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Stiffener Plates for Beams and Channel for Frame Generator. They could be located by a sketch point or work point in the skeleton there size and orientation would be governed by the member they were going into.
@Ben-Cornelius, this probably would be a useful addition to Frame Generator, but there is another route you could potentially take.
We developed a template file a couple of years ago with a little bit of iLogic and an embedded (stripped down) version of the AISC Shapes Database spreadsheet. We built in some gaps for installation clearance, and set our chamfers up the way we wanted them. When you start a new part from the template, you would have a form where you just pick your beam size and enter the desired stiffener thickness.
We've never gotten around to making one for channel, but it could probably be done in a similar way.
I was trying to create the template you are mentioning but could not do it. I am still new to ilogic. Would mind to share the process to create this part?
The actual iLogic rule isn't terribly complicated - it's only about 5-6 lines of code. It's been a while since I've looked all that closely at this template, so it's possible I'm leaving some things out, but this should cover the most critical steps. The order of the steps is somewhat arbitrary, and chosen mostly for ease of explanation. Also, I'm not going to go into very basic things like how to name Parameters. Since you're asking iLogic questions, I'm going with the assumption that you already understand the basics of Inventor.
The first thing you have to do is get the dimensional data in spreadsheet form. If you're using AISC structural shapes, this is pretty easy, as they have it available for download on their website (AISC Shapes Database). This spreadsheet initially included dimensions for a lot of member types that aren't relevant here, so I deleted everything out that didn't relate to W-beams.
Next, add your own columns as necessary to calculate what you want the dimensions of the plate to be. This will typically involve doing a little math on the standard dimensions of the beams (the inside dimensions aren't in the table, you have to derive them). Then you may want to subtract out some amount for assembly clearance - otherwise it will end up being necessary to grind the plates to fit each time. You'll want a clearance chamfer so the corners of the plate won't interfere with the radius between the flange and web of the beam, so determine a method for deciding your chamfer size. Note: I'm being deliberately vague here, because you may want something dimensionally different from what I did. I added a total of about 6 columns, but some were intermediate values. Only three (plate width, plate height, and chamfer size) are outputs used by the model.
Now, embed the spreadsheet. I would suggest looking into this online - as I recall, there is a trick to getting it embedded the correct way for iLogic to be able to access it, but I don't remember what the issue was, since this is something I don't do often. I believe you have to do it through the Parameters dialog box for it to work with iLogic, but look it up yourself to be sure since I'm rusty on this point.
Next, make a multivalue User Parameter. This will serve as a dropdown menu of beam sizes. Since they will need to match the way the beam sizes are identified in the spreadsheet, it's best to directly copy them from there.
Now you'll want to build an iLogic form. There are plenty of other resources online if you need help with that, so I'm not going to go into too much detail with it. In my case, it includes the Beam Size dropdown, a Thickness parameter, and a custom iProperty for the steel Grade. You may need fewer inputs (or possibly more) depending on how much you standardize your stiffeners. We chose to have the thickness specified by the engineer, so we needed a separate input for it.
Now it's time to actually write the code. In the editor, look at the "Excel Data Links" section of the Snippets. The key things you need to learn here are the "FindRow" and "CurrentRowValue" snippets. The entire iLogic rule that you need can be written by inserting Snippets from the menu and changing the parameter and Excel column names as appropriate. A few things to note:
Do not rename the embedded spreadsheet in the browser, as that interferes with iLogic's ability to access it.
Be sure you're careful with typing Parameter names in the rule. A Parameter name that is recognized will turn blue - if it doesn't turn blue, there's probably something wrong with the way you typed the name.
At the end, include the line: InventorVb.DocumentUpdate() Otherwise the model will not immediately update when the rule runs, and it will look like nothing happened.
Hopefully that's enough to get you going. I think this is a pretty good case to learn from, so I've deliberately tried to leave a lot of things for you to figure out on your own. I'm not a particularly good programmer myself, so the fact that I've created as many tools with it as I have is a good statement as to how easy it is to learn. Once you start dabbling in it, you'll be surprised at how much you can accomplish just by inserting and modifying the sample Snippets.
It sounds like you guys have done a fair bit of development on this, nicely done!
Is there any way you could share the files here, even if they were empty template files?
I've got some experience with iLogic, but no time to dedicate to tinkering with it from scratch. Not to mention, I'd be willing to bet others could benefit as well.
Most of the tools I develop I would be willing to share. They tend to be things I developed of my own volition, sometimes even on my own time. The primary motivation is to make my own life easier, and if it helps the company I work for and the engineers I work with, that's a side benefit. I have no problem with sharing such "rogue" products.
However, this particular tool is one of the few that my company officially requested I work on, and dedicated engineering hours to completing. Because of that, I'm not comfortable directly sharing it, and instead wrote the instructions above for @aprajapati3C to help him (and others) develop their own version.
What I will do is share the actual code for the iLogic rule, which kind of shows how simple this actually is.
'Retrieve dimension data from embedded spreadsheet, based on selected beam size.
i = GoExcel.FindRow("3rd Party:Embedding 2", "Sheet1", "AISC_Manual_Label", "=", BEAM_SIZE)
Plate_Height = GoExcel.CurrentRowValue("Plate_Height")
Plate_Width = GoExcel.CurrentRowValue("Plate_Width")
Chamfer_Size = GoExcel.CurrentRowValue("Chamfer_Size")
InventorVb.DocumentUpdate()
BEAM_SIZE is the multivalue User Parameter, used to create the dropdown list of sizes in the form.
Plate_Height, Plate_Width, and Chamfer_Size are all User Parameters referenced by the sketch and feature dimensions. Columns are named in the spreadsheet to match these parameter names.
As you can see here, there is very little coding work to be done (even if I hadn't just posted it). The bulk of the work is in building the dimension spreadsheet and getting it the way you want it to be.
@jtylerbc Do you know if it was possible to add multiple multi-value parameter? I want to have a single part for all the beam types i use. Meaning separate drop down list for W, UB, UC, JIS etc. even channels. I made separate sheet in spreadsheet and respective iLogic rule. But it seems that only the latest rule is working.
@aprajapati3C, I think I understand what you're asking for, but I've never set something up like that, so I'm not exactly sure how to do it.
It seems like maybe you would need a dropdown list to select the beam standard (W, UB, etc.), then the dropdown lists with the sizes. Then you would need some way in the code to designate the size parameter to use and the different sheet to look on for each beam standard. It seems like you could make a long, clunky rule that did this with If/Then statements, but maybe there's a more efficient way.
thank you very much, my editing skills still need some polishing haha. The gap at the top and bottom is adjustable. Thanks for downloading! Let me know what you think!
