Frame Generator Merge Members Greyed Out. Also Reuse Members

[Nigel.Sims]

Hello,

I am having a frustrating time with Frame Generator at the moment. I am trying to model some handrails along a 3d sketch with a few gentle bends aloing the length. There are two handed rails down either side of a structure. I have modelled one side of the handrail without any issue, but the other side won't allow me to merge the members to get one continuous part. I can pick a few of the curve segments but when I pick the member after the first slight bends the merge members box greys out. I have linked to a screencast below and while recording noticed a strange modelling error created by Frame Generator. For some reason the slected member after the bend tries to go back against the flow of the curve. When confirming the new parts it became evident that the last member goes back into the others. I tried the same sketch curve but without bends and it worked without issue.

Secondly, reuse members isn't always working. I can have a curves the same length (using constraints) but when using reuse member I haven't been able utilise all of these curves. Using the measure command to check the length confirms their length but still it wont work. Resorting to just having additional members is fine but it would be nice to have it working for neatness.

Thanks in advance for any help/insite into this strange behaviour.

Nigel

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Nigel,

The only logical reason I can think of is that the members and the frame subassembly were repurposed from another assembly. Inventor specialized components like C&H, FG, and T&P can only preserve their model intelligence within the assembly they were created from. If they are reused in another assembly, such intelligence will be gone.

Please share the files here. Forum experts can help take a look.

Many thanks!

[Nigel.Sims]

Hi Johnson,

Thank you for replying. THe frame generator members aro only used in that one assembly they were created from.  One in particular that I cannot create as a merged rail I have been able to create fine on one side, but the other won't work.

I have attached two zip file containing the assemblies in question. The Wh rail assembly is the one that won't merge. I have highlighted below the rail I am having issues with. You will see that there is one the other side that is all one part. 

Secondly there is a Pack & Go of another assembly that was cuasing issues with reuse. A series of intercostal horizontal rails were made identical in the sketch but Inventor won't let me re-use the members in the assembly. This is on two seperate pieces on the aft and side. Again, below is a screenshot highlighing these members. The black dots represent the members which reuse wouldn't work on.

Hopefully someone will be able to sink their teeth into this and find a cause/solution to the problem.

Regards

Nigel

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Nigel,

Many thanks for sharing the files! I took a quick look at the Wh assembly. I tried to insert the frame members as the other side. But, I don't have your custom CC library. Instead, I select the round bar to see the behavior. Indeed, the long segment on the right cannot seem to generate a frame member. The line seems corrupted.

I edit the 3D sketch and delete the 3D line and the bend. Then recreate it. After that, the line can be selected to create a frame member.

One thing you may consider is to hide the Reference Skeleton within the Frame subassembly. Having it visible could lead to confusion. The actual geometry to select is the 3D Sketch in the "6096-WH RAIL_ref_stripped:1", not the Reference Skeleton.

Thanks again!

[pcrawley · Accepted solution]

My guess is that there's a rounding error beyond the 8th decimal place which is causing "Reuse" to fail - probably caused by the end of the problem geometry being terminated by an "Auto Bend" radius.  The geometry itself looks perfect. 

Try changing the problem lines to construction geometry, then draw over them with a short "normal" line (shown in red).  Now add an equal (=) constraint between each red line and the green line. 

It's not a perfect solution, but I think it proves the point, and means you only need one frame member to finish the job. 

When I tested it, I was able to place a frame member on any of the 6 intercostal horizontal rails and reuse it on all the remaining rails:

(Yellow = placed member.  Purple = Reused)

[Nigel.Sims]

Hi @pcrawley, that seems like the only solution. I got it to work partly on the aft rails: some mebers still wouldn't re-use. I haven't tried doing anything with the fwd rails yet. 

Thanks for your help

Nigel