CATIA V5 Best Practices in Part Design

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Objective

To achieve easy understandability and comprehensibility of the design process To have sufficiently good quality and error free CAD models Enable easy changes and lower update times Ensure continuity and security in the design process

Slide 2

Part Design CATPart

Rule 1
Avoid using hybrid design
Working in hybrid design environment means that you can create wire frame and surface features within the same body Non-hybrid models are more flexible from a design/modification standpoint and usable in all workbenches

This should NOT be selected

Slide 3

Part Design CATPart

Rule 2
If possible, all parts should be designed as Solid features in the Workbench Part Design
When surfaces have to be created, they have to be integrated in the tree structure in the solid With this, control/modification of the geometry becomes simpler

Slide 4

Part Design CATPart

Rule 3
Part Body should not be renamed Part Body should have only ONE Boolean operation Add
The properties of the CATPart (mass, volume etc.) are defined by geometry in the Part Body

Slide 5

Part Design CATPart

Rule 4
Always rename Bodies and Geometrical Sets appropriate to what they stand for Do not use special characters in the names. It is recommended to insert a _ between the words and not to leave any blank spaces
It is recommended to rename all important elements in the geometry (e.g. point, plane, line etc.) This will enable easy understanding of the tree and geometry

Slide 6

Part Design CATPart

Rule 5
Draft and Fillet should be positioned as early as possible in the structure tree Draft should come first and then the Fillet

Slide 7

Part Design CATPart

Rule 6
Do not use the colors red or orange for the geometry. These colors are system colors

Rule 7
Avoid using Ordered Geometrical Set. Use Geometrical Set with which management of points, curves, surfaces etc. becomes easier. It is also possible to transfer the Geometrical Set under a body which becomes necessary sometimes to avoid update cycles

Rule 8
Avoid using commands like MULTI-PAD, MULTI-POCKET, REMOVE FACE, REPLACE FACE, REMOVE LUMP. These functions access implicit elements which can cause update errors.

Slide 8

Part Design CATPart

Rule 9
Do not use the commands TRANSLATION, ROTATION in Part Design Problems
File size increases Not very easy to update

Solution
Use these commands from the GSD Workbench

Advantages
No abnormal change in file size Easy to update

Slide 9

Part Design CATPart

Rule 10 (Saving Condition of CATPart) Rule 10.1


The Part Body should always be defined In Work

Rule 10.2
Only the result geometry should be in SHOW and all the other supporting geometry should be in HIDE. All unnecessary elements should be deleted and the file size should be as small as possible.

Rule 10.3
The View Projection type is set to Parallel and NOT Perspective

Slide 10

Part Design Sketch

Rule 1
Try to always use only Positioned Sketches Advantages
The position of the sketch is controllable and defined. The sketch position cannot be moved with the compass More stable The position of the sketch can be changed using Change Sketch Support

Slide 11

Part Design Sketch

Rule 2
Profiles in the Sketch should be defined completely Use Sketch Analysis and ensure that the profile is Iso-constrained Avoid using infinite lines in the sketch

Slide 12

Part Design Sketch

Rule 3
A sketch should contain only one profile. For multiple profiles, multiple sketches should be used

Advantages
More stable change behavior REPLACE for every profile separately and easily possible

Slide 13

Part Design Sketch

Rule 4
Create the profiles in the Sketch as simple as possible

Advantages
Easy changes possible (deleting, moving) More stable behavior Arrangement clear (dimensions, constraints etc.)

Slide 14

Part Design Sketch

Rule 5
Avoid filleting in the Sketch. FILLETS are features and should appear in the structure tree

Advantages
REORDER of fillets possible Easy to modify More stable behavior

Slide 15

Part Design Sketch

Rule 6
Sketches should not contain implicit elements
The user should project the reference manually in the Sketch, section it with the sketch plane or offset the sketch as required. Do not use the geometry reference as it is

Advantages
REPLACE of such elements is easier Even for hidden reference elements, the reference is visible in the tree as well as in the geometry

The Sketch Analysis option shows these implicit dependencies.

Slide 16

Part Design Sketch

Rule 7
Avoid using the command Infinite Line in the Workbench Sketcher
Even for the infinite lines, two end points are created These end points can cause problems when Fit in all is used The Sketch also always remains Under Constrained

Slide 17

Part Design Sketch

Rule 8
Never use the same Sketch multiple times, instead define a Master Sketch A Master Sketch is placed high up in the structure tree normally under a Geometrical Set. An associative copy of this Master Sketch is used multiple times wherever required

h etc k S r ste Ma

Associative Copy, Copy as Result with Link

Slide 18

Part Design Sketch

Rule 8 (Continued)..
Advantages of Master Sketch
The structure is well organized and easy to understand Changes to the Sketch are only possible and necessary to the original If the associative copy is deleted, the original is retained Change Sketch Support is also possible independently for the associative copies REPLACE of the associative copy does not affect the original If the original is deleted, the associative copy gets isolated

Slide 19

Part Design Geometry position

Recommendation 1 - Position point and planes


Do not use the default planes (XY, YZ, ZX planes). Instead create a reference point (preferably Zero point at (0,0,0)) and create new planes in place of the default planes The default planes should be put in HIDE and all the further geometry should be positioned with respect to these new planes (Ref_XY, Ref_YZ, Ref_ZX) and the new position point (Ref_point) The new position point and planes should be put in a new Geometrical Set Control Geometry
The default planes put in HIDE

New position point (Zero point) and new reference planes created in place of default planes This position point and planes are used for further geometry creation

Slide 20

Part Design Geometry position

Recommendation 1 - Position point and planes


Advantages
Easy and stable The complete geometry position can be controlled with a single point Translation of geometry in space is very easy Sketch planes can be easily changed Positioning in the assembly becomes simple

Disadvantages
Rotation of geometry is difficult

Slide 21

Part Design Geometry position

Recommendation 2 Axis System


This can be used but the following rules have to be followed:

Rule a)
Only a Right handed Axis System and Axis System type Standard is to be used

Advantages
Sub structures can be replaced or copied easily (no mirroring by accident) Safety in the design process (all analyses are interpreted correctly)

Slide 22

Part Design Geometry position

Rule b)
The origin point should always be an explicit 3D point No positioning of the axis with the contextual menu (using right mouse button click)

Advantages
Only with an explicit 3D point, associativity with the subsequent elements (e.g. sketches) is possible

Slide 23

Part Design Geometry position

Rule c)
The rotation of the Axis system should be done from the Generative Shape Design (GSD) Workbench

Rotation of the axis system with the help of context menu (right mouse button click) is not permitted

Slide 24

Part Design Geometry position

Rule d)
For every Sketch, the origin and orientation with respect to the Axis system has to be defined When working with Axis System, only Positioned sketches to be used Only with complete definition (as shown), the Sketches are fully associative to the Axis System New 3D points have to be explicitly related to the Axis system for associativity

Rule e)

Slide 25

Part Design Geometry position

Recommendation 2 Axis System


Advantages
Use of full V5 functionality Geometry can be positioned anywhere in space Modifications, iterations can be realized easily and fast Very good performance

Disadvantages
The use should be done with caution as per the rules mentioned in the previous slides Inability to follow the rules can lead to erroneous results

Slide 26

Part Design CATProduct

Positioning Possibilities in an assembly CATProduct


Positioning Procedures 1. Assembly Positioning All CATParts have an identical origin (e.g. at vehicle position) 2. Relative Positioning Positioning constraints between the parts Advantages Components easy to replace No Constraints Easy Data Transfer Easy positioning because of associative assembly position Disadvantages Problematic positioning Reuse of this part is not directly possible Complicated replacement by updating the constraints Reference elements necessary (e.g. contact surfaces) Complicated creation of the Constraints (6 degrees of freedom have to be determined)

3. Zero-point Positioning Positioning constraints between a part and a reference point

Free positioning in space (independent from other parts) Good reusability of the CATParts

Which of the procedures to be used depends on the Project. A combination of all the three procedures can also be used
Slide 27

Part Design CATProduct

Rule 1
CATProducts with assembly constraints contain at least one fixed component

Rule 2
In the fix constraint, the option Fix in space should not be deactivated

Slide 28

Part Design Quality Assurance

Quality of the CAD Data Rule 1


All V5 files should be cleaned with the utility CATDUA V5 Call File Desk. Select the file that has to be cleaned. Context menu (mouse third button click) and select CATDUA V5. Push clean in the box, run and subsequently no errors should be detected

Slide 29

Part Design Quality Assurance

Rule 2
Use the following Analysis tools regularly to control the quality of data during the design process Sketch Analysis (Workbench Sketcher/Tools):
To analyze the problems within a Sketch

Parameterization Analysis (Workbench Part Design, GSD/Tools):


To find out deactivated elements

Replace (Contextual menu, mouse right button click):


To detect implicit elements

Slide 30

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