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In The Machine is the official blog of the Inventor Product Management Team. It is a way for us to share Inventor news, interesting information about successful Inventor customers and partners as well as tips and tricks. From time to time we’ll also use the blog to solicit feedback from users via surveys. This blog is hosted by Garin Gardiner our Technical Marketing Manager.
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Analyze This!
January 23, 2008, 12:09 PM Garin Gardiner
Inventor has several analysis tools while working in a part that will allow you to determine various characteristics of a part. These tools include Cross Section, Draft, Zebra, Surface and Curvature analysis.
Let’s first take a look at the Zebra Analysis tool by selecting
from the Inventor Standard toolbar. This will allow you to analyze the surface continuity for consumer parts. You are able to specify the thickness, density and display quality for the zebra stripes.
Next and probably one of the most common analysis tool is the Draft Analysis tool
that can be found in the same area. This will allow you to ensure that all faces on a part have the necessary draft to be removed from a mold. You can specify a draft plane and tolerance for the Draft Analysis.
For those of you that create consumer products and want to be able to analyze the curvature of a part, you can activate the Curvature Analysis tool
to see the surface curvature. You are able to set the height and density of the surface curvature. 
Another great tool is the Surface Analysis feature
. This is another way to analyze areas of high and low curvature to ensure your model has the esthetic look and feel you are interested in. Similar to the draft tool, you are able to specify the curvature range. 
Last but not least, the Cross Section tool
is a powerful tool to make sure your part isnt too thick or thin. There are a few different things you can do with this analysis tool. You can set it up to analyze you part with a min and max wall thickness and have it notify you where you violate these settings. To set this up you can select one or more faces / work planes or specify a pattern of sections you want it to analyze. You can also use this tool to section your part and remove all the material on one side or another similar to the assembly cross section tool.
There are several tools I often use and hope you will find some value with these tools.
Enjoy!
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