plot function

Hi,
I have an object that is basically a cuboid. However, one edge shall be
curved, follwing a function like f(x) = x^2. Can I plot such a function with
SolidWorks? Alternatively, it would be possible to approximate this function
via a polyline that uses several xy-coordinates. Is it possible to
automatically create a polyline from an ascii file containing those
xy-coordinates?
Thanks in advance,
Bernhard

 

Bernhard,

You can't plot a formula "directly" in SW. You "can" write an API program
that does this though. Phillippe Guglielmetti http://www.dynabits.com used
to have a SW plugin called Mathworks that would probably do this. If you
look on his site you may find something that will help.

You can read in tabular X,Y,Z data points and create a "spline".
"Insert-curve-through XYZ points" and browse to the text (.txt) file that
contains the data.

SW doesn't do polylines like ACAD, just NURBS.

Regards

Mark

 

I have a macro on my website that does this using excel. Select a plane,
write an equation and it will draw a spline through points on the curve.


www.frontiernet.net/~mlombard

go to the macro library link and look for eqcurve.

matt

 

You can read in tabular X,Y,Z data points and create a "spline".

Thanks a bunch. However, I am starting with a 2D draw, which I intend to
convert into 3D later. So, I don't have XYZ points but only XY points to
draw a curve through. This 2D-spline shall be expanded into 3D later. Is it
possible to draw a 2D spline through XY-points too?

Regards,
Bernhard

 

I have a macro on my website that does this using excel. Select a plane,

Thank you. I used that makro, however, it does not seem to work fine on the
following equation:

(0.04444*x^3-0.00952*x^2-0.00606*x+0.00748)/1000

Should it be capable of doing that or can it only plot quadratic functions?
If it is able to do that, then I am doing something else wrong..

Regards,
Bernhard

 

Bernhard,

Just leave out the third (Z) value and it'll plot to a plane.

Mark

 

This is the equation of a parabola, and you can sketch parabola directly.
More generally, for simple curves, you can sketch a few points that you
position with equations and fit a spline through them.

 

Well, if it is f(x) = x^2 then just use the parabola tool. It is in the
menu.

 

Just leave out the third (Z) value and it'll plot to a plane.

Ok, I filled the 3 column of the file with zeros, and it worked!

But now I am encountering a new (beginners) problem: I have created a new
"part" in which I have drawn some lines and plotted my curve via
"Insert-curve-through XYZ points", now I want to save the data in .dxf
format which is needed to adress kind of a CNC machine. How do I do that?
It seems one can only export into .dxf from a "draw" object. So how do I
include my "part" into a "draw" object?
I hope I made myself clear enough..

Thanks again for the support,
Bernhard

P.S.: I do not even succeed in combining the lines I have drawn with the
curve, the FeatureManager shows 2 different objects..

 

Bernhard,

You create a single (plan) view drawing and export as DXF.

I don't think DXF supports NURBS, so what you end up with is a linearized
approximation of the curve. If your using a CAM system, IGES or Parasolid
(x_t, x_b), from the solid, will give you a true spline.

Regards

Mark

 

works fine for me. I copied and pasted your formula into the macro, and it
draws a spline. were you using other settings? are you sure it's valid
over the range you were using?

matt