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      <title>Using lofted flanges</title>
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      <div class="title_topic3" id="xps10_pagetitle">Using lofted flanges</div>
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      <p class="para_topic">You can use <b class="uiTerm">Lofted Flange</b> to create transition regions between two different profiles. <b class="uiTerm">Lofted Flange</b> is similar to <b class="uiTerm">Contour Flange</b>, but it has two profiles instead of one, which gives you more control over the shape of the sheet metal in between. The following example illustrates how to create a square-to-round transition using this command. 
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            <p class="para_item">Open a new part and create a U-shaped sketch feature on the XC-ZC plane as shown below. Each leg is 100 mm long, and the legs are 150 mm apart. The fillets placed in the corners have a radius of 5 mm.</p>
            <p class="para_item"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/lofted_sketch.jpg" border="0"></p>
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            <p class="para_item">Create another sketch on a parallel plane at a distance of 200 mm. This sketch should be an arc with the ends at each endpoint of the original sketch. Drag to find the third point of the arc where the ends of the sketch are both tangent to the two side curves on the original sketch, as shown below. </p>
            <p class="para_item"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/lofted_sketch2.jpg" border="0"></p>
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            <p class="para_item">Click <b class="uiTerm">Lofted Flange</b>&nbsp;<img align="bottom" src="graphics/lofted_flan_ico.gif" border="0">&nbsp;and select the square section as the <b class="uiTerm">Start Section</b>. Select one endpoint of the section as the start point, as shown below.
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            <p class="para_item"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/lofted_startsection.jpg" border="0"></p>
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            <p class="para_item">Select the arc section as the <b class="uiTerm">End Section</b>, and the endpoint of that sketch shown below as the end point. You should get a semi-solid preview of the part. 
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            <p class="para_item"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/lofted_endsection.jpg" border="0"></p>
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            <p class="para_item">Click <b class="uiTerm">OK</b> to complete the feature.
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            <p class="para_item"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/lofted_finished.jpg" border="0"></p>
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      </ol><a name="tt_lofted_flange"></a><div class="title_division">Tips and techniques for lofted flanges</div>
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            <p class="para_item">When creating sections for a <b class="uiTerm">Lofted Flange</b>, ensure that they contain the same number of elements whenever possible. When creating transitions such as the square-to-round transition above, this isn&rsquo;t possible. However, transitions for sections with similar shapes, such as square-to-square, must contain matched elements. 
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            <p class="para_item">Unlike<b class="uiTerm"> Contour Flange</b>, where you can allow the software to create the bend regions according to the default bend radius, you should include the bend radii in the section sketches for the <b class="uiTerm">Lofted Flange</b>. Bend regions for the start and end sections usually have different radii.
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            <p class="para_item">When including radii in your section sketches as fillets, those radii must be larger than the part thickness if you want them to define the outer bend region faces. If your radii are too small, you won't see a solid preview, and the feature won't be created.</p>
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            <p class="para_item">The two sections used in the <b class="uiTerm">Lofted Flange</b> feature must be created on parallel planes, and any line segments that are mapped to each other must be parallel. This is necessary in order for the finished product to be flattened with the <b class="uiTerm">Unbend</b> or <b class="uiTerm">Flat Solid</b> command. 
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            <p class="para_item"> Arc-to-arc mapping requires that both arcs have the same arc angle. The arcs don't have to be concentric. </p>
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            <p class="para_item">Lines can only be mapped to lines or points. Arcs can only be mapped to arcs and points. Lines can't be mapped to arcs. In the above example, the line segments in the square section are mapped to points on the arc section. </p>
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         <li>
            <p class="para_item">As a general rule, the start and end sections must have the same number of segments. However, the software will attempt to map lines or arcs to points to resolve conflicts. </p>
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