IMAGINiTTechnologiesWhitePaper 1

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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