Thumbnail not available in multibody assembly BOM

[rogmitch]

Is it correct that the BOM will not show thumbnails for a multibody assembly until the component are dirtied?  I intially get 'preview not available' for all parts in the assembly.  Opening a part and (for example) moving the EOP back and forth will then cause the thumbnail to show in the BOM.

Is there any quick workaround or do I have to write a macro?

Many thanks for any suggestions

Roger Mitchell

IV 2014 Professional

[rogmitch]

I posted this message but received no replies which is sometimes the way. Later the message was given an 'escalated' icon and removed from the main listing.  I am not sure what the icon denotes or why it was removed.  

I would be grateful in anyone can offer an explanation.

Thanks

[mrattray]

When you see a post escalated it means that you've snagged the attention of the AutoDesk support team. I would assume they have someone investigating the issue.
It's OK to "bump" your post if you don't get a response after a reasonable time. Sometimes you're just unlucky and all of us usual forum types are busy at that moment.

[rogmitch]

Thanks for the quick response. I was most curious about why it disappeared from the listing. Wondered if I had broken house rules!

Anyway it is not a major issue although the more that Autodesk can do to improve the multi-body approach the better as
I find particularly powerful in my designs (cryogenic magnet systems) which are predominantly static but
highly customised.

[mrattray]

I don't have an answer as to why it disappeared. I've never seen that before. A professional person such as yourself shouldn't have anything to worry about as far as "breaking house rules". The worst you'll ever receive is maybe a "you may be better of posting your question over here..." sort of response.

On an aside, are you aware of the Inventor IdeaStation? This is a good place to post new ideas and vote for ideas you would like to see implemented in future Inventor versions. This is also, technically, the "correct" place to post issues.

Out of curiousity, what exactly is the "cryogenic magnet systems" industry? I happen to work for a magnet company myself in what I suspect is a very different industry.

[rogmitch]

Thanks Mike I have seen the IdeasStation and was thinking of posting various multibody framework suggestions I would like to see in the future- I just need to get my thoughts in order.

Our products use superconducting wire wound magnets operating at approximately -269 deg. C.  At these temperatures the magnet has essentially no electrical resistance and can carry hundreds of Amps / sq.mm without dissipation.  This means you can pack the wire very densely and produce very high static fields -reaching up to 23T for our systems.  The magnets are similar in construction to those used in the LHC.  The only problem is you are never quite sure whether they will work until you cool them down.  When they don't (which fortunatey is not that often) they become seriously expensive doorstops.

[mrattray]

Holy crap! That's some serious extreme stuff! Our magnets run around room temperature, and if we're lucky get a bit over 1.5T.
I have a hard time believing 23T, though. That's not a typo? How can you possibly get a flux density ten times the saturation point of steel? Is it because of the cryogenic state of the materials affecting their properties?
You have me seriously intrigued!

[rogmitch]

We don't use steel to concentrate flux in the high field region but only as a screen for the stray field generated by the magnets.  The magnets themselves are in principle standard air/helium/vacuum filled solenoids, split pairs, racetrack designs  but the huge flux densities are possible due to the high turns density and high currents.  

The 23T is not a typo - we will be  testing one shortly.  It operates at 200 Amps and has six concentric windings made from niobium titanium or noibium tin superconductor together with a high temperature YBCO tape wound central winding.  The stored energies can be impressive - 6-8 MJ so you do not want to break the inductive circuit at field or you get your own lightning strike!