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#1 Skrevet : 5. december 2022 06:33:31(UTC)
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Choosing the best CAD software for product design



Mechanical Computer-Aided Design (MCAD) programs, or CAD software, are critical for any company designing and building physical products today. The most widely used programs for high-volume consumer products are SolidWorks, Siemens NX, PTC Creo. Several others like Catia and Autodesk Inventor have a solid if more niche user base. With the latest versions of these software packages costing up to $20,000 per license plus thousands more in ongoing maintenance fees per year, it can be a big investment to choose the right system for your team. We’ve outlined a few things your team should consider to ensure you choose the best CAD software for your next program. To get more news about cad designer software, you can visit shine news official website.
Parametric vs Direct Modeling
Parametric design is the principle that every feature in a model can be created based on a set of dimensions and constraints to determine the size, shape, and location of that feature. These elements build on top of one another to create a historical model tree that reflects exactly how the model was built.

By making conscious premeditated choices of what to place earlier in the model tree you have an easy pathway to instantly change the model by adjusting a few dimensions. SolidWorks and Creo are two popular parametric CAD tools but they do have direct modeling modules.

It takes time to learn how to use all the tools of systems and how to set up models to take advantage of parametric design constraints. If you are thrown into an existing project, it can be difficult to understand the design intent of a model tree you didn’t create. Also, updates to a historical feature can break constraints of features further down the model tree forcing you to spend time figuring out what broke and how to fix it.

When working with less experienced designers, easy parameter fixes may be overlooked and the model tree may grow larger and more complicated. This can slow down the design process by increasing file sizes and rebuild times while making it hard to understand the original design intent.

Direct modeling on the other hand relies on the existing geometry at the time of adding a new feature but carries no history. If you start with a part that has a hole and want to move the hole, you can fill it in and make a new one. The previous designer will be none the wiser and won’t know how you made the change. There is no model tree to try and edit, just geometry that you can manipulate.

Imagine a sculptor adding or removing bits of clay to a form. It doesn’t matter what came before, only the resulting shape. Siemens NX is best known for its ability to remove parameters though it can also be used in a parametric manner.

Direct Modeling is often easier to understand and a more intuitive way to work. However, it can be frustrating when managing larger assemblies with interfacing features. Also, when changing one component affects another, it can be time-consuming to find and fix every affected feature.

Agility vs Control
While all CAD packages offer the functionality required to build any part, depending on how your team will be structured, how big a budget you have, and how much IT support you have, you may find certain packages better than others.

If you are hiring people out of a particular company, they may come with certain biases. For instance, it is well known that Apple engineers religiously use NX while engineers at Amazon use Creo. Many engineers are passionate about their favorite programs and want to take the path of least resistance when starting a new job. This means angling and arguing for their favorite program, and it’s unlikely they’ll be eager to change.

If you plan to hire contractors to help throughout the project and anticipate a lot of different people touching the models locally and at partner teams abroad, you may want to consider using a parameter-less design tool like Siemens NX. This way your engineers can quickly model the changes they want to make without having to worry about how the model was made.

Removing all constraints is a powerful and freeing option that NX does very well. This direct modeling approach also is really useful in rapid prototyping where you are looking to get an approximate shape.

If instead, you plan to tightly control the model and hire some experienced senior designers to oversee the project from start to finish, then a parameterized program like SolidWorks or Creo could work better for your team. These programs provide the structure for controlling the design intent even as parameters need to change. If the program is modeled properly in the beginning, a few parameter changes halfway through the program can instantly change the size and shape of the product without significant time spent remodeling internal features that all need to move by 1-2 mm.
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