CONSTRUCTION AND POSSIBILITIES OF USING LECTOR CURVES IN AUTOCAD AND AUTODESK INVENTOR PROGRAMS

Abstract

Computer modeling is an integral part of modern technologies. It is widely used in the design and manufacture of industrial and household products, decorative elements. The ability to build 3D models is provided by appropriate packages of application programs, among which AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor are among the most effective and widespread. They are studied by students of technical specialties of many institutions of higher education in Ukraine and are often used by designers.

Modeling a large number of parts with complex contours requires the construction of model curves, which can be elements of forming (or contours), guides, extrusion trajectories used in the kinematic method of assigning the surfaces of parts. Possible sequences of geometric construction of linear curves (ellipses, parabolas, hyperbolas, involutes of a circle, Archimedean spirals, cycloidal curves, graphs of trigonometric functions, etc.) are well known and are studied by students of technical specialties. But modern graphic computer programs provide various tools that can be used in different ways to construct, edit, and further apply pattern curves in three-dimensional modeling.

The paper proposed and tested possible algorithms for the geometric construction of pattern curves in AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor programs, containing the least number of operations, and compared them and justified the use of certain commands. The construction of a parabola, the involute of a circle and Archimedes' spiral is shown step by step. Examples of the application of some of these curves at the stage of three-dimensional modeling, in particular, a car disk and a centrifugal pump, a car radiator grill, are given.

Particular attention is paid in the work to the advantages that models built in Autodesk Inventor have, thanks to parameterization. The advantages of the analytical task of curves in this program are also mentioned. The obtained results are successfully implemented in the educational process and can be used by educational institutions and specialists in industry and design.

Key words: geometric modeling, computer graphics, Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD, model curve, educational process.