Jan 29

Thursday

Autodesk, Autodesk Inventor Tutorials

2D to 3D Simplifed (labs.autodesk.com)

Are you a AutoCAD user? Have you tried converting all the orthographic drawings in your CAD department into 3D Part models using Autodesk Inventor®? If no, then this tutorial is for you and a must for every CAD engineer.

With a new tool released from Autodesk Labs, 2D to 3D Tool for Autodesk Inventor, life is much more interesting for every CAD professional. In this tutorial we shall focus on how to convert a 2D drawing created in AutoCAD® into a 3D part model in Autodesk Inventor.

I recommend you download this tool from Autodesk Labs and follow the procedure for installation as given in the User Guide Download.

Let’s begin with the tutorial.

Step 1: Make sure you search for an old orthographic drawing done in AutoCAD, maybe way back in the ’90s. I am using a drawing file created in 1998. (This is to make sure you can implement this feature from any version of AutoCAD.)

Step 2: The isometric view and orthographic views are as shown in Figures 1 and 2 below.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Step 3: Now make sure you have installed the 2D to 3D Tool for Autodesk Inventor and open Autodesk Inventor with Part Module (mm) as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3

Step 4: Select the command Insert AutoCAD File from 2D Sketch Panel as shown in figure 4

Figure 4

Step 5: Now open the orthographic drawing (*.dwg) from the location where it is saved, as shown in figure 5, and click on Open.

Figure 5

Step 6: You will be taken to a new window which shows a preview of the drawing to be imported into Autodesk Inventor. Based on the number of layers used in AutoCAD, all can be used or removed by selecting the selective import. Once done click on finish.

Figure 6

Step 7: Make sure you can either retain or remove the dimension layer while importing the drawing into Autodesk Inventor. The drawing will look like the one shown in figure 7.

Figure 7

Step 8: Now make sure you select the 2D to 3D tool in Inventor as shown in figure 8.

Figure 8

Step 9: The various options available in this toolbar are Base View, Projected View, Sketch Alignment, and Extrude.

Figure 9

Step 10: Once you click on Base View, you will have your drawing view oriented as shown in figure 10.

Figure 10

Step 11: Select the front face and later select the front view as shown in figures 11 and 12.

Figure 11

Figure 12

Step 12: Now make sure you select the Projected View from the 2D to 3D Tool Bar as shown in figure 13.

Figure 13

Step 13: Now go ahead and select the side view as shown in figure 14 using the mouse button and click OK. You will get the side view as shown in figure 15.

Figure 14

Figure 15

Step 14: Similarly, repeat step 13 to get the top view as shown in figure 16.

Figure 16

Step 15: Once you are sure that all the views are oriented, select the Extrude command (E). Now select the Side View, which has two faces (area), and enter the extrusion distance as 40mm and click on OK as shown in figure 17.

Figure 17

Step 16: Similarly, select the front view and carry out a Boolean operation as shown in figure 18.

Figure 18

Step 17: Similarly, carry out the same for top view by selecting the hole with a cut out option as shown in figure 19.

Figure 19

Step 18: As you complete the steps sequentially, you will get the final 3D PART MODEL as shown in figure 20.

Figure 20

Tips and Tricks

* You must work on a new part file to begin this tutorial.
* All the geometry must be located on the same plane.
* All loops must be closed for use with the Extrude command to create 3D Models.
* In order to achieve STEP C the best way is to import the geometry using the Import Wizard.