bim for manufacturing: sharing your autodesk® inventor...

BIM for Manufacturing: Sharing Your Autodesk® Inventor® Models with Autodesk® Revit® MEP Clint Brown – Cadline SM2312

In this class, we go through the process of completing an Autodesk Inventor software model ready

for use by an MEP engineer, including preparing ducting and pipework on a skid from an Inventor

model. We cover detail model simplification and preparation, as well as the various export options to

Revit MEP, including parametric versus nonparametric and ways to protect user intellectual property.

Learning Objectives At the end of this class, you will be able to:

Implement data exchange between Revit MEP & Inventor

Simplify your models using the Inventor simplification feature

Apply Revit feature recognition in Autodesk inventor

Create BIM-ready Revit families in Autodesk Inventor

About the Speaker

Clint is responsible for the Cadline Technical team. Cadline are a UK based Autodesk Platinum

Reseller. He is an Inventor Certified Professional, with a background in Automotive

Engineering, Plastics, Machining and Rotating Machinery.

Clint has worked as a Mechanical Design Engineer for the last 15 years. He’s an Autodesk

Inventor Certified Professional, having used most Traditional CAD & Analysis tools including:

AutoCAD (since R13), SolidWorks , SolidEdge & Ansys.

He has designed many products, machines and systems including; Plastic Fuel Tanks (Nissan,

Ford); Several Mobile Vending units (Coca-Cola, SAB Miller); including the Design and Stress

Analysis of Castings (Daikin, McQuay). In addition to these, he is a Patent Holder

@ClintCadline

https://twitter.com/ClintCadline

MP2306 BIM for Manufacturing: Sharing Your Autodesk® Inventor® Models with Autodesk® Revit® MEP

2

Overview: Date Exchange between Inventor and Revit

What is the Inventor to Revit process?

Simplification

Revit Feature Recognition

Add System Details

Publish Revit Family file

What else should I know?

Inventor can open Revit files

Inventor can create Revit Family files

Inventor can convert other 3D files to Revit families

Building design Suite Ultimate comes with Inventor

File Types:

Inventor opens Revit project files (.RVT) - But this is a conversion, so we can’t change the Revit model and pass it back to Revit

Inventor writes out Revit Family Files (.RFA) - These are used as the “Content Centre” parts in Revit, things like doors, walls etc. These can be created from Inventor Models

Inventor writes out ADSK files (.ADSK) - ADSK is essentially a DWG file with additional text information, this is generally a dumb solid, but can be read into Revit as a family file. ADSK Files can also be shared with AutoCAD MEP.

Inventor opens Most CAD file Formats:

Catia

SolidWorks

Pro/ENGINEER

Rhino

Alias

DWG

Revt (rvt)

Inventor Opens Exchange formats too:

IGES

SAT

STEP

STL

Parasolid (.x_t .x_b)


3

Open a Revit Project File in Autodesk Inventor:

One of the new features in Autodesk Inventor 2014, is that we can now not only create parametric Revit families (see David Gate’s blog here), but we can now also open Native Revit Project files.

The files are converted into .IPT files, and we have 2 options, either composites (Surfaces) or Multi-body parts, these are bought in via a SAT translation. There are a few pros and cons, essentially a component/equipment manufacturer can open up an Architect or Structural engineer’s model, and they can then use it to reference geometry to build their component/equipment. Once they have built this model, they can then export out a parametric (or non-parametric if they so choose) Revit Family file, which the Architect or Structural engineer can then reference in their model.

The cons are that the file is converted into Inventor format, breaking the link to the original and that all of the colours and textures are lost, but it is a huge leap forward and it makes BIM for manufacturing a lot easier.

Here’s the workflow for getting a Revit model into Inventor

Choose .RVT files from your “Open” Dialogue

Wait a few seconds, and the insert view will pop up. Choose the View you wish to bring in. For Inventor Users, Views are sort of a cross between view representations and level of detail

http://www.cadlinecommunity.co.uk/Blogs/Blog.aspx?ScoId=765551c4-7187-4e45-821c-2d55f8ee816f&returnTo=%2fBlogs%2fdavidgate%2fDefault.aspx&returnTitle=David+Gate%20Blog


4

Select Either Single Composite Feature, or Multi-body Part. Note that the Composite feature will open quicker than the Multi-body solid. In the example below, I have chosen 2 different views on import, which is why the surface model has a roof, and the Solid model has not.

For more details on this workflow, see my blog post on the topic here: http://www.cadlinecommunity.co.uk/Blogs/Blog.aspx?ScoId=723b16e3-992b-42c1-8bb7-0b812d2bd183

http://www.cadlinecommunity.co.uk/Blogs/Blog.aspx?ScoId=723b16e3-992b-42c1-8bb7-0b812d2bd183


5

Considerations:

Use the BIM Exchange for Standalone Components, like skids AHU’s & General Mechanical

Assemblies etc.

Good for individual components too, like Baths, sinks, fittings…

Ducting systems are a bad idea, they are quicker to re-draw in Revit, you cannot schedule them

or add lagging/insulation in Revit from and Inventor RFA

You want your .RFA file to be about 1MB in size

.ADSK Files can be used with both Revit & AutoCAD MEP

Inventor to Revit Family File (RFA) Workflow

Simplify data

Recognize geometry

Add & edit System connectors

Verify data

Export to RFA

http://help.autodesk.com/view/INVNTOR/2014/ENU/?contextId=HELP_SYSTEM

http://help.autodesk.com/view/INVNTOR/2014/ENU/?contextId=HELP_SYSTEM


6

Simplify your models using the Inventor simplification feature

Shrinkwraps convert models to single part files.

To create a Shrinkwrap within an Assembly file, Right Click on Level of Detail, select New

Substitute > Shrinkwrap

Give the New Shrinkwrap a Name and Click OK


7

The Settings below are good for a “General Purpose” Shrinkwrap, we are creating a single solid

item, patching all of the holes and removing all internal voids.

Notice that we can preview the model before we accept the changes.


8

The Results are shown below. Note the Name of the Substitute level of Detail and Shrinkwrap

part are the same name we specified in the earlier step. This part can be accessed as a LOD in

the original Assembly file, or as the part file

To see a video of this workflow, please see: http://www.cadlinecommunity.co.uk/Blogs/Blog.aspx?ScoId=78ef5b32-

beb9-4233-be5a-5f303e2d0f8b

Recognizing Revit Features – From Shrinkwrap .ipt

Once we have created our Shrinkwrap, we can run a Revit Feature Recognition on it.

Open the Shrinkwrap part, and on the Simplify Tab, click on Recognise Revit Features

http://www.cadlinecommunity.co.uk/Blogs/Blog.aspx?ScoId=78ef5b32-beb9-4233-be5a-5f303e2d0f8b



9

Click on Auto Recognise, then the Tick on the Head-up display, this will start the Automatic

recognition (this process can take some time)

In this example, some Features which were not Recognised Automatically, these were the bolts

and the Second Foot

For more details on troubleshooting these issues and to see a video of this workflow, please

see: http://www.cadlinecommunity.co.uk/Blogs/Blog.aspx?ScoId=78ef5b32-beb9-4233-be5a-5f303e2d0f8b



10

Simplifying Assemblies – Defining Envelopes

A better option for creating Revit ready families from Complex assemblies, is to use the “Define

Envelopes” workflow, this works differently to the Shrinkwrap,as outlined below:

Replaces Components with Bounding boxes

No need to recognise Revit Features

Bounding boxes are created as Revit Solids

Good for Systems (Large Assemblies)

Below is a summary of the Define Envelope Tools:

Choose Define Envelopes from the Simplify Tab

Select Bounding type (Box or Cylinder)

You can replace all occurrences of a part

You can choose to show or hide the original part


11

When Selecting a Component to replace with a bounding box, you may wish to re-orientate it,

click on the axis shown in the preview

Then click on the icon to redefine the central axis


12

To select the new Axis position, select a circular edge

The New Axis is now central to the circular edge


13

To set the diameter of the Circular Bounding box, click on one of the Radial arrows. You can

drag the arrow or input a precise dimension

You can use the Measure tool to set the diameter


14

Tip: Clear the Dimension dialogue box first. Select a circular edge to measure

When you click on the Edge, the Diameter is going to be placed into the dialogue box, you want

the Radius, and the easiest way to get this is to divide it by 2. Simply put /2 into the dialogue

box






15

Create BIM-ready Revit families in Autodesk Inventor

Once we have defined all of the Envelopes we need, Click on Create Simplified Part to create

a simple part to export to Revit

Click on Check Revit Features

You will be presented with a Report


16

Next we need to set a UCS so that the part is correctly orientated in Revit

Ensuring that your UCS is correctly set-up will make the model export correctly to Revit


17

Click Export Building Components

Select .rfa or .adsk file (rfa for Revit)

Set your model classification, and slect the UCS we created in the earlier step to ensure proper

orientation. Clicking on Model properties will allow you to import iProperties from Inventor to add

additional information to yoru BIM ready model






18

Tips for Inventor Users:

It is a good idea to create a copy of your top level assembly before proceeding with the BIM exchange, the reason for this, is that the assembly file will become cluttered with Envelopes. These envelopes could affect your drawing files. Although these can be deleted, it may be easier to use a copy of the original.

Revit uses Sheets for Views, each sheet will open in a new window, even though you are viewing the same file, it will appear as though you have several files open at once.

Hide the Dimensions by going to View>Visibility/Graphics and un-ticking Dimensions


19

To See the Model in 3D, select 3D View (View 1) for the 3D model

Hold Down Shift + Middle Mouse Button to Orbit the model in the 3D view

Additional Information

Always check your Models in Revit to ensure that they have been created as expected.

Download a free trial or Revit from Autodesk.com, after the trial expires, the software will

continue to work as a viewer

Below is a view of the website (from the link above). Click on Download links, on the next page

select Autodesk Revit Products, then choose Autodesk Revit and finally select 2014. Note that

the families created in Inventor 2014 will not be usable with Revit 2013, so you will need to

download Revit 2014 to check them.

http://autodesk.creativevirtual15.com/autodesk/bot.html?isJSEnabled=1&businessArea=Root.Front%20Desk&startContext=Root.FAQ.Front%20Desk


20

Consider the differences between .rfa and .adsk files

Consider the size of your files, ideally we would like to have Revit family files that are as small

as possible

bim for manufacturing: sharing your autodesk® inventor...

Documents