Sofia Martinez
Autodesk Inventor is a software that offers a rich set of plastic part design tools. The software includes a default generic material for analysis, which can be changed by clicking on 'Select Material' on the Mold Design ribbon. This opens a dialog box where the manufacturer and trade name of the required material can be selected. The Autodesk Inventor Material Library is read-only, so new materials cannot be added to this library. However, users can create a custom library to add and modify materials. Tutorials for plastic part design in Autodesk Inventor are available, such as the 'Mastering Autodesk Inventor' series, which covers topics like plastic part design tools, mold core and cavity, material selection, and mold documentation.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Plastic part design tools | Grill, Lip, Boss, Rule Fillet, Snap Fit clips, mating Bosses with ribs |
| Commands | Grill, Lip, Rule Fillet |
| Tutorials | Create Plastic Part Features 1 of 2, Create Plastic Part Features 2 of 2, Mastering Autodesk Inventor series |
| Material selection | Click 'Select Material' on the Mold Design ribbon, select the manufacturer and trade name of the required material |
| Custom material libraries | Create a new library, name it, save it, and then drag and drop materials from other libraries into it |
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What You'll Learn
Custom material libraries
Autodesk Inventor Material Libraries are easy to create and allow you to display your models in a way that benefits your business and customers by showing them a model that looks as close as possible to the final product. This ensures that simulations can be completed with the most accurate physical properties, thus reducing warranty issues and time to market.
To create a Custom Library, click the down arrow on the bottom left of the dialog box and select 'Create New Library'. You can also create custom categories and add them to categories. To do this, right-click on your new library, select 'Create Category', and type the name of your category. You can then drag and drop materials from other libraries into your categories.
Once you have your new library, you can create a custom material by clicking the icon on the bottom left of the Material Browser. When editing the material, you can input the information that will be associated with it, including the default appearance and the physical properties applied to it. You can also create a material by basing it on a similar material in appearance or physical properties by 'duplicating' a material. With this method, you can get close to your final material without having to input the physical properties.
The default location for your material libraries is “%PUBLICDOCUMENTS%AutodeskInventor %RELEASE DataMaterials”. This is the recommended location to save your custom libraries unless you have a different location that you will use to share it with your team. If you are sharing a custom library with your team, you can place it on a network drive that is available to all of them.
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Selecting a material
To select a material in Inventor, click on "Select Material" on the Mold Design ribbon. A dialog box will appear, allowing you to choose the manufacturer and trade name of the required material. The environmental impact properties, such as the Energy Usage Indicator and Resin Identification Code, will update based on your selection. You can also click "Details" to view the specific properties of the chosen material.
If you cannot find the desired material, you can perform a search using customized search fields, terms, and filters. Define your search criteria and save it for future use. You can also load previously saved search criteria and select the required material from the drop-down list.
Additionally, you can create a custom material library to organize your materials efficiently. Start by creating a new library and saving it in a preferred location. Instead of adding materials directly to the root of the library, create custom categories to keep your materials well-organized and easily accessible. You can also copy materials from the Autodesk Material Library into your custom library and make any desired modifications.
It is important to note that the default material assigned for analysis may not always be suitable. Therefore, selecting the appropriate material is essential to achieving accurate results in your plastic part designs.
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Plastic part design tools
Autodesk Inventor contains a rich set of plastic part design tools. The panel is turned off by default, so many people are unaware of its existence. The "Create Plastic Part Features 1 of 2" tutorial introduces users to the grill, lip, and rule fillet commands. The Rule Fillet command, in particular, is not limited to plastic parts and allows users to create hundreds of fillets using pre-defined rules without selecting edges.
Chapter 19 of Curtis Waguespack's "Mastering Autodesk Inventor" series delves into the plastics features. The "Mastering Autodesk Inventor - Tooling and Plastic Design" video tutorial by Adam Cooper is another resource for learning about plastic part design tools. This course covers various topics, including grill, lip, boss, and rule fillet commands, mold core and cavity, material selection, fill analysis, animation, core pins, and inserts.
SOLIDWORKS also offers a comprehensive suite of modeling tools, such as shelling, ribbing, and surfacing, that enable designers to model plastic parts quickly and efficiently. SOLIDWORKS Plastics provides intuitive and user-friendly tools to predict how the mold will fill, visualise the flow of liquefied plastic within the mold cavity, and identify potential filling challenges or injection pressure issues. Additionally, SOLIDWORKS Plastics helps identify weld lines within the model, ensuring the structural integrity of the final product.
Advanced Plastiform, Inc. is a company that specialises in custom plastic product design and tooling. They utilise 3D modelling and aluminium tooling to ensure accuracy and speed in the final product. Their process often involves combining multiple parts into a single mould, reducing tooling costs and improving production times.
ZEISS provides metrology solutions for plastic part design, offering 3D scanners and CT systems to capture detailed images of prototypes, including complex features like undercuts and angled edges. Their REVERSE ENGINEERING software enables the optimisation of tool geometries and the identification of areas requiring correction. The ZEISS INSPECT Optical 3D software facilitates the creation of highly accurate CAD models, aiding in the digitisation of prototypes and the verification of assembly capability.
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Injection mould tooling
The quality of the injection moulding process and the parts produced are determined by the tooling design. The main goal of tooling design is to create a product with high manufacturability. This requires a high-quality process, which can be achieved through scientific moulding. This process provides highly accurate steps that lead to top-quality parts with consistently tight tolerances and repeatable dimensions.
The tooling process will largely dictate the project cost and quality of the final part. High-quality injection mould tooling will be expensive, but it will ensure high-quality parts and tooling with an exceptional lifespan. The more parts that can be made with the mould tooling, the less each part will cost over time. Injection mould tooling is highly customizable and can be made from steel, aluminium, or alloys. Steel and aluminium are the most common metals used, with steel being preferred for full-scale, high-volume production due to its ease of maintenance, resistance to rust, and ability to provide an excellent finish to each piece.
Engineers play a pivotal role in ensuring an optimized production process, reduced costs, and unparalleled product quality. They are responsible for key decisions such as the placement of waterlines, calculation of gate/runner sizing, and determination of shut-off methods. Design engineers are also accountable for determining gate types and locations to achieve optimum flow, fill pressure, cooling time, and dimensions/tolerance.
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Material appearance
Autodesk Inventor has an integrated materials library with hundreds of materials. It also has a quick and streamlined way to create custom materials and appearances libraries. When customizing your materials library, it is recommended to create a new library to keep the materials you will be using. This is because editing the built-in library can cause confusion and discrepancies.
To create a new material or appearance and add it to an Inventor material library, open the Material Browser or the Appearance Browser. In the Appearance Browser, select the 'Create a new material in the document' icon at the bottom left. Choose an Appearance category to create the new appearance in. The new appearance will be listed under Document Appearances at the top of the Appearance Browser in the 'Default' Category.
You can also add a material to your Document Materials by double-clicking on it in your Inventor Library. Once in your document materials in Inventor, you can right-click on it and duplicate it. This will create a new custom material in Inventor with the same name. You can then search through your libraries and apply that appearance to your new material.
Another way to create a material is by basing it on a similar material in appearance or physical properties by “duplicating” a material. This allows you to get as close as you can to your final material without having to input the physical properties. This can be done manually or by digging through your materials to transfer the properties.
Customizing your materials and appearances allows you to display your models in a way that benefits your business and customers by showing them a model that looks as close as possible to the final product. This ensures that simulations can be completed with the most accurate physical properties, reducing warranty issues and time to market.
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Frequently asked questions
Click 'Select Material' on the Mold Design ribbon. Then, click 'Manufacturer' and select the manufacturer of the required material. Click 'Trade name' and select the trade name of the required material.
If you cannot find a particular material, click 'Search' in the Select Material' dialog box. You can then search for the material in the Autodesk Moldflow materials database.
Yes, you can create a custom library and add new materials to it. First, click the down arrow on the bottom left of the dialog box and select 'Create New Library'. Save the library file in a location where you can easily find it later.
No, the default Inventor Material Library is read-only. You can only add new materials to a Custom Library.
Inventor contains a rich set of plastic part design tools, including grill, lip, boss, and rule fillet.
