To study kinematic motions, create positional representations in either a standard Autodesk Inventor assembly or subassemblies. When any positional representation other than the primary representation is activated, most commands specific to Tube & Pipe are disabled. The following commands on the Route tab are the exceptions:
- Hose Length for hose routes
- Bend Radius Check on the context menu of hose routes
- Parameters
- Content Center
- Refresh Standard Components
When a positional representation other than the primary representation in the top-level assembly is activated, you can only move or rotate rigid runs in the same direction or orientation, edit hose length, and check bend radius of hose routes. Keep in mind that routes and runs must have all route points associative to the underlying assembly.
How do rigid runs and flexible hose routes behave in positional representations?
When a positional representation in the top-level assembly is activated:
- Rigid pipe or bent tube routes typically do not cross kinematic joints. They respond to positional representation changes only when all associative work points and directions can move in the same direction and orientation. All routes within the pipe run respond identically.
- Flexible hose routes can cross kinematic joints. You can edit the hose length to support various positions and check bend radius of hose routes to ensure there are no bend radius violations. Flexible hose nodes created using points offset from a surface are not associative so they do not move with the underlying assembly. Make sure you fix all control points associative to the underlying assembly manually before making positional representation changes.
How do derived routes respond to positional representation changes?
Positional representation changes ignore adaptive relationships when there is a link between a derived route and the base sketch. Derived routes can respond to positional representation changes only when the entire base sketch is moved rigidly in the same direction and orientation.
Derived routes fail when positional representation changes cause the route to violate the minimum and maximum segment lengths defined in a rigid piping or bent tubing style. If a run contains a failed derived route, the run does not respond to positional representation changes.
How is tube and pipe defer updates useful for positional representation changes?
You can defer automatic tube and pipe updates from positional representation changes until you want to see the final changes.
- Enable Route Objects Only for a run to allow routes in the run to respond to positional representation changes, but prevent tube and pipe components from responding.
- Enable Defer all Tube & Pipe Updates for the entire tube and pipe runs assembly to prevent both routes and components in the run from responding to positional representation changes.