Blank Geometry Workbench

The Blank Geometry branch in the Feature Tree may contain up to three items to view:

• Link to Forming -- Blank
• Blank 1
• Blank 2 (Imported)

The Blank Geometry branch in the Feature Tree may also contain a User Defined Blank branch.

Note:  You cannot create a User Defined Blank if you add an addendum.

Blank 1

Note: You can create addendum on the blank and then define smoothing options but you cannot define smoothing options and then create addendum on the blank. Addendum becomes a disabled option after the blank has been smoothed.

Blank 1
By right clicking on the Blank 1 sub-item you can Delete the branch, edit the Property (name of the branch), view the blank Info, Export the blank, or Plot the blank.

Info: Viewing the blank information will display the blank area and blank perimeter.

Export: The blank geometry can be exported as an IGES or DXF file format. You can choose to export the blank outline, the blank surface or both. You can also choose the orientation of the blank, original or tipped.  DXF file format can only be exported as an outline.

Plot: The blank outline can be printed/plotted at a scale of 1:1 or any other scale.


Blank 1 Smoothed
This sub-item is only available if the Smoothing button was selected on the Blank Workbench Toolbar. The Smoothing button will allow the user to simplify the edges of the blank as B-Splines, Lines or Lines and Arcs for IGES or DXF file export. Without the smoothing options, the edges of the blank are represented by the mesh element line segments.

By right clicking on the Blank 1 Smoothed sub-item you can Delete the smoothed blank, view the smoothed blank Info, Edit the smoothed blank, Export the smoothed blank, Plot the smoothed blank or Show the smoothed blank.
 

Blank 1 With Addendum
The Addendum is extra material added onto the part for forming operations and trimming. When nesting, this extra material can be approximated by adding extra material around the blank. Addendum added here will be a uniform amount around the entire blank.

By right clicking on the Blank 1 With Addendum sub-item you can Delete the addendum blank, view the addendum blank Info, Edit the addendum blank, Export the addendum blank, Plot the addendum blank or Show the addendum blank or show the addendum outline with the blank outline (Show with Blank).

Addendum Outline

Addendum and Original Blank Outline

Blank 1 With Addendum Smoothing

By right clicking on the Blank 1 With Addendum Smoothing sub-item you can Delete the blank, view the blank Info, Edit the blank, Export the blank, Plot the blank or Show the blank or show the addendum outline with the blank outline (Show with Blank)

Blank 2 (Imported)

To be able to nest two unique blank shapes in the Nesting Workbench you must first import a second blank shape using the Import Blank icon on the Blank Geometry Workbench Toolbar.

NOTE:  You must have the BLANKNEST license in order to import a second blank.

By right clicking on the Blank 2 (Imported) item you may Delete the blank.

By expanding the Blank 2 (Imported) item, you can view the original blank (Blank 2), the blank with smoothing options (Blank 2 Smoothed), the blank with addendum (Blank 2 With Addendum) or the blank with smoothing options and addendum (Blank 2 With Addendum Smoothed). If a sub-item has not yet been created (e.g. Blank 2 With Addendum) it will not be visible under the Blank 2 (Imported) item.

Note: You can only import a blank once. You can create addendum on the blank and then define smoothing options but you cannot define smoothing options and then create addendum on the blank. Addendum becomes a disabled option after the blank has been smoothed.

The same options are available when right clicking on any of the sub-items available under the Blank 2 (Imported) item as there are for the Blank 1 sub-items.