Is there a way to draw lines in inventor and bring them into simulation to represent beam elements? I can only bring surfaces and solids into simulation.
Any ideas on this? I can draw lines in AutoCAD and bring directly into Simulation but cannot figure out any way to do this wtih Inventor? I want to make changes to my model but do not want to redraw these lines in Simulation every time.
Simulation Mechanical cannot import lines from Inventor. But it may not be necessary in your case, either. Although I have not tried it, I am pretty sure that any geometry drawn in Simulation Mechanical after you have imported a CAD model is retained when the the CAD model is re-imported. Only the CAD parts are replaced. So as long as the beam elements do not need to change, you only need to draw them the first time.
If that does not work, you can save the beam parts to a different file and merge them into the new model ("File > Merge").
One way to do this is to save the model / sketch from Inventor as IGES / wireframe.
Then Sim will open it as line elements.
Hope this helps..
H. Nilsson
Unfortunately my model is a mixture of beam and shell elements, and I need the beam elements to change with the shell elements. Thanks for the replies.
Hi @fabriliv
I think the documentation can help!
"Autodesk Inventor files are a special case in which you can mix solid, surface, and 3D sketch geometry. Furthermore, Simulation Mechanical can import this mixed geometry. 3D sketches are imported as wireframes along with the surface and solid geometry. The wireframe geometry is suitable for use as construction lines or line-type elements (such as beams and trusses)."
Give it a try. Let us know if it works.
Thank you John
It helped me. But now I am looking for another answer, I would like to transfer loads form beam to solid in Inventor, but I think that it is impossible but I could not find in the software's help.
My model is attached.
Thank you.
Hi @fabriliv
It looks like you are using Nastran In-CAD. You should post your message to the In-CAD forum. Simulation Mechanical is a different product, so not many readers of the Simulation Mechanical forum are familiar with In-CAD.
The message shown in your image indicates that you have a load applied to the model, but there are no nodes or elements connected to the location of the load. Maybe you selected the wrong geometry for the load?
I have selected the beam to apply the load. I have just done a work point in the beam, then applied the load in this point. But the Nastran didn't find a node in the model. I tried to transfer the load to the end of the beam, but I did not have convergence.
The problem has already been existing.