Steel detailing with Inventor

Greetings,

I am a Steel Detailer with 20 something years using AutoCad.

I am trying to migrate my detailing using Inventor.

My application is plate steel ductwork ie, scrubbers, hoppers and such.

Anyone here having success detailing steel structures with Inventor?

If so where the heck do I start.

Do I have to make everything I draw a part. Is frame generator a viable option?

Thank you in advance

JT

Lynn Allen has written a good guide for Autocad users switching to Inventor, find it at the following link-

http://lynn.blogs.com/Booklets/3134136_making_the_leap.pdf

Frame Generator is fantastic and allows for frame analysys if you wish to do so, also sheetmetal inside is second to none, pipe and ducting can be done using Inventors Tube and Pipe features, I would suggest a 4 day training course to get the best possbile start.

I'm not one to discourage inovation or new ways of doing things, but if by the term "Steel Detailing" you're referring to the traditional meaning of it, i.e. 2D details of plans and details for steel connections, Inventor would seem to be a bit of overkill, IMHO. Inventor is a parametric modeling tool and though I'm sure you could draw up anything in it, I think it's not the correct tool for doing standard structural detailing. If you're doing 3D which I still find the structural world is lacking in, then Inventor makes sense but you could still do the same thing with AutoCAD. The cost for Inventor, not to mention the new training required just to do steel detailing is in my opinion a big overkill.

Still I would encourage you to install a 30 day trial and give it a go. You never know where it might lead you.

Have you checked out AutoCAD Structural Detailing? Might be a better step than going full on Inventor.

Hi JT,

I would totally agree with with Bill Tillman's comment regarding using Inventor (or any other modeller for that matter) as the modelling overhead is massive in order to create even basic connections for examples, and nine times out of ten the generated drawing has insufficient detail for fabricators to work to so requires additional detail to be added. Inventor and other modellers are great for inititial concept design but as the saying goes the devil is in the detail!

I would suggest that if you need to do a significant amount of Steel detailing that you investigate a plug in to Autocad called Advance Steel - This is a specialist application for Steel fabrication and works to Steel standards throughout the world - It not cheap per se, but then it is not expensive either given the productivity it delivers. It will automatically produce detailed fabrication drawings for you in minutes (hundreds of them if your model is that big).

Real world productivity for example: a 5 week project in Inventor woud be completed in 5 days or less using this Autocad based software so you should have no problem selling the benefits to your business (or yourself if you are freelancing).

Have a look at the ten minute video at http://www.graitec.com/en/movielist.asp?ProductID=2 this should give you a good overview and also demonstrate quite clearly the importance of having the right tool for the job - how long would it take to do a simple beam to beam connection in Inventor (or AutoCAD) that was to a standard (including bolt lengths, notching/coping) etc.etc.

If you are working in an environment that involves a mix of mechanical design and structures then the good news is that you could for example build your model quickly and detail in Advance Steel, and export a solid version of the model and bring it back in to Inventor (or visa versa depending on your workflow), If you export from Inventor to Advance Steel your Inventor model can be clash checked with the steel structure.

Re - Marks comment about AutoCAD Structural Detailing, in comparison to Advance Steel it think it would be fair to say that AutoCAD Structural Detailing is somewhat lacking in so many areas it would be unfair to compare the two on the same playing field. Also as I understand it, it is part of the Revit structures suite as Revit Structures has no steel detailing capability, so relies on a one way export out of Revit into ASD.

Hope That helps

Thank you all for your recommendations.

Re Smiley 1: I have been interested in Advance steel for some time as well. Now I must sell it to my employer.

Regards

JT

Thank you all for your recommendations.

Re Smiley 1: I have been interested in Advance steel for some time as well. Now I must sell it to my employer.

 

Regards

 

JT

I wouldnt really recomment Inventor for Structural steel because its more for mechanical / sheetmetal / product design.

Graitec's Advance steel is more geared towards Staircases and architectural metalworks.

If it's predomiantly a structural package you interested in I would look at the following.

(Based on most Common)

StruCAD.

Tekla Structures.

Revit Structure.

AutoCAD Structural Steel.

Also with the AutoCAD Structure Suite you have the bonus of being able to use Vanilla AutoCAD. And If you use AutoCAD you should have less of a learning curve compaired to the others.