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Placing Features On Cylindrical Shapes
Placing Features On Cylindrical Shapes
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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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 Figure6
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AutodeskInventorTips&TricksPlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapes
SCENARIO2
InthefirstscenarioweemployedtheOriginplanesthatexistbydefaultinallInventorpartfiles.Theremaybe
timesyouneedtolocateaWorkPlaneelsewhereinthemodel.IfthatWorkPlaneistobe,andistoremain,
paralleltooneofthedefaultOriginplanes,themethodillustratedinScenario1mayalsobeproperandviable.
However,analternativemethodmaybenecessary,andithasthebenefitofincreasedflexibilityinthattheWork
Plane(andtherefore,itsdependentfeatures)maylaterberotatedaboutthecylinderaxis.
InthiscaseaWorkAxisisplacedbyinitiatingthe TIP:Evenifthereareseeminglynoappropriate
Axistool(refertoFigure4)andselectingthe planarfacesoruserdefinedWorkPlanestoselectat
cylindricalobjectasshowninFigure7. thispoint,rememberthattheOriginplanescanbe
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
Figure9
name.
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AutodeskInventorTips&TricksPlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapes
PlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapesHoles
WithournewWorkPlanedefined,wellstartbyactivating
itasasketchplane.
Asbefore,itmaybedesirabletousetheProject
Geometryfunctiontoprovideanaccuratepositioning
reference,asshowninFigure10.Inthiscaseanaxiswas
projectedbutconceivablyaverticalplanecouldbeusedif
positionedcorrectlyasinFigure3. Figure10
Selectthe commandfromtheDrawpanelintheSketchenvironmenttoplacethedesiredholecenter(s).
Ensurethatthepointssnaptotheprojectedline,ifthatistheintent,therebyinferringaCoincidentconstraint
(Figure11).Theholecentersmaybefurtherdimensionedandconstrainedasdesired(Figure12).
Figure11
Figure12
Figure13
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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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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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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 Figure22
aspectratio.
TIP:Iftheimageselecteddoesnotshowproperly(Figure23)orgeneratesawarningmessage(Figure24),either
takethestepsnecessarytoassociatethefileformatwiththeMicrosoftPaintapplicationorchooseanother
graphicformat
Figure23 Figure24
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AutodeskInventorTips&TricksPlacingFeaturesOnCylindricalShapes
Oncetheimageisplaced,andthesketchcompleted,startthe commandbyexpandingtheCreatepanel
ontheModeltab(seeFigure25).Theuserwillbepromptedtoselecttheplacedimage,andthefaceontowhich
itwillbeprojected.
Figure25
WraptoFaceThisoptioncontrolswhethertheimagewraps(cylindricalmapping)tothecurvedfaceoris
projectedinalinearfashion(refertoexampleshowninFigure17).
ChainFacesThiswillservetoapplythedecaltoadjacentfacesaswellastheoneselected.
ThecompleteddecalisshowninFigure28.TIP:Decalswillalsoshowinanyshadeddrawingviewofthemodel.
Figure26andFigure27withandwithoutChainFacesselected. Figure28
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