Datasheet

22 CHAPTER 1 INVENTOR DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
graphics modelers), representing planar faceted faces with joined edges culminating in one
face; triangulated meshes (typical in STL files), composed of three-sided planar faces connected
into one mesh; and NURBS surfaces (based upon nonuniform rational B-splines), providing
smooth, constantly evolving surfaces that can be constrained and made tangent to other
adjoining surfaces and providing smooth surface transitions across a single part.
Figure 1.16
Representation of a
wireframe type model
Inventor supports NURBS surface types in created or imported geometry. Inventor surface
models, as shown in Figure 1.17, typically display as a translucent object. Surfaces can be com-
bined with solid models in a number of ways to enhance your modeling experience.
Figure 1.17
Representation of a
surfacetypemodel
Solid A 3D solid is composed of a collection of surfaces joined together to provide a
watertight collection with no gaps or holes. When a collection of surfaces is joined together in
such a manner, it is generally considered solidified. Solids can provide the benefit of physical
properties such as mass, volume, centroids, and moments of inertia or principal moments and
can be tagged with other properties such as material specifications. Figure 1.16 illustrates a
solid model part shown in wireframe, whereas Figure 1.17 shows a rather free-form surface.
Figure 1.18 shows a solid model in shaded mode that demonstrates the combination of solid
and surface model techniques used together to create a complex shape.