Explaining Sheet Metal Commands and Toolbars
Quick answer: This is the full command reference for Sheet Metal in BricsCAD Mechanical, confirming SMBEAD, SMEXTRUDE, SMLOFT, and SMCONVERT exactly against this hub’s Sheet Metal Design Methods page, and SMEXPORTOSM/SMASSEMBLYEXPORT exactly against the mechanical blocks, Xrefs and 3D solids page.
Creating Base Geometry
SMFLANGEBASE creates a base flange from a closed planar profile; SMEXTRUDE creates a part by extruding a polyline along its plane’s normal, with thickness set from the polyline’s external dimensions; SMLOFT creates lofted bends and flanges between two non-coplanar curves; SMCONVERT automatically recognizes flanges, bends, and lofted bends within a plain 3D solid.
Flanges
SMFLANGEEDGE creates flanges by pulling one or more edges of an existing flange; SMFLANGECONTOUR creates a new flange from a closed contour and attaches it to the part; SMFLIP swaps a flange’s reference side, optionally shifting its geometry by thickness; SMFLANGEROTATE rotates a selected flange.
Hems
SMHEMCREATE creates hem features by pulling flange edges, in four styles: Closed, Open, Teardrop, and Round.
Form Features
BMINSERT inserts form features from the library; SMFORM either creates a form feature from a set of selected faces, or explodes an existing one back into flanges and bends where possible.
Beads and Replacing
SMBEAD creates an associative bead feature on a flange face from a planar 2D curve. SMREPLACE swaps form features (including automatically recognized ones) for features from a built-in or user library.
Bends
SMBENDCREATE converts hard edges (sharp edges between flange faces) and junctions into bends; SMBENDSWITCH converts bends into lofted bends; SMFLANGEBEND bends an existing flange along a line, obeying the k-factor for the given bend radius.
Junctions
SMJUNCTIONCREATE converts hard edges into junctions; SMJUNCTIONSWITCH converts a symmetrical junction into one with overlapping faces; SMFLANGECONNECT closes gaps between two arbitrarily oriented, non-coplanar flanges.
Tabs
SMTABCREATE switches an existing junction into a tab feature, either a single tab or an array of them.
Reliefs
SMRELIEFCREATE builds proper corner and bend reliefs (corner reliefs at corners with three or more adjacent flanges, bend reliefs at the start and end of a flange edge). SMRELIEFSWITCH converts a corner relief into one of six other types: Circular, Rectangular, VType, Smooth, Round, or Rip.
Splitting
SMSPLIT splits a flange three ways: along a line drawn on its face, at a single vertex in a corner, or at a single vertex with automatic suggestions for multiple similar splits.
Imprinting
SMIMPRINT splits a part’s thickness faces along imprinted edges, based on adjacent flanges and bends.
Removing Sheet Metal Data
SMDISSOLVE removes sheet metal data from selected faces or entities. SMDELETE removes a bend or junction (restoring the hard edge between flanges), removes a flange along with all its adjacent bends (extending neighboring flanges up to a junction configuration where the deleted flange was), or removes a miter (restoring the geometry it had cut).
Repairing
SMREPAIR fixes sheet metal-specific problems either globally (supporting both global and local workflows, optionally healing lofted bend features by merging adjacent bends and providing tangential connections to flanges) or locally (fixing only a selected flange or a specific wrong bend).
Selecting
SMSELECT offers five selection modes: all identical form features, all hard edges, all non-orthogonal thickness edges, all flat edges, or a specific side of the part.
Parametrizing
SMPARAMETRIZE creates a consistent set of 3D constraints for a selected sheet metal part.
Unfolding and Exporting
SMUNFOLD unfolds the sheet metal body (or, associatively, opens an additional window showing the unfolded representation). SMEXPORTOSM exports a sheet metal solid to the Open Sheet Metal (.osm) format. SMEXPORT2D exports the unfolded representation as a 2D profile in .dxf or .dwg format. SMASSEMBLYEXPORT batch-exports an entire assembly’s components, applying SMCONVERT and SMEXPORT2D to create one .dxf per 3D solid recognized as a sheet metal part.
FEATURECOLORS
Toggles the FEATURECOLORS system variable, controlling feature color display.
Accessing These Tools
Find Sheet Metal tools via the Quad cursor menu (depending on the feature under the cursor); eleven dedicated toolbars (Sheet Metal, SM Bend, SM Flange, SM Form, SM Hem, SM Junction, SM Relief, SM Repair, SM Split, SM Tab, and SM Unfold); the Sheet Metal menu (Mechanical workspace only); or the Sheet Metal tab of the Mechanical workspace ribbon. See also the general Direct modeling operations article.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which command automatically recognizes sheet metal features in a plain 3D solid? SMCONVERT, which recognizes flanges, bends, and lofted bends.
How do I batch-export every sheet metal part in an assembly at once? SMASSEMBLYEXPORT, which applies SMCONVERT and SMEXPORT2D across the assembly, creating a .dxf per recognized sheet metal solid.
What are the six relief types SMRELIEFSWITCH can convert a corner relief into? Circular, Rectangular, VType, Smooth, Round, and Rip.
What’s the difference between SMDISSOLVE and SMDELETE? SMDISSOLVE removes sheet metal data from faces or entities while keeping the geometry; SMDELETE actually removes features like bends, junctions, flanges, or miters, restoring the geometry that existed before them.