There are three ways to flatten sheet metal in solidworks.
How to get solidworks sheet metal.
Solidworks sheet metal tutorial step 1.
Forming tools are parts that act as dies that bend stretch or otherwise form sheet metal to create form features such as louvers lances flanges and ribs.
Enter a default inside radius for the bends.
Whether you have just started using solidwo.
Or in either the featuremanager or the cut list right click the flat pattern.
Under sheet metal parameters.
Solidworks multibody part functionality lets you work with several bodies in one part to create complex sheet metal designs.
We will focus on the flange method where a sheet metal part is created in the formed state using specialized sheet metal features.
If you don t have the sheet metal tab open right click in the area where the 1 arrow points then click sheet metal.
We can use these features to create sheet metal designs with several different methods.
Using sheet metal tools.
In the featuremanager design tree select the part and click flatten in the sheet metal toolbar.
Select a face as the fixed face for the sheet metal part.
Click on the sheet.
Or in the cut list right click the body and click flatten.
Then you can go to command manager or insert menu and select edge flange from sheetmetal side drop down menu.
Click convert to sheet metal.
For showing solidworks edge flange application we are going to create new base flange sheet metal part.
First create a new part.
Click on the top plane and then create a new sketch.
Then select edge for creating edge flange on it.
Pick the a face that will be fixed plane of the flattened sheet.
Enter the material thickness you want.
Now sketch and use smart dimension to give a dimension to the design.
Using forming tools with sheet metal.
Solidworks 3d allows you to quickly create sheet metal part designs using a simple design process saving you time and development costs thanks to specific sheet metal features.
You can follow step 1 and step 2 and result is shown in figure below.
Multibody sheet metal parts.