Just prowling around the PTC website and came across this document. Pretty concise introduction to Data Doctor if you need to get going in a hurry. (These files are used in the tutorial)
Pro/E tip (interface): Getting started with WF4 Data Doctor
August 29th, 2009Off-topic: the Internet Archive Wayback Machine
August 2nd, 2009Every once in a while, it’s good to take a look back:
Doesn’t hurt to remember this when posting to social media :)
Pro/E Tip (model): (Golden) spiral curve
July 28th, 2009Too much info, I know — this post is the result of some keyword investigation I did with “pro/e”. Turns out “pro/e spiral” is a popular key word, so I figured “I can do that; it might be fun.” It’s also a throwback to the old PTC certification program where something like this was required. And, it gives me a chance to add a link listing advanced trig functions you can use in relations: necessary if you have an interest in the “golden spiral”.
Doesn't end on a rectangular boundary, but that's the equation
Pro/E Relations:
b = .0053468
r = exp( b * theta )
theta = 360 * t
z = 0
Pro/E tip (admin): PTC Enhancement Details Page
July 27th, 2009PTC: Enhancement Details: Most Popular
Nice way to catch up on functionality changes between versions
Pro/E tip (draft): ASME datum axis in WF2
July 27th, 2009WF2 Only
Why can’t you do this in model mode? Why does it depend on a drawing detail option? Good question.
Weak answer: In drawing mode, you are actually attaching the tag to an edge, (you can only move the tag by re-picking the geometry), but in model mode an edge can only be used as a tangent reference to define an axis. And, there’s no config option to specify ANSI/ASME GD&T.
Change attachment in drawing mode
Pro/E tip (model): Search order
July 27th, 2009I always believed Pro/E retrieved files in this (classic) order:
In session (in memory)
Current working directory
Directory containing the assembly or drawing file
Directories in the search path
- In session (in memory)
- Current working directory
- Directory containing the assembly or drawing file
- Directories in the search path
According to this TAN, Wildfire changed the search order to:
- Pro/ENGINEER session
- the Search/Retrieve directory where the parent object was found
- Active Intralink/Windchill Workspace and Commonspace
- Local Working Directory
- Search paths …
Note reversal of working directory and parent object directory.
Thanks to the PTC/User Exploder.
Pro/E tip (admin): Product View Express
July 20th, 2009Looks like the latest version is 9.1.
I used to avoid installing PVX because of the 250 file associations it created, but I guess I’m getting lazy. It’s nice to get a quick view of PTC data on disk, so it’s back on my computer.
Not sure what’s great about this release, or what versions ship with Pro/E, but I thought I’d give it a look.
Pro/E Tip (draft): What’s this?
July 20th, 2009You might see this in one of my drawings:
Tiny text hidden under filled dot
Simple explanation. The “100″ dim is a created dimension with text height set to .01″. The filled circle is a filled dot leader belonging to a note.
I like this technique for identifying weld areas, grain direction, etc. Admittedly, things can move, but they’re not too hard to spot, and a little grid snap goes a long way towards lining this thing up. It’s also nice to know that the arrow length is actually correct.
YMMV.
Pro/E Question: Why do you round?
June 25th, 2009Taking a hint from the days of old:
What’s wrong with a simple note that says “All unspecified radii shall be .010.”?
Rounding is time-consuming and it increases model complexity and regeneration time. At what point do you say “Enough”?
Where’s the boundary between tooling requirements and design needs? Why suffer from complex models and slow regeneration to accomplish a one-time task? Couldn’t a separate tooling model be done with a merged model?
What about FEA? Most FEA should start simple and add complexity as results reveal the need, so aren’t small rounds a negative for FEA? Is mold flow analysis any different?
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
What about you?
Pro/E tip (model): Rounding
June 25th, 2009Which of these rounds do you prefer?
I prefer the round on the bottom. Similar to surface modeling practices, 4-sided patches are preferred to triangular patches.
The quad patch transition on the bottom is a result of sweeping a smaller radius around a larger radius. A difference of only 10% in radii is enough to create a desirable transition.
The triangular patch transition on the top is a result of the opposite condition: an equal or larger radius is swept around an equal or smaller radius. Most users consider this transition to be the normal case, but the reality is that the triangular patch can create self-intersecting geometry (a.k.a. geometry check) that is not obvious but can cause problems later.
If you can’t force yourself to vary radii values to create the swept round transition on the right, at least be careful to avoid geometry checks with constant round values. After all, who’s actually going to care if a round is .01″, .011″, or .009″?
Loading ...