New to Inventor - Tips Kit Car Chassis

[akn]

Hi, Im new to inventor and hoping that someone can point me in the right direction:

I am looking to use inventor to model a chassis for a kit car and not quite sure where to start. The chassis is constructed using tubular, SHS, RHS, steel etc.

How do I start, do I

Produce each component as an individual part and then creat an assembly, will this then produce BOM/cutting list
Model the entire chassis in 1 file will this create a BOM/cutting list

When joining the various steel components how do I deal with ends (cuts etc)?
Is it worth using the weld function of Inventor when components of chassis are complete and assembled?

Do i use the standard parts for the various section for the chassis, i.e. 25x25x3 SHS or do I model from scratch? If modelling from scratch how do I then load properties to represent the steel strengths

Is it easy to produce bends? again, do I use the extrude commands on a path or do I choose the correct steel section from the Inventor library and then bend those.

The end result will be sent to a company for FEA to obtain a license.

I think this is going to be a steep learning curve but will give it a shot

Any pointers will be appriciated

Thanks

Andy

[JD Mather]

How do I start

Start by going through all of the Help>Learning Tools>Tutorials

When joining the various steel components how do I deal with ends (cuts etc)?

This is covered in the Frame Generator tutorials. For more complex end treatements (bends intersections) you will need to learn how to use Copy Object - surface cross-part functionality.

Do i use the standard parts...

Frame Generator. If one of your sizes is not already in the library you can add it to the library.

Is it easy to produce bends?

This is covered in one of the Frame Generator tutorials.

The end result will be sent to a company for FEA to obtain a license.

If you have Inventor Professional you can do FEA before sending to licensing authority to be more confident of your design.

[akn]

Thanks for your reply,

Will follow your advise.... not sure my computer will handle FEA, last time I rang this on a simple beam took like 9 hours.... this was some years ago when pentium 3 processors where the new thing lol

Andy

[robert_larson]

how has the work progressed?

interested because I built a kit car about 25 years ago! Dutton Sierra, based on the mk 2 Ford Escort.
ran OK for about 4 years then I emigrated to OZ.

be good to see any concepts etc.

Robert