flexible materials

[Adama]

Is there a way to work with flexible materials with inventor 11?

I want to draw a plywood boat and it would be really cool if i could flex the panels into place instead of making everything prism-like.

[Eric Scheuing]

So you don't want to just create the bend? I don't think Inventor has flexible materials available. I know Inventor 10 has a plywood color for parts, and you could loft or extrude the part you want.

[Dan Zollman]

Originally Posted by Eric Scheuing

So you don't want to just create the bend? I don't think Inventor has flexible materials available. I know Inventor 10 has a plywood color for parts, and you could loft or extrude the part you want.

As far as I know, the only way to "bend" is in the sheet metal environment. If the plywood is bent by a certain angle with a constant radius (I guess that would be very unlikely), you could make sheet metal parts and change the material.

Lofting surfaces would probably be the best way to go.

Lofting is the best way to go. Either that, or just design it into the assembly from a side view on the bend, which may end up more exact. Sheet metal would work, but it'd be easier once Inv. 12 hits, where they'll fix sheet metal to make ti work better.

[hallk]

I don't think you can do it in Inventor but you can do it in SolidWorks and now that SoldiWorks is availible to teams...