Irregular shape splitting on all sides of an enclosure in Inventor

I can't open your model but maybe you can add a picture to your question, or better, a step file.

Also, not an Inventor user but the way I might approach it in Solidworks would be a 'swept surface' that followed a path which defined the irregular shape around the enclosure and use that surface as a tool to do the split.

Hi Robert. Here's the bits and pieces... (step and png). thanks for you having an eye ! Marc

Hmm, my system is complaining that it's not an AP203 or AP214 step file and it won't open for me, but looking at the picture, I'd still go with the swept surface as a splitting tool approach.

This does require that the enclosure be 'shelled' or otherwise hollowed out to the nominal wall thickness before doing the 'split'.

Just attached a 203 compliant step file. Maybe this helps. The part is already shelled out.

That worked.

I did it as a 4 step process.

1. create sketches on each face to represent the irregular split. Could have done this as 1 3d sketch, but 3d sketching is like herding kittens so I opted for separate sketches.

2. create a 'compound curve' (solidworks nomenclature) from the 4 sketches to be the 'path'

3. create 'surface sweep' with curve and a simple horizontal line to be the splitting tool

4. 'split' into two bodies

They are separated in the image just to show the split better.

If you have analogous commands in inventor, this approach should work ok.

in Inventor:
1. Start 2D skech: create line (for split profile)
2. Sweep: Profile-created line. Path- split line. Output-Surface.
3. Split: Split Solid. Split tool- SweepSrf1