Introduction to Machine Elements Design

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This course will be focused on Mechanical Design with the Inventor Design Accelerator tools.

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So in this course, we'll be discussing how to use the Autodesk Inventor Design Accelerator tools,

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to more efficiently design your machines, and mechanisms in the CAD environment.

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So we'll be looking at how to more efficiently create bolted connections.

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So Bolts, Nuts and Washers, as well as the through holes and the threaded holes that they will use.

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We'll also be creating structural frames and then modifying those frame members with end treatments,

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and joints to make them ready for a cut list.

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We'll be looking at how to design and calculate proper Compression Springs using the Accelerator tool,

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as well as looking at some of the other Design Accelerator tools such as Power Transmission.

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So taking a look at this reducer assembly that we'll be working with, for this course,

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you'll see the electric motor encased in the blue body at the top.

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And then there's several components and mechanisms that make this complete assembly.

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Now designing Compression Springs, Bolts, Shafts, Gears, all as individual CAD bodies would be very time intensive.

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It also requires a lot of attention to detail and several calculations.

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However, the Design Accelerator tool makes it a lot easier for designers to build these components,

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and these subassemblies into a larger working assembly.

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So you'll see here on the left, this lower subassembly contains several elements of the Design Accelerator tool, the Belt,

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the Drive Shaft and the Bolt Connectors that hold the housing together were all created with the accelerators.

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You'll also notice on the inside of this component, the Compression Spring between the Nut here and the end of that Shaft.

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You'll also see several Spur Gears working together to create that drive component.

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So all of these parts and subassemblies can be built using the Design Accelerator tools,

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and the calculations can be performed to make sure that they will actually succeed in their goal.

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So let's dig deeper into what the Design Accelerators contain.

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You'll notice if you activate the Design tab when you're working within an assembly,

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you will see there are several tools, and workflows in here that allow you to quickly create a very complex design.

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So you'll notice it's broken up into what are called Generators and Calculators.

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So a Calculator is going to take the inputs you provide and help you appropriately size components as well as choose the material,

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that you'd like to use in their design.

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The Generators will actually automatically create a 3D model for you.

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So with a bolt connection, it will pull bolts, washers and nuts from the content center.

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Same goes with the Frame Generator tools, you can automatically build a structural frame using standard cross sectional shapes.

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And then the Shaft, and Spur Gear Design Environment.

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Those allow you to automatically generate shafts based off of force inputs, loads and diameters.

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If you use a drop down menu, you can activate some more calculators such as the Drum Brake, Bearing,

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Separated Hub, Power Screw, as well as some Tolerance calculators.

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There's a lot of tools within the Design tab, and I encourage you to explore these as you're working through this module.

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So on the ribbon, within the Design environment, you'll notice there is a Fasten panel, a Frame panel,

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a Power Transmission panel and a Spring panel.

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So it's broken up into four categories. And these are the different Generators and Calculators that you'll have access to.

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So the first one we're going to take a look at is the Fasten tools.

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So there are bolt generators which are going to actually design the Bolted Connection based off of axial,

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and tangential forces that you input.

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So it will choose the appropriate length and diameter of the bolt, for your given scenario.

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It will also automatically insert those connections onto either sketched holes, center points or existing holes.

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What you can also do with the Generator is create the clearance, or the threaded holes for those given bolts.

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So you might just have sketch points in your assembly.

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That's all you would need for the bolt generator to generate a bolt washer nut, and a clearance hole in your application.

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The Bolt Calculator tool is going to be a little more number intensive.

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With the calculator, you can put in your load, your desired material,

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and it will calculate the number of bolts required to safely meet your expectations.

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You can also perform strength and safety checks and you can run fatigue calculations all within the same calculator tool.

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So the next panel we're going to look at is the Frame tools.

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So this allows you to create internal and external frame assemblies.

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This is typically going to be used to create structural support frames, or potentially the housing for a more complex machine.

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So what you need to do first with frames is create a skeleton part that is then brought in as the first member of an assembly.

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Now, this skeleton part is typically going to be a two dimensional or three dimensional sketch.

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You can also use surfaces as they show here in this image, to create sort of a rough outline of the frame you'd like to create.

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The Frame generator allows you to then choose two vertices or an edge to assign a frame member two.

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You can then choose a cross sectional shape from the Inventor Content Center.

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So the Content Center has a large library of cross sectional shapes like I-beams, box tubes and channels that are all standardized.

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So you can choose the dimension of your shape and then overlay it onto your skeleton to create your frame.

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Then you can go ahead and define things like end caps and notch profiles,

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as well as how the two frame members come together with treatments, miters, as well as joints and welds.

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So it's a very useful tool when you're designing structural frames.

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The Power Transmission Tools allow you to create parts that are typically used in power generation.

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So things like gears, belts, shafts and bearings.

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With this tool, you can essentially choose the diameters as well as the forces that will be acting on something like a shaft.

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And it will then automatically create that three dimensional model for you.

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So you'll need to have a good understanding of the different materials and loads that will be used in the design,

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as well as some of the physics between the components.

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There's also several calculators in this panel,

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and a machinery handbook with more detailed calculations that you can use to more appropriately size your design.

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Lastly, we have the Spring Tools.

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This is where you can create things like Compression, Extension, Belleville and Torsion springs.

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The component generator contains a design tool which allows you to choose the length, diameter, number of coils, et cetera for the spring.

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And then there's a calculation tool built in as well where you can input things like the material,

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the load as well as run some basic fatigue calculations.

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The great thing about this tool is that it automatically generates a 3D model as you go,

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and you can always go back and modify it if you'd like to make changes in your design.

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So just a note here.

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When you're using the Design Accelerator tool, with any of the designs that you create with this tool,

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if you want to modify the value of, for instance, a bolt diameter or a frame member cross section,

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what you'll need to do is right-click on that component in the Assembly browser and then go to "Edit" using Design Accelerator.

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This allows you to change the parameters.

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If you just want to view the three-dimensional design, you'll want to right-click on it and select "Open".

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But you are not able to make changes based off of any parameters just viewing it.

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So always right-click and go to Edit using Design Accelerator if you'd like to modify any of your setup.