Extrude a Sketch as a Thin Feature

Sheet-Metal Design

General

  • You can extrude the first sketch of the part model as a thin feature.
  • The sketch is extruded so that the sketch line is either the sheet's inner or outer edge.
  • If the first function of a part model is a thin feature extrusion, Sheet Metal is set as the part's type, after which you can select sheet metal design functions.

Notes on sketching

  • Draw the sketch as a continuous line chain, for example with the Polyline function, so that you can select extrusion as a thin feature.
  • We recommend that you draw the sketch without rounding the corners.
    • Add bends to the sharp corners of the sheet in the Extrusion Data: Thin Feature. dialog box, in which case the program adds a separate Bend Radius feature to the sheet's feature tree.
    • You can add a bending radius also as a separate feature. Add Bend Radius

Figure 1: A sketch that has been extruded into a sheet metal part.

Extrude a sketch as a thin feature as follows

  1. Create the first sketch of the part model to the desired plane.
  2. Sketch the shape to be extruded.
  3. Select OK.
  4. Select Extrude.
  5. Select Thin Feature.
  6. Define the thin feature properties.
    • Mandatory information is the length of the extrusion and the thickness of the sheet.
    • We recommend that you also enter a bend radius.
    • You can also select the material, provided that the necessary information has been added to the sheet metal material database.
  7. Select OK.

Convert the extruded sheet into a sheet metal part

You can convert a regular extruded part to a sheet metal part by changing its properties.