Troubleshooting when unwrapping fails

Question:
I have problems producing wrap-around templates. Some tubes do not have the correct shape in the drawing. How do I get unwrapping to succeed?

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Answer:
If you are not able to get correct wrap-around drawings, check the log file. There might be errors like:
"Error: Solid tube unwrap failed for solid"

Tube profiles are made of small segments, and it is sometimes difficult to find the correct cutting location, especially when the cutting part is also round. You can work-around these problems, but it usually requires some trial and error.

The solution is to rotate the tube so that the local axis location changes and moves away from any cut or the tube's curvature edges, which most likely have been causing the unwrapping problem.

1. In the part Position tab, change either the Top/Front/Back/Below setting or try adding a small angle value, such as 3.5 degrees.
2. Recreate the drawing to see the unwrapping results.
3. Click Tools > Display Log File > Session History and see that there are no unwrapping errors for the part id in the log.

If this is not working, try some other angle value or try rotating the cutting (antimaterial) part.

The correct unwrapping result for the tube above looks like this:

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You can usually get the correct result by rotating the tube or its cuts, but there are still two other options which also affect the unwrapping results:

• To have more accurate tubes, you can adjust chord tolerances in advanced options:  XS_CHORD_TOLERANCE_FOR_TUBE_SEGMENTS
• Old unwrapping might also work, but an unwrapped drawing will not contain cutouts in the tube.  XS_TUBE_UNWRAP_WITH_CUT_HOLES

Limitations

Note also that unwrapping is supported for circular profiles like EPDd*t and conical profiles like EPDd1*d2*t, but unwrapping is not supported for:

• elliptical profiles like for example EPDd1*r1*d2*r2*t
• curved beams and curved polybeams
• rectangular hollow sections RHS
• conical profiles with holes