How To Show Tangent Bend Lines on the Flat Pattern of a Sheet Metal Part

Problem

By default, SOLIDWORKS will show Tangent Bend lines in your sheet metal part. This allows you to see where your sheet metal bend begins and ends. However, the flat pattern of your sheet metal part will NOT show any of these tangent edges by default.

SOLIDWORKS defaults to hiding these edges to best represent how the part will look prior to any bending or forming operations.

Solution

There may be times, when it is beneficial to show any tangent edges in the flat pattern of a sheet metal part. 

This can be done by completing the following steps:

1. Expand the Flat Pattern folder by clicking on the arrow just left of it in the feature tree.

   

2. Right-click on the "Flat-Pattern" feature.

3. Select “Edit Feature” from the pop-up toolbar.

   

4. Uncheck the “Merge faces” checkbox.

   

5. Click the green check.

6. Confirm that your flat pattern now displays distinct faces for your bends and flat faces.

   

7. These tangent bend lines will now appear in the 3D model as well as any drawing views of your flat pattern.

For further technical support, please contact Hawk Ridge Systems at 877.266.4469 for the U.S. or 866.587.6803 for Canada and support@hawkridgesys.com.