Computer Aided Design Software – Introduction, Use & Benefits.

INTRODUCTION

Computer Aided Design refers to the designs that an engineer prepares for certain object using a computer. CAD models of mechanical designs help engineers to carry out analysis of the structure, improve the designs, improve productivity and decrease the cost of production. CAD software uses vector based graphics to represent drafts.

The final object as per the computer aided design is produced by separate drafting of parts while assembling them on a later stage. Designer needs to specify other parameters for design. This includes materials used, processes that object needs to pass through, dimensions, allowances & tolerances and more depending on software that he/she is using. 

USES OF CAD SOFTWARES

CAD software is heavily used in the mechanical industries which play a pivotal role in manufacturing of each and every product. Mechanical design formed on a CAD software is used to study the object much in prior to the actual manufacturing which can help in optimizing the manufacturing process.

Following are some of the uses of mechanical design softwares:

·         Mechanical designs can be directly uploaded to manufacturing machines like CNC machines and the product can be manufactured using Computer Aided Manufacturing Process.

·         Mechanical designs can be used to analyse the product before actual manufacturing takes place and induce changes if necessary which is not possible after the production process starts.

·         It can be fed to the 3D Printers for direct manufacturing after meshing it into layers of definite thickness.

·         The software can also be used for Documentation purposes.

·         CAD modelling can be used to mark material wastage regions which help in minimal material wastage.

TYPES OF MECHANICAL DESIGN SOFTWARES

There are different types of softwares for mechanical designs which require designer to come up with basic plan of the object differently.

Following are two type of CAD softwares used for mechanical designs:

·         PARAMETRIC MODELLING: This type allows the designer to induce changes into model anytime he wants. In this type of modelling, geometric and functional relationships in the model are preserved by software.

·         DIRECT MODELLING: This type of modelling does not have a history tree and model is directly converted into geometry. Designer does not need to change the original sketch to make changes.

CAD SOFTWARES

There are several softwares used for mechanical design but most common ones include Dassaults Catia, Dassaults Solidworks, AutoDesk AutoCad, TurboCad, AutoDesk Inventor etc. All these softwares have different interfaces and user friendliness.

CONCLUSION

CAD softwares used for mechanical designs have helped the production process to become more efficient by reducing wastage of material and using apt quality measures depending on the analysis done on CAD model. CAD softwares have different features integrated onto them which help in saving the crucial production time as well intern giving higher efficiency, larger profits and scalability.