AE2400 – 3D Fuselage Model, SolidWorks walkthrough.
First we need to draw the main fuselage body. Create a plane which is 3.7m off set from the Right
Plane. To do this first select the right plane then select Reference Geometry in the Features Ribbon,
then select Plane.
Then in the Properties, type 3.7m in as the offset.
Now on Plane1 sketch the fuselage diameter. You can either draw a circle or to be more realistic, you
can sketch an ellipse, here I will use ellipses throughout but it will work just as well with circles.
Like before, draw an arbitrary ellipse and then dimension using your fuselage diameter:
How ‘oval’ your fuselage depends on your specification, especially for those doing the double decker
aircraft.
Now extrude this sketch the length of your main cabin (i.e. Lcab – Lcab in nose – Lcab in tail).
Now we will need to deal with the tail with use of the loft feature. But first we will need to sketch on
some more ellipses and some line for the loft to follow.
So on the front plane, create a new sketch and sketch on the tail cone upsweep and ground clearance
(lecture 14, slide 59). Like always draw a rough sketch of what it will look like:
Now dimension using your tail cone length, tail clearance, upsweep angle. You can get something
like:
Here ‘PFS’ means Point For Spline and are varied to get a reasonable shape. An approximate APU
exhaust outlet dimension is used to close the tail and the approximate wheel position and ground level
is used for the tail clearance.
Now we need to the same on the top plane (basically use the lines you had in the previous
assignment), giving:
NOTE: Make sure the contour is close, it needs to be closed for a future step.
So now in an isometric view you can see we now have 2 curves that can be used to create a 3D line
the other ellipses.
But first we should do another sketch on the front plane which, so we can find the centre line along
the tail cone.
So to do this, start a new sketch, and click the Convert entities button in the Sketch ribbon:
Then select the outline:
And click OK. These line will now be lifted onto your new sketch. Now we need to find the centre
line, so draw a vertical construction line and offset it at by about 1m (can be more, it’s up to you).
Now do a Linear Sketch Pattern, of this line until the entire tail has lines in it:
Now trim the lines back to the outline, using the trim entities tool, which is in the Sketch ribbon. This
will give:
Now use draw a spline going through the centre of each of these points:
This is now the centreline of this tail section. Now, we need to isolate this new centreline from the
construction line, so create a new sketch and use the convert entities tool to bring it into a new sketch.
Now we can make a Projected Curve. Go to Insert Curve Projected. Now select the line you
have just created, and the plan view sketch.
The yellow line, is showing what the project line will look like. Press OK, and you now should have
your projected line (which will be in blue).
Now we can start to draw the ellipses for the Loft.
First create a plane and offset it 1/5 of the tail length i.e. we will eventually have 5 planes in the tail
with 5 ellipses which can then be lofted together. So as before, Reference Geometry Plane. Then
select the end of the fuselage and type in the offset (here it is 13.31/5=2.662).
Now sketch on this plane and draw a close spline with 4 points as always it can be random:
Now we need sort the 4 points out. So click the point near the top, hold shift and click the line for the
top of the fuselage:
Now on the left hand side add the Pierce relationship. This will move the point onto the line. Do the
same for the bottom and the sides:
Now create the next plane at another 1/5 offset (from ‘plane 4’ this time), and repeat the above steps.
You will then be left with 5 ellipses:
Now to Loft them together, so go to the Features ribbon and select Lofted Boss/Base. In the profiles,
select (IN ORDER) the end of the main fuselage, then the 1st ellipse you drew, followed by the 2nd
etc.:
Now to make sure it gives us the exact loft we wanted, we need to move those green circles so they
match the Curve. As you can see from the rear view they are currently all over the place:
So drag them into position, they should lock on to the point at the left of each ellipse. And will look
something like:
Now we have finished the tail section.
Now we need to play a similar game with the nose.
So now on the Front Plane, sketch an outline of the cockpit:
And for the top view, you can use the dimension you had on the previous assignment:
Now again on the side view we need to find the centreline:
And get the projected curve:
Then created the ellipses, and loft as before. But do the loft in two stages, first the main cockpit area,
and then the radome after:
To finally give your fuselage:
