Inventor Introductory Training

Adaptivity 101

What This Exercise Covers

Starting a part model in a completely empty assembly fileCreating a second part model which is adaptively sized and positioned relative to the first

part you createdTurning adaptivity off on one part and on on another part

How Long Will We Work?

About 20 Minutes...

Open a New Assembly

Key Concept

You can just as easily start a brand new design in an empty assembly file as you can in an empty part file.

Create the First Part• With nothing selected in your assembly file, right-click the mouse to open the context menu.

• From the context menu select Create Component

Name Your New Part

• On the Create In-Place dialog enter the name pin for your new part.

• Expand the dialog using the “>>” button on the lower right

• Make sure that your part will be stored someplace you can find it later

• Use an English template

Sketch A Circle

Extrude The Circle

Create A New Sketch

• Select the Sketch button• Select the face of the cylinder you just extruded• Create another circle smaller than the first using the same center point

Extrude Your New Sketch

Your part should look similar to this.

Return to the Assembly

• Your browser should look similar to this image.

• With nothing selected in your part model, right-click and select Finish Edit on the context menu - or - double-click on the top-most node in the assembly browser.

Create the Second Part• Using the same steps we used before…

• With nothing selected in your assembly file, right-click the mouse to open the context menu.

• From the context menu select Create Component

Name The Second Part

• On the Create In-Place dialog enter the name bushing for your new part.

• Expand the dialog using the “>>” button on the lower right

• Note that the directory is the same directory you previously selected.

• Use an English template

Use the Create Mate Option

Pick the Face Shown

Key Concept

• When you create parts in-place, you have the option of sketching on the face of parts that already exist within the assembly.

• The sketch plane that you create can also be optionally mated to the face of the part you selected to sketch on. This can later save you steps in constraining your assembly.

Use “Look At” to Re-Orient

Once in the sketch environment, use the “Look At” command to re-orient your view so you are looking normal to the planar face you selected.

Sketch 2 More Circles

Off to the side as shown, sketch two concentric circles.

Apply a Dimension

Place a dimension between the inside and outside diameters.

Extrude the Bushing

Make the Feature Adaptive• In the browser, select Extrusion1

• From the context menu, select Adaptive

Return to the Assembly

• With nothing selected in your part model, right-click and select Finish Edit on the context menu - or - double-click on the top-most node in the assembly browser.

Make the Bushing Part Adaptive

• From the assembly browser, select the newly created bushing.ipt

• With the part selected, open its context menu by right-mouse clicking

• Select Adaptive

Key Concept

• Adaptivity has two levels of control. The first level is applied to the individual features of each part. The second level of control is applied to the part in the assembly.

Think of this control in the same way as the water faucets in your house are controlled - the feature-level control is like the on/off valve at each faucet, the part-level control is like your main water valve at the street - if this main valve is shut off, none of your faucets will provide you with water. For adaptivity to work, a feature must be adaptive and the part must be adaptive.

Place A Mate Constraint• Select the faces shown

To adapt the inside diameter of the bushing to the outside diameter of the pin and to position the diameters concentrically you must select the faces (and not the axes).

NOTE - Part colors were changed to aid in differentiation.

Size and Position Adapt!

Place A Flush Mate Constraint

The Length Adapts

Key Concept• Any aspect of your model’s sketched features which are not constrained by dimensions can adapt in the assembly to fit the fixed size and position of other parts.

Switching Adaptivity

Select bushing.ipt in the browser and turn adaptivity off using the check mark in the context menu

Switching Adaptivity

In-place activate bushing.ipt by double-clicking on it in the

browser - or - by selecting it in the browser and selecting Edit

from the context menu

Switching Adaptivity

Select Extrusion1 in the browser and either expand the feature to select the sketch to

edit - or - with the feature selected, select Edit Sketch

from the context menu

Switching Adaptivity

Add a dimension to the inside diameter of your bushing sketch

Note the value applied by the system equals the outside

diameter of the pin shank since this was the diameter the

bushing adapted toEdit the dimension so that the

diameter is smaller Update the part

Return to the Assembly

• Upon returning to the assembly, the system displays the above error recovery dialog because the diameter of the bushing and pin can no longer be mated• “Accept” the problem (because we are going to fix it now)

Switching Adaptivity

In-Place activate pin.iptAccept the Error Recovery

warning againSelect Extrusion2 in the feature

browserMake Extrusion2 adaptive using

the context menu switchReturn to the assembly

Make pin.ipt adaptive using the context menu switch

Switching Adaptivity

• Notice that the pin shank now adapts to the inside of the bushing (shown above following suppression of the mate/flush, dragging the bushing a little and changing its color to Glass).

Summary

• Adaptivity can be controlled at both the part and the feature level• An adaptive part must have adaptive features in order to adapt in an assembly• A part which adapted can be “locked” by turning off the part-level adaptivity and another part which previously drove the adaptivity can be made adaptive - adaptivity is non-directional