Benchtop instrument enclosure

Implementation

A constant-thickness U-shell with true concentric quarter-annular bends, separate front/rear panels and a removable lid.

Two 49-solid assemblies generated from the same dimensional inputs; nominal fasteners and threads are simplified envelopes.

Developed DXF patterns use neutral-axis bend allowance, exact panel-corner arcs and separate CUT/BEND layers.

The selected post setback removes the bend interference found in the rejected arrangement. Separate screws at each end of the tray spacers permit top-side tray removal.

Executed manufacturing/service study includes 32 tolerance corners, 500 synthetic inspection rows and deliberately rejected cable/tool/compensation alternatives.

Inputs and assumptions

• Reference 140 x 90 x 45 mm electronics volume and declared display/connector apertures; no commercial component footprint is implied.
• 1.5 mm reference aluminum sheet, 2 mm inside radius and nominal K factor 0.42. Actual stock, temper and tooling are not qualified.
• The stated manufacturing tolerances and cable bend radius are explicit design inputs, not measured shop capability.

Results

Report figures (4)

Open the full report ↗

Verification

26 geometric/export checks and 16 regression tests pass. An additional 14 manufacturing/service outcomes match expectations, including correctly rejected alternatives. Both 49-solid assemblies have no positive-volume overlaps; STEP round trips and DXF reconstructions agree with their reference geometry.

python run.py && python test_project.py && python complete_validation.py

Project files

The ZIP contains the source, inputs, results, and instructions. These files are also available individually.

• Parametric CAD sourcemodel.py · 9 KB
• Dimensions and tolerance inputsinputs.json · 1 KB
• Compact assembled STEPoutputs/compact/cad/assembly.step · 857 KB
• Compact exploded STEPoutputs/compact/cad/exploded.step · 855 KB
• Wide assembled STEPoutputs/wide/cad/assembly.step · 858 KB
• Compact STLoutputs/compact/cad/assembly.stl · 1.3 MB
• Developed U-shell DXFoutputs/compact/flat-patterns/u-shell.dxf · 17 KB
• Front panel DXFoutputs/compact/flat-patterns/front-panel.dxf · 16 KB
• Rear panel DXFoutputs/compact/flat-patterns/rear-panel.dxf · 16 KB
• Lid DXFoutputs/compact/flat-patterns/lid.dxf · 16 KB
• Electronics tray DXFoutputs/compact/flat-patterns/electronics-tray.dxf · 16 KB
• Orthographic assembly drawingoutputs/compact/drawings/assembly.svg · 73 KB
• Dimensioned shell flat drawingoutputs/compact/drawings/u-shell.svg · 3 KB
• Compact bill of materialsoutputs/compact/bom.csv · 4 KB
• Flat-pattern coordinate scheduleoutputs/compact/cut-coordinates.csv · 1 KB
• Corner-post hole/thread scheduleoutputs/post-hole-schedule.csv · 1 KB
• Geometry/export resultsoutputs/summary.json · 12 KB
• Synthetic manufacturing observationscompletion/synthetic-inspection.csv · 63 KB
• Manufacturing and service studycompletion/report.html · 6 KB
• Acceptance record and source hashescompletion.json · 6 KB
• Main reportreport.html · 10 KB

Run locally

Python 3.12 / CadQuery 2.7.0 / NumPy 2.3.5 / Matplotlib 3.10.8 / ezdxf 1.4.4 / Pillow

Extract the ZIP and open a terminal in the instrument-enclosure folder. The README includes setup and usage details.

python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
python run.py
python test_project.py
python complete_validation.py

Limits

• The work is a completed geometry, export, fit and theoretical manufacturing study; no fabricated enclosure or measured production capability is claimed.
• The K-based developed blank and constant-thickness bend CAD use distinct idealizations. Their small shell-volume difference is quantified in the report.
• Thread geometry, material temper, cut-edge finish, springback, adhesive-foot retention and actual component drawings require physical process qualification.
• No strength, shock, electrical, thermal, EMC or ingress rating is inferred. Rigid component/cable envelopes do not simulate a flexible connected harness.