Digital Engineering – August 2019

DigitalEngineering247.com /// August 2019 DE| Technology for Optimal Engineering Design (^45)
direction and parting edges, and you can even add draft in two
directions. If a new intermediate profile is added after creating
a loft, rather than having to delete and reselect the profiles, you
can now simply add the new profile and reorder the profiles.
Plus you now have a new option to view the curvature combs of
previewed edges while creating a feature, with curvature combs
updating dynamically as you modify the curves.
Onshape has long been able to use explicitly created mate
connectors as a reference for transforms, as well as creating holes
and other features. You can now define and use implied mate con-
nectors on the fly. For example, you can revolve a sketch about an
axis defined by the origin or a sketch line. Or, create a hole by de-
fining an implicit mate connector at the corner of a part and then
translate the mate connector by specifying appropriate offsets,
which is faster than defining a sketch and a vertex reference.
Assembly and Sheet Metal Enhancements
Last year, Onshape added multiple independent inputs to allow
for multiple part configurations instead of listing every design
permutation in one large table. That same approach is now avail-
able for assemblies as well. You can choose the type of input—list,
checkbox or configuration variable—and then configure assembly
features that respond to those inputs so that changes to the input
values yield different assembly configurations.
Onshape is also unique in that you can work simultaneously in
both the folded and flat view. As a result, you can create sketches
and features directly in either view and the features you add to the
flat view and the bend view of the model appear in the same fea-
ture tree, without any extra folding or unfolding steps.
You can also now create hems using a new dedicated sheet
metal feature, with options to define a straight, rolled or tear-
drop hem, and to specify its inner radius and total length.
Drawing Improvements
Onshape callouts use the item number from the bill of materials
(BOM) table to populate the text in each balloon. These item
numbers are linked to the BOM and update automatically if the
table order is changed or parts are added or removed. You can
also now add text above, below or to either side of the callout,
and also include part properties and table properties.
Dimensions and annotations, including hole callouts, now
snap to alignment lines, making it much easier to organize draw-
ings. You can also add leaders to geometric dimensioning and
tolerancing (GD&T) frames and add multiple leaders to weld
and surface finish symbols.
Ordinate dimensions have seen significant improvements.
Jogs are now automatically created to avoid overlapping other
dimensions. If you accidentally create a jog, you can simply
drag-and-drop the dimension to remove it.
You can now define the depth of section views in Onshape
drawings, setting a blind value or selecting a point on the view as
a reference for the depth. There is also a new dimension tool for
chamfer features, with the ability to add an optional prefix.
You can also split a BOM in an Onshape drawing and then
drag the portion of the BOM below the break to reposition it. If
necessary, you can split the BOM multiple times and split por-
tions can even be moved to a different sheet in the drawing. And
finally, when changes are made to an Onshape drawing template,
you can easily update the title block and border in an existing
drawing without disturbing views that have already been created.
Performance and Usability Updates
Performance has been improved, particularly when working
with large assemblies and complex views. Onshape has added
integration with Google Drive and Dropbox, so you can browse
for files from within Onshape. You can also import, export and
search within those connected services. Additionally, Onshape
remembers the last location that was imported from or exported
to within a connected cloud service.
In the past, if one user switched to a different configuration,
all users accessing that document would also be switched. Now,
users can change configurations independently in both parts and
assemblies. However, if you enable follow mode, the configura-
tion changes will sync with the user you are following. In ad-
dition, link sharing is specific to the configuration that is active
when the link is copied. So, even if the configuration is changed
after sharing the link, the user that follows a link will see the
document open at the configuration you had intended.
Measuring the distance to or from the origin is now as easy
as selecting the reference and picking the origin, with the result
shown in the lower-right corner. In addition, when you select
faces, the program now shows the total area of all faces selected.
Standard PEM fasteners have been added to Onshape’s library
and are available when creating holes using the hole feature tool.
Onshape lets you work simultaneously
in the folded and  at view.
With Onshape’s ability to con gure
multiple independent inputs now
extended to assemblies, you can
build an in nite number of assembly
con gurations with just a few inputs.
DE_0819_Review_Onshape_Cohn.indd 45 7/11/19 11:25 AM