& Construction
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Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
& Manufacturing
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Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Learn how to use existing geometry to help define sketches and how modeling commands can affect your design using the Split Body, Web, and Rule Fillet commands. You also learn how to use parameters to speed up design changes.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
5 min.
Transcript
00:03
Using an existing selection set,
00:06
we can isolate just the parts we need to work with.
00:13
It is good modeling practice to create your parts as components.
00:18
If you ever think you will need to show how parts interact or how they will move,
00:23
they need to be components.
00:27
Let's call this component frame guide.
00:33
After creating a sketch,
00:35
we want to use the existing geometry to help us define our design.
00:40
Using the P key for project,
00:43
we can project the current geometry onto our sketch plane.
00:51
We want to project this intersection right here
00:54
but geometry is in front of it making it difficult to select
00:59
if we hold down the left mouse button for a moment.
01:03
Fusion brings up a selection list
01:05
that allows us to select entities that are covered by other entities.
01:13
Now that we have projected the geometry,
01:16
we can use it to create a rectangle that will be located in the correct spot.
01:21
Also
01:22
notice that we can hover over geometry and it will create a snap guide
01:26
that helps align the rectangle to existing geometry.
01:34
Let's extrude to the back face of the pillar,
01:38
clicking on the back face, snaps the distance to that location.
01:46
A great way to differentiate your component from
01:48
other components is to use component color swatch.
01:54
You can activate this toggle under the inspect menu.
01:59
Now that we have the basic shape of the frame guide,
02:01
we can start shaping it to fit our needs.
02:04
For example,
02:05
let's champ for this corner of the block to remove extra material weight.
02:11
We will use the Cher
02:12
command to do this.
02:14
However,
02:15
we want the Cher
02:16
to go a certain distance
02:19
to do this. We will use the measure option in the distance dialogue
02:23
and select the two faces. We want to measure
02:37
let's preselect this edge and create a large filet.
02:45
Another handy tip is to use the marking menu
02:48
to drag straight up to repeat the last command.
02:52
This is called a gesture
02:55
by right clicking and dragging up
02:57
fusion will repeat the last command you just completed.
03:02
In this case, the FT
03:03
command,
03:06
we don't need to see the vertical tube for a while.
03:10
So we will turn it off
03:12
by just selecting a face on the tube.
03:15
You can right mouse click and select show or hide.
03:23
Looking at the part.
03:25
We can see that it is clashing with the linear guides.
03:29
Lets use the press pull command and specify a new offset
03:40
by clicking on the face of the linear guide. It will snap to that face.
03:47
The next thing we want to do is remove more weight from our component
03:52
to do this we will use the shell command.
03:55
However,
03:56
we don't want a shell all the way through the part.
03:59
So we're gonna split the body in half
04:02
to do this. We need to create a mid plane construction plane.
04:08
Instead of trying to find it in the menu,
04:10
we can press the S key
04:12
and start typing in mid plane.
04:16
This brings up the context toolbox.
04:20
Notice mid plane shows up and we can even run the command from the dialogue.
04:29
We will use this new construction plane to split our component in half.
04:40
There may be times where you want to specify a variable,
04:43
multiple times like a specific distance.
04:46
And you don't want to have to type it in each and every time
04:50
this is where a user variable comes into play.
04:55
Let's create a user variable called rib thickness
04:59
that we can use.
05:07
We will set it to 0.1875 inches.
05:17
Now when we sell this front face
05:20
and it asks for a shell thickness, we can start typing in rib thickness
05:26
and you see that it shows up as an expression.
05:30
Now the wall thickness of the shell is set to whatever rib thickness is set to.
05:36
And if we change the rib thickness variable,
05:38
our shell distance will update. Also,
05:43
we want to combine the split parts back together.
05:47
Notice by splitting the part we were able to
05:49
control how deep the shell went into the part.
06:01
Now that this whole area is shelled out.
06:03
We want to create some strengthening webs using the web command.
06:08
This command takes simple sketch geometry
06:11
and creates automatic strengthening webs.
06:17
So to start,
06:19
we need to create a sketch with some profile lines.
06:24
Let's project a few lines off of the upright tube.
06:35
We'll use the S key again to search for offset.
06:43
Next, we need to offset these lines to specify the center line of the webs.
06:49
We can use a formula in the offset distance
06:52
by entering rib thickness divided by two.
07:00
We'll add a few more lines to help define where we want these webs to appear.
07:19
Now,
07:19
we can use the web command to select our
07:21
sketch profile and have it automatically create these webs.
07:33
We'll use the user variable to specify the web thickness.
07:41
You can see how the web command automatically extended the profile lines.
07:48
So
07:49
we are starting to get the shape that we want.
07:51
But there is a lot of material at the base of the part that we could probably remove.
07:57
Let's Cher
07:58
this bottom edge
08:01
notice that it selected the whole chain of edges.
08:05
So we can just turn off the chain and reselect that edge
08:15
a 45 degree Cher
08:17
doesn't give us the result we want.
08:19
So let's do a two distance
08:22
Cher,
08:25
we'll start with a one inch Cher
08:27
for the depth,
08:29
but we need to measure the distance for the height.
08:32
Again,
08:33
we'll use the measure command in the distance dialogue to accomplish this.
08:42
Now, we want to work on the area where the upright tube connects with our component.
08:49
We will use the information from the upright tube
08:52
to help us modify our component by using the combined cut command.
09:07
Notice that it cut the shape of the upright tube out of our component,
09:11
but that it left some extra geometry.
09:17
This is where the direct modeling functionality of fusion is really great.
09:22
We can just select the faces we want to remove
09:25
and hit the delete key on the keyboard.
09:34
You can also select the geometry you want to remove
09:37
and use the marking menu to select delete.
09:42
Finally, we want to create some filets on the internal webs
09:46
because having sharp edges would be difficult and expensive to manufacture.
09:52
There's a great command called rule filet
09:55
that creates filets according to the rules that you specify.
10:01
In this case,
10:02
we want to specify a filet of 0.25 on all edges created by the web feature.
10:11
When we select the web feature in the timeline,
10:14
notice how all the edges related to the web feature are selected.
10:22
Some of the edges related to the shell were not selected.
10:26
So we can do another rule filet
10:28
and select the bottom faces of the shell.
Video transcript
00:03
Using an existing selection set,
00:06
we can isolate just the parts we need to work with.
00:13
It is good modeling practice to create your parts as components.
00:18
If you ever think you will need to show how parts interact or how they will move,
00:23
they need to be components.
00:27
Let's call this component frame guide.
00:33
After creating a sketch,
00:35
we want to use the existing geometry to help us define our design.
00:40
Using the P key for project,
00:43
we can project the current geometry onto our sketch plane.
00:51
We want to project this intersection right here
00:54
but geometry is in front of it making it difficult to select
00:59
if we hold down the left mouse button for a moment.
01:03
Fusion brings up a selection list
01:05
that allows us to select entities that are covered by other entities.
01:13
Now that we have projected the geometry,
01:16
we can use it to create a rectangle that will be located in the correct spot.
01:21
Also
01:22
notice that we can hover over geometry and it will create a snap guide
01:26
that helps align the rectangle to existing geometry.
01:34
Let's extrude to the back face of the pillar,
01:38
clicking on the back face, snaps the distance to that location.
01:46
A great way to differentiate your component from
01:48
other components is to use component color swatch.
01:54
You can activate this toggle under the inspect menu.
01:59
Now that we have the basic shape of the frame guide,
02:01
we can start shaping it to fit our needs.
02:04
For example,
02:05
let's champ for this corner of the block to remove extra material weight.
02:11
We will use the Cher
02:12
command to do this.
02:14
However,
02:15
we want the Cher
02:16
to go a certain distance
02:19
to do this. We will use the measure option in the distance dialogue
02:23
and select the two faces. We want to measure
02:37
let's preselect this edge and create a large filet.
02:45
Another handy tip is to use the marking menu
02:48
to drag straight up to repeat the last command.
02:52
This is called a gesture
02:55
by right clicking and dragging up
02:57
fusion will repeat the last command you just completed.
03:02
In this case, the FT
03:03
command,
03:06
we don't need to see the vertical tube for a while.
03:10
So we will turn it off
03:12
by just selecting a face on the tube.
03:15
You can right mouse click and select show or hide.
03:23
Looking at the part.
03:25
We can see that it is clashing with the linear guides.
03:29
Lets use the press pull command and specify a new offset
03:40
by clicking on the face of the linear guide. It will snap to that face.
03:47
The next thing we want to do is remove more weight from our component
03:52
to do this we will use the shell command.
03:55
However,
03:56
we don't want a shell all the way through the part.
03:59
So we're gonna split the body in half
04:02
to do this. We need to create a mid plane construction plane.
04:08
Instead of trying to find it in the menu,
04:10
we can press the S key
04:12
and start typing in mid plane.
04:16
This brings up the context toolbox.
04:20
Notice mid plane shows up and we can even run the command from the dialogue.
04:29
We will use this new construction plane to split our component in half.
04:40
There may be times where you want to specify a variable,
04:43
multiple times like a specific distance.
04:46
And you don't want to have to type it in each and every time
04:50
this is where a user variable comes into play.
04:55
Let's create a user variable called rib thickness
04:59
that we can use.
05:07
We will set it to 0.1875 inches.
05:17
Now when we sell this front face
05:20
and it asks for a shell thickness, we can start typing in rib thickness
05:26
and you see that it shows up as an expression.
05:30
Now the wall thickness of the shell is set to whatever rib thickness is set to.
05:36
And if we change the rib thickness variable,
05:38
our shell distance will update. Also,
05:43
we want to combine the split parts back together.
05:47
Notice by splitting the part we were able to
05:49
control how deep the shell went into the part.
06:01
Now that this whole area is shelled out.
06:03
We want to create some strengthening webs using the web command.
06:08
This command takes simple sketch geometry
06:11
and creates automatic strengthening webs.
06:17
So to start,
06:19
we need to create a sketch with some profile lines.
06:24
Let's project a few lines off of the upright tube.
06:35
We'll use the S key again to search for offset.
06:43
Next, we need to offset these lines to specify the center line of the webs.
06:49
We can use a formula in the offset distance
06:52
by entering rib thickness divided by two.
07:00
We'll add a few more lines to help define where we want these webs to appear.
07:19
Now,
07:19
we can use the web command to select our
07:21
sketch profile and have it automatically create these webs.
07:33
We'll use the user variable to specify the web thickness.
07:41
You can see how the web command automatically extended the profile lines.
07:48
So
07:49
we are starting to get the shape that we want.
07:51
But there is a lot of material at the base of the part that we could probably remove.
07:57
Let's Cher
07:58
this bottom edge
08:01
notice that it selected the whole chain of edges.
08:05
So we can just turn off the chain and reselect that edge
08:15
a 45 degree Cher
08:17
doesn't give us the result we want.
08:19
So let's do a two distance
08:22
Cher,
08:25
we'll start with a one inch Cher
08:27
for the depth,
08:29
but we need to measure the distance for the height.
08:32
Again,
08:33
we'll use the measure command in the distance dialogue to accomplish this.
08:42
Now, we want to work on the area where the upright tube connects with our component.
08:49
We will use the information from the upright tube
08:52
to help us modify our component by using the combined cut command.
09:07
Notice that it cut the shape of the upright tube out of our component,
09:11
but that it left some extra geometry.
09:17
This is where the direct modeling functionality of fusion is really great.
09:22
We can just select the faces we want to remove
09:25
and hit the delete key on the keyboard.
09:34
You can also select the geometry you want to remove
09:37
and use the marking menu to select delete.
09:42
Finally, we want to create some filets on the internal webs
09:46
because having sharp edges would be difficult and expensive to manufacture.
09:52
There's a great command called rule filet
09:55
that creates filets according to the rules that you specify.
10:01
In this case,
10:02
we want to specify a filet of 0.25 on all edges created by the web feature.
10:11
When we select the web feature in the timeline,
10:14
notice how all the edges related to the web feature are selected.
10:22
Some of the edges related to the shell were not selected.
10:26
So we can do another rule filet
10:28
and select the bottom faces of the shell.
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