How to Convert and Repair Sheet Metal in BricsCAD Mechanical

Quick answer: This uses SMCONVERT and SMREPAIR. A sheet metal part can be created from any 3D solid geometry, whether built in BricsCAD or imported from another CAD system, but that geometry might not be a valid sheet metal model (missing bends and reliefs, or thickness faces not orthogonal to flange faces). BricsCAD Sheet Metal includes a dedicated toolset to convert such geometry and add every missing feature.

Converting 3D Geometry to a Sheet Metal Part

1. Launch SMCONVERT via the Convert to Sheet Metal tool button on the Sheet Metal toolbar or ribbon bar, or Convert to Sheet Metal in the Sheet Metal menu. You’re prompted to select 3D solids, or choose Entire model.
2. Select the 3D solid to convert; you’re prompted again.
3. Press Enter to convert it into a sheet metal part.

Its properties display in the Mechanical Browser for Sheet Metal. Converted bodies can be unfolded or exported to DXF or OSM formats for processing by a CAM system.

Fixing Converted Bodies Before Unfolding or Exporting

Sometimes converted bodies need fixing first: create missing reliefs with SMRELIEFCREATE; convert hard edges into bends or junctions with SMBENDCREATE and SMJUNCTIONCREATE; split flanges and lofted bends with SMSPLIT; or repair the whole body with SMREPAIR, confirming all four commands covered elsewhere in this hub.

When to Repair a Sheet Metal Part

Imported parts, especially those designed in a geometrical kernel other than ACIS, often have geometry, topology, or sheet metal design issues: thickness faces not perpendicular to their flange or bend faces; lofted bends not tangential to adjacent flanges or bends; wrong bends; or general ACIS issues. These can prevent editing operations from completing successfully.

Recommended workflow: run DMAUDIT first to fix general modeling issues, then run SMREPAIR.

Repairing a Sheet Metal Body

Sheet metal bodies with thickness faces that aren’t perpendicular to their flange or bend faces can’t be manufactured correctly with traditional tools.

1. Launch SMREPAIR via the Repair Sheet Metal tool on the Heal panel of the Sheet Metal ribbon tab, the Sheet Metal toolbar, the Sheet Metal menu, or the command itself. You’re prompted to select a flange face or lofted bend face to repair, or choose switch on Local repairing or Scan for lost details.
2. Select the face to repair.

This corrects the geometry directly. If the model has wrong bends, SMREPAIR transforms them into regular bends, converting a non-tangential connection with the flanges into a proper tangential one. Form features carry over to the repaired model unchanged, but a plain hole that isn’t classified as a form feature gets orthogonalized, confirming exactly the same behaviour covered on this hub’s hole features page (“plain hole faces become orthogonal”) and the exact warning given on the bevels page about SMREPAIR affecting chamfers that aren’t true bevel features.

Repairing a Sheet Metal Body with Lofted Bends

1. Launch SMREPAIR the same way as above; you’re prompted to select a flange face or lofted bend face, or choose switch on Local repairing or Scan for lost details.
2. Select a face of a flange or lofted bend; that face provides the surface to be thickened. Where a lofted bend wasn’t tangent to its flange before, making unfolding impossible, the connection becomes smooth afterward, making unfolding possible again.

If SmRepairLoftedBendMerge is on, adjacent lofted bends with a tangential connection also merge into a single lofted bend.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens to a plain hole (not a form feature) when I run SMREPAIR? It gets orthogonalized, while any actual form feature on the same part carries over unchanged.

What’s the recommended order for fixing an imported sheet metal part with geometry issues? Run DMAUDIT first to address general modeling problems, then run SMREPAIR.

Can SMREPAIR fix a lofted bend that isn’t tangent to its adjacent flange? Yes, selecting that face makes the connection smooth again, restoring the ability to unfold the part.

Does SMREPAIR automatically combine adjacent lofted bends into one? Only if SmRepairLoftedBendMerge is enabled, and only when they already share a tangential connection.