Course: Computer Aided Design and Lab Works
Code: MSTR 512
Type: Elective
Credit: 3
Lecture #1
Introduction to Computer Aided
Design (CAD)
Date: 22nd December, 2017
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Introduction
• Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computer systems
to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization
of a design.
• CAD involves any type of design activity, which makes use of
the computer to develop, analyze or modify an engineering
design.
• The computer system consists of:
– Hardware: computer, graphic display terminals, keyboards,
mouse and other peripheral equipment
– Software: computer programs to implement computer
graphics on the system, application programs to facilitate
the engineering functions of the user company
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• In general, a Computer Aided Design (CAD) package has three
components:
1) Design
2) Analysis
3) Visualization
1) Design: Design refers to geometric modeling, i.e., 2-D and 3-D
modeling, including, drafting, part creation, creation of drawings
with various views of the part, assemblies of the parts, etc.
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2) Analysis: Analysis refers to finite element analysis,
optimization, and other number crunching engineering analyses.
In general, a geometric model is first created and then the model
is analyzed for loads, stresses, moment of inertia, and volume,
etc.
3) Visualization: Visualization refers to computer graphics, which
includes: rendering a model, creation of pie charts, contour
plots, shading a model, sizing, animation, etc.
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Reasons for implementing CAD:
1. To increase the productivity of the designer.
– CAD helps designer to visualize the product and its
component sub-assemblies and parts.
– This reduces the time required to synthesize, analyze and
document the design.
– This productivity improvement results not only into lower
design cost but also into shorter design project completion
times.
2. To improve the quality of design.
– CAD system permits a thorough engineering analysis
within a short time using various software and a larger
number of design alternatives can be investigated.
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– Design errors are also reduced by the accuracy built into the
system by means of calculations and checks available with the
system.
– These factors lead to the improvement in the quality and
accuracy in the design.
3. To improve communications through documentation.
– The use of CAD system provides better engineering drawings,
more standardization in the drawings, better documentation of
the design, fewer drawing errors and greater legibility for the
drawing.
4. To create a database for manufacturing.
– In the process of creating the documentation for the product
design (geometry and dimensions of components, bill of
materials etc.) much of the required database to manufacture
is also created which can be applied for several computer
integrated manufacturing (CIM) applications like CNC
programming, programming of robots, process planning and so
on.
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Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM):
• Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) is an application
technology that uses computer software and machinery to
facilitate and automate manufacturing processes.
• CAM is the next stage of CAD.
• A part created in CAD can be downloaded and manufactured,
without a human hand touching the part.
• The process is called CAM, and involves CAD, Networking, and
NC programming.
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Concurrent Engineering:
• Concurrent Engineering is another powerful CAD concept that
has evolved in the 90’s.
• According to this concept, there is an instantaneous
communication between the designer, analyst, and
manufacturing.
• Changes made at any of these work centers are immediately
passed on to the others and the product is modified without
delay.
• Often, the customer, management, and the marketing people
join in and become part of the process.
• Concurrent engineering saves the valuable time and helps get
the product out in the market quicker.
• Products that use to take years from the date of its concept to
the actual production now take only a few weeks, and the
final product is better and cost-effective.
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CAD Hardware:
1) Input Device
2) Output Device
1) Input Devices:
• These are the devices that we use for communicating with
computer, and providing our input in the form of text and
graphics.
• The text input is mainly provided through keyboard. For
graphic input, there are several devices available and used
according to the work environment.
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Mouse:
• The functions of a mouse include locating a point on the
screen, sketching, dragging an object, entering values,
accepting a software command, etc.
• Joystick and trackballs are analogous to a mouse device, and
operate on the same principle.
Digitizers:
• Digitizers are used to trace a sketch or other 2-D entities by
moving a cursor over a flat surface (which contains the
sketch).
• The device is basically a free moving puck or pen shaped
stylus, connected to a tablet.
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Light Pens:
• A light pen looks like a pen and contains a photocell, which
emits an electronic signal.
• When the pen is pointed at the monitor screen, it senses light,
which is converted to a signal.
• The signal is sent to the computer, for determination of the
exact location of the pen on the monitor screen.
Touch Sensitive Screens:
• This device is embedded in the monitor screens, usually, in
the form of an overlay.
• The screen senses the physical contact of the user.
• The new generation of the Laptop computers is a good
example of this device.
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Other Graphic Input Devices:
• In addition to the devices described above, some CAD
software will accept input via Image Scanners, which can copy
a drawing or schematic with a camera and light beam
assembly and convert it into a pictorial database.
2) Output Devices:
• Plotters
• Printers
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CAD Software:
• CAD software are written in FORTRAN and C languages.
• FORTRAN provides the number crunching, where as, C
language provides the visual images.
• Early CAD packages were turnkey systems, i.e., the CAD
packages were sold as an integrated software and hardware
package, with no flexibility for using second vendor hardware
(1970s and 80s).
• The modern CAD software utilizes the open architecture
system, i.e., software vendors do not design and manufacture
their own hardware. Third party software can be used to
augment the basic CAD package.
• Most popular CAD package will facilitate integration of the
Finite Element Analysis and other CAD software from
more than one vendor.
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• Networking is an important consideration in applications of
CAD software.
• A model created by one engineer must be readily accessible
to others in an organization, which is linked by a LAN or other
means.
• The designer, analyst, management, marketing, vendor,
and others generally share a model.
• This is the concurrent engineering in action, mentioned
earlier.
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CAD Platform:
• In general, we can run CAD software on three different CAD
platforms: Mainframe, Workstation, and PC.
• Currently, the most popular platforms are PCs and Workstations.
• Popularity of Workstations stems from their ability to network
easily with other computers, and also, due to their large
memory storage capability.
• However, PC platform is still the most preferred medium for
most engineers.
• Increasing popularity of the PC platform can be attributed to
several factors, including, total user control, the speed,
capability of storing large memory, ease of hardware upgrading
and maintenance, and the overall reasonable cost.
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Design Process:
• Design is the act of devising an original solution to a problem by
a combination of principles, resources and products in design.
• Design process is the pattern of activities that is followed by the
designer in arriving at solution of a technological problem.
• The design process is an iterative procedure.
• A preliminary design is made based on the available information
and is improved upon as more and more information is
generated.
• The design progresses in a step-by-step manner from some
statement of need through identification of the problem, a
search for the solutions and development of the chosen solution
to trial production and use.
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Fig: Iterative design procedure
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CAD Evaluation Criteria:
• A good CAD package includes good software, as well as, a
compatible hardware.
• Following is a brief description of the general criteria for
evaluating a CAD package.
Hardware: Most desirable features in a good hardware are:
• Open architecture
• High speed, large storage
• Compact size
• Inexpensive components
• Inexpensive upgrading
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Software:
• In general, the most comprehensive software are written to
satisfy almost all the modeling needs of a modeler,
consequently, the software tend to be very complex and
hard to learn.
• To create a simple model, we go through several unnecessary
steps, and lack the intuitiveness of a simple, straightforward
program.
• There are several other factors that we should consider when
evaluating software. Following is a brief description of these
factors.
a) Operating System:
• Unix or Windows/NT
• PCs in general use Microsoft Windows, where as, operating
system for Workstations is Unix.
• For a large organization, Workstations are preferable.
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b) User Interface:
• Most popular CAD software have menu driven commands,
which is preferable to the old system of non-menu driven,
where user interface was completely by responding to
software commands.
• The most popular CAD programs work with menu driven
interface, with some input/action required through command
prompts.
c) Documentation and Support:
• Learning a software can be very difficult if the software lacks
good documentation. Documentation usually comes in the
form of a user’s manual, a tutorial book, commands manual,
and on-line help.
• Some CAD vendors provide additional technical support help
through phone.
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d) Maintenance:
• Cost of the hardware and software upgrades can significantly
impact the small and medium size companies’ decision to
choose one software over the others.
• Most CAD vendors go through an upgrade, on the average,
every two years.
• Usually, hardware upgrade is not as frequent
e) Modeling Capabilities:
• In, general, a CAD software can be classified as either a 2-D
or a 3-D program. If we were basically involved in 2-D
drawings, any well established 2-D software, similar to
AutoCAD would suffice our needs.
• On the other hand, if we need to create 3-D models and
assemblies, we will be better off with a 3-D molder .
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f) Ease of Modeling:
• As a rule-of-thumb, a general, all-purpose type CAD software
is much more complex and difficult to learn than a special
purpose CAD package.
g) Interface with other CAD Packages and Data Transferability:
• A CAD package is used to create models that will be used for
analysis, manufacturing, or some other applications.
• Therefore, a CAD software should be capable of transferring
and accepting files from other CAD or CAM programs, without
this provision, the CAD program has only a very limited use.
h) Design Documentation:
• Besides creating a model, the software should be capable of
creating drawings, assemblies, dimensioning, various views
(isometric, orthogonal, etc.), labels and attributes, etc .
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CAD in Civil Engineering
• Civil engineering deals with a very broad range of problems,
including structures, foundations, transportation systems,
environmental systems, and others.
• Civil engineers have to rely on analytical modeling, and by
extension on CAD, possibly to a larger extent than other
engineering disciplines.
• CAD in structural engineering mainly focuses on the design of
fixed structures, such as building and bridges.
• Design of fixed structures is closely allied to the design of
other structures, be they automobile or aircraft bodies, ships
or offshore structures.
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Structural Design Process:
• Can be divided into the following stages:
1. Preliminary design
– Client’s functional requirements and constraints are
synthesized into a preliminary concept
2. Detailed design
– Involves several iterations between analysis and
proportioning.
– Analysis involves the determination of the response of
the structure, in terms of internal forces, stresses and
deflections, to the load imposed on it.
– Proportioning means selecting structural components
such that they satisfactorily resist the forces they are
subjected to.
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3. Preparation of design documents
– Design drawings
– Project specifications describing the structure to be built
CAD Tools for Analysis:
• Analysis of a mathematical model of a structure is governed
by physical laws not subject to the engineer’s interpretation.
• It has, therefore, been the most readily implementable aspect
of CAD in structural engineering.
A. Mathematical models
B. Modeling Aids
C. Analysis Packages
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A. Mathematical Models:
• Many structures such as trusses, frames and grids, can be
adequately modeled as an assemblage of one-dimensional
elements connected or framed only at their ends.
• For the planar structure, the load at any joint is a vector
consisting of a horizontal load, a vertical load and a moment
in the plane, and the displacement has a horizontal, vertical
and rotational component.
• The force resultant in every member consists of an axial force,
transverse (shearing) force and a bending moment.
• The elastic properties of the member are specified by a 3 X 3
member stiffness or flexibility matrix.
• The number of vector components, or degrees of freedom, at
each joint varies with the structural type from 2 for the
planar trusses to 6 for space (3-D) frames.
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• The magnitude of the force and displacement vector
component depends on the coordinate system used. Thus, to
enforce equilibrium at a joint, all force vectors have to be
transformed into a common coordinate system.
• Structural analysis methods:
– Stiffness method
– Flexibility method
• Structural analysts use the stiffness method almost
exclusively, as it can be fully generalized and automated.
• The flexibility method involves computational and
conditioning problems and is rarely implemented in CAD
programs except for very simple, specific structural types,
such as beams continuous over several supports.
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• The basic structural analysis problem, then, is to generate and
solve the matrix equation:
𝐾 𝑢 = {𝑃}
• Where,
{P} = known joint loads
{u} = unknown joint displacements
[K] = assembled structure stiffness matrix = [a]T [k] [a]
[k] = unassembled member stiffness matrix
[a] = transformation matrix between structure (global)
and member (local) coordinate systems
• The internal member forces can then be obtained by:
𝑅 = 𝑘 𝑎 𝑢
Where {R} = member force resultant
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• For dynamic load case:
𝐾 𝑢 + 𝐶 𝑢 + 𝑀 𝑢 = {𝑃 𝑡 }
• Where,
[C] = damping matrix
[M] = mass matrix
𝑢 = velocity vector
𝑢 = acceleration vector
{P(t)} = vector of time dependent loads
• Above equations can also be extended to nonlinear behavior.
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B. Modeling Aids:
• The substantial component of structural design dealing with
the analysis of the mathematical model of a structure has
been largely related to computer programs.
• Attention has been increasingly shifting to input-output
considerations, that is, aids for the designer to describe the
mathematical model and to interpret the results obtained.
• The first major trend has been the development of problem
oriented languages, in which the model to be analyzed is
described in a language similar to one that an engineer would
use in communicating with an equally knowledgeable
colleague.
• The generation of the detailed input for a structure of even
moderate size is highly repetitive and error prone.
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• A host of preprocessors have been developed to handle most
aspects of model generation. Many preprocessors provide a
graphic display for visual verification and user modification
before submitting an analysis run.
• At the output end, postprocessors are generally used to
perform additional calculations on the basic analysis results,
such as computing stresses within elements, and for a wide
variety of graphic displays, such as deflected shapes, stress
contours, etc.
• Problem oriented languages and other interaction aids,
together with graphic preprocessors and postprocessors,
relieve the structural analyst of most of the tedious steps of
entering the mathematical model and displaying the
computed results.
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C. Analysis Packages:
• Matrix and finite-element programs of practical usefulness
began to emerge in the mid- 1960’s from universities and
from large organizations, primarily in the aerospace industry.
• Various programs developed were:
– STRESS
– ICES-STRUDL
– SAP
– NASTRAN
– ANSYS
– MARC
– ABAQUS
– STAAD PRO
– ETABS
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CAD Tools for Proportioning and Preparation of
Design Documents:
A. Proportioning:
• Selecting structural components so that they resist the forces
determined from analysis, subject to the designer’s intent as
well as the constraints of the applicable codes and design
specifications.
• The developer of CAD program for the proportioning of
members according to the specification must first collect all
the un-cross referenced applicable provisions, interpret them,
and then code them in some procedural language.
• CAD tools for proportioning must, by necessity, incorporate
assumptions and limitations specific to the individual
organization’s mode of design. 34
• Proportioning and detail design programs have been
developed and are being routinely used for most aspects of
structural design.
B. Preparation of Design Documents:
• The final output of the design process consists of design or
contract drawings and project specifications.
• The production of both of these is time consuming, tedious
and highly error prone.
• The preparation of contract drawings for a building or other
structure is a typical computer-aided drafting application, and
many turnkey drafting systems offer specialized menus for
structural and architectural drafting.
• The preparation of project specifications is not normally
considered a CAD application.
• Project specification is composed out of standard paragraphs
and special provisions for the particular project. 35
