About Part Modeling

An Autodesk Inventor part model is a collection of geometrically and dimensionally related features that represent a physical object.

A part file contains a single part. In Inventor, parts are combined to form assemblies. In an assembly, parts can be created in relation to the geometry and topology of parts already in place.

Shape Generator Modeling Workflow

Shape Generator is a new approach to part modeling. It combines what you know about the part operating environment (envelope, constraints, and anticipated forces) and provides you with a reference shape from which you can rapidly refine your component. You are able to quickly converge on a design that responds to your design requirements.

Create your model to match your basic part envelope and then define the Shape Generator Study parameters (materials, constraints, forces, and mass reduction) and generate a mesh that represents a recommended part shape. Use the recommended shape to modify your original part. Next, you can run simulations with the Stress Analysis tools and validate or further refine your design.

Part Modeling Workflow

To model a part in Inventor, you start by drawing sketches to define feature profiles and paths. You then use commands to apply parametric geometry to the sketched geometry and generate three-dimensional part features. Finally, you combine the features to create parts.

Although you create most features from sketched shapes, or profiles, some features, such as chamfers, fillets, and shells, are well-defined mechanical operations that do not require sketches. Sketched features can join, cut, or intersect with another feature.

You combine features to create complex parts. Features are positioned using geometric constraints and dimensions. If you leave some curves on features undimensioned, you can make the feature adaptive, which means it can change size when you constrain it to fixed geometry in an assembly.

Types of Parts

Inventor lets you design two basic types of parts:

Single-body Part

A part file that consists of one solid body. A body is an independent collection of features contained within the part file, including faces, edges, surfaces, and other forms and shapes.

Multi-body Part

A part file that contains more than one solid body. Each body can contain an independent collection of features or shared features. Each solid can be exported to an assembly as a separate part file at the end of the design process. Creating a multi-body part is an efficient top-down design workflow in which you use common modeling commands to create a new body in the context of other bodies.

In addition, Inventor offers specific commands and tools for creating part models made of various kinds of materials:

Sheet Metal Parts

Sheet metal parts are designed on flat pieces of metal of a consistent thickness, which are folded in the manufacturing process. You can create a regular part and convert it to a sheet metal part, or create a sheet-metal part from a sheet metal part template. Inventor provides sheet metal–specific commands to streamline design of the folded and unfolded model.

Plastic Parts

Inventor provides specific commands to streamline the design of models that will be manufactured in plastic. The plastic part commands in Inventor are rules-based to allow you to create complex plastic part features automatically.

And depending on your design, Inventor also lets you create:

Freeform Parts

Freeform parts are non-conventionally shaped solid bodies. Freeform tools let you explore and create freeform shaped models using direct manipulation.

iParts

iParts share one basic design but differ in size, material, or other variable. You design these related iParts and then place their variations in different assemblies like any other component.

Part Modeling Environment

When you create or open a part (.ipt) file, you are in the part environment, where you can use Shape Generator or sketch and feature commands to design parts.

The part browser along the left side of the application window displays a hierarchy of the geometry that makes up the model. At the top are the Solid Bodies, Surface Bodies, and Origin folders. (If there are no surfaces, only the Solid Bodies folder is present.) The number in parentheses next to the folder indicates how many bodies are contained in the folder. The Origin folder contains icons for the reference planes (default work planes), work axes (default work axes), and the center point.

Tip: Pause the cursor over an icon in the browser to highlight that feature in the graphics window. Click an icon to select that feature in the graphics window. Click in empty area in the graphics window to deselect the feature.

Features are listed in the browser in the order they were created. Input surface and work features are consumed and nested under the appropriate feature and participating body by default (for example, stitch features consume input surface features and work plane consume input work points). You can also control consumption on individual features. If the feature originates from a sketch, or there is a note attached to the feature, the feature folder expands to show those elements. If the sketch is shared, the sketch appears at the top level in the model tree and a link to the sketch displays under each feature that uses it.

Tip: Use the Filter menu to control visibility of the information that appears in the browser.

Bodies are added to the appropriate folder in the browser as they’re created. Expand a body in the folder to list the features that are applied to each body. Different bodies can share the same feature such as a fillet, chamfer, or hole.

In the part modeling environment, you perform the following basic tasks:

• Create or open a part file.
• Use sketch commands to create, constrain, and dimension sketch geometry.
• After defining the part envelope, use Shape Generator to create a shape that is defined by the material, constraints, and loads you define.
• Use feature commands to create three-dimensional models from sketches.
• Combine features to create parts.
• Use the browser to edit sketches or features, show or hide features, create design notes, make features adaptive, control browser consumption, and access properties.