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Originally Posted by JDPhillips
I want to place holes around a cylinder as discussed in this thread, but I need to make them _parametric_, so that I can slide them around .. I'm using Mechanical Desktop 2004 DX, but I'm not wedded to it, and if someone convinces me that this is easy in Inventor, I'll learn enough of that to do the job.
Thanks.
Jim
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Jim,
In Mechanical Desktop you should be able to generate the holes the same as you would in Autocad but with "associative" properties. Those objects should be able to move with respect to other objects in the drawing and the dimensioning should also autoupdate to reflect changes.
In Autocad I would set a UCS that is perpindicular to a tangent on the cylinder. (This is a simple operation which is easy to see if you are using a 3D view.) Then draw a cylinder of the size needed for the holes in the first cylinder with one end inside and the other outside of the first cylinder. You now have two cylinders intersecting each other. Using polar array with the center of the first cylinder as your center point of the array, generate a number of cylinders that matches the number of holes you need. You now have one cylinder that is pierced by several other cylinders. Now using the "subtract" command, use the arrayed cylinders to cut holes in the first cylinder. All of the arrayed cylinders will disappear leaving the holes you need.
I would block the polar array objects first. That way you can use the block to fill in holes if they don't appear where you want, (use the "Union" command) and then place the object whereever you need the new holes.