How to Work with Bevels in BricsCAD Mechanical

Quick answer: Bevel features represent a chamfer operation on sheet metal parts; as of BricsCAD V21, each bevel must sit exactly on a single flange. There’s no dedicated creation operation, use DMCHAMFER on a flange edge, then DMROTATE to adjust the bevel’s angle. SMCONVERT recognizes bevels, SMUNFOLD processes them, and SMDELETE and SMREPAIR support them too. This workflow applies both when importing geometry (including batch export via SMASSEMBLYEXPORT) and when modifying existing parts.

Four bevel types exist, confirming exactly the same four covered on this hub’s Sheet Metal Global and Feature Properties page: One-side bevel, Land bevel, K-bevel, and X-bevel.

Bevel Properties

In the Mechanical Browser, each chamfer making up a bevel feature has its own separate properties: Depth (H), the depth of the chamfer operation, similar to DMCHAMFER; and Angle (A), the slope of the chamfered face. Note: Top or Bottom aren’t used to describe bevel features in the Mechanical Browser.

Recognizing Bevels

Click Convert to Sheet Metal on the Sheet Metal / Create ribbon panel; you’re prompted to select 3D solids or seed faces, or choose Entire model or selection options.
Press Enter to convert the 3D solid into a sheet metal part; bevel features get recognized and appear in the Mechanical Browser and on the part itself.

Deleting and Repairing Bevels

Creating bevel geometry and a feature with DMCHAMFER/SMCONVERT, then deleting it with SMDELETE and starting over, is a round trip that doesn’t change the part’s overall dimensions. When SMDELETE removes a bevel specifically, volume always gets added back to the part, since its dimensions can’t be reduced.

SMREPAIR support matters here too, since it’s part of the Import and Rework workflow. Important warning: applying SMREPAIR to a part that has chamfers but no bevel features loses those chamfers entirely, and changes the part’s dimensions, depending on which side of the part you selected.

Unfolding Bevels

Bevel features unfold according to the Unfolding Mode setting in the Mechanical Browser, confirming the Bevel unfolding mode property covered on this hub’s Global and Feature Properties page:

Keep: leaves bevel geometry untouched, resulting in a 3D solid with chamfers, likely producing artifacts in the resulting 2D DXF.
Remove: identical to applying SMDELETE on every bevel feature, all the chamfered chops fill back in.
Annotate (recommended): each bevel feature removes and its edge gets annotated instead. Each bevel edge annotates with pink text on the Bevel Annotations layer; UP and DOWN are relative to whichever side you chose for unfolding (choosing the opposite side swaps every UP annotation to DOWN and vice versa). One-side and Land bevels only need a single chamfer operation, producing a single UP or DOWN annotation; K- and X-bevels need two chamfer operations, producing both an UP and a DOWN annotation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a dedicated command for creating a bevel feature? No, use DMCHAMFER on a flange edge, then DMROTATE to adjust the bevel angle, SMCONVERT then recognizes it as a bevel feature.

What happens to a part’s dimensions when SMDELETE removes a bevel? Volume always gets added back, since the part’s dimensions can’t be reduced.

Which unfolding mode is recommended for bevel features? Annotate, which removes each bevel and annotates its edge instead, avoiding the DXF artifacts that Keep can produce.

What should I watch out for when running SMREPAIR on a part with chamfers? If those chamfers aren’t actual bevel features, SMREPAIR loses them entirely and changes the part’s dimensions, depending on the side selected.