Parts with many features

[Mr_Intellyless]

So I'm having an idea for a part I'd like to make. The thing is I probably am going to push the limits of what inventor can do. So I'd like to know what inventor realisticly can handle in one part (.ipt). With that I mean the amount of features and parameters? Like is 1000+ features possible?

Ps: my pc is a beast so that won't be so much a bottleneck and I use inventor 2024

[CCarreiras]

Hi!

Just do it!😀

Probably you will not need so many features...

[Mr_Intellyless]

I do, need a 10x10x10 grid of individually revolved balls (preferable even 20x20x20) 

[CCarreiras]

You can create a ball.... and then perform an Pattern.

Two features to do that.

[Mr_Intellyless]

I know, but I need to be able to control the size of each of them and suprress/enable them individually

[CCarreiras · Accepted solution]

You will have a lot of work to have all that control, since you will have to create each one... and i believe the part will be "heavy", but feasible... try it!

I would do:

I would create a work points pattern to o help me to place the spheres...

...And i would use the Sphere tool to straightforward the job.

[Mr_Intellyless]

Thanks,

Luckily my pc is pretty strong, and I know it's going to be a lot of work. But that's okay. 

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! It depends on what kind of features you are talking about and what type of geometry these features are creating. 1000 does sound a lot to me. It is because, assuming each feature has 3 parameters, you will need to manage 3000 parameters. Depending on the screen resolution, scale, and font size, the Parameters dialog can show 30~70 parameters per page. This means the dialog could have 100 pages. This is way too much. I don't think any powerful machine can help here.

I suggest you look into your design and consolidate features. I have never seen a part with more than 300 features.

Many thanks!

[Mr_Intellyless]

a 1000 features is indeed a lot but it will be primarily all the same feature. Right now I'm working on a project with a little over 200 features, 81 solid bodies, and close to 1000 parameters in Inventor 2020 with a sub-optimal PC and it is running smoothly. No hiccups or whatever. Sure, it's not the fastest model you've ever worked with but it is not slow either. It's indeed a whole different level compared to 1000+ features and 3000+ parameters, but as well my pc at home is much better, as inventor has improved in capabilities since 2020. The biggest problem I've had with large parts is the amount of sketch lines and constraints. This makes the model very slow quickly indeed, but features I've not seen much problems with.

So I'm going to try it and hope for the best. Once It's done I'll post it somewhere. Let's see what the limits of inventor are! 🙂

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! To reduce the number of sketch geometry to create manually, you may consider using Sketch Blocks workflow. You may insert a sketch block instance to any sketch. The sketch block is like a rigid body. There is no need to constrain the individual sketch lines within the block. Editing the sketch block definition will populate the change to all instances.

Many thanks!