwrap faces that you can’t flatten with the unfold or sheet metal flat pattern command. This feature allows the user to unwrap a curved solid body or a free form surface which cannot be unwrapped using the unfold command. This works on complex geometries as well as giving users working with sheet metal parts the chance to unwrap deformed parts. It benefits with trickier geometries where the shapes are uneven or twisted. The aim of what we are trying to achieve is to see how the product might look before it is processed to gain the shape as is needed giving an idea of material usage. Now, let’s get started!

• Select the nose cone at the front of a jet engine assembly which then we will unwrap using the unwrap feature on the 3D model tab, by selecting the faces that you need to unwrap will give you a preview of what the unwrapped feature would look like – simple!

This is an extremely useful tool if you are working in a sheet metal environment especially if you are working with three form shapes so that can give an idea of what your unwrapped part will look like. We have a surface feature that we can then take in our offset to convert it into a solid and then use it as a normal solid body.

In a nutshell that’s what link sheet style editing is all about – hope you found this quick tutorial beneficial and be sure to follow us on social media for more information! For upcoming training in Inventor Essentials and Inventor Advanced please check out our website.