Fillet on curved surfaces.

[JD Mather]

Inventor is not Mechanical Desktop. Autodesk realized that an AutoCAD-based technology could not take them into the future. Their next-generation MCAD program, Autodesk Inventor, was created from a clean slate given 20+ years of CAD experience. MDT was given away for free with Inventor for several years to help those making the transistion. MDT has since been discontinued.

 

Inventor is very similar to SolidWorks and somewhat similar to Pro/E Wildfire. Except that Pro/E still retains much of it's outdated first generation roots, whild SWx and Inventor are clean slate technologies.

 

When you used the word "Sculpt" I assumed you had switched to Inventor as that is an Inventor tool.

[Edwinh]

I hope autodesk will be so kind to send me a demo version of Inventor to play around with. In the meantime I got the 3d solid I aimed for.

 

 

 

 

Using Javaprop dxf-data to create a 3d solid in autocad (2011).

 

The data created by Javaprop (dxf) gives a file which looks like a facetted surface. In order to create a smooth surfaced solid, do this:

 

First explode your imported dxf. This allows you to remove surfaces piece by piece when you do not need them anymore.

Next trace every rib using Spline CV. Do this section-by section, tracing every rib (I like to use the same direction and the same starting point) and for the last part of the trace use the “c” close command. Doing this does not create Sharp edges on which one can not create a fillet.

This seems like quite a lot of work, but one only needs to select every endpoint or intersection, so osnap does most of the work.

After a spline is made remove the adjacent set of surfaces to clean the view for the next spline.

Now create a loft , and select all the cross-sections (splines) which have been traced . After this, close the ends with the patch command. Or if one has a part which intersects with the hub, draw the outer part of the hub first, and do a surface trim to make sure the blade does not stick right trough the hub. (also trim the hub face to the blade to make a closed section).

With the part we have now, we can make a solid using sculpt. Select all surfaces by drawing a window, splines will be filtered out automatically.

Now we have a nice solid “blade” to which we can attach a hub and do a circular array to create more blades on the prop.

If one wants to create a fillet between the hub and blades remember to merge them into one piece using the Union command. After this one can make a nice fillet.

 

I used this method myself using Autocad 2011, I don't know if the same is possible in older versions. Edwin