Assembly + Design issues

[arfabrication402]

To start, I am fairly new to Inventor but I can generally find an answer to any problem I have online. I haven't been able to this time so here goes.

I have a welding table I am modeling up, because I want to then do stress analysis on a few different designs to see which I would prefer, just for fun mostly.

My issue comes up when I use Design to insert frame members.

In one assembly I did the top part of the frame, then I did an assembly for the legs, bottom bracing, and top bracing separate, so I could pick and choose how I put bracing in, or the amount of legs etc. 

I do not want to do a 3D model, because I had difficulty dimension it. 

I want to be able to notch the separate legs to the top, as well as the extra bracing I add. When I go to the design tab and click on notch to select the members, no selections come up. I am assuming because they aren't recognized as frame members in an assembly?

How do I edit frame members and get them to interact with other frame members without building the entire thing in one sketch?

I attached a picture circling the area I want to Notch into the frame. I hope I am being clear. 

Thank you. 

[jhackney1972]

The joint you are showing is a normal joint for structural steel construction.  That gap, you circled, is normally used by the welder to join the members together.  He will either fill it and grind it smooth or partially fill it depending on the weld called for.  I created a Screencast showing how the Inventor Frame Generator function can "Notch" the two members together to a completely gap fit but I will caution you about using this joint in production.  It is extremely expensive to cut the end of the intersecting member but if that is what you want, go for it.  By the way, do not mix your environments, use the Frame Generator application for the entire frame design.

[arfabrication402]

I am a welder/fabricator. I own a welding business for a living and obviously won't be notching each tube of my new table when I go to build it. 

Just want to show it all notched together in the model because when I did frame analysis it showed everything was separate. I assumed that notching everything in Inventor would make it think they were all one solid piece of frame, and not individual pieces. Maybe that was the wrong thinking and I should be trying to use weldments instead. 

Either way, my goal was to make the entire frame in the model look seamless so when I do a stress test it all shows as one piece, and when I render the image there aren't gaps. 

Also, I appreciate the video response. That is how I make my frames, but like I said in my OP, I do not want to do the entire frame as one frame, so I can change leg positions, crossmembers, etc at will and not have to redesign the entire sketch again. I also want to keep each iteration separate. 

I make an assembly, draw my sketch. Use the frame generator to make the top frame that I want, then I notch, or trim/extend them into place. Then I made the legs in a separate assembly, so I could use 6 or 10 or 4 if I wanted to.

Then I made crossmembers in a new assembly using insert frame, etc.

Now in my model the top frame and the legs are not the same frame. They are separate and inventor will not let me notch or trim/extend them to one another. 

[JDMather]

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@arfabrication402 wrote:

1. Just want to show it all notched together in the model because when I did frame analysis it showed everything was separate.

2. I assumed that notching everything in Inventor would make it think they were all one solid piece of frame, and not individual pieces. 

3. Either way, my goal was to make the entire frame in the model look seamless so when I do a stress test it all shows as one piece, and when I render the image there aren't gaps. 

4.  They are separate and inventor will not let me notch or trim/extend them to one another. 

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There are several statements within the thread that I do not understand.  Frankly, I do better with actual geometry files than written text.  Can you Attach actual example assembly here?

1. Not sure what this means, but Frame Analysis uses only beam elements - straight line elements with connecting nodes.  No curves. Notches and other trims ignored.

2.  If you want to convert an assembly to a single monolithic part - that is done through Derived Component technique.

3. See #1 if your intent is to use Frame Analysis (Beam Elements math) or if your intention is to use Mesh Elements, that gets more complicated and might not be appropriate.

4. There is a trick using Copy Object as Surface Body and Trim or Sculpt in this case.  (Best demonstrated with actual files.)