IMAGINiTTechnologiesWhitePaper AutodeskInventorTips&TricksPlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapes

AutodeskInventorTips&TricksPlacingFeaturesOn CylindricalShapes

Theadoptionofparametric,featurebasedsolidmodeling willpresentmanychallengestothenewuserastheyare confrontedforthefirsttimewiththinkingin3D.Some feature creation techniques will come naturally to the users; others will not be so intuitive. One of the first hurdles a user may face, and one of the most common questions in training classes, is that of locating sketched featuresproperlyonacurvingorcylindricalsurface.This whitepaper will address the conceptual thought and techniquesnecessarytoproperlyplacefeaturesasdesired inthesemodelingscenarios.Specifically,wewilllookat placing Holes, sketched Embossed or Engraved features, andDecals.

WorkPlaneCreation

ThefirststepnecessaryincreatingcertainfeaturesplacedonacylinderistocreateaWorkPlanetangenttothat cylinder.Wewilllookattwoscenarioshere.

Asageneralreminder,recallthatallparts,by default,willhave3predefinedXY,XZ,andYZWork PlanesaccessibleundertheOriginfolderinthe browser.Althoughitisnotrequired,theusermay wishtoturnonthevisibilityofanyorallofthesefor reference.ThisisalsotrueforthedefaultX,Y,and Zaxes.Thiscanbeaccomplishedbytogglingthe Visibilityrightclickoptionthroughthebrowser (Figure1)

Figure1
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IMAGINiTTechnologiesWhitePaper AutodeskInventorTips&TricksPlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapes

orbygloballyenablingOriginPlanevisibility throughtheObjectVisibilityselectiontoolonthe Viewtab(Figure2).(Noticethecorresponding Ctrl]keyboardshortcut.) TIP:Thisisalsoaconvenientmechanismforglobally controllingthevisibilityofseveralobjecttypesin Inventor.

Figure2

SCENARIO1 Ourfirstscenariowillutilizethesedefaultwork features.Inthisexampleitishighlyrecommendedto startourfeatureonaprojectedCenterPointsoweare assuredthedefaultplanesbisectourpartinaknown location,andweremaincoaxialwiththecorresponding axis.(TIP:Toaccomplishthis,rightclickanywherein thesketchbackground,choosethe tool andthenselecttheCenterPointeitherinthegraphic screenorthe browsernode.)Our resultantfeaturewillappearasinFigure3. Figure3 TocreatethetangentWorkPlane:FromtheWorkFeaturespaneon theModeltab,selectthePlanetoolasshowninFigure4.Beginthis operationbyselectingtheexistingWorkPlane,inthegraphicscreen orinthebrowser,andthenhoverthemouseneartheappropriate sideofthecylinder(Figure5).Whenthepreviewappearstoyour satisfaction,clickthecylinderandthenewWorkPlaneiscreated (Figure6).Giventheparametricnatureofworkfeatures,thisplane willremaintangenttothecylinderevenifthediameterischanged.

Figure4

Figure5

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Figure6

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IMAGINiTTechnologiesWhitePaper AutodeskInventorTips&TricksPlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapes

SCENARIO2 InthefirstscenarioweemployedtheOriginplanesthatexistbydefaultinallInventorpartfiles.Theremaybe timesyouneedtolocateaWorkPlaneelsewhereinthemodel.IfthatWorkPlaneistobe,andistoremain, paralleltooneofthedefaultOriginplanes,themethodillustratedinScenario1mayalsobeproperandviable. However,analternativemethodmaybenecessary,andithasthebenefitofincreasedflexibilityinthattheWork Plane(andtherefore,itsdependentfeatures)maylaterberotatedaboutthecylinderaxis. TIP:Evenifthereareseeminglynoappropriate InthiscaseaWorkAxisisplacedbyinitiatingthe planarfacesoruserdefinedWorkPlanestoselectat Axistool(refertoFigure4)andselectingthe thispoint,rememberthattheOriginplanescanbe cylindricalobjectasshowninFigure7. ThenstartthePlanecommandandselecttheaxis utilized.SeeFigure8. createdinthepreviousstep.Theassumptionis madethatthenewplanewillbecreatedthrough thataxisandatananglerelativetoanexisting planarobject.Atthispointselectamodelfaceor WorkPlaneandenterthedesiredangle. Figure7

Figure8 NowthatthisWorkPlaneisplaced,anothercanbedefinedparallel toitandtangenttothecylinderusingthesameprocessasin Scenario1.BybasingthisWorkPlaneonarelativeangle,it(andany dependentplanesandfeatures)cannowberotatedsimplydouble clickontheWorkPlane,changetheangleaccordingly(seeFigure9), andthenselecttheUpdatebutton ontheQuickAccesstoolbar. Therefore,therearetimesthatthecreationofanotherWorkPlane inthisfashioncanbeusefulinthefirstscenariocitedaswell. TIP:WorkPlanes,likeanypartfeature,canberenamedinthe browserbyslowlydoubleclickingandenteringamoredescriptive name.
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Figure9

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IMAGINiTTechnologiesWhitePaper AutodeskInventorTips&TricksPlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapes

PlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapesHoles

WithournewWorkPlanedefined,wellstartbyactivating itasasketchplane.

Asbefore,itmaybedesirabletousetheProject Geometryfunctiontoprovideanaccuratepositioning reference,asshowninFigure10.Inthiscaseanaxiswas projectedbutconceivablyaverticalplanecouldbeusedif Figure10 positionedcorrectlyasinFigure3. Selectthe commandfromtheDrawpanelintheSketchenvironmenttoplacethedesiredholecenter(s). Ensurethatthepointssnaptotheprojectedline,ifthatistheintent,therebyinferringaCoincidentconstraint (Figure11).Theholecentersmaybefurtherdimensionedandconstrainedasdesired(Figure12).

Figure11

Figure12

Figure13
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IMAGINiTTechnologiesWhitePaper AutodeskInventorTips&TricksPlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapes

WhentheHolecommandisinvoked(Figure13),Inventorwill assumethattheunconsumedPointobjectsaretoserveashole centersandwilldefaulttotheFromSketchplacementmethod. EnterthedesiredHoleoptionsandselectOKtocompletethe command.ThefinalresultisshowninFigure14.

Figure14

PlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapesEngraving&Embossing

InventorhastheabilitytoutilizesketchgeometrytocreateEngravedandEmbossedfeatures.Whilenotunique tocylindricalshapes,bothallowtheuserto,inessence,wrapaplanarsketchedfeatureontoacurvedsurface. ENGRAVE Thisprocessbeginsasbefore,withthecreationand activationofanappropriatesketchplane.Tobesure, itisnotmandatorytocreateatangentWorkPlanefor thispurpose,asanyintheproperorientationwill suffice.However,theremaybetimeswhereitis preferableforlocationandvisualizationpurposes. Figure15illustratesthesketchbeingusedinthis example.Forclarity,InventorsLookAtcommand wasusedtoobtainaviewnormaltothesketch. Tocreatethefeatureweselectthe tool fromtheCreatepanelonInventorsModeltab(Figure 16).WithinthisdialogwehaveachoiceofEmboss FromFace,EngraveFromFace(currentlyselected),and Emboss/EngraveFromPlane.Directioncanbe controlledandthefeatureDepthcanbeenteredas Figure15 well.

Figure16
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IMAGINiTTechnologiesWhitePaper AutodeskInventorTips&TricksPlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapes

Inaddition,acolormaybeselectedforthefeatureby selectingthecolorswatchbelowtheDepthfield. Lastly,theWraptoFaceoptionmaybeselectedto choosebetweenplanarorcylindricalmapping(Figure 17)ofthefeatureontothesurface;ifselected,theuser willbepromptedtoselectasurface. ThecompletedexamplemaybeseeninFigure18.

Figure17Cylindrical(Top)vs.PlanarMappingwith IdenticalSketches

Figure18 EMBOSS Asmentioned,theEmbosscommandiscapableof creatingraisedfeaturesaswell.Inthisexamplewe willalsoshowthattextmaybeembossedontoa part.Westartbycreatingasketchasperthe previousexample.Selectthe toolfromthe DrawpanelintheSketchenvironmentandplacethe textintheappropriateposition. (TIP:Ifthetextcomesinforsomereasononthe wrongsideoftheWorkPlane,simplyselectthe plane,rightclick,andselecttheFlipNormal option).Onceplaced,textbehavesasanyother sketchobjectinthatitcanbemoved,rotated,and dimensionedasnecessary.SeeFigure19.

Figure19

Oncethetextispositioned,andthesketch completed,starttheEmbosscommand.This timewewillselecttheEmbossfromFace method,enterourheightandchoosea featurecolorifdesired.Unlessplanar mappingisdesired,makesuretocheckthe WraptoFaceoptionandthenselectthe cylindricalface.Thedialogboxisshownin Figure20. Figure20
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IMAGINiTTechnologiesWhitePaper AutodeskInventorTips&TricksPlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapes

ThecompletedEmbossedTextfeatureisillustrated inFigure21.Asasketchbasedobject,boththe featureandsketchcanbeindependentlyedited aftercreationifneeded. TIP:EmbossedandEngravedfeaturescanaddafair bitofcomplexitytoanotherwisesimplepart.It maybebeneficial,aswithothercomplexfeaturesin general,toaddthemaslateinthedesignas possible.

Figure21

PlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapesDecals

Occasionallywemaydesiretoplaceanimageonour modeltorepresentalabel,decal,ortexture.We willdiscoverthatwehavetheabilitytoplace.bmp (orotherbitmapgraphicformats),MicrosoftWord .doc,andMicrosoftExcel.xlsfilesasimagesontoour model. Thisprocessalsostartsinasimilarfashiontothe EmbosscommandinthataWorkPlaneiscreatedor selectedbutitneednotbetangenttothecylinder. Oncewehaveactivateditasasketchplane,we selectthe toolfromtheInsertpanelinthe Sketchenvironment,andbrowsetothedesired imagefile.Wemaydimensionandconstrainthis imageasanysketchobject(Figure22).Wemay alsoresizetheimagewhilekeepingtheoriginal aspectratio.

Figure22

TIP:Iftheimageselecteddoesnotshowproperly(Figure23)orgeneratesawarningmessage(Figure24),either takethestepsnecessarytoassociatethefileformatwiththeMicrosoftPaintapplicationorchooseanother graphicformat

Figure23
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Figure24

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IMAGINiTTechnologiesWhitePaper AutodeskInventorTips&TricksPlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapes

commandbyexpandingtheCreatepanel Oncetheimageisplaced,andthesketchcompleted,startthe ontheModeltab(seeFigure25).Theuserwillbepromptedtoselecttheplacedimage,andthefaceontowhich itwillbeprojected.

Figure25

WraptoFaceThisoptioncontrolswhethertheimagewraps(cylindricalmapping)tothecurvedfaceoris projectedinalinearfashion(refertoexampleshowninFigure17). ChainFacesThiswillservetoapplythedecaltoadjacentfacesaswellastheoneselected. ThecompleteddecalisshowninFigure28.TIP:Decalswillalsoshowinanyshadeddrawingviewofthemodel.

Figure26andFigure27withandwithoutChainFacesselected.
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Figure28

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