ENGINEERING GRAPHICS

Bachelor in Aerospace Engineering

INTRODUCTION TO CAD/CAM/CAE SYSTEMS

 Drafting History

Before CAD-systems
manual drafting

Set square
Compasses

Drawing board

French curves Technical pencil

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Drafting History

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Drafting Today

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 CAD / CAM / CAE

CAD = Computer-Aided Design

A technology concerned with the use of computer systems to assist in
creation, modification, analysis and optimization of a design.
CAE = Computer-Aided Engineering
The use of computer systems to analyze CAD geometry, allowing the
designer to simulate and study how the product will behave so that the
design can be refined and optimized.
CAM = Computer-Aided Manufacturing
The technology concerned with the use of computer systems to plan,
manage and control manufacturing operations.

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 Product Life-Cycle Management

Product Life-Cycle Management (PLM) - the process of

managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its
conception, through design and manufacture, to service
and disposal.

Main processes:
Conceive Design Realize Service
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 PLM Processes

Conceive: - Specification
- Concept design
Design: - Detailed design
- Validation and analysis
- Production drawings
Realize: - Plan and manufacture
- Build/Assemble
- Test (quality check)
Service: - Sell and deliver
- Maintain and support
- Dispose 7
 Design Process

Design is an iterative process!

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 Benefits of CAD

Main benefit: Increase productivity!

- Faster design process
- Less workforce hours
- Faster design process
- Lower product costs
Other advantages:
- Accuracy increases product and process quality
- Easy to make modification
- Easier training
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 CAD Tasks

The design-related tasks performed by CAD system are:

- Geometric modeling
- Engineering analysis
- Design review and evaluation
- Automated drafting
- Parts classification and coding

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 CAD History

• Early 1960s
first CAD software “Sketchpad” by

I. Sutherland in USA.
• First generations of CAD software
2D drafting
• First commercial users
aerospace and automotive
companies
• 1977
French aerospace company started developing
CATIA – Computer Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive
Application
• Early 1980s
first PC-s appeared in the market

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 CAD History

• 1982
CATIA Ver. 1

• Until 1980s
lack of processor power in PCs
• 1980s
time of new generation of more powerful UNIX
workstations
3D solid modelling
• Mid 1990s
3D CAD spreading into PCs
• Today there are many commercial CAD softwares available
in the market.

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 Geometrical models

• 2D wireframe model
oldest, planar views, useful

for drafting
Main components:
• points
• lines
• curves:
- circles
- arcs
- ellipses
- splines
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 Basic Geometric Elements

There are several ways of defining

points, lines, arcs and other
components of geometry.
P – point
L – line
C – circle
α - angle
R – radius
∩ - intersection

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 Geometrical models

• 3D wireframe model – an extension of 2D drafting

The user uses edges and Main components:
vertices of the part to • points
define a 3D-object. • lines
• curves: - arcs
- ellipses
- splines
Disadvantages:
• no mass properties (no solids)
• cannot be analyzed / simulated
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 Geometrical models

• Surface model - objects are defined by their bounding faces

Analytical surfaces:
• Plane surface - flat, 2D
surface
• Ruled surface – a set of
points swept by a moving
straight line
• Surface of revolution –
curve rotated around an axis
• Tabulated cylinder –
a curve swept along a direction
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 Geometrical models

• 3D solid model – gives a complete description of the

construction, shape, surface, volume and density. Allows
analyzing and simulating the model.

Representation schemes for

solid modelling:
• Primitive creation functions
• Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG)
• Sweeping
• Boundary Representation (BREP)

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 Primitive Creation Functions

These functions retrieve a solid

of a simple shape from among
the primitive solids stored in
the program in advance and
create a solid of the same
shape but of the size specified
by the user.

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 Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG)

CSG uses primitive shapes and

Boolean operators to
construct and object.
Boolean operators:
• Union
• Intersection
• Subtraction

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Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG)

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 Sweeping

Sweeping is a modeling
function in which a planar
closed domain is translated
or revolved to form a solid.
• Transitional sweeping
• Rotational sweeping

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 Boundary Representation

A solid is represented as a collection of connected surface

elements, the boundary between solid and non-solid.
Boundary representation is more flexible than CSG and has
a much richer operation set.

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 3D CAD Software

Company Dassault Systemes Siemens PLM PTC (Parametric Autodesk

Software Technology
Corp.)
Software CATIA SolidWorks NX Solid Creo Elements/Pro Autodesk
(Unigraphics) Edge (Pro/ENGINEER) Inventor

OS Windows Windows Windows Windows Windows Windows

Unix Unix Unix
Mac OS

Latest V6 2011 7 ST3 5.0 2011

version (Wildfire 5.0)

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 CAD Data Exchange

• Each CAD system has its own method of describing

geometry, both mathematically and structurally.
• CAD data exchange involves a number of software
technologies and methods to translate data from one
CAD-system to another CAD file format.
• Main issue is translating geometry (wireframe,
surface and solid), but important are also metadata,
assembly structure and feature data.

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 Methods of Translation

• Direct CAD system export/import

Some CAD systems can directly read and/or write other CAD
formats, simply by using file open and file save as options.

• Direct 3rd party translators

A number of companies specialize in CAD data translation
software, providing software that can read one system and
write the information in another CAD system format. Are
specially developed for each individual need.

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 Methods of Translation

• Intermediate data exchange formats

The sending CAD system exports out to this format and the
receiving CAD system reads in this format. Some formats
are widely used and are regarded as quasi industry
standards.
There is always some loss of information when translating
data from one CAD data format to another. The
intermediate file formats are also limited in what they can
describe, and they can be interpreted differently by both the
sending and receiving systems.

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 CAD Data Exchange

• IGES (*.iges / *.igs) – a neutral exchange format for 2D/3D CAD product
models, drawings or graphics.
• STEP (*.step / *.stp) – Standard for the Exchange of Product model data
• JT (*.jt) – Lightweight data format used primarily in the automotive and
aerospace industries, developed by Siemens PLM
• DXF (*.dxf), DWG (*.dwg) – Drawing exchange format by Autodesk,
useful for AutoCAD
• STL (*.stl) – Stereo Lithography. Data format to define 3D solids by
describing them with the help of triangular surfaces

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 Sold Edge Environments

• Solid Edge Part is used to construct individual part

models by creating a base feature and then adding
and removing material using additional features.

• Solid Edge Sheet Metal is used to create individual

sheet metal part models and has tools that better
accommodate the requirements of modeling sheet
metal parts.

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 Sold Edge Environments

• Solid Edge Assembly allows to build an assembly

using existing parts by defining relationships between
each part.

• Solid Edge Weldment allows to add weldment-

specific features as fillet welds, stitch welds etc.

• Solid Edge Draft uses 3D part and assemblies to

produce 2D drawings for manufacturing.
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 Solid Edge Environments

Separate environments for:

• Creating parts
Part
*.par
• Creating parts from sheet-metal
Sheet Metal

*.psm
• Creating weldments
Weldment
*.pwd or *.asm
• Constructing assemblies
Assembly
*.asm
• Producing drawings
Draft
*.dft

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Example – 3D Precision Table

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 Sold Edge Part

• In Solid Edge a part is modeled by constructing a

series of features that add or remove solid material to
produce the finished shape.
• The first constructed feature is called the base
feature.
• The order of features and operations is important as
each new feature can be dependent on previously
created features.

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 Sold Edge Part Environment
Menu Bar
Main Toolbar
StatusBar
Reference
Feature
planes
PathFinder

EdgeBar

Features
Toolbar

Coordinate
system

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 Sold Edge Part - Views

View Shortcuts for 3D Environments:

• CTRL+T = Top View
• CTRL+F = Front View
• CTRL+R = Right-side View
• CTRL+I = Isometric View
• For more named views or to create your own, go to Views
Named views
Dynamic View Operations:
• Dynamic Rotation = Click and hold mouse wheel
• Dynamic Zoom in and Zoom out = Hold CTRL key, click and hold mouse
wheel
• Dynamic Pan = Hold CTRL+SHIFT key, click and hold mouse wheel
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 Sold Edge Part - Part

Basic Steps for Drawing a Part:

Method 1 - Using Profiles:
• Select a tool, like “Protrusion”
• Pick a plane to sketch on
• Sketch a 2-D profile
• Place dimensions on the 2-D profile using “SmartDimensions”
and “Distance Between.”
• Modify the dimensions by selecting the dimensions you placed
• Define the feature, such as the protrusion distance and
direction
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 Sold Edge Part - Part

Method 2 – Using Sketches:

• Use the “Sketch” command and select a plane to sketch on
• Sketch a 2-D profile
• Place dimensions on the 2-D profile using “SmartDimensions”
and “Distance Between.”
• Modify the dimensions by selecting the dimensions you placed
• Click “Return” when finished with the sketch
• Create a feature such as a Protrusion, but use “Select from
Sketch” and click on the sketch you want to use for the feature

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 Sketch Environment

Relationships are the logical operations that are performed on the

selected geometry to make it more accurate in defining its
position and size with respect to the other geometry.
• Connect •Lock
• Concentric •Tangent
• Horizontal/Vertical •Equal
• Collinear •Symmetric
•Rigid Set
• Parallel Relationship
• Perpendicular

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