Creating Angle Cuts Manually

This task shows you how to create angle cuts to support manufacturing constraints.
Open the GAAngleCut01.CATPart document.

  1. Click Grid Angle Cut in the Grid Design toolbar.
    The Angle Cut Definition dialog box is displayed:

  2. Pick the vertices to process.

    • Click to remove the selected vertex from the selection.
    • Click to propagate your selection to the next vertices downwards.
    •  For each selected vertex, the dialog box is updated with its index,
      the name of the ply it belongs to, and the name of its two ramp supports.
    • The vertices are highlighted in the 3D window.
    • A preview of the result is displayed.
    • A red display indicates the result is not valid.

  3.  Click Next under Side to switch to the next possible result:

    or

  4. Define the Fiber draping angle:
    • Select Angle and enter an angle value.
    • Or select Direction and select an existing element
      or create one with the contextual menu of Direction.

  5. Define the Length:

    • Define the Minimum length, i.e. the minimum tape length.
    • Click More to define extrapolation lengths.
      Make sure the extrapolation distances are sufficient to cross all the plies that will have an angle cut,
      and that you have picked the vertices in proper order.
      Otherwise, a message warns you that the minimum length could not be respected for some plies.

  6. Under Slope, define the staggering.
    Once vertices are selected, Same as ramp support is replaced by the actual values, e.g.

    • either as Same as ramp support #1 (as found in first column Grid Ramp Support),
    • or as Same as ramp support #2 (as found in second column Grid Ramp Support),
    • or as an Other slope.
      When this option is selected, the Slope value parameters become available.
      • Step is the length between the angle cut edges,
      • Rate is the ratio that defines the slope,
      • Angle is the angle of the drop-off,
      • Material is the expected material thickness.

    See Editing Ramp Supports for more information.

  7. Click OK to validate and exit the Angle Cut Definition dialog box.
    A Grid Angle Cut Set is created:


    Corresponding Ramp Definitions are created in a dedicated node, under the Ramp Definitions in Composites Parameters.
    It is displayed according to option set in Tools > Options.
   
 

About the Angle Cut init Definition Dialog Box

In the Grid Angle Cut command, this dialog box is initialized by the selections you have made.
You can also access the Angle Cut init Definition dialog box with Grid Angle Cut Init  .
In this case, the fields will be empty.

It is used to define a curve of minimum length (in green below), with a given angle
that will initialize the new support curves (in pink below):

Panel

It is the Grid Panel you want to process, the one you have selected
when entering the Angle Cut Definition dialog box.

Point definition

Defines the reference point (middle point on the green curve below).
You can either select an existing point, or select two intersecting curves.
When you select the last vertex, the two curves that intersect and
form this vertex are used to populate the dialog box.

Direction definition

Defines the direction of angle cut computed from a rosette transfer,
either by an angle or a direction.

Minimum length

Defines the minimum length of the curve (in green) that initializes the modified support curves.

Extrapol length 1 and 2

Define the extrapolation length on each side of the reference point,
to define the end points of the minimum length curve.

Direction

Clicking Direction has the same effect as picking the arrows in the 3D Viewer.
The number below show the correspondence between the pick and the result on the direction: