Using Axis Pattern in Wildfire 2.0

By Florin Neamtu, Belcan Corporation

With the release of Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0 come some great enhancements, including Direction and Axis patterns. In combination with Fill patterns introduced in Wildfire 1.0, this new capability provides the freedom to pattern features regardless of the dimensions used to create the feature. 

All you have to do is select the feature, select the direction reference, and GO! This means

• No more datums on the fly to create rotational patterns.
• No more redefining features in order to obtain a pattern-driving dimension.

For example, if a hole was created without a datum plane during the feature creation, there was previously no easy way to generate a rotational pattern. Wildfire 2.0 now makes this easy to accomplish.  

1.     Select the hole, RMB, Pattern.

2.     Select the Axis option to create a rotational pattern.

3.     Display axes and select the axis in the center of the part. Enter the desired number of instances and degrees for the angle.

4.     Creating the rotational pattern is as easy as that. No more having to worry about creating Make Datums or Datums on the fly to have an angular dimension to drive the pattern.

5.     You can also exclude individual pattern instances by selecting the black dots. When you do so, the dot turns white—indicating that it will be excluded from the pattern. (This means no need for pattern tables!)

Florin Neamtu is a design engineer/PTC specialist and trainer with Belcan Corporation in Raleigh, NC. Florin can be reached by email at fneamtum@belcan.com.