DRAWING A CONVENTIONAL SHAFT-BREAK IN ALIBRE

[Paul W]

DRAWING A CONVENTIONAL SHAFT-BREAK IN ALIBRE
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THE PROCESS INVOLVES COMPLETELY REDRAWING THE VIEW WITH 2D SKETCHING, USING THE ‘NODES’ FROM THE LINES IN THE ORIGINAL DRAWING VIEW.

PART 1: SET UP

The following model will be used as a reference:

Drawing will be created from solid model of 24” long 1” diameter bar.


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STEP 1: CREATE A NEW INVISIBLE LAYER.

This is where we will send the lines we don’t want to show.

(To show any items in this layer again , just make the layer visible, by checking the box.)






STEP2: “SOMEHOW” MAKE THE NODES AT THE INTERSECTIONS OF THE ORIGINAL LINES STAY VISIBLE AND SELECTABLE IN SKETCH VIEW.

This is the key!

The reason we need to do this is that Alibre does not have PROJECT-TO-VIEW in the drawing sketch environment!

MAKE NODES VISIBLE: Dimension two opposite original lines in the Drawing View.

(If the ‘Design Dimension’ comes in with the view, get rid of it and manually dimension that line.)

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STEP 3: IN THE DRAWING VIEW, SEND ALL ORIGINAL LINES TO THE INVISIBLE LAYER.

You can’t do this in sketch mode.



Now right-click the view to be broken and select “Activate Sketch In View”.

The nodes are now visible in Sketch View:




STEP 4: REBUILD THE VIEW IN SKETCH MODE.

Join the dots (nodes)…with the Line Tool.



STEP5: DRAW THE SHAFT BREAK.

It might be best to turn off “Centers” if they are on in the view since it will be easier to see the “construction lines” that need to be removed before leaving Sketch Mode at the end.

On that note, there are no TRUE Construction Lines available in Drawing Sketch Mode!

The following figure will be used as a reference in constructing the break:​

[Source: “http://facultyweb.kennesaw.edu/gconrey/documents/CADdeptStandards.pdf”]​

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[Paul W]

PART 2: SKETCH THE BREAK

THE FOLLOWING DEMONSTRATES ONE SUCH WORKFLOW THAT WILL GET THE JOB DONE:

Draw a horizontal line from the midpoint of the line at one end to the midpoint of the line at the other end:



CAREFULLY DECIDE WHERE THE DETAIL IS THAT NEEDS TO BE SHOWN IN YOUR PART. HERE WE WILL JUST BREAK A CERTAIN DISTANCE FROM THE ENDS.

Offset @ each of the end lines of the sketch:

The break will be drawn at these lines.




Use the Intersect Tool to trim the lines as shown:

Pick the portions of the lines you want to keep.





The indicated nodes are where the ellipses will be copied to & from:



Create an offset for the first ellipse:

(Here R/6 = 0.5/6 = 0.833333)



Create the first ellipse using the midpoints of the two “construction lines”:




Mirror the ellipse:




Copy the ellipses using the 'from & to' points:



Trim excess lines (or move to invisible layer) until we get the in the following:



Make sure all the created lines are in the Visible:Solid layer:

Be aware that the default drawing layer is Continuous: Solid.

 

[Paul W]

PART 3: CLEAN UP THE DRAWING VIEW

Return to Drawing View and create a broken view:

Sheets & views tab | Broken view & use the default straight break type. Drag the break lines near the ends of the sketched shaft break as shown:



The view scale can now be changed:



Fit the views to the sheet:




Create the hatch pattern on the ellipses:

Note that the appearance of the pattern will change with the view scale, so adjust to suit.




Move the break lines to the Invisible layer:

You may first want to adjust the position of the break lines again and the distance between them. Right click the break lines & select edit.





The drawing can now be completed:

 

[bigseb]

A lot went into this. Well done!

 

[slipstick]

Nice! Thanks!

 

[simonb65]

Great tutorial

Pity though that the builtin Broken View doesn't do this as an style option (would be so easy for Alibre to implement ) or do it automatically on cylindrical objects!

 

[Paul W]

First, thank you all for the kind words.

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Pity though that the builtin Broken View doesn't do this as an style option

Before I wrote this tutorial, I did a search to see what software does have this capability. I guess we can’t feel too bad because forums show that S/W users are still asking and frustrated AutoCad users’ have been requesting it for years.
NX has the capability, but it is high-end software:

.

The one advantage we have is that Alibre LLC management does listen to us.

 

[Lew_Merrick]

Before I wrote this tutorial, I did a search to see what software does have this capability. I guess we can’t feel too bad because forums show that S/W users are still asking and frustrated AutoCad users’ have been requesting it for years.
NX has the capability, but it is high-end software:

The thing (begun by John Walker with Autodesk) is the dearth of actual Drafting and Documentation Experience typical in CAD companies (something that has been all too true since the late-1960's)! This is merely one of the "fronts" where this shows up.