In
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...
, a fillet is a rounding of an interior or exterior corner of a part design. An interior or exterior corner, with an angle or type of
bevel, is called a "
chamfer". Fillet geometry, when on an interior corner is a line of
concave function, whereas a fillet on an exterior corner is a line of
convex function (in these cases, fillets are typically referred to as rounds). Fillets commonly appear on
welded
Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing fusion. Welding is distinct from lower temperature techniques such as braz ...
,
soldered
Solder (; NA: ) is a fusible metal alloy used to create a permanent bond between metal workpieces. Solder is melted in order to wet the parts of the joint, where it adheres to and connects the pieces after cooling. Metals or alloys suitable ...
, or
brazed
Brazing is a metal-joining process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, with the filler metal having a lower melting point than the adjoining metal.
Brazing differs from we ...
joints.
Applications
*
Stress concentration is a problem of load-bearing mechanical parts which is reduced by employing fillets on points and lines of expected high stress. The fillets distribute the stress over a broader area and effectively make the parts more durable and capable of bearing larger loads.
* For considerations in
aerodynamics
Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dy ...
, fillets are employed to reduce
interference drag
Interference is the act of interfering, invading, or poaching. Interference may also refer to:
Communications
* Interference (communication), anything which alters, modifies, or disrupts a message
* Adjacent-channel interference, caused by extra ...
where aircraft components such as wings, struts, and other surfaces meet one another.
* For manufacturing, concave corners are sometimes filleted to allow the use of round-tipped
end mill
An end mill is a type of milling cutter, a cutting tool used in industrial milling applications. It is distinguished from the drill bit in its application, geometry, and manufacture. While a drill bit can only cut in the axial direction, most m ...
s to cut out an area of a material. This has a ''cycle time'' benefit if the round mill is simultaneously being used to mill complex curved surfaces.
* Radii are used to eliminate sharp edges that can be easily damaged or that can cause injury when the part is handled.
[Visualization, modeling, and graphics for engineering design
By Dennis Kenmon Lieu, Sheryl Sorby, Page 6-31]
Design process
Fillets can be quickly designed onto parts using
3D solid modeling engineering
CAD software
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...
by invoking the function and picking edges of interest. Smooth edges connecting two simple flat features are generally simple for a computer to create and fast for a human user to specify. Once these features are included in the CAD design of a part, they are often manufactured automatically using
computer-numerical control.
Terminology
Different design packages use different names for the same operations.
*
Autodesk Inventor
Autodesk Inventor is a computer-aided design application for 3D mechanical design, simulation, visualization, and documentation developed by Autodesk.
Features
Inventor allows 2D and 3D data integration in a single environment, creating a virt ...
,
AutoCAD
AutoCAD is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting software application. Developed and marketed by Autodesk, AutoCAD was first released in December 1982 as a desktop app running on microcomputers with internal graphics controllers. ...
,
Rhino3D
Rhinoceros (typically abbreviated Rhino or Rhino3D) is a commercial 3D computer graphics and computer-aided design (CAD) application software that was developed by Robert McNeel & Associates, an American, privately held, and employee-owned com ...
,
CATIA
CATIA (, an acronym of computer-aided three-dimensional interactive application) is a multi-platform software suite for computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), computer-aided engineering (CAE), 3D modeling and Product ...
,
FreeCAD
FreeCAD is a general-purpose parametric 3D computer-aided design (CAD) modeler and a building information modeling (BIM) software application with finite element method (FEM) support. It is intended for mechanical engineering product design bu ...
,
Solidworks
SolidWorks is a solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) application published by Dassault Systèmes.
According to the publisher, over two million engineers and designers at more than 165,000 companies w ...
and Vectorworks refer to both concave and convex rounded edges as ''fillets'', while referring to angled cuts of edges and concave corners as ''chamfers''.
*
CADKEY
CADKEY is a 2D/3D mechanical CAD (computer aided design or computer aided drafting) software application released for various DOS, Solaris, and Microsoft Windows operating systems. Originally released for DOS in 1984, CADKEY was among the first CA ...
and
Unigraphics
NX, formerly known as "unigraphics", is an advanced high-end CAD/CAM/ CAE, which has been owned since 2007 by Siemens Digital Industries Software. In 2000, Unigraphics purchased SDRC I-DEAS and began an effort to integrate aspects of both softwa ...
refer to concave and convex rounded edges as ''blends''.
*
PTC Creo Elements/Pro
Creo Parametric, formerly known, together with Creo Elements/Pro, as Pro/Engineer and Wildfire, is a solid modeling or CAD, CAM, CAE, and associative 3D modeling application, running on Microsoft Windows.
Creo Parametric should not to be confu ...
(formerly Pro/Engineer) refers to rounded edges simply as ''rounds''.
Other 3D solid modeling software programs outside of engineering, such as
gameSpace, have similar functions.
See also
*
Welding
Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing fusion. Welding is distinct from lower temperature techniques such as bra ...
Notes
{{Reflist
External links
Welding filletsLink missing
Mechanical engineering