Plate Nesting in Tekla Structures

Plate nesting has following phases:

1.    Create NC files
DSTV format is an industrial standard defined by the German Steel Construction Association. The data for NC output comes from the model. We recommend that you complete detailing and create drawings prior to producing NC output.
To create DSTV files:

1. Select the parts from which you want to create NC files.
2. Click File > Export > CNC > Create NC Files... to display the NC files dialog box.
3. Click Add to display the NC file settings dialog box.
4. Go to the File format field on the Files and part selection tab and select DSTV.
5. In the Settings name field, enter a distinctive name for the settings.
6. Click OK to save your settings and close the NC file settings dialog box.
7. Go to the NC File settings section of the NC files dialog box and select the DSTV file settings you created.
8. Select the Selected parts checkbox.
9. Click Create.

This will create nc1 files for all selected parts and put them in the model folder. The filename consists of a position number and the extension nc1.

2.    Creating nesting tasks
Follow these steps:

1. Click File > Export > CNC > Define Nesting Tasks... to display the Tekla Structures Plate Nesting - DSTV2TASK dialog box.
2. Set DSTV Directory to point to the NC files folder.
3. Enter a name for the task group.
4. Select the NC files you want to nest from the upper list, then click Add.
5. Click Start.
6. Tekla Structures prompts you ...directory does not exist. This is just for information. Answer OK to these prompts.
7. To preview the parts, highlight them on the Created Parts list.
8. Close the dialog box.

Tekla Structures groups the selected NC files into nesting tasks. Each task consists of parts with the same material thickness and grade.

3.    Editing nesting tasks
This is the second phase in plate nesting, where you set the manufacturing information or nesting tasks. 

1. Select File > Export > CNC > Edit Nesting Tasks to display the Tekla Structures Plate Nesting - TaskEdit dialog box.
2. Click Browse to select the task.
3. Enter additional manufacturing information.
4. To define the stock required, click Define Stocks. For more information, see Defining stocks.
5. To preview the plates in the task, click Define Parts.
6. To save the settings, click Save.
7. Click Yes, when Tekla Structures prompts you that the task file already exists. The Save Task Information dialog box appears.
8. Click OK to save the selected settings for the other tasks in the group.

4.    Nesting tasks
After you create tasks and edit the plates, you can run the nesting program. In this phase, Tekla Structures Plate Nesting optimizes the layout of plates on the stock sheets and saves the layout in DXF files.

1. Click File > CNC > Plate Nesting > Nesting… to display the Tekla Structures Plate Nesting - BatchNesting dialog box.
2. Select the tasks to nest, then click Add.
3. Click Start to start the nesting process.
4. When the nesting process ends, close the dialog box.

Error
If you get the error messages Not all shapes are nested. Insufficient stock, you need to create the required stock and run the nesting again, because the available stock was not large enough.

5.    Viewing nesting results
To view the nesting process results you need to start the Result viewer:

1. Click File > Export > CNC > View Nesting Resultsto display the DWG Viewer window.
2. Click File > Open.
3. Select the task file and click OK.

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