complex flow channels on cylindrical part

[erimdavi]

I am trying to model the part seen in the picture. I started by wrapping the part in paper and imprinting the lines onto a sheet so that i could create a 2d sketch of the profile, then wrap to face and extrude or emboss with no success. I have tried a 3d sketch and lofting to the root shape, projecting 3d sketches and extruding outward, and i am in the process of trying to cut out the flow channels with the sweep command but this route may take a lot more work. Our company has considered picking up a good 3d scanner and trying that route, but I have never done that before. I am willing to try anything including the scanning route. If any of you guys have any suggestions on how to proceed in the most efficient way to model this part, please advise.

Is this modeling possible without the assistance of some other software?

[dkatz]

I think your idea to emboss is probably the right route, and tracing the profile is a clever way of doing that.

I'd spend some time thinking about that sketched profile. For one thing, is it equal to or longer than the circumference of the circle? I ask because I bet if it was equal or over, then the wrapping of the feature would run into itself and crash. Even making it .001" smaller in length than the circumference can make a huge difference between a successful feature and an error.

Hope that helps.

[JDMather]

Attach your initial attempt here.

Geometry topics similar to this have been posted here many many times in the past.

It appears that your ball endmill does not plunge below the radius - which significantly simplifies the geometry (as far as modeling in Inventor).

[erimdavi]

The problem I had when embossing is that I can only wrap a 2d sketch to a uniform surface (note that the root profile has a bulge near the end)...also the inner surface I am wrapping to is smaller than the OD at which my flat pattern was created. You can see the 2d sketch set up to wrap to the non uniform root profile this was my starting point, and also my attempt at using  sweep to carve out my flow channels. The problem I am having with sweep is that it is not very smooth, and I can't get the sweep to follow the contours of the sketch very well.

[erimdavi]

Here is a .png file of the sweep attempt.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! The channels seem to be made by a ball shape tool. It would be best to model with volumetric sweep. But, it is not yet supported in Inventor. You can sort of workaround it by creating a sweep cut with a cirular profile. Then you will need to create features to mimic the start and the end.

Thanks!

[Vlad.Makarov]

I do it using a combination of sweeping and surfacing. It is laborious and Inventor continues to lack the necessary tools to easily create these types of parts. The ability to sweep a solid object along a path would be a start.