How To Add Cross Section View To Drawing In Inventor

Autodesk Inventor Free Alternatives

Autodesk Inventor is a popular and powerful CAD software bachelor only for Windows. It'due south widely used across the engineering and industrial design industries and, being released 20 years ago, has gained a pregnant reputation amidst the professionals. Unsurprisingly, Autodesk Inventor is also rather expensive (currently starts at $1,985 per twelvemonth). And while information technology's worth the money, not every engineer or designer would desire to commit to buying the total version. Let solitary the enthusiasts and those who are only starting their path.

Does the gratis version be? The answer would be "technically, yes". You could endeavour a free trial that lasts for 30 days. At that place is also a free educational license for students and teachers, information technology's available for iii years and has all of the features. A slimmed-down cheaper version exists equally well. Information technology's called Autodesk Inventor LT, currently costs $400 a yr and is functional enough for many users.

In this article, we will talk about the features that made Autodesk Inventor so pop and reputable, compare and review its free licenses and a cheaper version with the full one, and last, but non the least, provide a listing of various costless alternatives available.

Features and capabilities of Autodesk Inventor

Autodesk Inventor is bachelor but for Windows and focused on simulation and prototyping. Widely using among production designers and engineer, Inventor has an impressive fix of features. The graphics-based interface is make clean, intuitive and unproblematic, it's surprisingly user-friendly. Versatiles parametric, direct edit and freeform modeling tools are available. In that location's an ability to adjust the parts of your design to the changes of the original geometry. An extensive and avant-garde motility simulator allows you to exam how the object and each parts will motion and collaborate nether dissimilar circumstances. Fifty-fifty the forces of friction are calculated and faux. Many deportment are automated or semi-automated, which helps the engineers and designers to focus on their piece of work instead of fixing little things. Inventor supports various file formats: dwg, ipt, iam, idw and ipj. Together with the AnyCAD back up information technology makes the software pretty skilful for collaborative work and using it with the other CAD solutions. The iLogic technology provides something similar to a specific linguistic communication that allows you to design your works based on your own set of rules, further extending the software's capabilities.

Here's one of the tutorials available online:

Free versions of Autodesk Inventor

Free trial of the full version

A gratuitous trial (for xxx days) can be downloaded from the website. You only need to make an Autodesk account. The feature set is consummate and zero is limited or hindered in whatsoever fashion.

The downloading process is elementary: Click "download Inventor for gratuitous", select your OS, cull "Private or Business User", choose the language, enter the data and read the Trial Detect.

Educational version

A student or a teacher can apply the software for educational purposes without paying whatever coin. The license lasts for 3 years and a copy tin can be installed on up to two devices. Y'all will need to go to Autodesk Instruction Customs, choose Autodesk Inventor, create an business relationship or use your existing Autodesk account. After that, y'all can download the software afterwards choosing the version, OS and the language. Install the version and enter the serial number that was sent to your email address during the download stage.

Inventor LT

Inventor LT is a cheaper (at $400 per year) version of Autodesk Inventor. The characteristic set is much more limited, but the main difference is that information technology lacks the simulation and analytic abilities (it can't do stress analytics at all) and some of the 3D features. Assembly modeling isn't available as well. You tin can't enhance your designs using the Shape Generator tool (a really powerful ability of the full version) and you will non be able to generate Plastic Parts automatically.

The comparison between the programs can be constitute on the official website.

Free Autodesk Inventor Alternatives

FreeCAD

FreeCAD is free and open-source (the license is LGPLv2+) cross-platform 3D CAD software. It's modular and community-developed, so you tin can extend its capabilities with several plugins and Python scripts. The interface is less polished than Autodesk Inventor's one, merely whatever person with the experience of using CAD software can hands use it. The program is focused on parametric modeling and the features are extensive. All changes are quickly calculated and can be redone, the program does many things automatically. You can model with straight or revolved extrusions, sections, and fillets. In that location are also impressive simulation abilities, which might not be on par with the Inventor functional but are yet significant: cocky-weight analysis, circuitous analytics and fifty-fifty robot simulation for those planning manufacture their models. At that place are besides avant-garde second tools, such as Sketcher.

You can scout a useful FreeCAD tutorial for consummate beginners here:

Fusion 360

Fusion 360 is a CAD software available for Windows and macOS. It is also developed by Autodesk. It usually costs money but can exist used free of accuse non-commercially or by pocket-size startups. There is too an educational license available that lasts for iii years. It's capable of parametric modeling (although information technology'due south non the just thing Information technology can practise, organic modeling is supported besides). Simulation abilities are extensive: consequence simulation, static stress, thermal stress, non-linear stress. Shape optimization allows you to remove the features that are unnecessary or bad for your blueprint under some circumstances. There's a robotic simulator that is useful for those planning to manufacture their design.

Fusion 360 is cloud-based software, so the collaborative features stand up out. Sharing your works is like shooting fish in a barrel in the cloud, and diverse file formats are supported: dwg, dxf, fbx, f3d, cam360 and a multitude of others.

Here'southward an official tutorial that volition introduce you lot to Fusion 360 and its abilities:

nanoCAD

nanoCAD is a free to use 3D CAD software available for Windows. The interface is clean and standardized, the developers pride it to be familiar to anyone with CAD software experience. nanoCAD supports full-fledged parametric modeling and has a native DWG back up. second tools are impressive also. There are likewise a powerful table editor, extended plotting and the ability to speedily edit 3D blocks or 2nd drafts. The API, based on C++ and C# is open. The functionality can exist extended by plugins. And everything is free to use and share.

For those want to apply a more powerful commercial version, there'southward nanoCAD Plus available for $180.

Here'due south an older merely still useful tutorial:

Onshape

Onshape is a web-based engineering-form CAD software. It focuses on making collaborative work easier, and thankfully, being cloud-based allows the developers to reach their aim. Yous tin work on several projects simultaneously, you tin can share the CAD workspace (yep, direct operating with the aforementioned model) with several people and the data is accessible from any modern gadget with Internet access, including Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. The entire engineering workflow is put together in this program.

Equally for features, you take full parametric modeling, total kinematic and dynamic analysis and simulate assemblies of comlpex designs. 2nd tools are available as well.

OnShape is not technically free, merely you can use it for educational purposes and non-commercial open up-source projects complimentary of charge. Y'all can work up to 10 projects simultaneously, but with the free account, your files and designs can't be private.

Hither'due south a tutorial:

SolveSpace

SolveSpace is a gratuitous and open-source cross-platform 2D and 3D CAD software. The interface is intuitive and the software is easy to use compared to many other CAD programs with similar abilities. second sketching is supported and your works tin can exist exported as vector images in various formats. 2D geometry is also supported. SolveSpace offers full parametric modeling, so modifying your 3D design with a few clicks is easy as it gets. In that location'south a powerful constraint solver that tin can simulate planar or spatial linkages for different types of joints. Other simulations and analytic abilities are useful likewise. You can analyze measurements on a part of your assembly in different ways, clarify path traced past a mechanism, and 3D printing enthusiasts might be interested in the ability to run an STL cheque for the mesh. Although the lack of stress-testing abilities will disappoint some.

The plan is also known for existence very stable (and there'southward an autosave feature for rare instances when it crashes) and not requiring a lot of space – the whole parcel is few megabytes which is not something common in 2019.

Here'south a useful tutorial roofing the nuts of SolveSpace:

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