Manual Weld

Manual weld enables the user to manually specify a weld joint through parameters and several points in the 3D view. The created joint will be reported like automatic created weld joints, though the manual picking of points defining the weld joint allows for flexible creation.

The following convention is used for Manual Weld:

• A weld joint (J-<N>) is a collection of several welds (W-<N>)

• A weld is a collection of segments (line or arc)

• A segment is defined through several points.

The general workflow is to specify the two parts for the weld, type and leg length of the weld. Points are picked in the 3D view creating joined segments. The segments are either lines or arcs. These segments are used to create a weld. If more welds are desired in a weld joint the step of creating a weld is repeated.

Once all desired welds are created the weld joint can be created. It will appear together with the other joints in the “Assembly planning” with a suffix of ‘: M’ to distinguish it from the automatically created ones. In the weld report there is also an additional column indicating manually created weld (1) or automatically created weld (0).

Sections of the Manual Weld Dialog

Picking Points

The most straightforward way of picking points is through the combination of Graphics and Cursor, which allows for picking points on surfaces, edges or corners. This tool starts when clicking 'Start from new point' in the form.

Segment Types

• If Segment type is set to Lines each segment is defined through its start and end point. Subsequent segments will use the end point of the previous one as the start point.

• If Segment type is set to Arcs each segment is defined through its start point, a point on the circular arc segment, and its end point. Subsequent segments will use the end point of the previous one as the start point.

• It is possible to switch between the two types while creating a single weld. (Though not to switch from arc to line when the point on the arc is picked).

• It is possible to remove the last created segment (or point) by pressing Esc.

• If an arc is created with a large opening angle, it will be split into three arcs to avoid the problem of the sagitta being larger than the radius.

Resulting Manual Weld

The created joint will be visible in the Assembly explorer under the selected assembly with the suffix ": M" to indicate it is a manually created weld. Automatic detection will not remove manually created welds.

Worked Example

1. Navigate to an element in the Assembly Planning explorer.

2. Right-click the CE to display the right-click menu.

   

3. From the right click-menu, select Weld, then Manual weld to display the Manual Weld window.

   The assembly shown in top of the from will be the target for the operation.

   Note that target assembly is changed when the current selection in Assembly Planning is changed.

   

4. Click the Pick button to select the Part One point in the 3D view

5. Click the Pick button to select the Part Two point in the 3D view.

6. From the Type drop-down list, select the weld type (default - Fillet).

7. Enter the Leg Length (mm) of the weld.

8. Select the Segment type for creating weld, then select Lines.

9. Click Start from new point to start specifying the weld segments. Make sure Graphics and Cursor are selected as the way to pick points.

10. Pick the top outer corner point where the two halves meet and an aid sphere will appear as a ball.

11. Pick the lower outer corner point where to halves meet. The two picked points will be joined by a straight segment.

    

12. Click Create weld. The information from the segments will be transformed into a weld.

13. Repeat steps 9 through 12 to create a weld for the inside where the two halves meet.

14. Click Create joint. The two welds will be transformed into a single joint with two welds and stored in the weld table.