Solid from surfaces

[tmccar]

What is the easiest way to create a solid from the patch surfaces in the attached part.

[brendan.henderson]

Thicken/Offset gives the surfaces thickness. Note that when I opened the file in 2014 there were 4 features that need attention.

[tmccar]

Do you know what is wrong with them?

[JDMather]

Sketch7 has a sick (pink) projected line (delete the line that appears to have sick endpoints.

You most likely deleted the reference at some point.  (I noticed that Sketch1 is not constrained.)

Sketch5 is not needed - simply a duplication of Sketch1.

Work Axis2 is not needed - simply a duplication of the Z Axis.

Sketch6 is not needed.

I would do Workplane3 as a parametric plane.  (if it is even needed, which I doubt)

Circular Pattern1 referenced sick Sketch7. 

...and on down the line.

[tmccar]

Ok, I have made it from scratch and it is now stitching together ok. My geometry was a bit off in the previous  one.

[admaiora]

An alternative way for your geometric model.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA_AkVtb3NU

[tmccar]

That's a clever way to do it indeed. I have Inventor LT and I don't have that functionality.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I fixed up the sick sketch and simplified the model a bit. It is a solid now. Let me know if you have any question.

Thanks!

[wimann]

I was going to show another example. I found some time to throw this together today but was a little late on my response to your post.

I tend to shoot for having as few sketches/driving dimensions as possible. But the geometry you have here makes that a little challenging. I don't know if I would call the part I created a "Final Product" or if I would rather do some more refining, but I think it works for now.

Thanks,

EDIT: Also, while messing around with it, I tried messing around with it to create different internal geometry. The second attachment using a loft and a shell before patterning worked out to make a pretty cool lookin' result. Thought I'd share. Thanks again.

[tmccar]

Thanks Johnson -did you make the geometry from scratch?

[tmccar]

Excellent work, Wimann! You're thinking outside the box.

[wimann]

@tmccar wrote:
Excellent work, Wimann! You're thinking outside the box.

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Thank you. I understand it may not directly answer your question. But that is how I might try approaching the task. The handy thing about it is that most of it is not controlled by the user when it comes to changing size. In Alternative2.ipt, the only dimension that needs to be changed is the 6" long edge length given to the pentagon sketched (construction lines) in the middle. It's the only dimension that isn't driven or reference.

This approach may not be at all what you're looking for but thank you for the reply.

[brendan.henderson]

And another modelling method http://www.inventortales.com/2012/11/all-for-fun-again-modeling-12-sided-die.html

[tmccar]

That's a very interesting way of constructing it. It's such a cool shape, and there's so much going on in a dodecahedron. One way of looking at it is, it's composed of lots of pyramids (tetrahedra).