topic Re: components along spiral path in Fusion Design, Validate & Document Forum

components along spiral path

kobin9L58E — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 00:15:09 GMT

I'm designing a double walled cylinder and I'm trying to figure out how to punch holes that go through both walls. I'd like the holes to be in a helical pattern around the cylinder. I've tried searching and can't find a solution. The closest I've come is this:

-create a coil around the outer cylinder wall with a triangular internal section.

-right click and choose "create selection set", and select the line on the coil that traces the helical path I want.

-create another hollow cylinder to use as a punch through the double wall. Name this as a component.

-under create menu, choose "pattern on path". Select components, choose the punch as the object, then select the helical path, quantity = 8, distance type = extent, direction = one direction, and orientation = path direction.

When I do the above steps, I get the repeating components in the helical pattern, but the punches are oriented in a weird direction. It starts off normal to the helix, but as the height of the helix increases the angle of the punch orients more downwards.

Is there a better way to do this? Any help is appreciated!

Re: components along spiral path

kobin9L58E — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 03:50:04 GMT

going on the lack of responses nobody else knows either....?

Re: components along spiral path

TrippyLighting — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 13:34:52 GMT

There is likely a way to arrrange these bodies in a helivcal pattern, but it is more work than patterning along a path.

Similar to attemting to sweep a profile along a helical path Fusion 360 currntly does not have any twist control, that would allow you to specify the orientation of your bodies along the path.

I'll see if I can play with this and come up with an altenate concept.

Re: components along spiral path

JDMather — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 13:38:39 GMT

@kobin9L58E wrote:

.... I've tried searching and can't find a solution. ...

Is there a better way to do this? Any help is appreciated!

If you are a student, Autodesk Inventor. http://www.autodesk.com/edcommunity

Re: components along spiral path

kobin9L58E — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 22:36:49 GMT

Ha I wish I was still a student. Just a poor entrepreneur now (which is why I'm using Fusion 360...it's free for startups that make less than $100k/yr.)

I found a similar problem that someone else posted. Looks like Fusion draws its sweep twist from the curvature of the rail in relation to the sketch plane, which in this case is 0,0,0. So any bodies or components along that path will point to the origin of 0,0,0 as well.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/design-validate-document/sweep-with-guide-rail-anoying-problems/m-p/6338820#M56361

I guess I could construct separate origins for each hole, but that is tedious. I was hoping there would be a more elegant way built into Fusion so that I can use single variable (under modify--change parameters--user parameters) for the number of holes in the cylinder walls.

Re: components along spiral path

kobin9L58E — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 22:42:46 GMT

I did find an elegant way of drawing a helix with points already added.

Here's an add-on that will draw a helix along a linear path from a plane.

Forum link: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/design-validate-document/how-to-make-twisted-pair/m-p/6407867/highlight/true#M62298

Download link: https://github.com/tapnair/HelixGenerator

And here's another add-on that will draw a helix along a curved path:

Forum link: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autodeskhelp/creating-a-helix-around-a-3d-curve-with-fusion-360-amp-python/ba-p/6604709

Download link: https://autodesk.app.box.com/s/i9nx8qssjd2hpdrr0r3ljp45s9gt7pxr

Re: components along spiral path

SaeedHamza — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 23:33:30 GMT

same here for this guy, I tried to help out but I don't think that there is a feature to fix this in Fusion yet 😕

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/design-validate-document/having-problems-when-trying-to-use-quot-pattern-on-path-quot-on/m-p/7051594/highlight/false#M110242

Re: components along spiral path

SaeedHamza — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 23:45:05 GMT

even when using a sweep in Fusion you can see how the profiles orientation is not parallel to the ground, I mean you can notice that the way Fusion works is that a face is facing the center of the Helix path, and that's the same for the pattern along path