I need a "cone"

[edratliff]

To get to the point:

I am a construction management student and I am designing the basic elements of a solar updraft tower power plant.

Look here for a quick explanation of what a solar updraft tower is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_updraft_tower

Here is an image:
http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq5/neonsdotorg/400px-Solar_updraft_tower_svg.jpg

In the center you see the transition area where the air enters the tower from the collector. I need to create the cone region of the transition. I made one in Inventor Professional 2009 and tried to export it to Revit. I got the message telling me to import into AutoCAD and convert it to a polymesh. I saved the Inventor file as a STL and SAT. CAD couldn't import either one. It's a basic cone - it's got a 60 meter diameter at the base and is 50 meters tall.

Here's what I have made:
http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq5/neonsdotorg/trans.jpg


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I'll also need to create some quick non-detailed turbines (just for display)...I can do something easy in Inventor. So I'll need to know how to import those into Revit as well.

Hopefully someone can help walk me through this.

-Ed

[Andre Carvalho]

Maybe I'm wrong, but IMHO it would be easier to create this cone directly in Revit by using a Solid Revolve. It would be a true Revit entity rather than an imported one...

Andre Carvalho

[ron.sanpedro]

Ed,
From the looks of it, there is nothing here that you couldn't model native in Revit.
That cone is a perfect candidate for a Solid Revolve, possible as an In-Place Family if you want it to 'be' a wall, or perhaps a foundation. Or, if it moves up and down to regulate flow or some such, it might really make more sense as a Component Family of Mechanical Equipment category. In either case, the modeling as a Solid Revolve is basically the same.
The turbine would also likely be Mechanical Equipment, with the blades as an array of Swept Blends.
And the overall tower would likely be an In-Place Family Wall, again as a Solid Revolve. Now you have a tower that will accept an access door or whatever else needs to go in it.

Do some digging on In-Place Families, Component Families and the basic modeling tools in Revit and I think you will be off to the races. Also, if you model native in Revit you won't get the nasty gridded forms that come from 3D DWGs. Just nice smooth curves.

Best,
Gordon

[edratliff]

Thanks guys for the quick reply. After looking into this more I have realized that I REALLY need some guidance. I'm pretty much self taught...I can do the basics but thats it. I can use Inventor pretty good...But Revit is giving me a hard time.

I created the cone that I needed but it wasn't oriented correctly and I couldnt rotate it because I kept getting the "view is to steep" msg.

Grrrr...

[edratliff]

Here is where I am:

http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq5/neonsdotorg/workplane.jpg

I cant rotate the workplane perpendicular to the one I have selected there. So I cant draw the profile for the cone to revolve it. I tried to rotate but I could only rotate it horizontally not vertically.

[kathy71046]

You need to set the workplane.

Not sure what type of object you need exactly, but here is a simple parametric cone, the parameters are instance based, so you can freely set the radius and height, and if you need to adjust your shape, it should be fairly simple for you to edit the family to suit your needs.

[Norton_cad]

"I saved the Inventor file as a STL and SAT. CAD couldn't import either."

Yes you can. In AutoCAD go to the File drop down menu & select "import" change the file type from WMF (default) to SAT. Then navigate to your file, and select it.

I agree with the others though. It would be better to model it nativly in Revit.

[edratliff]

Mark,

I tried to import but it gave me a tough time.

But I finally figured it out how to create my simple cone. Now I need to apply a texture to it. I can only apply a texture to one half of the cone.

http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq5/neonsdotorg/ihaterevit.jpg

[STHRevit]

I have attahced a screen shot of something like what you are looking for. It is a bit hard as I don't know the exact measurements you are looking for.

The large cone is basically a sweep and revolve.
In plan view, draw a referenc plane vetrically on the screen and name this , north south.
Draw a second ref plan perpendicular to this plane and crossing it to form an intersection. name this one east west. (i named them like this because it relates to the default elevation name in revit)

1)from the Model tab, select "create" and from the list chose Mass.
2)Select OK and name the mass ie cone.
3) Use the "Solid Form" Button and select solid sweep.
4)Go to the floor plan view and draw the radius of your tower at the base, by selecting the circle line tool. Select "Finish Path"
5)Select the profile button. Switch to an elevatioin view. Us ethe Edit button(on the yop menu bar) next to the filter funnel. You can now sketch the profile of your cone using the sketch lines. Select finish profile.
6)Select fiish sweep. You should see a shape resembling what you have drawn, only a solid circular object. you can now select finish mass to complete the object, or if you want the base to be a part of the same object, then select Solid form revolve to creat the base cone.
7) this is where named reference planes are handy. Go to your east elevation, Use the "plane" to select the north south ref plane, This way the sketch to form the revolve will be in the correct location.
8)Sketch your desired profile using the reference plane as the axis which the silid will be revolved.
9)Select the Axis button(above finidh sketch) and select the ref plane.
10)select finish sketch, You should now have a finished solid revolved around the ref plane.

Hope this all makes sense.

[Norton_cad]

Ed,
Make a copy of the cone, and move it vertically by 1mm. Apply a different surface to the copy as desired. The attached rendered image is a polyline path revolved to create a solid, and copied with 1mm difference, and two different surfaces (all in AutoCAD).
Is this what you were after?