Thin Walls Detection Tool
Thin Walls Detection module is used to detect and highlight thin walls in the geometry that are difficult to manufacture in AM Process. Thin wall is vertical wall structure where the thickness of the wall is too small. Thin walls are very challenge to manufacture duo to the laser spot diameter or FDM nozzle size. Moreover, thin walls could lead to failure or high thermal distortion due to the thermal stress within the thin wall region.
Figure 1 Custom GUI and result output for thin wall detection in Siemens NX Modeling
Instructions
Figure 2 Thin Wall Detection GUI
The Thin Wall GUI is shown in the figure below. The detailed explanation of each option in the GUI is given below.
a) Select Body
This option is used to select the body for which thin walls are detected and highlighted.
b) Rotation along X axis
Rotation along X axis (value to be entered in degrees) will rotate the selected part along the X axis.
c) Rotation along Y axis
Rotation along Y axis (value to be entered in degrees) will rotate the selected part along the Y axis.
d) Threshold Value
The threshold thickness of the part that is identified as a thin wall is entered here. (unit in mm).
e) Slice Thickness
Slice thickness is the distance between two adjacent slicing layers (unit in mm). As slice thickness decreases, the analysis is more accurate. However, decreased slice thickness will increase the processing time of the tool.
The output window of the Thin Wall Detection is shown below. The result shows the height of the thin wall features.
Figure 3 Thin Wall Detection Output Window
Please watch the video tutorial of the module for an example part included with the zip file of the module.
Example Problem
Use the Parasolid File named Thinwall.x_t in the Example Parts folder attached in the Thin Wall Detection module folder that you have extracted from the website.
Open the example part, try the following input configurations and note the changes of the thin walls.
a. Input Threshold Value as 1.5 (mm), Slice Thickness as 1.0 (mm), analysis the number of thin walls of the given part.
b. Increase the Threshold Value to 2.0 (mm), analysis the thin wall.
c. Rotate the part along both X and Y axis by 45 degree. Set the Threshold Value as 1.1 (mm) and Slice Thickness as 1.0 (mm). analysis the thin wall.
Download Thin Walls Detection Tool