Functional Design Using Design Accelerators - Autodesk Inventor 2010: No Experience Required - page 318

The Calculation Tab
The Calculation tab for the Shaft Component Generator features a graphical dis-
play of the shaft geometry that you can use to position the shaft's loads and
supports:
Material You can specify a material for use by selecting it from the pull-down
list or entering the physical values directly, or you can simply accept the mate-
rial that is set for the part in its iProperties.
Loads & Supports You can add as many loads or supports as the shaft will
encounter in real use to validate the design. Some loads, such as torque, must
have a countering load to be properly defi ned.
The Graphs Tab
In the Graphs tab, you can select which calculation-result graph you want to
display. With the Shaft Component Generator, graphs you can display include
Shear Force, Bending Moment, Bending Stress, and several other critical mea-
surements. The graph appears under the profi le of the shaft to provide visual
feedback about the shaft's behavior. You can also move the load and support
positions for a better understanding of how they affect the result.
Creating a Shaft
In this exercise, you'll use the Shaft Component Generator in a very conven-
tional way. You'll defi ne the shaft in the Generator and constrain it into place:
1. Activate or open the fan assembly.
2. Change the Level of Detail (LOD) representation to Fan Drive.
3. Suppress the handle, switch, and caster that were added to the
assembly after the unlocked LOD was created.
4. On the Design tab, select the Shaft tool from the Power Transmission
panel.
5. When the dialog for the Shaft Component Generator appears, click
the Delete icon on the bottom three sections.
6. Click Yes to approve of deleting the segments.