Study Unit 1-Part B: Part modelling

The foundation of any part model is a sketch. This is the case for Autodesk inventor and many other
CAD packages. Additionally, most of the functionalities found in inventor are found in a lot of other
CAD packages. The main difference is largely found in the user interface, however, the logic involved
in the development of solid part models is similar if not identical. This section will describe the
typical process involved in the creation of a solid part using a chosen example of a part.

Sketching
The first few steps involved in creating a sketch are escribed above and reiterated here. Firstly, click
on the New icon in the opening menu to start a drawing. In the “Create New File” window, on the
Metric tab, select the Standard(mm).ipt and click create. . A drawing window will appear and,
depending on the setting, the Sketch ribbon will automatically open or the sketch tab will have to be
clicked to reveal the sketch ribbon as shown in the figure below. Clicking the “Start 2D sketch” tab
on the far left of the sketch ribbon reveals the following window which presents the three mutually
orthogonal sketch planes. Selecting any one of the planes as per the required view will reveal the
chosen plane together with the associated cartesian coordinate axes while also availing all the 2D
drawing tools. Assume the above steps to already be implemented in the figure below.

For the chosen example the plane chosen on which to do the sketch is the X-Y plane. Firstly click on
the circle tab in the in the sketch ribbon.

Open Rubric
In the graphics window representing the chosen x-y plane, left click and drag the mouse to create
the circle sketch and left click again when done.

Click the circle tab again and draw second circle inside the first one in the same manner as done for
the first.
In the sketch ribbon click the concentric circle constraint and click on the two circles in the graphics
windows to ensure that the two circles are concentric.

Click the line tab in the sketch ribbon

The lines are drawn in the same manner in which the circles are drawn in the graphics window-click,
drag and click again to end the line. When finished push the “Esc” button.
Apply the vertical constraints to the vertical lines and the horizontal constraints to the horizontal
lines to ascertain their respective orientations.

Note: the application of the above mentioned constraints may at times be superfluous as the
constraints may be automatically imposed.

Click the tangent constraint in order to create a tangent between the two vertical lines and the outer
circle.

The result of the application of the tangent constraint:

Note: the tangent constraint may at times be automatically constrained making the manual
application of the constraint superfluous.
Click the dimensions tab in the sketch ribbon to appropriately dimension the sketch.

Click the outer circle and drag to where ever in the graphics window you want to place the
dimension and click again to insert the desired dimension followed by pushing the enter key or the
clicking on the green tick in the dimensions box to confirm the dimension. The same process is
applicable to dimensioning the inner circle.
Click the centre of the circles and the horizontal line to dimension the distance between the two:

Use the trim function in the sketch ribbon to remove the one half of the outer circle placed between
the two vertical lines.
Use the mouse to the piece of the circle you want to remove and left click to remove it. The dotted
semicircle in the figure below is a preview of the part of the circle to be removed. This typically
appears when the mouse is placed on the part of the arc to be removed. Note that intersections
segments the sketch into portions upon which trims are applicable. The removal of the segment will
result from a left click of the mouse on the chosen piece.

The result of the trim function:

Click on Finish sketch.

To create a 3D object, we need to use one of the commands in the Create panel on the Model tab.
Select the Extrude command in the Create panel. In the Extrude window, select the Profile button
and click on the profile to extrude. Then type in the distance to extrude and click OK.
We have created the basic part, and now we can add some placed features.
Select the Fillet command in the Modify panel. In the Fillet window, adjust the radius. Select the
edges to fillet, click Apply and then OK.

Also apply a chamfer to the edges of the round hole in the same way.
Open a new part. There is more than one way to open a new part. Click on the Application Manager
and select New, and then select a Part, or we could select New – Create a file from the list of
templates.

Alternatively, use the small pull-down arrow next to the New icon in the Quick Selection toolbar, and
select Part.

Open a new Part. Draw a rectangle with measurements 440mm X 70mm. Extrude the part to a
length of 600mm.

Click on Create 2D sketch to return to sketch mode, and select the object.
Place a point at 150,150, and click on the Finish Sketch green tick mark.
Select the Hole command in the Modify panel.

Hover over each option to see the tooltip. Select a drilled hole, and set the termination to Distance.
Change the distance to 50 mm. Select a tapped hole. When tapped hole is selected, the window is
extended down to allow picking of the thread. Select ISO Metric profile, and set the size to 30. Tick
the Full Depth tick box. Click OK to place the hole.
Select Plane in the Work Features panel. Select the top option, Plane.
Select the midpoint of the top edge. Move the plane until it is parallel to the front edge and click to
place it.

Select Rectangle on the Pattern panel. Select the hole, then select Direction and select the plane.
Type the distance at which to place the second hole, 140 mm.
Place another working plane on the vertical edge, parallel to the bottom of the part. Select Mirror in
the Pattern panel. Select both holes, then select the plane and click OK.

Click on Create 2D Sketch again, and select the part. Select Text on the Draw panel. Place a box for
the text on the drawing.
The Text window will open. Specify the font and size and type the part number. Click OK. Click on
Finish Sketch.
Click on Emboss in the Create panel. Select to engrave the text, and select the text.

The text will now appear engraved on the part.