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We all know that making t few reladvelv simple changes in our uves: like loslng thai last 10 poun&, committing to a dtlly er.erclse r$me, or gtving up an unhalthy vlce or iwo - can lead to tremendous payoffs down the road. we all know Ir's for the besi ln ihe long r n, but we often seem io ftxate mo.e on the shornrcrm paln' dlscomfori, and siarvation as compelling reasons to put off these chanBes. Transltlonlng product development from a 2D rleslSn system to a gD solld modellng deslgn 8y8teft fslls hto tlls srm category. While vou mighi be convinced ihat ultimatelv it's the rlght move and blleve wholehes.riedly ln ihe botiom'llne competitlve beneflts of maklng the move, vou mlght also cringe at ihe ihought of th immediate probtms that thb convFion *ould bdn8. Productlvity downttme, data translation woe8, hlgh lnittal entry cosls, loss of legtcy data, tncretsed . n d th n e e d to re l r,i n h a r dwar c r equire me n t6 a the iceberg. sraff arejust th tip of In today s manulacturlng world, who ha-sthe ttme to deal wtth even one of those problems? There cert.inly is d case for some destgn work to rematn ln the realm of 2D - AEC, CtS, and schematic design, io name a iew. Iiowever, the m4ioritv of design done by mdufacturers would gratlv benefit from rhe use of 3D destgn tools Throughout thts e-book, we'll take a closer look at aU the concerns that manufacturing compantes have when evaluaLinga coneerston to a 3D design environment. We'll examine topics such as the evaluatton of 3D softwarc packages; implementation issDes,boih technical dld cultu.al; the preservation of legacy data; and the use of downstream, add-on soft1'are tools. We'U also talk to engineers dd engineering

nanagers who have navigated such a parh, and yourU read in their o{n word8 that tleir obsracle! sere and how they serc ul tl maLel yovercome i n the real world. Yourll also read how migraiing ihelr designs ro 3D r$ulted ln bi8 poyoffs to ihei. producl develoPment Process.

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Trade magaztnesand dsi8n consultancies ha've long Droclatmed ihc benefii8 of 3D design technlque! and how ihese benefik can dralticauv lmprove a manufacturerrs abillty to compete AmonS the benefits touted are shortened design cycles, streamllned manufacturinS proc3s3, faster tlmeno-market due to the lmproved flow of produci deslgn Information and communication throughout an organlzaLlon, reduced d$i8n cos13,

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Though thes advantageshave been heavily publicized for yea.s, many manulacturing companies have becn p.oducrive using 2D design rools and might question why they need to make such a t.ansition. To answe. this question and mo . e, we u t ak e a l o o k a t th c s e p .o p o s e db c n efi l s o n e hy onc and. x a m i n e w h ! s o m a n y .o mp a n i rs are deciding to migrate to a 3D solid modeling d e s ignenv ir onme n t. In the 2D world, drawings are continually modified and reintrp.el.ed throughoul. a product's liiecycle While all designs 8o th.ouSh multiple ite.ations, d s ignc r sy r or k in g i n a 3 D d c s i g n e n v i ro n mc n lcan creaLe p.oduction-ready detailcd drawings d .a w i ng a u t om at ic ally ,eli mi n a ti n gti m e -c o n s u m i n g vlew crealion, manipulation, and maintenancc. Thc y c an als o s ho w th c i r d e s i g n sfro m mrl l i p l e anglcs and ca)i enlarge dctails of speciiic co m ponent swit h j u s t a fe w mo u s c c l i c k s . Dvery new Dfoduct design tnusr u n d e rg oc h a n g sa q l r e v ol ees th ro u g h th e rl e v .l o p ment c y c l c . E a c h c h a n g ca r 2 D d ra w i n g o.

To compete in today's manulacluring envi.onment, compdics are under L.emndous pressure not only to c.ank out new products su.passing that of rhei. competitors, bul,l,o beat them to the shelves as well. !'ew would argue that once maste.ed, 3D solid modeling systems p.ovide a fastcr and more cfficienl means to c.eatc product designs. In the 2D wo.Ld, c.eating a detailed component in o.rhog.aphic vicws can requi.e four to fivcs times the number of.ommand cntri es ti an i t w oul d i n 3D, mosr of which are duplicales of othcr commands. I).awing creation adds subsiantial lime and expensc to a design p.ojecl, especiauy whcn thc iask involves int.icate pafis or complex

ConvcrscLyin thc 3D world, one linc can bc uscd k) esrabl i shrhe i , g, : coordi nai csand rhen can be movcd, copi cd, s.al ed, or somchow mani pul rtcd t o ..eare l he 3D modcl . Once l i e 3D model i s c.ealed, i somctri c, cxpl odcd assembl yvi cw s - or dctai l and sc.ri on vi ew s of a draw i ng - can bc crsi l y general cdby most 3D oA D packaS es. A l i gnmenl. and di mensi onl ngi n most C l D softw are p.ograms are aurcmati c by si mpl J cl i cki ng on Lhec.l gesor c.nt..s of w hat musr be di mensi oncd, Bcing ablc to usc online 3D parl.slibraries also savc slgniflcant design l,ime when crcaring 3D CAD modcls- Thcsc 3D pans libraries pro.luce naiive, feature-based,mechnicaldcsign componcnts,such s fasicncre, bcarings, and 6reel shapes,which arc base.l on indusl.rystmdards o.on manuia.turer cataloSs.Evry pan has custom propcfty data associatedwirh it, such as the parl name, manufacturerrsnarne,pari rype, md sizc. Severalmiuion pa.ts a.c availabl online through various rcsources,and all parls can be dited to fi1 useB specilic requi.cmcnts. Thesc online 3D parts librarics cnable designe.s to add the components mto iheir designssithouthaving to remodol them from thc mmufacturer's specilications, a huge timesavcl O 0..l gr cnarg!r on tl c tl y

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A U d ra w i ng F lhodrdln d$t 0ot.?Hlilwrl 3coolsr, d i me n s i o n s , a n d a n n o ta ti ons o.lhft Llmned oaka update automatically, so the modcllng designer never has to redraw u$d I i0 solld a section, detail, or isomei.ic ablrlDl'dur. [s dlilqn view manuaUy, g.eatly cyclo by50p3ffinl,cullls thc possibility or rducing by 50 developmEnlcosts pon.nl,.xFdnethe dor!lopmsd ol noldrtid

One change to a part often impacB muliiple views ofthe d.awin8, requiring rhe enginee. to mmually update aU assembly models, drawings, view", details, and bills ot matedal (BoMs), an inhrcnrly

enor-prone process. MakinS a change in 2D also often necessitates an addiiional round of drawing checking, a time-consuming and tedious process. On the other hand, making a change to a 3D solid modcl is much simpler and faste.- Solid modeling sysiems offer bi-directional sssociativity, wnich assures the user that all elements of a model are associated or connccted. when a change is made to a 3D model, ii is automaticauy.efLected in aU related d.awinSs and associated vicws. Pa.amet.ic design functionality is anothe. Iearure of many solid modelers that facilitales enginecring O ti g i n a l l y d e v e l o p e dIo.l he c hangeor de. s (EC O S ). aerospace and automorive indust es fo. desiSnine complex cu.ved forms, paramel.ic modeling wo.ks like a numertcal sprcadsheet. By storing lhe r elat ions hipsb e tw e c n th e v a .i o u s c l e me n tsofthe des lgnand t r c a ti n g th e m l l k e ma th e ma ti .a l equations, it allows any elcment ol the model to be changed, and then insran y regenerales the model in much the same way that a sp.eadshect auiomar.ically recalcularcs any numerical changes. ln p^. am eir lc -b a s e d s o l i d m o d e l e rs , a U f ealur es and d i mc n s l o n s o f a mo d e l a re sLored as dc s ign par a me l e rs , a l l o w l n g d e s i g n e . s l .o m ak e f as r c les i g n c h a n g e s b y s i m p l y c h a n gl n8 r hc v et uc of r h c p a ra m e r... W h a n a ta l u e i s c hanged, t he mo d e l l s a u ro m a ti c a l l y u p dal ed i o Lhe new v aluc, a n d a l l o i h e r m o d e l te a l u res and dim c ns lon s a fte c rc d b y th a l c h a n g . update aut om at ic ally . So l i d mo d e l i n g s y s te ms l hst of f c r boih bi- d i re c ti o n a l a s s o c i a ti v i ty a n d par am et r ic de s i g n fu n c l i o n a l i ty n o t o n l y speed des lgn c hange s , b u t a l s o S re a tl y .c d u c c the c hanc e ot e. . o rs . O f , r x t nt 2ln! th ! u a l u . o t 3 D P ro d | | ct 0rt.

Another way to derive value from a solid model is to analyze md test dcsiSns rhile they ar stitl di S i ral .Th. abi l ' rJ tn resr produ.l s w hcn designs still reside in tho computer not only saves on protoryping costs, but also p.ovides engineers wiih a way to quickly iterate and oltimize designs witlout woftying about delays or prototyping costs rhar.mighr de.ail production schedules and

Traditionally, designe.s have had a defind window ol oppo.tuniry to improvc upon a dcsign bcfore having to move it for*ard in o.der to adiere to p.oduct schedules, oftcn rcsultinS in an it s good enough! attirudc - hardly l.he hallma.k oftruly oplimized designs. Today, horcvcr, duc to solid modeling rools that arc fully inreS.ated with analysis, as well as simulalion tools running on affordable yet powcrful PCs, enginee.s can simulate models, go back and make a change to thc CAD model, and thcn ve.y qriclly sec the effecrs of that change. t hat Modul ari l y i s anol he. trend i n manufacruri ng has beneftted from dcaiSn rcusc. As cons!m.r markets becomc increasingly flnicky, manufacturers have responded by creating families of products, ach w i th subtl e dl tferencesto appeal to di sti ncri vegroups ot users,{ hi l sl i l l usi n g .ommon componcnts.Thcsc modul a. producls m ay vary i n si ze, w ei ght, di mensi on,or capaci i y-Fo. the manufaclurer, p.oducts that sharc common moduLeswirhin a p.oduci famlly are more efficient to design and manufactd.e! a.e easie. to upgrade and maintain, and enable the reus of product dara - all ot which reduce the ovc.all lifecyclc cosls of l i crng 2l ' , rr s no.rl y i mpossi bl ero dcvel op va f ious confiSuratioru of producrs, assemblies, o. families of products etficiently, since each individual assembly must bc .edrawn from scratch. sohe :lD CAD systems otle. configu.ation managemcnt tools, which enable uscrs to create mulliple variations of a product in a single documcnt. Thcsc tools also hclp users to develop and manage families of parts and models wiih different dimensions, components, propcrtics, and other

Onc problem inhe.ent io 2D desiSn is the fact that, afre. all the work is done to create the many levcls of drawin8s ftat oltimately represent a product, that data is practically wo.thless to other applications such as structural analysis and downstream manufacluring p.ocessesJincluding tooling creation and nume.ical control (NC) pfogramming. These funclions requi.c 3D drta, which musr then be created f.om the original2D

Anothe. area in rhich 3D producl. data can be leveraged is itownstream in p.oduct documentation

2 GHAPIER
:: 0nce a company recognlzes the need to move from 2 D t o 3D des lgn,t h re l s a p l e th o ra o f h u rd l e sboth technlcal and cultural - that must be overcom, Englners and deslgners must b re t r alned on t he n e w s y s te m.w h l c h l s o ft n radlcally different frotn the sysrem wlth whlch th e y ' r e ac c us t ome d . Ex c u l tv e smu s t b e fl rm l y otr b o ar d wlt h t he pr o j e c t, u l tl n a te l y c o n v l n dth at the lnltlal costs and loss of productlvlty are wortn the lnvesrment over the long term, Oftcn, CAD managers, as well as the nglneers and dslgners who report to them, are the ftrst to rcognlz the bneflts of deslSnlng ln 3D. Faster dslgn cratlon, easler and more accuraie deslgn ch anges , bet t r c o mmu n l a tl o no l d e s l S nl n te n t, and th ablllty to test dslgns whlle stlll dlgltal are among th many beneftts that come to mlnd when ponderlng such a t.ansltlon. Upper m anageme n t, h o w e v e ., m l 8 h t s e e th e sttuatlon completely differendy, The Jlrst objecdo.s thar mlSht pop tnto thetr heads when thtnktng about embarktng on that same path could be lncreased costs, the need for addttlonal staff tralnlng, reduced producdvlty, ind the posstblllty of losing legacy data that have taken years to accumulate. Whtle some of these concerns mtghl be easily mlttgated, othrs are grounded tn reallty and shoutd h carefully addressed before an jmplementatlon ts lnttiated. The fi.st task is to attain upper management buyjn. The only way to successftrlly implement a new technology, srch as a 3D CAD system, is to ensure tbat recurlves have a full unde.standlng of the

tlme savtngs and competttlve beneflts that are obtajnable uslng 3D CAD. ThouSh crtaln costs mlSht prove dlfflcult to predlt, uppr management must also be told upfront of all dflnable cosrs both monetarlly and ln the loss of productlvlty that the companyw l l l l ncur as a resul t ofthl s

Once upper management has been convlnced, lt s essentl al to keep thm l n the l oop, hol dtng tnont hly l nternal user-group mcctl ngsto assesshow the plannlng and lmplementatjon are progresslng. Keeplng managemnt abrast of the lmplementatlon vl a reS ul arreports w tl l bel p to al l evl ate uncertalntles and to assure thelr contlnued support, w ht.h l r crucl al ro rhe cuccecs of (he proj ec..

H.rln6 ln'Ilalional,a narufa.Urs ol cllrom padrgiig macniner], nedd 3Ds.lld modelhg cpahilhlB ro qddry elQr@p.n ad .embry rh4rl.riv! in rlal tm. h orde. lo optml4 mchlEry psrdmEe. Usirg30 solidmodellq, H.rlle$ dgineB wrc .bb ro d6ign .smllies fid lesrriefi p.rrs, $ich uldm.relyeMlled diemro shonen befdeboilding te d6lgr rnd Mnufctrn'g qde tromfm monhsrojulr rllo nronris,

lr ot c c t ing

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One lndisputable facr to present to management ts that 2D CAD technology has matured to the polnt where it has achteved all the producdvlty beneflts tt ls capable of provtdtng. Conversly, 3D CAD ls a dlffernt. reladvely new technology, whlch ls c apableof del i v .l n g e v e n m o re b e n e fl tsto veryone withln the manufacturlng organization and it s c ollabo ra d v es u p p l y c h a l n . The adoptlon of 3D solld modllng enables a tompany to make deslgn chanSdsmuch faster and. ktth fewer Ifo.s than wlth 2D.qAD. Afte. a deslgn change |3 made to a 30lld all d.aolng vtews, 'nodell dimenslons, and annotatlons update automattcally. So th deslgner nevor has to manually redraw a secdon, detall, or lsometrlc vlew, gratly reduclng t hepos s t bt lit yo f ffo r. U n l tk e 2 D te c h n i q u cs. sol l d ftodellnS dslgn methods allow englneers to produce drawlngs much faster. In addltlon, solld modls greatly facllltat the c om m unlc at lo no fd e s l g n l n te n t th ro u g h o u tthe organlzatlon. An accurate 3D model, wlth all tts as s oc lat ed non g e o m e trl c e n g l n e e rl n S d a ta attached to jt, becomes a complete dlgttal product for destgn r ev t ews ,analy s ts p , ro c u re m e n t,a n d ma n u facturl ng. Pllrs, lts form ls immedtately usable by all per s ont c l lnv o l v e d l n p ro d u c t d e v e l o p me nt, boi h technlcal and nontcchnlcal, maklng lt lnftnltely nofe valuable to a company than its legacy 2D data. Des plt et hls f a c t. m a n y c o m p a n l e sh a v e Ia r ge am ount s of lnt e l l e c tu a l c a p l ta l tl e d u p l n thel r 2D systems - from the actual drawlngs to the k nowledgeolt h e tr d e s l g n e rs- w h l .h o fte n makes them hesitant to shift gears and move to 3D. At these companles, the management mtght fear that they wlll no longer be abl to use thelr prevlotrs deslgn data efflctndy and that extenslve tralnlng wlll be requtred on ncw systems. They inay also feaf having to reorganize the processes on whlch their 2D drawings we. based tn the past. Some of these fears are reality based. Designcrs wlll require training on the ncw systems, thetr

lmplonlrrlng r 30 CrD3y'r.n .r Inisi.p. potymar O6|lp(tpc), . ma tactlftr ol sp.cl.lhd polyolfln phnlc rd p!!.. p..t.{tng produca nn rFlom., rss![ad h sho.r.ned dddopnsn tlm6hy l0 pa.cqn;lo$gld dovoloFnd co.r! bys5p|corllrl.|! s6ddro.i b, t0 prcsu tnd rduced rdro.i D, 75p..onr. productl vl ty on those new sysremsw i l l not l nt t t ally be up to par w i th w hat l t w as on the 2D systen, and some processes w i l l chang.H ow ever,mosr 3D C A D systemsdo al l ow for the l ftport of2D da t a. Therefore,a companys tnvestmcntl n 2D l egacy data wlll not b lost as a result o{ the

For these conpantas,a safer path to 3D rntght be a transltional 2Dl3D deslSn system that employs 3l) dsl gnfor new desl gnproj ects w hl l e mal ntatnt ng the 2D deslgn process for deslgn modlftcattons. This way, prolects are not dtsruprcd, the rranslrlon can take pl ace ove. a pertod oftl me, and dest gnar s w l l l have dme to rcei veproper tral nl ng.

(D Mt t h s V e r3 u 3 nG . lit t
Lt s take a l ook ai somc of the common obj ct t ons that uppef managefnnt often have w hen considrtng a rnove fron 2D to 3D CAD.

My t h: S c nior - I e v e l e n g i re e rs d on' t get 3D de s i g n . In . ealit y , wc all l i v e l n a 3 D w o rl d a n d h a v e a n l nr at e s ens cof h o w to n a v i g a tew j th l n i t. T h e d ev eloper sof 3D C AD s y s te msh a v c w o rk e d h ard to c f eat e not onl y l n tu l ti v e u s e r i n tc rfa c e sb rr al so l ogic al wor k s t r u c tu fe s fo . d e s i S n j n g3 D mo d el s. A. r r e\ ulr . r hc sr s ) s re msa re \u rp rl s l n g l v \i mp1. for enginees to lcarn. D es pit et hjs f ac t ,l t s re a l i s ti c to a s s u meth a t m ost e ngiDeer s ov er t h e a g e o f 3 0 w c rc ta u g b t e nginc er ingln t h e Z D w o rl d . fh c s c e n B i n e e .s and many of whom are n o w s e n j o rl c v c l e n g i n e e rs o r o n 2 D . c l th e r C A D d es igner s wc r c tra i n e d s y s l e m s .T h c g o o d n c w s i s th a t d r awt ng- bas c d th es c s am c dc s lg n e rsa l s o u n d c rs ta td ftrs th a ndthc o f 2 D ; th c fc fo re , ma n y wi l l h he. ent wc ak ne s s e s e as lly r c c ogniz eth e a re a s l n w h l c h 3 D me l h o d s

savi ngsi n l abor and the bcncfi ts deri ved fnornth new systemw i l l !l ti matel y makc fof a sol i d retu r n on rhe .ompany' s i nvestment.Morc on that 1atc r , but l er' s fl rst take a l ook at thc spcci l i c costs. One w aJ to dl verLdi saste.and di scourscdow n thc roa.l l s to be compl el el y honestw i th managem cnt from Lheo!tset. Inform them upffont of the cxact costs of rhe sol tw are, ha.dw a.c, traj nj ng,and .amp up ti me requi .ed for a 3D i mpl cmcntati on. eval uatcw hat thc A fter rhese.osl s a.e di scusscd, .proj ectedl abor savi ngsw i l l bc oncc thc systcm is up and runni ng. Labor savi ngs,coupl cd w i th thc savi rgs derl ved from a reduccd numbcr of physical prororypes, .an qui ckl y - ol tcn w l thtn thc fl rsl year pay back the startup costs for thc

Whllc s om c dc s lg n c rsw l l l re ma l n fc s l s ta n t to l c ar nlng 3D, lns l s ti n g th a l th e y a fc s d l l p .o d x.ri vc u s lng 2D m c t hod s .ma n y w tl l v l c w th l s c h a n 8 eas a n oppof t unlt y t o a d v a n c . th e l r s k i l l s c t a n d wl l l cager lyem bar k u p o n 3 D t.a l n l n g . In l a c t, m a n y oi th es e pr oac t lv ec n g l n e c .s ma y h a v e a l rc a d y p a. t lc lpar edln s o m l c v c l o l 3 D d e s l g ns c l f cduc at lon- v la tu to rl a l s . o n l l n e g u l d e s ,o r VA R sc m lnar s as a w a y to b o l s rc f th e i r fu l u fc j o b

Ler' s break dow o the spccl l i c costs of an i mpl .mcntarl on. I.l rst, rhere l s the ac(ual cost fo r rhc sol tw ar. as w .1l as thc Integratedl hl rd party softw arc. Forrunatcl y,the cost ot 3D C A D system s has comc dow n sl gni fl cantl ysl nce l hel r l ntroducti on,duc l n parl to l he surge oi ml dran gc C A D prodtr.ts !hat havc drl vcn dow n costs w hl le gl vtng hl gh cnd pa.kagcs a run l or Ihci r moncy ln terms of fun.ti onal i ty. A ccordl ng to D aral ech.a m6rkct rcsearchfi rm, thcse mi d.angc or val uc p.l ccd 3D C A D packi gcs w hi .h w erc p.evi ousl y bi l l cd as 80 pcrccnt ofth c functi o.al i ry at 20 pcr.cnt of thc pri cc now ot lcr cl oscr to 90 pcrc.nt ofthe functtonal l tyand,l n at 50 pc.ccnt ofw hat thc hi gh-cnd most i nstances,

O f t en r ef er r ed I o a s " c a rl y a d o p l e rs ,' th c s c s h o rl d b c a m o n g th e ftrst e ngi. ec r s and de s tg n e rs to be t r ained ln 3 D C AD . A fte r s e e i n gth c p r od, , . rjr i, y gJ irs a , h l .r F d b ! ,h c c a rl y 3 d o p tFri g r oup - or per ha p ss p u rre d o n b y c o n .c rn o v c r fut ur ejob s ec uri ryi n to d a y s u n .e rta i n m anuf ac t u. ingin d u s try - mo re e .g i d c c rs w i l l follow r he s am c p a th . M y ( h: I a c os t s to o mu c h . W hen dr l\ ed b) u p p e . mJ n d Ac m F n lrf rh i ' rh d n S ni \ g o jng t o c os i a lo l , y o rr a n s w e r s h o u l d b e , " Yes.' Howev er ,lhis is a l s o y o u r fi rs t o p p o rtu n i i y to b e gln bullding t h e c a s e fo r th e fo l l o w i n g fa c t: Thc

l\,{osrlikely, there also wlll bc jncrcascd hardware reqri rements.though thcsc costs havc bccn \omeshd, mi ,i gdr.d i n r.,.nr ycJr\d\hi A h pow ered,W i ndow sr basedP C s have pl ummctcdin cost. O(her hardw are expensesmi ghl resul t from rhe need for 3D graphi csa.cel rators.Tbere w i ll w i rh tral ni ng engi neer s on al so be costs assoctated 3D desi gnsystems.w htch .ar be Ineasrredboth monetarl l yand i n l oss ofman hofts.

Tho! gb t hes c in l ti a l c o s ts w i l l b e s i g n l fi c a n t, per hapst he bcs t w a y to o v rc o me c o s t o b j e .ri ons j s t o point out t h a t y o u r c o n p a n y ' s tra n s i tl on ro 3l ) CA D ls an inv c s tm e n ti n i ts frn rre , a w a y to bettcr c om pet e in t hc y c a rs a h e a d .Mi g .a ti n g to 3 D C A I) will hav e long t e i m tm p a c ts o n b o l h s a l e sa n .l .osrs by c nabling c om p a n l e sto b u tl d b e tte r p ro d ! .ts i n s hor t c r des i8. c y c l e s- w i th l e s s w a s tc o fttnc a.d

efficiently and, in the process, shave enough time off existing pfocesses to pay for itself. To quantify rbi s argument,make a l i st of al l the w ays i n which and 3D C A D coul d i mprove upon curenr process es the .ough l n both l abor and ti me then cal cul atew i th each one. Thorgh t hjs ti me savi n8sassoci ai ed quanti fy th benefi ts ol 3D C A D, t he l s one w ay to real savi ngsw i l l ul ti matel y resul t from hi gher and ql al i ty p.oducts thal are desi S ned manrfacturcd taster, S ome.ompani csw tl l conLend that 3D sol l d mod elnr g advantagc only to technology is ofcompeti(tve companiesdesiSnlngand manulacturlng complcx partsand assembl j cs.' l hc real i tyi s that any manufacturer evn thosc desiEring relativcly slmple advanl aS e by products- w l l l S ai na compcti tl ve products fastcr. and manulacturlng bett-"r dcsignlng D P i cki ng thc ni ght P roj ect ard thc R i ghl P .opl c

dd wals orloafllng,30 CAo Wi$ vr.ylig sllll $ts, hrctgrollnds, Inclutb t iiliq lor englnossstoutdt IndlvldulllyLilotsd optlons .id rr.dilonal tnhing das' r o.t.ls, vARseminn, usrgrouPs

M y t h: 2D wor k s fo r u s . W h y c h a n g ? W hlle 2D CA D c a n b e a n e fftc l e n t w a y to c re al e pr oduc ! dr awtn g s ,3 D C AD fu rth e ts e ffl c i e ncyby s pc c dt ngup ev e ry a c tl v tty a n d b y o p ti mi z i n g dc s t gnst hr oug h th e re mo v a l o f ma n y s o u rcesof pot enUalinac cu ra c ya n d e rro .. Mo re o v e r,th e bc nef it s of 3D C A D w l l l b e s c c n n o r j u s t i n t he c ngt nee. ingdcp a rtme n tb u t a l s o l h .o u g h o ut rhe enrire enterprisc. The transition to 3D deslgn wtll hav c a s lgnlf ic a n tj mp a c l o n a rc a s s u c h a s qual i ty w6rranty costs. manufactufing, and assembly as well as s ales a n d m a rk e ti n g . T o c ounr . r r hb o b j e c ri o n . p o rn t o u r rh F a rP a\ rn whlc h 3D CA D c a n s o l v c c u rre n t p ro b l e m sm o.e

It mt8hr provc dl fl i cul t l or some companl esto st op usi ng 2D abruptl y and move compl ctel y to 3D lor managc.snccd to ass ess al l dsl gns.U ngi ncc.l nS proJect and w hi ch pcopl e to s t ar t careful l y w hl ch w ay to begl n a 3l l out l n 3D C A D . The bcst ptl ot proj ect ro cnsu r e t he w i th a tmpl cmentattonl s rhc earl i er stagesare well decl stonsmade duri ng proj e.rs al l ow sl nal l , focused rho!ght out. l ' l l ot gro!ps to test the tnpl emenrati on,docoment adon, w i thl n a smal l er. more and tral ni ng processes conrrol l cd cnvi ronment.They al so al l ow the t eam to make ml nor adj ustmenl sor changesto the se processes as they are betng esl abl l shed. Ii s essenllal to the succcssofa 3D implementatlon to choose rhe rtght tjmc and task in which to try 3D CAD. Since many designsare merely modincations of existtng systemsin whichjusr a few areas of thc design need changing,it would be impracttcal to use 3D dcsign on these lypes of projects. A belter app.oach mighr be to maintain legacy dara ln 2D and hold offon using 3D until a new design project arises. P i l ot proi ccts shoul d be shorter term proj ecl s t hat are easily manageable and relativcly low risk. Afte.

the completion of the pilot p(ogram, iCs tmportant for the englneering team leaders to conduct a posrmortem of tlle p.oject wtth the entire pfoject tam to assesswhat did and didn t work and to determlne the best ways to lmprove upon these

these mentors is to provide simple rewards to acknowledge thelr effons While these rewards need not b elaborate, they a.e an important way to .ecognlze the above'and-beyondefo.ts of enployees who are cructal to the successofan tmplementation. In order to determlne who wlll be on a pilot prolect team, as well as what type oftralnlnS will be most approprlate fof usefs. a managef m$t ask sevefal questlons: Do they have a 3D CAD background? Wtll they be 'powr' users? Wlll they be reqri.ed to work wlth complex assemblles or parts? Wlll they be rqutred to lmport Seomelry from other

To avotd dlsrupting and overwhel'nlnB deslSners engineertng m.nagers mtght also try a step_by_step tmplemntation that slovly lntroducs 3D nodellng methods, dependlng upon the task at hand and the varlous sklll levels oflndlvtdual users At thls potnt the manager must hotesdy analyze whlch enSlneers are quallfld and inotivated enough to ftake the ftrct transltlon to 3D. Addlttonal tralnlnS and posstbly extra work rnay be requlrcd ofthese englneers, so manaSersshould b both realisttc and honest ln thelr expectatlons of these early adopters These englneersand destgnerswttt probably become the projecCschamplons who wlll mntor other users durtnS thetr transtdon _ lhe oncs whom orhe' englnerswlll seek out when they encounter problems ot have quesdons.One way to ncouraSe llill lmplomdiry . nfl 30 CID systm 0troqhootn! oqJllrdlor, Ecco,. mnutftnlt. ot bachDwlnln! alrm3 tor tucrr.nd n fly s$lpmem, Incra|sd rw6ir6 !y lrl|ding I |Ew, contlgunbl.tmrtrcl li|r, curlts d6lgn crcl6!y a0lscorl |ldcGd $r.p bY$10 Ps...n, .nd .d ov.d nlg!.. L$b orc.ll.!or.lhr1, ild smchncy. conmunlc.lion,

Another critlcal component of any succssful technology-re,ated tmplementatlon ls tralnlfl8. Because all englneers have dllferent sklll sets backgrounds, and ways of learnlnS, tralnlng must be lndtvtdually tatlored. There ls no such thlng as ' one cl ass ftts al l .' S everal educ.ttonal optl ons a r e avallable, tncludlng tradltlonal tralnlng classes, tr.rtorlals,VAR semlnars, user groups, snd onllne guides. Before sny engtneer partlclpate! ln a rull' fledged Falntng class, lt s lmPeradve to do solne tnto 3D tcchnl que! prel l ml nary Investl S adon ttme ls not wasted whn the that rhereby ensurtng bglns. forrnal tralnlnS The Managr' s P erspectl v: Todd Mansftl d, S ystems E ngtne.l ng Team Lcadar, E C C O ECCO ls the world's largest manufacturer of backup al armsand amber w arnl nS l l ghts for comme.ctalvehl cl es.The companys trsnsl tl on from AutoCAD ro a 3D solld modeltng sysrcm i'tproved collaboration, communicatton, and efflctency: helped cut design cycle dme by 40 percentr and reduced scrap by 5 to 10 percent Let s hear from Todd Mansftld, systms englneerlnS team leadef, on how they ovefcame the cultrrral barrlers to lmplementatlon at ECCO. to & ; tl ow dl d you l dendfy w hl ch engtneers to 3D? t.ansltion first A: I would say there are two ways lo look at iti

Who are the most agreeable people? And whre is Yo u ml g h t h a v e s o me o n ew ho s It m os t needed ? very proactlve, but they really don t have any lssues that are costlng the company time and money. Convrsely, yorl mlght have someone who s not lhat proactlve. but they miSht be tn a sltuation ln whlch - lfyou don't flx lt - you r &olng to hsve blgger lssues as far as producttvttv ts conce'ned A: How do you motlvate th englneer who s hesltant to move to 3D7 A : lf y ou look a t th e p e o Pl ew h o a re mo s t d ow n on tmplementlng new technology, lfs often the sentor people tn rhe shop who are holdinS on to systems that they may welt have set rP themselves So they have a ral sense of ownemhlp on those older' antlquated systems lfyou can 8o after them tntrlally, turn them stound, and 8et them into a proacttve posltlon, thn you suddenly have a tremndous asset. You'll have turned your blggest crltlcs lnto your blggest advocates. and thatJust changes the whole face of lmplementatlon They say,'l ve done tt thls way forever. and I don t want io change.' So you say, 'What lf I can show you how to take all thls admlnlslratlon stuff off your plate? Instead ofspendlng all day creathg drawinSs that areJust a by_Product of 3D deslgn. you get to spend youf tlme dolnS what you went to school for and what you love to do - and that s l s s c a ry ' Bu t l fy o u c a n p a r tner des lS n. ' Chang e with them and assure thm that thts ls what you have to do to remaln competltlve you can hopefully work vith them to drlve out th.t fear' lt s a blg shlp, and lt tums slowly. But onc h starts to turn, suddenly tt'sJust llke a wlndfall for vou /i: How dtd your company begin its

you re gotngto waffle betweentwo systems forever.Inlttally, thre s golngto be somepaln' but the rewa.dsbeyondthat are weil worth it Last ln documenrs increase yar,we hada 42 percent createdand fevtsed. Q: How tmpoftant ls it to a successful buy-tn? to haveman.Sement implementatton lCs the numbrone lssue.lfvou A: lt s paramount. don\ havethat, you haveno authortty and no authntlcltyln what you'rc doit8. tf managenent doesnt shareyour viston,then you re dead ln rhe warer.You have to implementthls whue actln8 oo th authorlty ot senior management How tmportantls tt to prform sohe tyPeof '"11. ROI study on movtngthe companys new advance to 3D? product develoPment A: I thlnk tCsverylnportant.ROIls easlly calculatedand lnportant, but I thlnk lt's really seconda.yto Plnpointlngwhat yoLrrexact lssus are.Youmlghtthlnk you knowwhatyourproblemr you d reallze that ar:but lfyou dld someanalysts, they ml8hi be dlffrent. lf you don't know where you sre of whefe you're 8oln8,5ny toad wlll Set you there. Untll you deftneyour lssues.you don t know what the posslblesolutlonsare, We madethe declsionto move to 3D for buslness are exPectlnsthat lvel customers because feasons, today would of our customrs Many olnodllng. They are asklnSfor at all. accept a 2D drawlng not and STEP tles. geometry. we!l as ICES as solld i l.se glve you You can can that only 3D outputs your focus on th fact ihat lt's a b sinessdeclsion your technt.el to go to 3D lhsedays lt P.oJects onlv Today,3D ts no longersomethlng competence. the latst and greatestdo. You.e shootlngpar golf lfyou're uslng3D. h s no longerbtrdle golfi lt's par because thingsare movingso for boSey and headtng you get dectslon, fast. Onceyou makethe buslness out your checkbookand ask, "Okay.what s it golng to cost to get us the.e?"You know lcs Sojngto take tlm and money,but you do tL.And onc tt s done, you're damnglad you did it.

A: As palnful as lt was, we set a drop_deadd'tc after whlch all futura work - both new and existhS - would be done ln 3D. W had thls huge. huge pile ollegacy AtrtoCAD drawings- It was patnful. and ,nitiatly a ftve-mlnute change sometlmes took a fw hou.s. But lf you don't draw a lin ln the sand.

Jeff Ha ErcD, Englncering User Pcrspcctlve: Analyst, Pap.r Convertllg Softwarc Systems (PCMC) Machtae coa'pany PC M C has baen a Sl o b a lm a n u fa c tu re ro fPa p e rco nv er t ingequlpm e n ts tn c e 1 9 1 9 .L e C sta l k to Jeff Hallgren, engtne.lng systems software analyst about how the company made the t.ansltion rrom 2 D t o 3D CA D. *: Ilow dld you tdenttfy {blch enginecrs to transltion fhst to 3D? A: usually you look at startlnS wlth the eng,oee'sln the new product development area Thev are th' ones who typtcally start out wlth a clean shet ofpaper. more lnnovailve. and They aie usually the 8o_8etters, ready to accepl new challenges.They also tvpicallv have more tlme as opposed to an englneerworldng in envlronment wlth anywhefe an enStneered-to-order from a couple ofdays to a few months turnarodnd tlme. You ned to transltlon them dtffrndy than the new product development team Also the new in product developftent group can usuallysqueeze th tlme to do the experlmeniatlon,so the productlvtty hlts are not as great {li How lmportant ls tt to attatn manaSementbuyln for such a transltlon? A: I f s abs olut elyc rl ttc a l l fh a n a g e m e n t d o e sn\ drlve lt, tCs doomed to fall You really need to sell msnagement on the beneflts, snd you also need to mak sure they understand how lonS tt s goinS to take and what the ramlflcattons ar. Mana8ement needs to understand that there ls no maSlc button There ls no llght swltch you can tu.n on - one dav you re on a 2D system, and the next dav ve.yone ls up and runnlng and as efflctent as posslblc on th nev system. You really need to sell then on tbe fact that thls ls not an overntght process, that the beneflts ar real and langtble and there at the endi but you dont want to 8o too fast. and you dont want to drag tt out. ai Should you pe.forrn some type of ROI studv on moving ro 3D design? . 30 dcslgn lf deploYng 3ynsn, .ll( Mold,I l6.dlng protldd oll gi4!d, cnm9ld t r d.rio hjcdo|! molds nol{6d p.rb rid .hmlnun .ddmdh c.tdng,ai s moldd6lgn cFl. by50 p.!o|n,incFriod t! .blliv roInpo.l fid upon varlou3 dd.for |r, inFwed thslgn lr3 rd enbncGd crJnomrs, moldx|tlFb c.p.tllltlei

A: You necd to do the research. Cet a VAR lnvolvd ro do s lot of th legwork for you, and get a lot ol rferences f.om colnpants who ve done lt - 80 spak to them, and then sit down and say, "OX, how ls thls gotng to help the orSantzatton?"It s lmportant to look al ROI notlust f.orn engtneerlng but also as a total organtzation tool because lt s 8oin8 to lmpact the entlr company. Typtcally, the ROI does not come fromlust englneerlnSi ln fact, sometlmes you actually take a ost hlt by Solng to 3D In the englneerlng group. The real tangtble beneflts are seen ln quallty, warranty costs, reworks out on the shop floor. Thls ts Solng to lmprove the manufactu.tng process and the assembly p.ocess, because now you can cre,te these exploded vtews, e'drawlngs, and at madons rhat will be used on the shop floor by those dotng assernbly work. They ll have a better unde.sianding

A flnanctal evaluatlon needs to be completed prior to the movement of any englneering SrouP to a new MCAD platformi thts holds especlally true for 3D Whn evaluadnS the cost elements of movlng to 3D, all aspects of the mlgratlon must be sssssed so that a reflectlve 'total cost ofovnershtp" ls obtalned. Financlally, thls Includes the costs assoclated wlth developlnS the fequired lnf.astructure (t.alntng, VAR support, standard llbra.y creation, standard/best practlces), PLM software, engineertng anslysls soltware (FEA, ndtton analysts). manufacturlng CAM software, and frequnt updaies io users workstatlons to ersure optlmum perlormance. Addltlonally, costs should Includ converslon of legacy data. A flrn ROI can be extremely dtfflcult to obtatn becausesome ofthe lntanglbles do not correlate dtrecdy to {lscal return. The beneflts of 3D rnodllng a.e more far-reachlnSthan as a deslSn tool utlltzed Those orSanlzadons solely by and for enSlneerlnS. that don\ inlgrate to a 3D systm in the next 3 yearc vtll b lelt behhd and wlll be placed ln a posltlon to theh where they wlll be at an extreme dlsadvantaSe competltors. Four dlstlnct beneflts of 3D modllng recognlzedby PCMC were lmProved deslgn efflclency, Improved deslSnquallty, shortned development cycle, and lmproved assembly efflctency. We cornpleted a projected ROI based on a senstttvlty analysls that evaluatd the impact to cofpomte workflow resultlng from the 3D modellng mlSradon. AlthouSh an ROI was projectd, the 3D modeltn8 proJectwas really evalu.ted/sold on the totd cost of ownershlp and the faci that as an organlzadon PCMC couldnt arofd not to .omplate a mlgratlon. dl: How dld you determlne whlch project to use ro. youf ptlot progfam? A: I hlShly, highly recommend a phased approach ICs best ro manage it through new product development or products that are Soing to be a.ound fo. a while: as far as legacy typ conversion goes, you reed to tfack the products you wo.k o. mosi. Don't worry about small, obscur products. You need to feally look at what products are golng to be vtable for the .orporatlon over the next year.

two yars,or flve years.The.e s no bnent b convertinga product ltne that isn t selling. {lr Whatwr the tmportantfactors to your companyin chooslngthe rlght 3D CAD systm? performance, A: We looked for large assmbly management, ease of use, and th con0guratlon the company ltself. Whlch companyts suppo.t of rhe leader? Whats th flnanclal health of the When you'redolngthe evaluatlor. companyT that each of thessystemsls golng to grow, rallze ls changlngat a rapld rate,so and the technoloSy whtch o.ganlzatlon ts respondlngbestto look at customers. the needsof thelr User Pcrspccttyc: AIAtt Larscn, Englncc Analyst for IT at Au,otlv Asp, Inc. ng

of AutollvInc.,lsa AutollvAsp,Inc.,a subsldtary global manufacturer of auiomobllesafetyrestralnt The companybeganthe road lo 3D systems. In 1998. Though not completed, lmplenentatlon lt s speakwith Alan Larsen,an engtneerlnS analyst.to seehow they got th ball rolllng and lnltlal reslstanceto lhe project. how they overcame G: flow dld you ldentlfy whlcb nglneeBto transitlonflrsr to 3D? the guyswho moved the fastest,llke A: We plcked product development, who haveto thoseln new movefast. I was a memberof that 8roup. once we reallzedthe valuefor us, w lookedat how we tt. Thenw went out and tound could malnstream who haverepeadngprocesses that took engtnrs as they movdto e.ch step 2D or 3D and remodeled for gasflow, suchas CFDi - whetherlt was analysts lllustradon step,whre structuralanalysls; or an tllustratlons and remodeUnS as they had to make proS.anmlng into CNC. they wre hand tli How dld you determlnewhich project to usefor your Ptlot program? A: Therewas a ptlot project group withjust a few seatsthat were doing toollng. processequipme.t,

and fabrtcation,but they wereJust hanglngout there without a net or any s'rpport.Now w ve of ihe companyto support turned the .esources standards that effort and haverolled out comPany So the ptlot projectwas klnd ofa casestudyfor the companyto p.ove lt works. Thenwe went to the R&D Sroupwho has a lot inore CAD dtverslty. They'rethe harderonesto brlng ln. But they wre also lsolated,so I could toll tt out wtth them orlSlnallyand not lmpact the rest of the comPany 4l: Dld lheseearly usershelp iransitlon other

gotng to be gonetomoriow," and they lmmediately seerhe value ln lt. Whenyou try to tell them that who s golng to it's btter, there'salwayssomeone questloneverythtng you say. We dldnt want to turn Bven thts into anythlngother than a slam-dunk. lt, they thoughthey dtdn't enti.ely understand understoodlt on thelr level.Now we re gotngback ro reeducate them. we've done Phaseone,so now what dosphasetwo entall?They can t really dlgestit ln one blte,3o theres a contlnualelment

your tmplementarlon ol3D? fi: llave you completed Ai Not really. Our pllot project was usedprlmartly From that to removes roadblockIn the company. pfoject, however,we cratdcompanystandafds that madelt okay to do what we were dotng,whlch was a llSnlflcant step ln trylng to roll lt out In the colnp.ny. buy-ln for the fir How dld you attaln msnaSement transltlon? A: I plcked ny battlesvery carefully.We Iookedfor wherewe aressln whlch lt would be a slam-dunk, It Isn\ hsfd to were 8ttin8rld ofwork processes. You say, "Thls step ls deflne that to manBgement. A: No. We'reabout a year away.We started movlnS to 3D In 1998,but the companydldn t fully support ffort. lfs the ffort. It was an underground tmportantto makelt a gra$roots effort rather than one.Now we ve madelt vlslble to an underground mana8emnt - a solutlon that 8ts rld of redundant

t
GHAPIER A

Once an organirar.ion decidcs to plungc into the {o r ld of llD des i g n ,a p l e th o ra o f tc c h n i c a l s s ues m ns t bc . es olv e d .T l ' e c o mp u tc r s y s tc m so n w hi ch yo u wer e r unnin g 2 D d c s i g n s o ftra rc w i l l n o t be a blc t o handle r . h ei n c rc a s c dd c ma n d so f 3 D . I n {d dit ion, onc e . o m p u tc rs a n d th c i r rc l a te d su bs y s t em s a. e o b ta i n e d ,a s o l i d u p g ra d efl a n musl b c im plem enl. e d to $ s u rc c o n ti n u c d p ro d u c tivi ry i n

o n c c om m on c r r o r c o m p a n i e s e n c o u n re r w hen .m ba. k ing on a 3 D i m p l e me n l a ti o n i s th i n k i ng that t hey c an r un 3 D C A D s y s te m s o n rh e i . cu r . ent har dwarc . T o d d M a j e s k i , !.e s i d c n r of Ohio- bas ed3Dv i s i o n T e c h n o l o g i e s ,a v a l u e -r ddcd .es eller ( V A R) o l 3 D C AD s y s te ms ,s a y s , ' T h mi s l a k c $ c s c . i s p c o p l . $ h .. b .r ic ! e r har r hFi r.x i s rrn q h a rd w a ro w i l l b . sof f ic ienr lus r t o g c t s ta rrc d i n 3 D . T h e y l o a d the sof t war e, and it . u n s h o ..i b l y . T h c n rh e y re a l i ze th c y hav e t o s pe n d mo re mo n c y , a n d th e y g ct rc ally ups el. T ha t u s u a tl y c o m c s f.o m managem enlwh o a rc n t 1 0 0 p c rc e n t c o mmi r l .edro mak ing lhe c han g e a n y v a y , b e c a u s eth c y a .e try ing t o s av e m o n y h e rc a n d th e re -' C om panies t r ans i ti o n i n gto 3 D n c c d to c a .e fu l l y spccify all necessary hardware components !o handle the increased dcmands b.ought on by 3D. You need io select powerful and .asily lpgradeable com put er swit h a m p l e mc m o .y (R A M ), e n o u gh hard disk space to mcct inc.eased file-storage ne.ds, a Pr ot F r s ional- qu a ly i J D g ra tf i .. .a r.l rn d d ri v.r, a stable net wor k , a n d , i t p o s s i b l e ,a s c n e . d e d i cated to t he needsof e n g i n e e ri n g .

Q t Wh . l' s ! rd . f t h . t lo o d ?
S ol i d modcl i ng fequl ressubsran!l al l ymore @ mputi ng resorrccs than 2D . In rhe pasr, C A D softw a.c, be.ause i t i s g.aphi c- and comprri ngi ntcnsi v,requi rcd .xpensi ve tl N IX o.based w orkstati ons to run. E nti re compani cs,su.h as (lompute.vision and Inte.g.aph Corporation, were foundcd on Lhe basis of p.ovi.ling a ha.dware phtform powefful cnough b nrn O,\D sorlware. E ven S un Mi crosystems, Inc., todrJ a naj of systcms vendor, sta.ted our by p.oviding rechnical worksLal,ionsfo. the CAD commDnfty. Today's 3D CAD systens run on powrlul Windowso-bascd PCs, somerimcs referred to as " C A D w orkstati ons-"that' s good new s tor manutacturing companies who a.e upgrading to 3D. More good new s i s that chi p vendors Intcl .-orporari onand A 1.1D havc bcen cmbroi l cd i n iierce competition for years, which has siSnificantly driven down rhe costs of 1,heif respcciive chips.ts .esul ng in LoweGpricedPCs_

A good-qualily workstarion capable of running tD cAI) systems will cosr approximarely $2,000to $3,000,excluding the monilo.- factors thal could increase the price in.lude added mcmory or thc need for a high-end 3D graphics card. In most cases, system pe.formancc is proportional to rhe processor speed ofrhe PC s OPU, though il is fa. f.om being the sole coniributor to pe.formance. Most CAD systcms will run weu on systems based on Iniel's Pentium"" 4 or XeonrM chipsets, or the AMD Opteroniv chips running e i r he. W indows 2 0 0 0Pro fe s s i o n a l o r W i n d o w sX P I'.olessional (rlz-bit). A performancc advanrageoI Windows X P P . ofe s s i o n a li s th c J OB mo d c , w hi ch i sn' l av ailablein Wi n d o w s 2 0 0 0 .R e c e n tl y , Microsoft int.oduced lhe Windows XP Professional 64'bii ope.arjng syslem, which wiU grcaily b.nefil e n glr eer s wor k r n g i n i l l ) r-AD . An oihc . f { c t o. t o .o n s l d e r l s l h e c a c h cs i z c o f thc co m puic r . A O I ' lt w i th a 2 M B c a c h c w i l l o ffc . better pc.fo.mancc than one with only I MB. To bettc. cvaluaic r.hc va.ious sysrcmi, you crn .xn benchnrark tests wilh real models, if possible, or chcck out standafd benchn)ark scores ot systcms .unning various 3D cAD sysrems ai httpr/www.spec.or8/gpc.

assemblies, the recommended RAM shoots up to 1 CB or more. "The first thing I tell my customers is thar they'll ned morc RAM tha either they o. iheir IT departmcnt thinks they'll need," says Jefrrey Setzer, Technical Scrvices mana8cr fo. Graphics Systems Co.poration, a Wisconsin based BD CAI) systems yAR- I rccommcnd thcy starr, our wifh I GB of 8AM and go up from there, depcnding upon how complex their individual part modeLsare o. the size of their assembly models. To lest how much RAM you wiU need, tcst thc sorlwa.e with rcal-worlal datasets. In ordcr to 8et rhe mosr, accu.ai e pi cl ri .e, tatrnchthe 3D OA D sysremal ong w i th other appl i cati ors thnt you {ool d l ypi cal l y bc hrnni ng on you. systcm,Y ou can track and.epo.l memory osed i n rhc W i ndo* s Irerto.mancesystemmoni to.. K eep l n mi nd that as the compl exi l y ofthc modcls devel opedi n..eascs,so does i hc dcmand for memory. Fo.tunatcly, mcmo.y upg.adcs have becomel al rl y l nexpensl v. H ow ever,you nccd to antlcipaLe the need fo. future memo.y upgradcs. One rul e of thumb i s thar i he R A M on C ,\D w orkstati onsshoul d be doubl ed every three ycar s. Fo. those uscrs who havc ve.y complcx modcls o. pul l l .ogether pi eces i nto an assembl y, they may fi nd that they are .eachi ngrhe ti mi rs of a 32.brt operari ngsystem.Ii your machi nehas 4 C B of memory and thi s condi ti on i s renched,i i i s oftcn seen a^s a " bl ue screen"condi ti on or an " oui of memory" error. Thcsc users will need to install the Windows XP Profcssional 6{ bit oporating system and upgrade their lD CAD application to a 64-bit

O Ho x l |u cn Manorylr E |l!ugh?
Memo.y is onc of the most important componenLs to considc., as mosr 3D OAD systcms .rc fairly memory-intcnsive. When a system .unning 3D CAI) runs out of memory, you will expe.ien.e a significant dcclinc in performance, due to the fact that hard disk access times are infinitely slowcr inan mcmory access ilmes. So how do you know hor much mcmory is enough? The ansver to that qxestion depends largelyupon the darascts bein8 loaded, as weu as on thc numbcr of prog.ams that you will run simultaneously. Most 3 D CA D s y s t em sr c q u i re a mi n i mu m o f 6 1 2 M B of R-^M, although for most engineers working in 3D CAD, thai von t be sufficient- 1l you will be running multiplc programs of working with la.ge

Ti r l mporl ancr ot l cl trol kl n,

While raw CPU processing speed is impo.Dnt, don't forgct the impo.tancc of a stable netwo.k, wherc bottlcnccks can bring producriviry to a siddstiu- Ovcrlookitrg thc nctwo.k is the biggest

mistakc comPanies make whcn implcmcnting a 3ll CAD systcm, according to Lutz Feldman, thc m ar k t ingdir c c to . o i S o l i d L i n eAA . Headquarrcrcd in Geflnany, the c om pany is a V A R o r 3 D C A D s y s tc ms . ' ln m os t c as c s .c u s ro m e .sre n d to fo c u s on r he qor k s t a ti o n ," s a y s te l d ma n . " Rdr ner wor k p c rfo rma n .e i s e v e n m o rc im po. l, anl.F r o m o u r c x p e ri e n .e , w e hav e t ound r hc g rc a te s tb o tl ,l e n e c k t he. e. l) er f o. m a n c ci s , mrs l i n rh i s ar c a f o. all c om p o n e n ts ,i n c l u d i n g nelwo. k . a. ds , ro u tc rc , a n d s w i tc h e s ." when im plem e n ti n gJ D C A D , t' e k l ' n a n bc liev esa goo d n c i w o rk i s th e n ro s ri mp o i . ant t o c o n s i d c r. c onr ponent l hc pr c s enc eo i a n e n g i n c c ri n gs e rv e r d c d k atcd to t h. us e ot eng i n c c rci s a n o l h e r c rl ti c a l c o m poncnt. Mq j c s k i n o te s th at onc A t t DV is ion T e c h n o l o g i c s , que s r t hc f i. s r l o n s h . a s k s ol companics of w h c th c . o r n o t l h e y havc a io J D i s r r ans it ioning c ng i n e e ri n g s e rv c r. dc dic ar ed ' lt lhc y don' t , th e n i t' s a .e d fl a g fo r u s ," s a ys M 4ies k i." W e i c L l th c m rh a l y o u n c c d to 8 c Lan . ngineer ings e rv e . i f y o u re g o i n Eto s o rk i n a c ollabof al. iv .w o .k c n v i ro n m e n r,e s p e c i a l l yi f the dalas et sar e la .g e .I w o u l d s a y l .h a t8 0 p c rc ent ot t he r im e, . om p a n i c s h a v e a n e n g i n e e fi n gs c.vcr. ! o. r hc 20 pc r c c n t o f c o m p a n i e sth a t a rc s l ,i l lon one big net { o. k , i h c d a ta s e l srre g o i n g to b ccome a hot . r lenec k I . h e y l l c a l l u s a n d .o mp l a i n that the CA D s y s lem is .u n n i n g s l o w l y , a n d L h a ts o ftcn the

O T t r P o * rr o l 0 n -! o a rdE r. Dh lc a
l l ven w i l h rhe fastestcompul cr avai l abl c,an i nadequal egraphi cscard can LcadLo sl ow rcir csh r^roq andj rnrr' r scrc.n b, hr\i or To di srl r) geomct.y on Ihe screcn, most currcnr 3l ) appl i .al i ons use el ther OpenC L (d.vel oD cdby S( ; l) o. D i re.rX _ (.l evebpcd by Mi crosoft). l hi nk ot OpcnGLand D i .ecl X as A I' l s, w hi ch appl i calions, such as C D p.og.ams, us. ro pl acc " cal l s" th r oxgh to display gcom.try. Ilolh slanda.d and profcssional g.aphi.s ca.ds suD por[OpenGLand D i .cctx; how evc., C D use. s si l l necd, trot.ssi onrl graphi .s.r.d Thn m r r n .liltefen.e belreen the two tlpcs is thc drivc.. I prolessional graphics boa.d will offcr many more supporred .ommands than a sranda.d card. which to di re.l s l he acl ual p.o.essi ng of Lheconrmands rhe car.l, freeing up lhe compute.'s CPLl fo. its mai n compul i ng rrsk. S ol tw are vendorstesl ,each of l he professi onal E raphi cscards and dri ve.s l o ce.ti fy w hi ch ones w ork co.rectl y w i th rhei . sol rw are, Theseresr s check for i ssuessuch a$ s.reen errors and du al di spl ay support-On thei r W eb si tcs, vendors list lhe supporied ca.ds and drivers. If you purchasc a ill) graphics boa.d md drivcr, make su.e that thc C A D vendo. has certi fi ed them.

A nor her c om mo n mi s ta k c i s i g n o ri n g th e s crcr will when it c om es l i me to u p g ra d .O o mp a n i e s fo. upgradin8 engineers' often ser a schedule personal worksr,ations but will forgel about thc seNcr, cvcn though an outdated scner will significantly slow dorn the perfo.mancc of ev e. y one' ss y s te ms .

WI en y ou c hoos ea g .a p h i c s c a rd . th c tw o mo sr importanl things to consider are irs graphics processing unit (GPIr) and thc soft{a.e drive. lhat takes a.lvantagc of it. Th bus betwen the CI'U and the g.aphics card is another important consideraLion. Thc PCI express bus provides a com put e. wit h: r b i d i .e c ti o n a l l i n e to c o mmu ni cate vith lhe g.aphics ca.d, thcrcby enhancing both the look and speed of the computr's g.aphi.s With a clea. path to the CPU and the system memorv, PCI Dxp.ess provides a much faster, morc etricient wav for a computcr to ger ihe inlo.malion it needs to .e nder c om pt c x g .a p h i c s . Som epr oles s ion a l3 l ) g ra p h i c sc a .d s a l s o o i fc r dr iv e.s l h a t w o rk w i l ,hc c rta i n o pr . inr iz ed p .of es s ionalapp l i c a l i o n s .T h e ty p c o f d e s i g n svou * h a l tv p c or rre wo. k ing wir , hw i l l b c s l ,d e l ,e rmi n c g .aphic s c a. d y ou w i l l n e c d . l fy o u a r. mo d c l i ng i n y o tr l l D C ID s v s tc m,a i a ir ly s m all as s cn rb l i c s l h a l s u p p o .rs y o u r a p p l i c a l i ol c a. d Sood- qualit y wiU wor k . I f y ou a re u s i n g a s u ri a c c mo d e l e rto cfc at e t he c onr p l c xs k l n s o f a c a r b o d y , fo r e xr m pk r , y ou' ll n .c d a h i g h -c n dc a rd to d e l i v e. the q u allt y jm agest h a Ly o u .c q u i re . C hangesin t ut u.c o !e m l i n g s y s te m sw i l l g i v . g .aphic s hoar dsa n i n c rc a s i n g l yi m p o rta n l ro l c i n com put ingpowc r. Wi rh th e i n tro d u c ti o n o f s y s re m ,c o d c n a mFd Mic . os of l s net o p c ra l ,i n g "L on8hor n, "t hc O I)U w i l l h a n d l e m u c h mo re o f the com puling t han i n p re v i o u s .e l e a s c so f w i n d o w s, mak ing ihe g. aph i .s c a fd q u a l i ty e v c n fto re

C al cul atehow much spacc w i l l need,bc generousyou you think rill need over thc next three years and then doubl c i t, Y ou w i u need i t - an.l the l arge. the hard disk- the lowe.lhe cost'pcr-megabyte of disk space. tn addtion, regularly rcview lhe amount oI f.cc disk space availablc on cAD workstaiions. tI Lhe.e is less than 400 MB of frce disk space, it can cause pcrformance problems. U rhe operating syslem has littlc of no disk spacc, thc systcm can become unstable or Ireere up. The avaihble disk space shonl.l be periodicauy chccked on l ocal hard dri vcs, l he C A D systenr' s backup di re.rory, the w i ndow s remporary di rccto.y , di rectory, l he i )ocunrcntsand S el ,l i ngs nf l hnse l u..ri ons an,trho norqork.l ri \n\. l t.rr J you space, haw cr wo l ow on avai l A bl e start runni ng o. removc fi l c. add more di sk spa.e opti ons; up addi ri onal sl ace appl i cati ons to frce and/or l ' ragmcntari onol thc hard di sk i s another p.oblem that.an affecr your systcm' sperl o.mancc,Thi s happcnsrhen l i l cs becom. s.aLi eredon tnc har d di sk, an.l i t .equi res mo.c ti me l o acccssti l .s- l t i t ai l l take r.hcdi sk bccomcahi ghl y l raS mented, your Lo dof.agmcnt di sk to an i rcrati ons mul i i pl c prcvcnt fraS menl rl ron,.un l evel . l o a.cepi abl c your on system , mai ntenan.e schedul cd regul srl y O If,!l l l D l . Morl t!f s

1herchavebeensornemqjor chang.sin the monitor mdkct that benenl the cngincering and CA! industncs

{t

H. r d 0lt k : H o w MIc i

s p .E r l s E l o !!h ?

By uLiliz ingt hc fl s I re a d w ri te ri mc s o f a h ...1 disk/controLlcr, you .an improve rhc rate al which OA D s oLt wa. cis re a d i n to a c o m p u tc r' s m e m o rv Fas rdis k s . nd . o n rrn l l e rs 5 l \n n p rrmi z erh e rerding and writing of data, making them arorhor i m por m nr c om p o n e n t.T h c h a rd d i s k tv p e , s p i ndl c spced, and data rrnnsfe..atc all alfect the svstem s ovcrau perro.mancc. h o w mu c h h a rd d i s k s p a c evoD W hc n alele. m ini n S

t
t

For one, Smphi.s cdds 3nd today s operating sJfrems, such rs Microsoft's Window XP, now p.@ide support for dual monitors, which cm provide big prcductiviff gains for engineers {o.king in 3D CAD- The other change h6 ben thc deflating p.ies of flat panel displars over the Lastcouple ofJars. T he higher r es o l u ti o n o f h i g h ' e n d m o n i to rs cnabl e engineers working in 3D CAD to see more detail in lhei. m odels- a s w e l l a s mo .c o f th e i . d e s i S n layout - due to the additional screen real estatc p.ovided by biggcr displays. In addiiion, dual m onit o. s enab l e n s i n e e s to d i s p l a y th e i . m odeLs on one s c . een ,w h i l e k e e p i n g th c c o m m a n d son

in other areas ot !he company s business- Plus, we re educating noi only lhe engineers on new techniques in 3D, bui the IT peopl as well." The Msnf,ger's Pe16pective: Todd Mstrsfield, S ystems E ngi nceri ng Team Leader, E C C O i: What s thc biSgcst har.lwa.e change a company should anticipato when moving ro 3D? Ai It lakes a lot morc of a compuie. to run a 3D sysLemthan ir dos a 2D system- With AutoCAD@, yoo .an get away with not up8rading you. machi neson a reS ul arbasi s. B ul w hen you move t o 3l ), rhe.e s goi ng to be morc data Lo.runch and that reqri .es a hi ghr-l cvclsystcm.w i rh l he cost of P C s dfoppi ng, rhar rcal l y i s no l onger a barri er . U ack i n 2000,to buy a ni cc C A D w o.ksLal i onyou had to spend $2,000l o 53,000. Taday,you can buy one that w oul d run 3D C A D sofi w are w tl h no probl em for $1,000or l css, cven w i th I GB of RAM

P r r lI ar

t r llh.

VA R

.e N l l e . (VA R ) p l a ys an T odr y , t he v al u c -a d d c d es s ent ir l r ole i n 3 D i mp l e m e n ta ti o n .A g o o d V A R will do m os t of rh e l e g w o .k fo r a c u s l o m e r l el p im plc m c nt inga 3 D C A D s o l u ti o n a n d 1 ]v i lh o f a d d l n e u s c down t hc t ine a s c o mp a n i e s intcgrated third.party software lools. vARs were onc e pr im ar ily i n th e h u s i n c s so f re s e l l i n g s of iwar ei how e v e r, th e i r ro l e h a s e v o l v e d . Cusl.ometsnow expecr thc "value"add" io include s uppon and ex p c .tts e , A s a r es ull, V A R Sa re n o l o n g e r s i mp l y p u s hi ng "boxes," buL rather are playing a kcy role in deliv er ingiot a l s o l u ti o n s to i h e i . c u s to me .s V A R S will be lnvolvcd in all facets of 3D implementattoni p.oduct sele.tion, integral ion, training, implementation supporL and automrtion. VARScan make recommendatlons rgarding hardware needs as welt as troubleshoot poienlial pitfalls, suci as network issues, file management, and dealing with legacy data. "We are much more a partner {rtn our customers than wc were in the past," says Setze. of Graphics Systems Corporalion. 'ln mmy ways, wc vc become offshoots of thei.IT department, as it becomes more and more difficuli to separate software issucs from nelwofk issues from g.aphics ca.d issues. So wc've become much more invorved

:; W haLdo you fecl are thc most c.i ti cal har dwar e componentsro consi der? Ai Everyone always talks about CPU, bur RAM is definitcly going to be a pfimary, if nol l,hr prlmr.y, componntto consi der.The amount of p.ocessinS yotr can hold in that .andom access memory is kcy. Aecause once you fiU ir up, lt slarts to page oui and utilize the ha.d d.ive - and lhen il, becomes much

H ard di sk i s the onl y other key componentthat CAD enginee.s need to consider. I woul.l recommend a decent-sized hard drive that s going to be able to hold your filcs, because now, instead otdeal i n8 $| l t 260K fi l cs. you re goi ng to bc de.ling with 25MIl files. Thcs. JD files are higge. becausethey obvi ousl y hol d more dara. one o f ouf lcnses is a 25MB file, and thaCs just one parr. Thotrgh those are important factors, it's really ihc eniire ststem. You nccd a last processor to crunch the dala, a big f.ont-side bus to pass ihe informalion, lots of RAII so you don t page out, a

bi8 hard drive to hold all the files, and a high RPM hard drive so il can seek vcry quickly. whar . hA ngesd o .o n rp Mi e s n e .d ro m rk c i n .cgard to networking? A: File transfer will be c.itical- Instcad of passing 2 5 6K f iles , y ou' . e p a s s i n g3 , 5 , o .? MB fi l s o v er l he n e t r or k , S o net w o rk s p e e da n d c o n n e c l i v rtva re pa.amount. You must have al teast a l0lo-100 Ethernet network v.irh good hubs and switchcs' b cc aus ct he t im e y o u ' .e g o i n g to s p c n d s i tti n g al , yo " r dc s k r np $ai ri n g i o r l i l c q Io .o m c d o s r directly relates to the quality ofvour network l i W hal. . ons idc ra l i o n sd o c o mp a n i e sn e e d to mak e . ega. dingt n e n e tw o rk ' s s c rv e .? Ai 'l'he key hcre is not only the size of lhe scrver, bul also lhe lault tolerance lf lhc s..ver is goinS to b c y ot . . c pos it or y , y o u n c e d l o mi rro . v o u r d ri ves a nd w. it e t hem t o L a p eb a c k u p . Yo u a l s o w a n t to hsvc a seNer that performs decentlv Therc a.e !w o m is t ak esc om p a n l e sma k e w h c n i t c o m c s to sc r v c r s .O ne is en s u d n g th a t y o u r s e rv e r i s g o od enough. PeoDle will typlcally build a server and then ncvcr upgradc it llnlike a desktop machhe that you wofk on cvefy day, all day, rhev don'r ralize that they work on a server everv day roo' Since it's nor visibLe to l,hcm, thev don t see perfo.mance degradal,ionover timc Becausc it gets ignorcd, it's nver upgradcd Tha sccond mistake involves lhe number or sc r ui. r s r unning o n a s c ru c .. Smrl l o r .o mp a ni .s wiu havc one o. two servers. They'.c going lo be .unninS DNS, p.int sefver, netwo.k antivirrs, on down the lisl. At the end of the day, trafti. matters. So a dc dic at ed sc n e r, i r a t a l l p o s s i b l e ,i s important. All those services a.e taking up CPLr time. So once again, yod'rc noi seeing the p c r f or m an. c oul o t ! o ' rr s c n F r I h a l v o u o l te r w i se would- tn our case, engincering puchased a scrver dedicatcd just to our PDM vault and our enginee.ing files. It s tougher for smaucr .om panir s be. au s . re \o u r.c s a re l i n i rc h u so m c ||m . s I hc y .c rn a l l ! s h o o ri n Sl h c m s c l \A . i r

th foot. Many people don't do the ROI on what il, costs to have an expensive engineer sitting thefe

The Mrnsgr' s P erspecti ve: Thrd P erki ns, D i rector of Mcchani csl E ngi nee.i nS , P apcr C onverti ng M.chi ne C omP anY . Whafs ihc biggest hardware.hangc a company shoDld anticipal.e whcn moving lo lD? A: lncreasing the frequcncy wilh which you .eplace your machi nes,w hi ch mcansgoi ng from a tw o' ro th.ee-year cycle to a 12- to 1S'month cycle 'l'he a.lual long.vity of l,he wo.kstations thcmselves is thc amount of key. Thc po* e. ofthc w orksl .ati ons. rhe memory, and rhe video ca.d arc also impoftant, Y ou nccd l o do a very tho.ough anal ysi sto evaluat c what thc bcsl selup is fo. your spplicarion Whcn w e' re gcti i ng .eady to upg.adeour machi nes,w e scrual l y condtrctthe bcnchmarktesti ng p.ovi ded by our 30 C ID vendor to val ual cdi fterent worksrauons and video cards. I think lhal s .eauv

':i What do you teel are rhe most critical hardwarc componentsto.onsi de.? A : The R A M i s cri ti cal , but l he C P u and the vi deo card are aU kcy ingredicnts. .hanB cs.l o .omFani Fsn..d ro make i n W I^ar to nctworking? regard A : Y ou w ant the l i mi i ati on to l i e w i thi n your w orkstati ons,not w i thi n your nel w ork W hcthe r you're working locally o. rcmotely with other facilities, you don't want your network io be the w eak l i nk- Y ou al so have to consi d. w hat hardwa.c upgrades you need lo make to stat curren[ with your nerwork in ofde. to support the

( urrFnrl y,,e ro l ookrngar seD ara' cre0osi rori. s that would givc us the capability to only pass the data that changcs, instead ofpassing eve.ythinS. Wc re trying to get our Imlian operations up to

specd. They 6ha.e some of the designs that we do, so we need better connectivity to ihcm, If we go with a typical connection, it s going to bc way roo slow. We might even have to go to thc ext.eme of getting a scrver setup that is identical to what we have hre, and only pass data wirh changs. \: What considerations do companies need ro make regarding the network's se.ver? A: Th biggest issue is comparibility. You have to make sure your se.ver is compatiblc with your actual CAD systems notjusl mechanical bul. also electric (ECAD) and hydraulics, pneumatrc, and lDb. ic at ion( U P L ) s y s re ms .

lhahileUeslg:r Lom

Advancingthe art of moldmaking

toolmakingcuts significanttime from what's usuallyn Unconventional
Paql Dvotak Edltor Senior budget And once ol a development ,'s not hardfor toolingcoststo devour400,6 molds finlshes, one product And whnproduction moldscan makeonLy constr0cled, years. deas, however, A few recent for shelves warehouse dust on uslally collect on thelr head. promise !o turn thesetraditLons toolin; leadtlmes' off traditional moldcanchopup to 1oo/o a Laminale For Instance, helpshave channels and flood-cooling producuon, pu! lts conformal into And when clcles evenmoretlrneoff manufacturlng parts a erlmrnares ard marrne ae-ospace at for- r9 large armed tecfnique Another ior needed tlme LsLallv 900/0 otr the lt alsocuts up to lo! of -ough,ng, canbe ils sufface molds when thls tool is no longerneeded, lowtempe-ratuie andcut againfor new parts adlusted BY LAYER MOLDSLAYER to make an ideafrom rapld p.otolyping oo.roweo ar Faat4m,Troy,l'1ich,, Enoineers of plast c so why pansfro|.]ma4yth n laYers bu'lds RPeqLipment la;inatemolds, moldslayerby layerout of sheelstock? not bulldlnjection toollng,slartswith a cAD modelof a part software callediamlnate Thetechnique, lnto manylayers, thls assembly 'lilds a mold basearoundthe part and then slices laserclts and punches sheetstock.A high_speed of selected cachlhe thickness sheet Th layersare then of eachsllceofthe mold into a steelor aluminum details of th tensileand shearstrengthol about940,6 pressed to achieve togethet bonded This lasttask putsa fine finishon the part machlned. i-20 steel,and flnlshed may surfaces ejectors and other moldleatures class_A and machines surfaces tool. however,sorre tiserssay3s-'nishedlaminale reourrc olatinotne laminate pa.ts,' saysFast4-n Rob VicePresident trrrnoLt acceplaole too,no iart surraces Esling. and 6061 steels, steel,300 and400 stainless moldsare madeol coldrolled Laminate molds and pressur-injection work bestfor high+emperaturc T-6 al!minum,Steels pressure But applications and is betterfor low-temperatur whilealominum good ve|sions For ins|ance, over aluminum tools haveadvantages stainlesssteel perform similarly to tools 1et stainless-steel ventingand lhin-wallconstruction patterns oue to are moraccurate doesnot corrode, lools but stainless aluminum aluminum. and it far outlasts andconlraction, lessthe|lnalexpansion placecoolng lineswherethey are mostuseful' moldsalsolet designers Laminate by coolant plastlc to the mold andis then removed molLen from the Heatconducis of lhe moldin the Thennalanalysls througha networkof internalchannels. flo,,ring predicts of hot spots,coolinglinescanlhen the location stageaccuralely design linesremove four to cooling or the part Theseconformal to tne geometry conr6rm gun-drilled lines. fivetimesthe heatof traditionally
The mold3&tlon Ir m.d. by lEmln.tlng.hel In th. Fa.t4m m.thod. Llght-Hq. fl@d.oollnl aotohotlvc p:.t surtuund thc part ..vlty.nd rh. In..t caD lnage,

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useslarqe-surfa.e channels that createturbulence Anotherinnovation, flood cooling. lines,with in the flowto carw awavmoreheatthan laminarflowin smoothwall heattransferfromthe part. A well-cooled eithermethod, the goalis to maximize intemalstresses and moldlets partscool uniformly andfaster,thls minimizing temperatures across trimmingproduction tims.Anotherbenefitis uniformsurface the corand cavityofthe mold, otr a 60-sec shave30 to 50o/o coolinglets manufaclurers "ltore efficient injectionmolding cycle,"saysEsling. "Largepartsare usuallymadein singlecavity forcerthat equates to saving molds.So in a machine capable of 7oo-tonclamping parts/year, that comes to $43.000 about$0.43/parr. If the job callsfor 10o,ooo annually," saysEsling, restricts toolingcanalsobuildlargemolds,However, currentequiprnent Laminate costslessbecause moldsof about4 to 6-ft3. Generally, laminale mold construction inexpensive materlalthat ls readilyavailable. it's madefrom sheetslock,a relatively mold may be I to 12o,.t lessthan the samemold lrom a "costsfor a laminate traditional shop.And it may rake.bout 10o/o lessthe," saysEsling. SUSTRACTIVE PIN TOOLING calledsubtradive Pin surface Gsnr.tlon In the lJ,K,developed an apprcach (SPT) on Tolin9 to bulldmoldsthat usea grid of rectangular "pins"mounted surface. The threaded rods.Theirheightcan be adjusted to form a roughneFshape pinsare clarnped is and held in placeby a bolsterwhllethe workingmold surface lvlolds madethis way are roughed and flnished with traditional milllngequlpment. manufacturingr superplastic usefulin abouta dozenoperations Includlng composite fonhin9,vacuumformin9,and patternmaklrg largeand short-runcomponenl shrlnksleadtlmesand costsassoclate4wlth "sFrT to an enti.es0lid manuracluflng by crealinqthe front fa.e of the tool, as opposed lnc., the NorthAmerlcan mold Insert," sayslim Grayof llm D, Gray& Assoc, and dlstrlbutor for SPTh Richardson, Tex, "Plnscanbe of plastjc,metal,ceramic, and we'veven evenwood,Graphit couldbe usedto makea largeelectrode proposed pinsof Inconel application," for a hlgh-lemperature Accordinq to the company, SPTtoolsslashcost and leadtlmesby up to 90oi, and it for largeaomponents, And RoIs are prolected In slx to cutstlme to marketby 350,6 18 months. lteratlons by addlngmaterial,removlng lt, or allowsraplddesign 'Thls approach both, Over9006ofthe mold can be rusedin future projects, We suggest savlng the produce model,not lts mold,and the systemcaneconomically one part," saysGray. as possible," adds "It's lmperatlve that the flrst mold be madeas quicklyand cheaply ls only an assetwhlleits beingused,Sofor low-volume work, it is Gray."Toollng ssentialtohavea reusable tool, when the surface on the tool ls no longeruseful, pin hightscan be adjusted and rcutfor new parts."Grayaddsthat Strf alsolets usersverifyassmblies, manufacture one-ol?s, and produce severalprototypes from the samemoldlo assess competing designs,
CADmd.l ru.ri<q oa. tln.l p.n.pD..r un. wlro-fr.m. blo.kr th.t r.pMt rh. plr.. r SPTperformance is governed by howclosely the pinscanproduc the near-net FoCnh n.& th. cAD nl...d.dlu.t. tt p.nlily geometry. shapeof the required In mostcases, composite sPTtoolsare morestable ...ordlngt. h. rbd.l (rl FE.gd {rL.. hd b..n rolgh.d Into th. cdtr than conventional steeltools.
Th. CAO nod.l h lor .tr HVAC du.t on r er. ' po..lbl. wlth F..t4m'l .hoM th. ohpl.rdry oollnq lln.4 In blu..

lhe vertlcal llghtgold lln lt. coppalloy b( two eter eh*t3rna ramln.t d mord.Th..llo 20 m yet shoE d6e.ont.ct wlth tlre

parameters canbe set to blendawaythe pin+o-pin Forductilemalerials, machining joint, usually a tempomrybondalongthe pin lessthan 50 m. And whennecessary, boundary may b usd!o createa "single" surface, MODEL TO CASTII{GII{ 10 DAYS Fasttoolingalsocomes a .apid-prototyping machine to build from skillfully handling with low-mel!materials, for losFwaxcasting. Thesecan be usedto makepatterns Forlnstance, whenengineers at Tecumseh Products Research Laboratory, Nw Holstein, Wis.,spotteddesignchanges in a two-cylindr enginethy wer developing, they wouldmodifya CADfile and sent il otr to th rapid'prototyping facilityat the company's measured about12 X compressor division, "Thecylinde|s DavidWadsworth at Tecumseh 14 x 16 in.," saysl4anufacturing Engineer equipment from 3D CompressorCo., in Dundee, l4jch."Thesls rapidprototypin9

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w rd crI r E uc s r t s I r . Lu rrl

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Systems built the enginecylinderin wax ovemight." After rorming, the wax pattern was coatdin severallayersof ceramic. whichwas bakedand sentto a foundry. Finish machining followed. But, notesWadsworth, total time irom receipt of the c:AD part took only 10 days. Rleto new functional

l.l.nut durlng .n9ln.6 wlth T4q|reh C.rpr'sCo,In Ounda, lllch,, ey th.y rEdr rbout 20 v..latl6. of lh. .B.ll-.ngln. .yllnd.r In ert m.t.l, ech ln L- th.n two w..k .

th nywh.cl-f.n lor r .onD.!sr l. h..L or DuEForm, a rugFd pla cr'Erwork on RP m.hln6fDm 30 S|at.hr. l*qm..l|'. W.d.wonh Ed thc D.n th.r wa. t.ter bolt.d io. .onpcsr lor phyJcat tstttrg.

rhc rktangul.r pln. In. Surt*. c.ne.rton b.lnt .dls.t d fo. h.lghr. Aft.M..dr . .t.n pln. tlohtly tog.rhcr tor rcushtns .nd .urt.( ott6 on th. Hru h..hld.. Tht. SubrRdv. Edq.d rad tlre..nd c6r. for t.EG not( 90'%.

Prototypeparts from productionplastics

partsln days let a vacuumcleaner Gttlngworkingprototype motor makerturn out workinglnodelsof a new deslgn tn a week, mor,englneers parts In Rynite,a maierlalstrongenough at Amatk tncr Paoll,Pa.,received injectlon-moldd to survivethe pressure generated in performance tests, Before bulldlng the parts,Protodold lnc,, l,4aple Plaln,lYinn,.let the motormaker"analyze part hodelsfor elmenB that mio leadllme," saysAmetek vice Presldent of Engineering Jams shawcross. dstgns on ne Instead "changjng of descrtbtng alterai lhe phoneproveda hugeadvantage In gettlnga functlonal modelIn front of cllents\4lthinone week,"protomotd created1OO or qualltypartsfor tstsby the engineering and manrfacturtng departments, and clients, l,4ost tradltlonal rapid-prototyplng mthods,however, deliveronly one part per run and use matertats th6t deformln rigorous p( tests To solvesuchproblems, functlonal testingwasoften put on holduntll productton motdscouldb devetoped, typiia y a i(

Prctomld.lcslOn.pel.l|3tr and Protoquotq the comp.ny'i. Wbba*d quodho.nd dslEnanalyrb ry.tm, lt An.tck 6gheE ECiv wofklnq pllot panr In fiv. daF for .u3torer demonsFationi and d6l9n

Th. moror deElopld by AmGt k (rtshD 6rc.t th. c.rbon bdrhs.nd ai.hddltng dfiu*r. lhe arh.tlrF spport.nd @rbon-b.ush rysten hang up.tde down iBted of topltde up.

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Moldmakingin a Rush
tchnique that shortens the Rush or "Rapd useof shophours"is a lean-manufactu.ing president of Pleasant by RonPleasanl, time required to makemolds,It was devised share3D workwith key suppliers. Ohio.to let moldmake.s Preclsiontnc., Kenton, and trim errors, design data, reduce the numberof changes, on customer designsThenhe uses Pleasant usesProlEWildfire to createmoldsbased and high_speed moldcomponents, hisown 14odular l4oldSystemfor standardizing milling machines. are moldsevenwhenits details features in ProlEwildfire letsus design '"Ihe associative jncomplete. withoutknowing the shapeofthe block mold cavities It lets us describe and fixesare madealong whilechanges itself,Thislets us moveaheadelectronically, in the final design." that all lements will be Included the way, confident and his teamset up a systemthat showed At a trade-show demonstration, Pleasant howa mold couldbe compltd in just one day. Injectionmoldstypicallytake eightto a new injection moldand of the show,the team designed 12 weeks,Eachmorning and assembled the generated then machined NCloolpathwith PrElE, the corresponding mold production injection moldfrom tool steel.At the endof eachday. a newlyfinished press,Overthe cours of the week,the team was installed on a 190+oninjection designed molds. andbuiltfivedifferent

Pleent Pr6l.ld'. c.vlty Rody p6rt'. oalt nodql.r nold.ohmn6nt th.t.ll bulld .tcl. Ih. compon.nb.ro edy @vlty d.r.ll In mny.ppllc.tlol

Production plastic ready for RP machines

the strengthof Pc with the flexibil ty ol ABS, and ABSthat comblnes rc-ABS,a blndof polycarbonate machines. stratalyt Inc., modeling) rapid-prototyping ls readyfor sveral FDM(fused-deposition parts,a blendhasnot blends are wldelyusedto manufacture l4inneapolis, saysthat allholgh PC-ABS and productlon, beenavailable for rapidprototyplng properties. lt is stronger thermaland mechanlcal lhan ABs, Thecompany saysPC-ABS hasexcellent material. ABSmodellng and featuredetallis simllario that of Stratasys including the FD14 Titan,Vantage S, and The new materialworksin several Stratasysmachines, for future vantageSE.L-ayer thickness canbe set for 0.005or 0.010in, A 0,007-in.layeris planned to usethe malerial, releases, lJsers must upgrade to the most currentsoftware

lh. h.ndl. aorth..lrcr mdc oa Pc-Aas.nd w. stEt.ry. npldprototypft rh. duabl. h.t rl.l lct bettsr pcdl.t .d-F Frforman..

The problems with traditional tooling

way usually staft with largblocksofwrought mateial that take weeG to procure. sheet stoc! Largetools madethe traditional laminate on the otherhand, is readily available. tooldesigned by Fast4m, problem. the las!consideration in tool design Waterlinesare another Theyare usually because otherfactors,suchas ejectorlo wherever they fit, often not in the bestlocations. constdercd moreimportant. So coolingchannels are placed In addition, the u: passages cooling straighFdrilled rarelybringcoolan! to hol spots.StraiqhFline lendslo produce laminar flowslhroughthe tool lransferheatlessefficienuy thanturbulentflows. And lastly,manufacturers with the prformance of a traditional moldmayjust dial downthe cooling cycle.But partst impatient

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4 CIIAPITR
::a tn the fi.st chapter, vreidiscussed the many beneflts n8 o f 3D des lgn,am o n g w h tc h a re fa s ter e n g tn eeri changes. automated drawtng creatlon deslSn .eus, and easler deslSn and management of a s s em blt esA . no l h e r b y -p ro d u c to fa 3 D l m plem ent at lonl s a h u g e e x p l o s to n o l 3 D d a ta a com panym us t m a n a g ea n d s h a re w l th o th e f s u c h a s m a n u fa c tu rl n ga n d d epar t m ent s , pur c has t ng. W h tl e l c g a c y 2 D s y s te msp ro d u ce one type of engtneerlng flle - drawtngs - 3D CAD tl l es' s y s t em spr oduc s e v e ra lty p e s o f e n g l n e rl n 8 tnc ludt ngas s em b l y ,p a rt, a n d d ra w l n g ftl e s . Part flles are commonly reLrsedln lnultlple and d ra w l n Ss rc o c a re l u l tra c k l n gof a s s em blt es b tw e n p a rl s a n d th e j r th e r elat t ons hl P s mu s t b ma l n l a l n e dto res pec t lv cas s e n rb l l e s effecttvly manage. There nay also be a need to a s s oc lat enon- C A Dd o c u me n ts- p ro d u c t l maS s' a naly s ls ,and r e s t re s u l ts - to rh e C AD l l l e frnm w hlc h t t was c r e a te d .In o mp a n l e stmp l m e ntl ng w o rk g ro u p w l th s uppl v 3D CA D I n a I nu l tl p l e -u s e r access w e l l a s c u s to me rsn e e rl l n g par t ner s a s c haln m a n a g e f tent o fd a ta fo rm s o m e t hat 3D dat a . to s y s t m m ay bc n e e d e d . O F . c t or ing i n F i l e f,l .re g c m e n t ,1 control schme that fully outlines the P.oper procedurecand srandardsshoul d be dcvel ope d very earl y tn the l mP l ementati on Most 3D C A D systemshave a meansby w htch are creatcd by combj nl ngparts - a assembl tes stnce dl fferent engl neersml ght approach, l ogl cal parts and asscmbl el heri l atc r ' l ndi vtdual desi S n can l cad to confusl on how cvr, approach, Thl s process tsn' t control l ed. U sers need t o the l ater l f versl on of 3D fl l es and be l atest to l tnd the be abl e assembl yand P ar t 3D eastl y dl sttnS ul sh abl to parts betw een rel atl onshl P s The rel atl onshtps. abl e to must be engl neers tracked. and must be to ascrtal nth c qutckl y dei erml ne " w here_used' tmpact of desi gnchanges presl denrol Todd MaJeskt, a val ue 3D V i stonTechnol ogl s, (vA R ) of 3D C A D added resel l cr the vast that systems,bl teves p.oduced bY 3D data tncreasel n i t di ffl cul t for makes C A D systems ustng contl nua companl esto manual methods of managl ngfl l es " l n a 2D C A D system.thc fi l e st.ucture Is fatrly easy to manage i n a manual fashl on,b!t w hen usi ng 3D , you i ncorP oratea minimum ol three dtfferent ftle .ll le.ns manrge PDM sFems lElp d5ign infoftation, holhdodmems 9p6 oIdesign rnd da|., hcludit{ ProFniessuct as d6criFim, srabs,nunhr,andc.sts

**

otany A n lm por lant f a c to r i n th e u l ti ma te s u c c e s s 3D CAD lmplcmentation ls effctlve ftle m anagenent .w i th 2 D d e s l g ns v s re m s e n g i n ecrs themsclves often name files in wavs that dlfte' from those oI other use.s While thts might wo'k wit h 2D s y s t em s ,i t l n o s t l j k e l y w l l l Ie a d to ' haos i n a dat a r ic h 3D e n v i ro n me n t A .a re fu l l y th o u ght out

r ,, ^ - :l :l :':-

rypes: part, assembly, and dfawing, says Majski. "Bc aus eof c han g p ro p a g a tl o ni n a p a ra me l ' system, most 3D applications maintain knowledge o t rhe I nr er r . la, t o n l h l p s b F ru e c n fi l .s V a n a g lng thcm ln a manual process is a bit overwhelming when you arc in a multj user envi.onment Product D at a M anas c m en t(P D M) s i mp l i fi e s th e p ro c e ssor d cter m ir if lg wher e th e l i l e s a re l o c a te da n d w h i ch re vls io. is t he m o s t c u r.e n t." (D Dat : M r nagt m e n r: u h , Yo u Il e e d l t

spcific needs of the engineerlng workgroup caprure ti l e revi (l on hr\rorl cs auromari cal l v al l ow i ng membersof the desl gnLeamto i nstantly access flles, determine who has workcd on rhem and see exactly what changes were made W orkgrorp P D M sol uti onsare easy to set up, requtremi ni mum techni cal support,reqri re no and provi de control s to hel p dcsign customl zatj on, i am membersavoi d makl ng other crrors that can si detrack dcsl gnschcdul es To prevenr englneers and desi8ners from overw ri ti ng fl l es or spcndi nSti mc w o.ki ng on the w rong versi on ol a fi l c, w orkgroup P D M system s sccure fi l es throuS hvaul ti nS vaul ttng al l ow s mcmbersof the desl gn team to share tl 1es checkl ng them l n and out of the systematl cal l y, vaul r one at a ti me. A ccessro vaul ted data l s only poss!bl ethrough the user tnterfacctrsi og adml ntstratl vccontrol s establ i shedby the w orkS roup,prohi bl ti ng unauthorl zcdaccessto val uabl edesl gndata.

Mosl 3D CAD systcms olfcr softe baslc data f unc tl o n a l i tyb u i l t i n to th e i r s y s t em ma nagem ent whic h m ay pr ov id c l e a tu rc s fo r m a n a g i n gd a ra an d v i e w l n g a n d m a rk u p c a p a b i l i ti cs co llabor at t on, o l er t he I nt er net. F o r s ma l l e r c o mp a n te sa n d wor k g ro u p s ,th i s ty p c o f fu n c tl o n al i tv e n gineer lng ' n add_ ml B hr s uf f lc e,but fo r mo s t m a n u fa c tu re rs a w tl l b c re q u l rc d s y s tc m o n dat a m anaS em n t PD M s olut ions l. y p i c a l l yl a l l l n to tw o c a tc g o rtes: wor k gr oup and en te rp rts e l e v l s v s te ms Wo. k g. oup P DM s o l u tl o n s ,w h l c h fo c u s o n th '

ofrhedeslgn PDM eluriotls otrs vflllinq, whidr6.b16 members liles ststomarElD, ched(ig $em in andod ol the ream rosham srong vdh onear . tme lo av.td wewnningffle6oredring d 'le

Besides engineerinSflles, workgro p PDlvlsysrems manag all types ofdestgn documents and data. inclqding propertics such as description, status, number,and costs.S omew orkgroupP D M sol utions

als o of f e. aut om a ti c!p d a ti n g o fb tl l s o frn a teri al (BOMs). To nake changes to vaulted data. engjneers simply select the items. ky ln lpdatd values, and thc sofrwarc aulomattcally updates all rclaterl BOMs

acri vi ti esof w i del y dj spcrsedcorporate di vi sions customers,and suppl j ers. departments. Ll ke w orkgroup P D M systems.entcrpri se l evcl P D M softw are perml ts compani esto easi l y ' on f uol and modi fi cati on of 3D the storage.eval uatton, fi l es. A sccure vaul t enabl esal l a!thori zed w o.kg.oups to qui ckl y fi nd and accessthc most up_ to-datefi l es. P rovi di ngacccssto the l atcst vPr sion of do.umcnts and data straml i nesrh prodtr ct dcvel opmentprocssand kecpsal l membcrs o l t hc dcvel opme.t tean, i ncl udi .g .ngi nee.i ng, purchasl ng,and matketi ng' i n sync manutacturj ng, E ntcrp.i se l cvel P D M sol rti ons faci l i l ate such a s col l aborati onand automateproccsses, (ti cOs) that can he lp ngl neeri ngchangeordcrs reducee.rors and l mprove ei fl cl cncy. ThcsP can al so hel p companl es hl gher l evcl .systems automatethe creatl on ol B OMs w hl ch can el i ml nareer.or' p.on manualprocessesand enahlc bctter .ol l aborati on betw eenngi neeri ng and othcr p.oduct devel opment manufacturl ng.

o) plu r or the E nt.rP ris.

With tncreased ortsourcing, cotrpanles also need t o bc able t o c ffe c i tv c l y c o l l a b o ra tco n d c s i gn , u p p l i c rs .a n d pr ojc c t s wit h ma n trfa c tu re rss c us t om c r swho ml g h t b e l o c a te d th o u s a n d sof m ilc s and m any tl me z o n e sa w a y W h e n d c sl S n team swor k ing o n a v i rtu a l m o d e l o fa p ro d u t are conn. c r c o r r \ in g a d i Sl rn l n c rs o rk . rh o p ro .cs' i s ref er r ed t o as c o l l a b o ra ri v ec n g i n e c rl n g A b v pr oduc t of c oll a b o ra ti v ee n g i n e e .l n gl s th c v ast a m ount ol digh a l i i fo rm a ti o ' r c a p tu re dd u rl ng tnc p ro d u c ts dev elopm ento l c o -d c s l g D e d l D M s o l u ti o n s p ro v l d e I nr er pr t s e- lev eP w l th a w a y l o a u to m a tc p ro ccsses m anuf ac t ur er s and t o ef f lc ien tl y c re a (c .m a n a g c a n d s h a re dcsrgn b u t l o oursi dc dar a not only a c ro s s th c o rSa n l z a l i o n a s upply c haln f ,a rtn c .s a n d c u s to me rs s w e l l B v t n d a u to m a tl ng lm p. ov t ng dat a ma n a B e m c n a wor k f low ac r o s smu l ttp l e s tte s .e n te rp rts cP D M s olt r t ionshelp l n te g ra tp ro d u c t d e v e l o p m e nt

type of sol utl on you choo sc t o of !a,hat R egardl css tmpl emcnr,P D M w l l l S ready tacl l trarcyour companys abl l l ty to managcthe copl otrsamo unt s of producl dal a crcated by todry s 3D C A D sv st cm s and (o prevent erfo.s tha(.oul d 3dd rl mc and . ost ro desl gn P roj ecl s.B oth l ypcs of sysl emscan also foster betrer and more el fecrl vedesi gn col l aborati on.el rhcr w tl .hl othe w orkB roup or throughourthe extendedenrcrl ri se l cffrey S rzcr,techni calservi ccsmanagerfor C raphl csS ystcns C orpo.ari on,a W tsconsi n- b. sed says that P D M systc m s V A R ol 3D C A D systems, grsatl y l aci l i tate col l abora!i veengi neertng.r r o. r s and prevent nctw ork ovcrl oad w i thi n compi ni. s usi ng 3D C A D . " 3D desi gntool s crcate v.,1!m. s of ro \l ,df.o o\er ' ncrw orr. ' n J ' l drd rhar rrFFd be col l abo.ati veenvi ronment.W i l hout a P D M sysr em , users w oul d be l oadi ngal l ol that data acrosst hc network every time they opencd th files. swallowi.g enormousamouD tsof bandw j dth,"says S etzer '

PoMsol$aresFems allownon_ Tolacilibre colt.b.ratjd, some andFfthasing $afi b .cds all .s manufactring CAD uscrs soch ddumenlslo $e vault ddmqls andto .dd non-CAD

He adds , ' A P DM s y s te m mi ti g a te sth e n e tw o rk b a ndwidt h pr oble m b y c o p y i n g a l l o f th e fi l c > n e ededt o wor k o n a p ro j c c t to th e trs c r' sl o ' a l ma c hines o t hei. mi n u i e to mi n u l e s a v e o P c rati ons a .e c om piet c lylo c a l On l y w h c n tb e u s e r w a n t s to 'ch ec k lr ' t hc c ha n g e sd o c s a n v th i n g fl o w b n ' k o vc r t he wir c , an d e v e n th e n th e PD M s y s t mw i l l automatically send only the files that havc actualry ch anged,as oppo s e dto th e e n ti re d a ta s e t

rerajn. These companies havc spent ycars thts reposi toryol data and bei ng a ble accumul al i ng to use and managethi s data i s ar i mportant componentto consi dcrw hen movi ng to 3D For thcse typcs of compani es,i t s i mportanr ro .hoose a 3D C A D system that provi dcs a meansol .onvcrti tg l cgacy data to a usabl eform The 3D C A D sysl emshoul d suppo.t the convcrsl onor exi sttng2D draw i ngs to sol tds and cl earl y some sysi cmsdo thl s bettcr l han others for some draw i ngs,convcrsl onro 3D mi S ht be si mpl e. For othe.s, l t w on t be S i mpl c 2D draw in8s w i tho!l auxl l tary vtcw s draw n a.curarel y mav be oi l i ttl e !al uc. S omc 3D C A D programsol i er automati c constral ni ngtool s that may or may no l he abl e l o sal vagcthese types of sl mpl e draw l ng s C A D systemscan hel p bv .l ,aramet.l c-based enabl i ngthe user to al i 8n cdgesand teaturcs 6crossvi ew s ol thc draw i ng. C onversl onol 2D draw i ngs thosc tbat havc be n dcfi ned usl ng 3D mat.l ces to posi l l on ttre proj ecrl on pl ancs ol ea.h vi ew - l s much sl mpl e r ' The conversi onof these types of draw i ngs by the sol l d model i nSsysl cm l s fai rl y cl ear cut. Tbc convcrsl onof.ompl cx 3D w l fcframe and surfacemodcl s can al so bc dl l fi cul r' W hl l e the dat a i s 3D , l he draw l ng s dl mensl onsml ght bc !n' l ea' and i n.ompl ete. Ol der systcmsuscd to crearesom c of thcse w i rcfranredraw l ngs ml ght nol bc suppor(edby new er 3D C A D systems U sers mav bc requtredto repai r the draw i ng by sew i ng or sti rchtngsurfacestogetherto be abl c to conv' r t lL ro 3D . Most 3D C A D systemsprovi de some form ot i mpor t tool s w l (h w hi ch uscrs can move l bei r 2D desi e ns i nto the 3D system Once l he draw i ng has been exportcd i nto the 3D sysrem,some type ol edi l ing tool must be provi dcd so thc user .an di t th' l! les To make l he edi ti ng easi er,some 3D C A D system s p.ovi dc commandsand an i ntcrl ace that ml mi c t har ol tbe 2D program so users can easj l y cdj t dralvings

L l Tar in gPDn one stePFurther

A p r oduc t llf ec y c l em a n a 8 e m e n t(P L M ) s v s re m e nablesa c om pa n yto a u to ma te mo n j to r' a n d i ' ac( p r odu. l dc v eloP me tta n d .e v l s i o n p ro c c s s c swl rh i h ct r c us t om er s ,s u p p l i c rs a n d e mp l o v c c sa m l d i n c r eas edr gula to ryc o mp l i a n c ,o u ts o u rc i n 8 and s v s l e msa' e tro duc t ac c ounta b l l tty T y p i c a l l v . P L M s E n l D rp rl s cR e sourcc l nt c S r at c dwlr h t h e c o mp a n v c x te n d l ng ( E RP ) th c fc b y s y s to m Plar ning " l tlcal p ro c c sscr a n d p r odu. t inf or m a tl o Dv l s i b i l i tv b c y oDdenglnc erl n gd e p a rl m c tts a n d p ro p a g atj nS chaln It ihr oughout t hc s u P Pl Y W hile P DM s y s lcmsc o n tro l th o p ro d u c fs p ro c e s s' m ov c m entlhr ou g h o u t th e n Si n e e rtn g l h ro u g h l ts e ndre p ro d !c t Pl . M s y s t c m sgui d c th e c n h a n cc thc to p ro m ts ' s l l f c c y c le.P LM t e c h n o l o g y tn tc g ra te d a n p ro v i d tn g d e s ignenv ir onm c n tb y ma n u fa c tu rl n g a nd e c ri n g . vi c w of pr oduc L.n 8 t a -c o n s l stcnt a p p l y s y s l e ms p l ant r es our c es.P L M m c o l s u p p o rt sct ol bus lnes sso l u ti o n s i n collabo. at iv ec r c a ti o n , ma a g e m e n t a ' d u s e of p r odu. r def lnit to n l n fo rm a ri o n .PIM s y s te m s .c quir e a nuc h h i g h e r l e v e l o f IT s u p p o rt an d c u s to ml z a ti o nth a n m o s t P DM m aint enanc e,

Dc alir g uit h L e g a c y D a t.

\' lo\ r nc s de\ i8n p ro j ' c r. a r' n o r i n i L i d rc dti o m scralch but are based on exjsting dcslsns Often th is legac ydat a e x j s ts s o l e l y i n 2 D fo rm m ^ r' otren than not stored in DWC (AutoCAD') format' For y a i a i s a n i m p o ri a n r asset m any c om P anie s ,l e g a c d great lngths to prote't and go to and one they will

without lcarnlng a complctcly new inle.lace and command strucrure. Taking this a step further' som e CA D s y s t e m sp ro v i d e a d i i l | g to o l s i n n ari ve DW C f or m at s o 6 e rs c a n o p c n a n d s a v e a n v nati ve A r t oc A D f ile w i th fi l c c o .v e rs i o n A not her pot c nt l a l b o ttl e l re c kto c o n v c rti n g r cgacy dat a t o 3D is t h e u s e o fs o l i d mo d e l j n g s y s tcmsthat tra n s l a to rs l ake don t s uppor t in d rs try _ s ta n d a rd lflto accounl the limc, cost, and elfort required to conv er t legac yd a ta to 3 D b e fo rc p ro c c c d i n S l t m iB ht not be ncc e s s a ryto mo v e a l l l e g a c vd a ta to rhe nr q 3D CA D \y s rc m: p e rh d p sl u \r .c rra i n com ponc nt swi l l re q u j rc c o n v e rs l o n l h e re af m any alt c r nat i v c sto c o n v e rti n Sa l l l e S a c yd al a and t hes e s hould be c a re l u l l y e v a l u a te db c fo re anv c onv ar s lonbeg i n s . Lur z lr eldm an,th e m rrk c tl n 8 d l r.c to . o f S o l i dLl no in A C, V A R of 3D C A D s y s te msh e a d q u a rtc re d try and to e s s c n l i a l Cc r m any ,belt e v sth a ( i fs n o t " l n m y rc a l _ w o rl d c onv er t all 2D d a ta to 3 D er pc r lF nc o, I w o u l d h a t. to 3 a v c o n v e rt n o t hi ng s ay s F eldm an .' D s l 8 nn e w p ro d u ts l n 3 D 'nd m alnt aln old da i a l n th e s o u r.c s y s tc m o f l hi s dal a' I f y ou hav t lWC d a ta , u s e a D W C e d l to r' If t bcre i s a c onc r c ic nec d fo .3 D l tb ra ry p a rts s e e k a n e xternsl d a ta fo r v o u ' pannc r t o c onv c rt l h e n e c e s s a ry M n y agr c e wii h rh l s a p P.o a c hto d e a l i n g wi th legac yda|n 3D V l rl ^ n l F .h n o l o s l e s V d j e \ki havccommon believ est har o rg a n t2 a tto n s m ls pc r c epllon s.e g a rd l n gth e v a l u e o f 2 D l egacv dat a. " T hey s t i l l fe e l l tk th e rc i s a l o t o f v al uc i n r har 2D dalar b u t tn re a l i ty , o n c c p e o p l c a re up and pr oduc t jv e ln 3 D , th e n c c d l o r l h a t 2 D d a ta dim injs hesex p o n e n ti a l l y T h e y i u s t d o n t a " ess i r as m uc h. T hey w i l l o c c a s l o n a l l yh a v e ro m a ke smaU o r I]C O s ,o n e x l s ti n g p ro d u c t s rnat edir c hanges , ar e out in lhe l n d u s try , b u r I re c o m m e n dth at thcy us e t heir lega c y2 D s y s tc m i o m a k e th o s c s mal l s ay s Ma j e s k i c hanges , " 0nc opt ion M a j e s k i re c o mme n d sto h i s c u srome' s f o. m aint ai. in g 2 D d a ta l s to c re a rePD F o r' IIIr!' d o c u fre .ts l i o n th' i r f ilc s of all t he j r p e rm a n e D t

l egacyfti es so that data can be acccsscdan.l r. creatcd in 3D latcr, but only on an as neded basis The Manager' s P erspecti vc: Todd Mansfi e ld. S ystems E ngi ncri ng Team Leade., E C C O .:i r A s a company,how di d you deal w i th thc i ssucsbrought on by Increascdfi l e management the use of 3D C A D ? A: We dealt wilh ihat by implementtng a PDM system-A l ot of.ompani s do a .cal l y good j ob of managi ngthel r draw i ngsor thci r paper, but they thei rel act r onic don t do too good ofaj ob managi ng data ftom w hl ch l hosc dfaw i n8sarc created As pan numbersand corl i guratl onsexP l odcas compa nlcs syst cm grow ,l t bcomcsunrul y.In an unmanaged you l l get l l ttl c ki n8domson both l ocal dri ves a s w .l l as thc n.l w o.k for each opcrator w ho sav cs fl l cs tn a di ffcrent fol dcr st.ucture.namesthl ngs di ffcfcntl y, and makesrcvl sl onsdi fl ercntl y w b at you end up w l th l s a w orkS rout,of l 0 peopl . who have l 0 dtffcrcnt w ays of stori ngthel r dara A s vou grow . you fl nd an on8ol ngneed l o sl andardl l . r bc w ork cnvl ronmcnt,and a l ool such as P D \' {does that for you very ni ccl y. It rquhcs formal tz.. l nami ng.rcvl si on.and ti l e s(ructurcsso ev.ryo ne 's w orkl ng out ofa samc l ocati on,i .e , the vaul r You don t w ant to squel chpcopl es creati vl ty b!t you do havc to havc some slandards. j } i W hy i s P D M so esscnttall o compani esmtg r aung to 3D desi gn? A : I thl nk i fs extremel y l mporl ant l n 2D , yot have onc fi l et brt w hen yor dcsi 8n thi ngs i n 3D yo u now havc forl r fi l cs that makc up l hal one part Th e levcl ol file management r.quired for 3D ts economi esof scal e l arge. than w l l h 2D syste m s. W hen you move f.om 2D to 3D , yor movc i nto muhi pl e fi l es w i th l o!s of.cl ati onshi ps and to keep al l th ose so thc reqoi remcnts references, fi l es straj ght j ncreaseco.respondj ngl y Obvi ously w hat you gct i s much better, bur thcre' s a cost t o

llow ts PDM uscd at you. compant?

A: We have a vault with 10,000liles and 80 gigabytcs ofdata that our PDM software is managlng for us wjth all the revisions and history. Wc also purchased an additjonal Web portal/advanced s.rve. modulc fo. the software, through whlcb 30 plus additional sse.s can access the vault for read'only It s b c e n a w e s o mc a cc es st o t hes edo c u m e n ts . b e c aus e lt enablc du s to p u s h th e a p p l i c a ti o no r t l o an unllmlted numbcr of users wjthout having to buy additional software. on top of that, we went onc step further wllh thc Wb portal and pushcd lt to o u r s upP lierand c u s to me rb a s e . On t hc s upplier s l d c , w e g i v e th c m a c c e s sto o ur d a t a ln r eal t lm e. F o r l n s ta n c .o u r p ri n te d _ c i rcui t b o ar d ( P CB )m an u fa c tu .e rtn th c P a .l fl c R l m has dlrcct accessi so lf we roll a rcvlsion f.om A to B i o day and plac e a n o rd e r, th e y w o u l d g o l n to our va ult . pull t he lat e s t s e t o f d ra w i n g s .a n d b u i l d to L h at .lt ' s r eally s trc a ml tn e do u r s u p p l i e . a n d a l s o l mp ro v e d s u p p l l c f co m m unic at t ons q u allt y . i ? : Can y our c us t o me rsa c c e s sd a ta th ro u g h the

customcrsarc pul l tng up outdatcd draw i ngs.w e c.eated an active servef page that dirccts oor crstomers to thc vaul t to get the l atst rcvi si on,so al l of our customerscan be guarantcedthat they are getring the latest revisions of evcrything. ' :l : l l ow much IT admi ni st.ati onts rcqutredro ke ep the systemrunnl ng? A : E veryonedoes hi s or hcr part i n mai ttai ni ng th systcm, so we dont have a fulftlme administrator. It s stabl c cnougb that ttj ust runs, and each indlvtdual who works in the system has been tralnad to do certaln things as far as lnputtjng data, so wc ve really been able to spread the load ol any overhcadto every t.am mmber.There l s no l T overhcadat al l . The real bcauty of the systeml s t hat w e rc not havi n8to manngcl t bc.ause l t s l he same tool w e w o.k our ofcvery day, the samerool that. our suppl l ersand customersafe pul l i ng frorn. an d thc samotool the generalpubl l c l s pul l i nSfrom, so evcryone ls always on thc samc pa8e. Ifs thc tool w w oul d use anyw ay,so l C s al l ow ed us to kl l l thr ce bl fds w i th one stone w l th no addi t' ooaloverhea d. {.l W cre peopl el nl tl al l y skcpi tcal about havi ngto Iearn yet another sofl w arc sysrem? A i Inttl al l y, you ml ghr havc peopl ew ho a.c about movl ng i nto such a systen!,b ut apprchenstve rhcn rhey se the benefl ts.A P D M sysremtakcs aw ay rhe rl Ine they spend l ooktng fof sl uff. w i rh all rhc data and Informatl on that a P D M system provtdes,tt takes tbe 20 to 30 percent of an engtnccr' sday spen( doi ng admi ni strattvetasks of f thcl r pl ate and al l ow s them to focus on desl S n. i l W har w as the pl an l o. deal i ngw i th l cgacy dat a? A i W hen you move ro 3D , the fi rst thj ng you have to do i s to deci de l f you r S oi ngto w ork l nto a control l ed vaul t or not. Y ou can t w ork i n tw o w orl ds. W e dcci ded to move everyrhi ngfrom ou r nerw ork d.i ve l nto the vaul t, bur not to al l ow garbagei n and garbagout, so w e used i t as an opportuni ty to cl ean up and cl ea. out.

A: We've cxtended our customers access to project files so they can see 24l7 the progress of their projects and thelr finished goods products ln th.i vaul!, we not only havc all the tnished goods drawlngs and the subassemblydrawtngs but also the cerllftcatlons. W rea1lyconsider this a customcr inlimacy tool tha! allows us to par$r wi$ those customers who have a need for srch an appllcadon. l) Ilow does (his diffcr from othcr manufacturcrs

A: Us ually when c o m p a n l e sh a v c a We b s i te , they l l d r op a bunc h of d ra w l n g s i n to a v i rtu a l d i .e .to ry, and thosc are the ones the Web sit. always pulls up. The problem is that drawings change every day, so t he downs ide i s y o u a l w a y s n e e d to re m e m borrd p r t t he nc w dr aw i .g s i n to th a t d i rc c to ry o .

Ur f or t unat ely , w e d h a d s o me b a d p .a c ti c e s.so a w c re b u s te d ,a n d i n m any lot ol our as s e m b l i e s c as es .it uas e a s i c r to d e l e te rh e m l h a n to fl x thcm \ heI s r . om e i n ro .o n rJ .r q i rh a n F rA i n eP ri nP c hangenot lc e (Ii C N ) o n a n Au to c AD d ra w ing we r e going t o c o n v e tt i t to 3 D So w e l i l e ra l l y unin\ , allc d A u ro C AD o l l o l a l l rh e w o rl 5 rd r i nr\ and s aid we ar e n o w o n 3 D We m a d e th e d e ci si on l t so i t dr ew t hc lt ne i n th e s a n d . a n d u n i n s L a l l c d was unav ailab l c .In d o i n g s o , w e re a l i z e dth at fo' t he nex t y ear , w h e n a fi v ' m i n u te c h a n g cto ' 2l ) dr awing c om e s u p , i t s g o l n g to ta k e tw o b ou.s bec aus cwe r c g o tn g to c o n v e rt tt l o 3 D It s gol ng Lo bc palnlul, b u t l n th c e n d , i t s g o i n g to b e nfl t ls i and ln all . e a l l ty , i t h a s T h a t s h o w w e d i d i t. on an as need c d b a s ts ,a n d th c p a i n w a s rh e addcd t lm c t o c onv c rt l n h o u s c a s n c c d b e A l o t of c om panies- a n d I h a v c n o w s h tfte d to th i s appr oa. h' wl l l rs e a n o u ts o u rc es c rv i c e i o do s om c of t hos c c o .v c rs i o n s l t s a n o rg a n i zadonby of ganlz . t ion d c c i s i o n .

5 CHAPIN
One oltlle more sBnficant benelils fo. comparies moving io 3D design is tlte fact that ii opeN tlre doo. to a host of add-on softwar and hardware products that can turtier sharpen thei. competitive edgebv enabling inem to shave mor time off de!lopment schedules ud dcliver higher"quality, truly optimlzed products to their customers. ThouSh there a.e too muy add{n products to discus ln this article, we'll take a closer look at some of Lheproducts ihat can help manufacturers funher leverage th raluc of theb 3D design can use the samesolid modelingmvironment ud seamlessly activate from within the CAD system. The upside for usrs in choosing Fom lhse ccrtned soltware lists is rhe assumncethat these products w[l offer interope.abiliry, associativity, and data intgBiion with thei. cAD sFtems. This, ln tum, result.s in faster design tlmes and lss room ior erroB. O tl n| | l .l l on .rd l !tl ytl !

O C ar llllad Sallurr. P rogrrfia

Ovr ti yeaN, the @ndor! of 3D CAD systems ha1 worked hard io bulld kcv rlattonships with ihid_partv vendorE,prol'tding useN with btt'in'class, lniegraled soLutioru that can help reduc production costE and decreasetime to market. lhese parher programs include add-on software for a myriad of functlons, from mdufacturing and a.nalylis to revFe engineering and rapid prcroq?lng. Most CAD slttem vendorE provide user8with an ample seLectionof industry-leading complementarv soft wa.re that is tuly intgmied with the base CAD svstm In order for softwar to be .enilied a! tullv lntegratcd, it mst go through rigomus iesting to nsura lts qualitv, compatibiuty, and level of integtion. Fouowing certification, tne software must maintain compatibilitv with subsequdt releaes of the CAD product ut order lo keep up with new nmcdonrftYLevets of integmtion diJter, however. lntegration mav mean that the soitwee ca read mtive fiIes into their own soi:ware. Some software p.oduct.s offer single_ I ion. rhe h igh.sl lc\ el o I intFgration window intgra of tiAtly integnted soft{d products P.oviders otreredhave scess to the CAD system's application proSramming interface (APD. So their add-on soitware

Ana(ystsand simulatlon software detver tangible ed quantifiable beneflts to th poduct development proc$s nalysls software - includlng iolerance ualysb, rmfteelemeni rnalysts (l'EA), computatLonfluid dynanrs (CFD), shd kinemaricvdyna.mics soflware - enable dslgners io test ihe struciural intelrtty, therma.l and flow charactedatics, and physical motion of nerv products while the designs st l rcside in digit l fonn. The advantagesto the product developmeni proces6 both in term3 of reducing rlje oven[ design c!'cle time a.s weu s the costs asEociatedwlth tradiiioml iesiing mel.hods- &re numerous. Simply put, en$neeN can dcsi$ better pmducrr frstef when allowed th Lqury of nnning muldpl 'whatif' lype scenaridc whUe designs arc st fluid and eas y changeabl.Once metal or ptastic parLsare cut, my subsequenidestS chrnSes ln bloat design budgets and denil schedules. Severalfactors ha! contributed to the gmwing us of CAE tools mong di8n engineeB. Thc cosi ot the mate.ials used to build protott?d ha.sincreAed, making it more expe$ive ftan e-verto do withour some fom of anabsis o. stmulation io pro!! out designs. Conversely, computor hardware costs have decraed siSnincantly, which has led to a wider adoption of anabsis tools smce CAE softwee requires signmcantly more computmg homepower thm other tt?es of softwe.

d$isns t0strdY mullhle ussrs ennblei Aulylls sofiwEru qulDlvcompar mlqusl.ianot.|s, t0lhot Nan urith a mounllngtnrkEl Inthh alamFle, d.5iEn !ad0nnsnc.. ls ltlcvlsi0E ldr pl33na hd|lsttiss byP!!dess d!siqn!d ol lords. Ird.d und a vrdaly

closely integraredwi|n 3D \'lechrni.al Compur'' Aided DesiF (MCID) systcms Enginee6 and clesigrcrs cm perfom simulations ad anallscs on nativ MCAD geometry,eliminntingthe nee'l for any data convemion. Some tuuv integ.ated softra.e also otrcrs tulLy associativitt with leadinS MCAD s'slems, so chages made i. thc original MCAD model are automaiicallv reflecte'l in rhe simulatlonmodel. C!'D. Computatioaal fluid dynami$ softwa.e is increasingly belng pul to use bv product dwclopmont entinecrs early in the dcsign proces ro validatc proposcd deaignswnib stiu on Lhedigital dr.rwing board cFD soitwarc enables englnaeB ro anabze fluid flow and/or hcat ransfc. in and arcund new dcsigns Without such lng bench tesl ing soltwe're, er.pensiveand time-corl.sum Evenwith suchp\vslcal tsthg, must be conducted. occur within a tmnsler phenomena heaL manyflow a.nd th.ough an or eirflow a fau.et product - a valve inside electronic enclosDre,for example - ma.kingit imposslble |o dsualizewlthout computersimulations, FEA. FEA is a numerical technique ihar calculttes the behavior of mcchanical struclurcs. Using FDA' stnr'r'res I'elements' a.c .livided into 6mall, simplc Dnits caned the svs&m cqualion, an solves when rEA software displars ihc physical behavior of a stmciure based on the in.lividull elemenls. flngineeF use !'ts^ toolc lo car'urare strengl h, dcfler'iion, stress, vibration, buckling' and other behaviors, in o.der IrJ.educe thc welght or matm'ze me Jefftey Setzcr, tectudcal services manager tor Graphics SystemsCorpontion, aWisconsin-bsed valuearlded r6ener OAR) oi 3D CAD sJ5tems,believes r,hatFEA tools help engineers guide desigs througn the development proces. "FDA allows the d*igner to make quicker and better.inlomed decisions,' sals Setze' This is possible becausevirtual 'resting' cm be done directlv on the soUdmodel, .ight in the software Anytime m engineer cones to a fork in thc road, where thev esk themselves 'shodld I go this wav, thai wav or trv a inird option,' FF-Awill giw them fte insight thev need ro make

Once tne {bmain of specialists, a growing number of Lh'ir anallsis softwarevcndoB are now desrgning amlysis toob specifica.lv for engineers who deal with who reom.rry crFare.lin a myriad ot cAI) syslcmsdd pfoposed so inquides' to wmt ouick answeB "what-if design; can move foMafd rapidlv md wiin greater conndence. ?\s a .esult, more Mllsis tools are now

ce samlessly a.ctivate compler CAM finctiorElity from within lheir solid modeler. Uses bewd, hovwer. While some companies may claim to be rully integnted, that may only mean that the sotlware reads native CAD Rles into lhcir standalone sJstem, which may haI limited solid modeling capabilities. Thi6 can r6ull in the loss of data l.hat would hav p.oven uscful ior manuiacturing. Often in these bp6 of ststems, MCAI data and CAM dara must be saved in sepaEte nles. F\lly inreS.ated CAM .quiftls no tnnslation of 3D OAD datar thcrcf orc, manufa..turing ca use all the dat{ to deiemlne the best proccss fo. machininS. wlen working fith fiLefomats lrom other MCAD sFtcms, the data can be tmlorted into the solid modclcr and repalred, if neccssary, belore generarhg tne mrchtning data. In addiiion, borh cAM data and the cAD daLl arc aavedin rhe same flle. Beca|se design changes are ineviiable, having a tuly inte$ated CAM solutlon is a significanL aset. At this stage of the procss, changesnearly alwar halr an ctrect on produciion deadllnes. When deign chan8esoccur, these program8 either automatically update the CAM file k) rflect thc charye or provide notitrcation to ule6 that addirional changes are requircd. A strd-a.lone CAM program may proltde limited alsociativity or My requlr sta.ting over when imponmg tltc model alter il s been changed,increasingihe p.obability of mbtak.s ad delats-

.onlxll!, mrt loldlslngCFD 8y!n.!!lnC thh !ul0m0tlv. alch hor much 3[Ilnaars cln batbr[ndaEtlnd !a!mov lhrDuch ln msk!dalllnmodlllcsllons 0tti! manlloldto hdlvldlllouttat drdgnt arlt. 0rddlorllrln 3paclllB

Boih FEA 3-ndCFD a.e used to innovate and optimize mechanical dslgns without the ned fo. exteNive phlsical testlng. When used propcrly and througl'oDi fie deslgn process, beginning wifi ihe concept phase, FEA and Cl'D software can lead to lower material cosls, a .cduced number of phylical protorypes and engineerlng chense o.dcB (EOOS),shorter design cycles, and posibty rduced Foduct-liability issues. O Co|||! ut or - l l d .d [. n !l trtIrl rg

FuIy inlegrated CAM soff.warcm help companic shae and arcid r,imeoff dGiSn cycles, .educe pro.iu.tion cosLs, costly ermm th^t ofto don't r@ ihir ugly headsutil parls are .a.ly to be cut, at which point flx6 zre exl remely expensiveand time{onsuming. Intcglal.i CAM $ft{are, lo on ihe oth$ hand, etlrb16 a @mpany to 8o sh'aiSiht mdufa.luring using the sane solid model created in the d6ign phs.. |nerehy climmlin8 any alalarransla'ion woB that cotld Lead io mistke on the shop floor' CAM software rlw is nnv integmted with MCAI) softwa.reshares a common inle.Xace,because the CAM vendoB of fi y cerl.ified soiiware have acess to the CAD soitvar's API. Though tlle AP! CAM developcrs crn use the sme solid modeliry environment, s users

o ld [ . . l! n

For 2D users doing mold design, there ar nary compcuinS reasonsto ta.kethe plmge into 3D desi8n. Making molds for compLx 3D parts in 2D requirB long busm.ssshere rimc is lcad rm. ln rhe mold-mal<ing money, stayng in a 2D dcsiSn environment will ewntually lead to lost businesis.And, with rcwork being the biggest rhral ro profitabiliv, being rig:htthe lirst time b of utmost impor'tarcc, some 3D MCAD systms offer mold-design specinc tools such rs d.aft dd udercut a.nal'6is dd advaced drafi

fcah,res. For mmplex mold desigN, tools such as automatic core ad cavilv features, side corc and lifter crcaiion, parring lines ad shnnking controls c& all help mold d6igneN get the iob done righl- Surfacescan bc used to help design .ore and cavitig in a mold Add<'n sofiiware p.oducts car turlher oprimizc tne ilesrgn molds by eUmiMting the gueswo.k L.aditionanv rquire.l b creale mold designs.These applications help enginee6 coretruct a.ndeabze ,rl tlpes of spde, runner, and gale ststems; autonatrelly balance runner svstems m &meve uniform flow in multicavity ed family molds; determine fte best gate localions and the optimum combinaLionor processinSpdeatcrs; estimate clmp tonnage, snor sizc, and cycle nme rcquircments; and per{om de.railed

the model looks on fte screcn, you ce'r tell how it will feel in somebody s runds untes a phtsical model is buill Wirir krdays 3D prinling technologies, a du.a.ble ABS plastic modelcm bc prinled in a matter ofhours Ar1Pr pa-sing ii aound a d6ign'review meeting the $lid model can be chdSed and anothe. phJsical part p.inLed on the 3D printer.' The two most popula. tchnologies ro. buildir8 Epid prolotyp6 ac stereolithogEphy (SLA) and Frrsd Depcition Modting (FDM). MaulactureN can eithe. buy RP mehincs for De in-housc or cm 6e one ofthe online servtcs ec mdy ouBid seNice bureaus. Se-veral now available that enable enSincers to obtain quotcs for rapid protot$es onLinein minuls md hec that pa.t h thei. hdds within days.The cnginersimply uploa& tne 3D CAD gcomer.y ad dcnncs Lheproiect s spccilicalionsi thc seMce hurcau cval ales the pa.r gometry, rcquired materials, lead time, and qudl ityl ad then p.ovtds the us. w ith a quotE fo. Lhep.oduction of Despitc the gmwlh in RP serice burear8, Todd Mqieski, prcsidcnL ol SDvision Technologics Co.poaLion, a v .R saJthai his companyhar sen a oiSD CADsysrcms, rheiIosn in growingnumbcrof.omtanics purchaqing houseRP m&hines. 'Wc'reseelnga lot of inic.ct in ln lhe co6umer especiaLly rapld pmtolr?ing machines, producis and medical dcsign lndustrics,' sqvs M4eski 'Thcse de companics that have been outsourcing in fic palt but ee now buying iheir own machines slnce machlne co6ls have come doM. The cosl lo acqui.c a machine md kee, it operating is lowe. thm the cosr ol uing aservicc bureau.'

O Iar ld Pr ololt!l[!
Despik tnc bezurinrly lilelikc rcnde.ings cre.aldn bday's 3D CAD systems, therc a.e manv inhngibles in desi8nstirat sinpLy cannol be accuBrelv conveved $rough dLglal rep.esentations tseing able lo phtsicallv hold a propodcd desi$ in your hand .an answe. qucstions suchas,how do the plec$ fit rogelhertHow dil the dc6i$ be used?Doesit work the wav it ts supposed k ? Does it have thc rtght fcel? Rapid protor}les (RP) can also aid in collabolation, espccially with nonrechnical membc6 or the deslg team' such 6 salesand markel ing peopte, whoee input is cnrcial e3rv in rhe design process Manv of ilese tealn membc6 have ctitriculty a.ccsshg the nuances of an lsomet.ic vicw of a part on a computef tn additlon, a real pa.t best convcJs the actusl physicrt size of the p.rt or p.odn.t. Using .apid protottllng ca also help avoid manufachr.ing mistakcs down the llne. Some problems are.lifficult to pinpoint on-scrcen, bdt thev will bc all Loo apparent whcn you're examinirg a phvsical part Solid modeling systems e capablc of geneting prcdn'ts oi alrnGl any shape and sirc; however, these smc pmdDcis might nor be possible or costrffective to make RP parls to.ce engireeE a.nddesigrers b think lhmugh the mardacturing steps an.l ce result in d6ign chmgcs tlat make ihe nnal pad edier and less coslly to build. For certnn industries, ph'6ical prctott?es d spe.iallv importa'Lt, says Setzer of GEphics Slstems Corpratjon ''RapidnrDbrWinS.somelimcs.alod 1D prinluU is indispensablefo. ayone desiging irem with ergonomics in mind,' sars seke. "No matte. how good

O n rrrrs r E n o lI ro rln g
Mecha.ni@lengineers oiLen have a ned to quickly re' create or t.ansform m existing physi.ar part or proroilpe into .eusable 3D geomelry that ca b ediled or modified. The process of r+creating a part that wa oriSinaUy created without omputers o. dEwings is called ".eve6e engine.ing. ' With 80 pe.c.nt of new desrgnsoriginal ing from existing desigB, reverse enginccring is gaining in use ,mong maufactureE. The n6t stcp in reve6e engineering is to capture the 3D geometry or the physical par! wNch is done using either a coodinatc measuring lrEhine (CMM) or 3D laser slrlmeF. After rhe data poinls de captued, they ae imporie.l into reverse enginenry softwarc, which abo comes in two wieties.

One t}?c of reve6e engineeamgsofi;wafe, somctimes .eferred to 6 "bridging' software, atlows the impon of point ctoud data Lom ihc digitiring equipment, ad ihen modifles lhe data into a lo.rot that cd be brought mto ihc use.'s cAD slsrem for editing.'l]rc other tvpe of reveFe engineering sollware captures pa.t data directlv ftom the imaging devices to create tullv editable, me bttcr b?e of rcrse engineering softwac is tuUv integfated wiih 3D cAD slstcms, enabling use6 to capl,uredata from m existhg pa.t and cre.aiee model - all lrcm within the OAD inteUigenr, feature-ba-sed srstem. Wiih this faturc-based approa4h, you can quickly crale solid models trcm existing pa.rtsor prorotype6 using a Proccss that is ftuch fster and less data-intnsive ihan the mo.e rraditional, poinr cloudScne.aling scanning method!-

ctrck for mechmical interfe.ences or other mccharil design e.rors. r p.oblems de dcrected, engineem ca corrcct ttrem in the PoB assemblv. usem cd changc part locatiore, move mounling holes, or edit the PCB shape, d1d ihen send the chages ba.k to ihe t'Cts design sysiem by creal ing IDF data ftom the assembly. T e Manoger's PcBpe.tiue: Todd MaNJleld' Sgs,ems Ensineering Ieam Leader, ECCO lvhar rwc of add{n soft} arc produ.ls do yo currently use at ECCO? A: Wc axe currcnlly using a photoealisl.ic-rendering sofLwee, a featur recognition soitware, a *ebpublishing Lool, a elcctronics design p{kage, and

: How is thc rendering soft{are used: A: We use it to illust ale prcducts for which wc don t halt physical prototr"cs. Mmy times, we are undcr wants pessDre to meet cataloS dates. The mafketing s1a-ff picturcsoflh6e new producl,s, bot we don'thavc parts fo. $em in"house yct. tb. our new cata.log,we provkled salcs and ma.keting wil.h a photo-rndcrd image ot sdenl prcducLs lhai they used in liu oi an actul phok)gmph. W also use it intemally for concepl dd visuali?ation during lhc concpt ptuse ol product derclopmenL Thy will hand us a napkin drawing of what lhey want dd $e enginecN wiu use the rendering soflware to comc up wlth two or rhree concepts of that idea. s rcllly a good concepiua.ltool we [9e qulle a bit, and lt's very easy to leam. ::'.: What dos teaturc re@gnition sottwar do? A: w}len you b.ing inamodel Irom an IGES,STEP,or any orhe. neutral fofmal, it tos6 au its history and a dumb block ofgeometry.That bccomes basica.llyjust imported body is usable but not edibble. The feature feogdtion soflwarc inrerogatcs that imported body md l,ries to re-feature the componeft o. part. It goes through the part and re-popdates the feature manager with all those features. Thc big benent is that once that's done, l) use. cd go into those featues to edit ftem, once thc model is re-popolatcd, you can go to the feature, change ttle valrc of it, dtd it resizes Dtomalica.llt which makes it pmetric again. It's avery powerful tool. We purchased mother comF1ny a few yem ago, md they rere Bing mother CAD system. When we brought in then CAD liles, they were nol tully popularcd. By nnning

0) El . cl r onlI [.r I g.
At ma.nymandaduring compdies, two t)?es of desiSns are often undertaken sirnultaneously: thc desiSn of thc clcctronics and the mechanicd desig of the product's srructurc o. enclosure. Tib dsigr scenario reprcsnts many duferent t}?es of producrs, fmm rclattvelv simplc bl and radios to extremely complex computErs md cals. Several softwa.e pmducts exlst that f&llitale thc cxchange of deslgn information betwccn rhe mechelcal desiF (M0AD) and clectronicdesiF @CAD) 'I hcse sofl,ware sttems aci s bidlreftional transLatoF betwecn the CAD s,tstcm and $c tntermedi.te Data Fo.rnat (lllF). n ele.lronid indusfy standard, IDF allowsfor the exchdge oiprinkd{ircuil boad (PCU) dcst8tr data bctween OCAD and MCAD s!rems using ASCtr data. The.e clcct.onic desigr systems enable engineers lo crcate ftechanica.l assemblicaof their POB dsigns,modify then iJ necessary,ad then snd tl|e chages ba.k to their I'cB d6ign softwm. Some of these eftwarc p.oducts use pafts libraries to position component models onto the board, p.oducing a ve.y accurate A*mbly oi Lhepopulated bo&d tf a componnt model is not alailable in the part library, some s)tems wilt Ne tne component footprht and extrude it to thc given heighi in order to Scnemle a componcnt model for tuture use. Once the mecha.nicalAsembly ol the PCB is c.eated, engineB can thm place it inro thcir product acmbly to

this software, we vere ablc to .epopulate a lot or thc fcatures in rhose components to ma.kethat pa.t more editablc rrd complete. !: How does ECCOuse the reb-publistLtng tool? A: This tool allots the uscr to post a websitc instmw ri) a sent so you can publish a 3D instant tbsitc to the web, which allowsfo. a collaboBtivc environmentr r'm doing a design ard tant olhers to check ili out and grrc me feedback, t can pct it on a wcbsite md send vou a tlRL to it. You recive it, click on ii, ad ii puus up the instant websitc. You look at the dcsign ed then can give me feedbek. The upside of that t mc is ttlat at th6 company, we hal peoplc all over the world constantlv working on dsigrs, so if we're trying to run a design bv our sales tem, we'lL blast one of thos out and incv can bc arywherc in lhe world md give us fccdback at ther the Intcmct liustspent leisurcas lon8 as Lheycan access a coupleofweeks in Chinaand nevermisseda bear becausc ofthls tool. Il'svcry powcttul I i? uow about the electroni. desilgl aDbmation A This soltwde alows uc to ts.kedata from ou. electrical (ECAD) packagc and conve.t that dala inlo nstive MCA.Da{rembly modcls We hev a lavoul desiSnerwho will lay out a prtnted-circuit board (PCB) and gct lr designed. Thcn we conver that dala inro ' mecharlcal asscmbly, so the mechanical grcup can wrap a housing around it. They rlsc the add-on sottwde to conve.t ECAD data into native MC/\D datt thal can tnen bc used fo. nechdical design i:i Whai wd the pr@edure for ihis prior tn osmg lne A Oitlcr the.ydialn't include a printed ci.cuit bot f'r asembly, which ws scary becausethc onlv wav to prove out its flt was to phj'sicalty build it, or we would 'ln a .epresnration of the circurt board Nemblv Howeve', a representalion is not always dimcnsionallv accuratc These packages help us bulld a dimeNionallv perfecr .eprcsenLltion of not only the PCB, but also all rhe electical components loaded onto iL We've built up componenl libraries, so the software pllls from rhose dd loa.ls the board with reat components DimeNional &cumcy is wry important becausewe do not have anv room fo. enor. We're running rolermces under a hmatredths-thousandttB of an inch

,:i. How is aalrsis soltware used at ECCO? A: We use it to perfom bsic stress aaltsis on our components in o.der to see where the stres concenfarioN are. lf we have Lsu6 in our tests, wc I go hack ed do an aBlysis lo see where te cm optimize the ilsign ro improve strenSth o. reducc weig:ht-We don't have a tull seat of anabsis softt:rre; but tlut's probabtv the next softwrre we'U buy, beca6e we'rc gefling to the point wnere wc could sure use some ofthat n cLionalitr. They now have drop tcsLs3 weu as sold ad thcrmal dElysis in |he tuI product so we're hopinS to do mo.e wirn malysis md less with phlsicaL testing h order to gi ir righr the tiBt time. lou cert affod to build it util it breaks,6 $c Lscd to do. The nm. ot the gme no$ Ls a llow importantis bDyingadd<,nproducts$aL &e cenilied by you. C D rcndod what'snice abouithe A: !.rom a cusl.meCsstandpoint, partne. proSram is Lhal knowing the rlgid crileria r1'c pa.tners have to meet is a nice guarantee-I would be very hesiht 10buy a product that wr-s nor ln thc panner a eoodfeeling because p.ogram.It givesthc cusfDmer you loow thesc p.oducts are well-tesled

S|XTNADE OFFSSETWEEN FFODUCT DEVELOPI'ENT OBJECTIVES

PRODUCT CREATIOTI

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PBODUCT DEFINITION
CUSTOMEBS MARKETING DESIGN MANUFACTURING

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CfiIIICAL SUCCESS FASTORS

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balance in place-rqual emphasis on whatgetsdone, how it getsdoneand whattoolswofk best. We co-sponsored the BestPractices in CAD/CAM study by Pete( Mark of DesignInsight to pull tie subject into sharp focusfor ou$elves andourclients. Whatweleamed ftom this study reinforcedour belief that EDS is settingthe standlrdfor the A product developmentproject is of comprehensive driven by the power of three main implemeitation product developmmt processes and elements: theculture oftie tearnmemtecbnology. (drc"people'), belsandthei.managers The task at hand is to help our the way theywo* (lhe "processes") andmanufacfuren, in genard the science and tools to convert customers era1, to undeNtand the basis for this tlrcirideas anddecisions intoplans for claim and tle benefits gained to be (the'tcbnology''). Weaal Foduction the sum of thesea 'linual product ftom thevirtualproductdevelopment developrnent envi$nment."Howthis envilonment, envircnment is created, ourtured and managed iskey!o prepaling aproduct for rDarket,

lntroductionThe Virtual Product Developnrent Environment

rSetting the Standard:"Best Practices in CAD/GAM"Study

Wiahin reason, "it is notwhatyouuse, but how well you useid' thal mates one company with CAD/ a success CAM andarothera failure.A poorly plannedimplementation will defeat technolog"y. the best The bonesof goodCAD/CAMtechmlogy tl|atwent to wastlie in the back rooms of manufactuers everywhere. Yet thereare somestandout examples of companies thatputtheright

IEDS'Vision for the Futureof Product Development

EDShasalodg-standing commi[|rnt to thesuccess andprosperity of manufaaturers asthehalbingenofgrowiDg economies. Our vision andreachextendwell beyond thebotders of North A.rDerica and ale not rcstrictedto a nafow setof industries. we support ntnufactuaing custorners in more than 30 countries. Ourexperience hastalght usthat there are tkee keys to success for rnanufacturers: rapid productdevelopment, flexibleandleanproduction, andrcsponsive logistics chai$.Agiliiy is thetermused asthenewmasurir1g

Virtual Product Developmefir 5

stick for ttre developmeDt and production world-class productl. of Agility has implicationsfor a manufactuerin termsof marketaesfJoDsiveness, prcductexcellence and businessoperations pedormance. Agility sparrned ftom betterFoducr practices develophent hasthepotential to crate anavalanche of saviDgs on the factoryfloor ard at suppliers, for example, in the hventory levels needed io supportFoductionand as imFoved operatingor maiftenance coslsoncetheproductis in seryice.

"Therearethree keysto success for

ment,flexibleandleanproduction, and responsive logistics chains."

The simptcity of agiliry, howeve!, mask the key challenge: To c-reate tue agility rquires arl integated view of fte business that enablessaategies for ptoductdevelopme , solrrcirg andploduciionto be formed aad implemented. Creating this vieq?poinr is ftequendybeyond the abilitiesof the companies themslves. mS Unigaphicsis arDong a selectfew that canhelpclientsdevelop t,lleintegared view of the business needed to defineagility in their own terms--+eyond CAD/CAM, beyond poduct engineedng. EDS Unigraphicsisonesuch company tllatcanimplemenl theseshategies using best-in-

manufacturers: rapidproduct develop-

classconsulting and tecbnologies ject of seveftl business joumal aad drawnftom mS' diverse intemalor- magazirearticles, andonerccentbook. gadzaBons, We won't delveinto it in this paper except to examine its chief confibutionto thefutureofmanufacturing, the notionof a "virtual product." VPD: Battle Plan for Product D6velopment A viftualproduct is thecomputerThefi$t siepto agility is rapiddevel- ized definitionof a goduct in all its and its perfomEnce, p.oducts--iriveD opmentof ftomcus- characteristics used to opemte, tomer needs aid designed for efficient and the processes assemble, testandrepairit. production. Today's viewoftle evolv- fabricate, product is fabricated and ing, leadingmanufactuEr embodies Thephysical assembled ftom materials and parts cusiorner-ddverlcollaborativeand produced by the partner companies geogmphically disperseddeveloprnent involvedin thedevelopment process. Wlere it is appropriate for key customeN to participat aspan of the development tcam,thevirfial product yieldsa customizFd physical product, builttooder. Thisprocess isloown as "virtual product development"or \fPD. While some may view VPD as .,- funllistic, we baveexarnples of out own customenwho icday routeams, Thisis asmucha factiodayas tinely shipproducbcreated proa1ld werethemassed desigt engineers in duced injust ihisway.Oneexample is the "seasof drawingboads" of the consumer electronicsl another h mili1960s aid 1970s. OrganizatioDal struc- ury aircraft. ture's arcchaDging toemphasizproject perfonnanceandaccountability. Technologies arebeingapplied to provide Hidden Partno6 in productivity gainsar the individual's Product Dvelopment: Responsive Logistics and deskop,amongmembers of a tean Produqtion Chains andfor tie total enteryrise. We will The othei side of the agility issue reviewthese in a latersection. olr thercslnnsiveness lbe resultof this tnnsfonnation centeis of sul} ofworkfromlocalLed arrnies offunc- pliers,pmducen and distdbutors of Product development tionally expert designeBto leaner, products. pracplay a pmmicross-functional teamsconnected ticesandtecbnologis gains nelltrole in realized across severnl companies ftomsuppliby tchnoloand withinthefactory. gies is a phenomenon Thecompleknow as the ers "vifiual corpomtion." sideis generally This is thesub- mentary dividedbe-

6 I Mrtual Product Development

tlr'eenlogistics-supply and distribulion-and production processes. PrDduct development tecms inlluence the success of improvements in each of thesenrea.s. Paniculdrll' within the concept of a "vinu.rl product, ' also Islo\ln as a digital master model,on{ime deliveryofdigiLd product inlbmation to suppliersor fJctones males responsive supply and p.oduction chainspossible. Product developmentpractices havethe largesleffect on product cost anddircctly influence suppliereffec ljveness. lick of flexibi]iryin produc tionor bgisticsoperltions will nullify thegainsin product devebpment flnd

inhibit true manufacturingagility. Theremust be a bdence.Involving andcertiBing key supplie early in dre product developmcnt processis one xnswer-Adapting production facilities to the principlesof cellular manufacnlring ftrough group tech nology andclasscoding (GT/CC) of prrts andassemblies hasalso worked f or manv manuficturers. Each of the comp.nies srudicd by Pelerlvlarksshowedsomeolthe benefits of couplingproduction and logistics $rough digital information lionr productdevehpmentteams demonstrating the advmtagesol- a workingprrtnenhip amonsproduct devekrpers. suppliers and producen.

POINTS OF INTEREST

Introduction
t

Virtual Product Develoomentl7

Part Desrgn Tables

Usean existingpartasthebasis for a design table. Usethe dimeNionsandaddtheminto a new design table. This lab reinforces the following sldlls: r r r Inserting design tables. Editingdesign tables. Usingconfigumtions.

Openthe existing part part Design ?able. Createa designtable using Auto-create and edit it asshown.
Add dimensions. Conhol-selectall the dimeNions, with the exceptionofDlGMain, in the Dimensionsdialog. Add them to the designtable. The current values are added automatically.

ffi ffie ffie

E E r!

Add configuration. T)?e in the configurationname sizel asshown.

Copy the row, including the configuration,to addadditional configumtions.

; E=?:

! I a :6 !2 v

E YSSE
iii!

a ilf

p pB9
Edit cells. Fiit the cells for the Size2 t o Si z e5 configurations. The changes are shownin bold red text.

1Z 2.5 S 1 3 UNSlJppeEssED 11l52.5 '-12 2,5 5 | 3IJN$FFnESSED i::115 25 5 t 3 UNI|{FFRESSEo

Add feature. Double-click the Holes featueto addit to the design table. The currentstateis added automatically.

T L 6. P.'l tu.ili

T.bh

F 66Ag
E !.Y = E
1ZZ5 513

; E= f E

E;: ! ? z?ie 6

ggsgE

,f--l 6,1 |

;l I

d.f.ut 1.25 25 5 I 3 UNSUPPTESSED Si!.i 1.25 2.5 5 1 3 UNSUPPFESSEo sizd 1 2 | O.l5 2l UNSUPPRESSED Slit.3 0lt5 t.?5 3.5 omi 2 U{SUPPRESSEo SE.rl 0X25 125 I 0l 1.075 INSUPPRESSEo &zd 0l I 25 0,375 tl5{ STJPPFSSED

Close the design table. Click outside the design table to close it. lt should create five new configurations. The names are the sam names that appear in column A ofthe spreadsheet. Try the configurations,

P{t D.5ir! Ltb cor$grdan(.) dfd.t I Pdt Deiq| T.ble I sizl tz.2 Fe3 5H 56

(d.fa*)

l0 (Optional) lnanges. Make the Size3 configurationactive.Double-clickthe Hofes feafureand changethe value ofthe BoftH dimensionto 0.375" for This Configuration. Click OK on the message box. 1 1 Bidirectional changes.

and Aom the ConfigurationManager Chooseeachofthe configurations testthem. Editthe designtable, Edit the design tableusingEdit Table.,.. Setthe state to supprcssed for the Holes feature in conflguration Si ze5. Clickoutside thedesigrtableto applythe changes. Testthe edited configuration. Testthe configurations, focusing on si ze5. The Hofe s should be feature suppressed in that configuration. (Optional) Add sPreadsheet funclions. Edit the DesignTableto between relationships establish Make cellsin the spreadsheet. (sideR) equal the SideRadius to halfthe centerto center (Ctoc) distance. For example, = cellc3 will be D3/2; cellc4 ,will be- D4/2 andsoon. AUSER NoTEentrycanb the' added to explain the betrveen relationship columns.

a iq -a
25 l5 1.X 25 ,t2

os
5t 5l

3 3u 2

0.85 1.25 3 0.5 0.5 1 21 0.375

t.x

!l
:

il
!rll

The change is madeto the activecotiguration for that dimension.The change to the model forcesa changein the designtable.

z - Ez I p6
E:V 1.X 2.5 5 1_X 2.5 5

2
E 1 I

g' I

o
61

12 Saveand close the parL

i
:

E !:

E:

p6 $ s ? i! ?
1152551 t52551 oE5 t5 3

q E n I
3 3 2

s
6

0.5 |

Yo$ng's ffiodLrlss
The Young's n,odulus obtained ffom lhe tens|e or E= 6 / E : a = F/ Aa : t = LL/ Lo bendrng test descbesthe corre ation between tne stress o andslrair e. Witha sufficiertly = force low level of (N) o/o strain(onlydefomatiorof below 0.5 is generally AO = initialcmsrsectjon oftestspecimen (rirn:) ,ppropiate, wher a linear corrclatior still Drevars clrange In measured length brouqht abou! lore anooebrrationl, beMeen riootes Law aootres by force F(mm) lorthe Younq 5 rnodulus = onginaj E: (mm) length

Wa!!thickmess
Since thewallthickne5s goes intothemoment of iner- With thesoiid BaydLrP (Bayduro syttems I tO,Baydura tia to the power of three, thechoice of waljthickness C5), by contrast, it is possible to exploit the hrgner has a geater impact onthestiffness ofa partthan the Young s modulur to nrinlnlze wall thickness vou19 .16 ;po,es s nodu,ut llilea silfeni-g effecTt. oa't,culary !o tfe foaaed Baydup@ sysreis Recommeided wall thickness range (8ayduP60), since theYounq! modulus has a relative BayduP lloj 4 bis10mm. lylowband widrh Recohmended wall thickness Enge Charges,r wa.r!htckness pefiniEed are wren design.. BayduP GS:4 bis40 mn. inginteglal parts. skin foam The upper andlower ifhit onthewallthickness isdetefrnined bythenat!re of SJdden najo.changes il wrlltflc(1esr shoL,o -ornaltheintegral skin foam system. The pfofile density ovef ly beavoided onaccount of thetendency to wary. Fil! thecross-section andthe exothefmlc reaction probterns n the rng crf also giving occui ,seto defects ii the paft deiefmire thefiaNimun and flinimuri wallthrcK.motded part ness. lt should, however, be borne In mindthat an rncreased wallthickness genelally efgthens the Flow pathr thatbecome narcwertowards the end sho!id defiolding time. beavoided wlth Baydup CS aid withintegfalskin foanr part,0r should beposltiored below theliquid level. Recommended wall thickness lange Baydup 60: I to 15ftm Wallthickhess tEnsiiionr should never (incorbeabrupt porate a taper of fadiLrt

lf

Makingflat surfaces stiffet

A drstinction is drawn between two different scenanos nerel @ constant wallthickness: 5 cambr ng thesuiface E ifcorcoratifg steps E bead5 E folds

E varyrng wall thickress: n ibbing E edge formation

Gmbnng parts Warpaqe occurs on flat, aeafea boxshaped down. afterthepat hascooled

parts Th! sidewall5of recta.gulaf, box{haped whic,h pofile tend to suffer do not havea circumferentia indertation afterdemo ding.

of steDs Incorooration pan stiffiess fof jlst a in andaho corsiderably ncrease to the ncorDoratjon of steps Litile attention i5oaid pats,although mate al outlay. steps do offera small thedesigi of large for appllcation anddesign wide ngeof possibilltie5

Beads pattefis, withbead asis Flat sudaces canbestiffened pmcessing practice Diagonal in sheet metal standad a twodimen' ina bidto achieve beadr a ircoiporated parallel while beads, by consionrl inforcing effect, lheirorgi. rasi provroe ony uflax.a'e.nfo'cenent.n tLrdinaldirection. effectrve oeaorng conslilutes a relatrvely slepped flatareas. means ofstiflenlng

(A)

(B)

l.

' (cm') Jr- 0.074aa ji 0.0943 a' {crn')' Moment of resigtance {cmr)

l:18 I i 2.09

lj -;0-133aricfnl)

(cm'). a1 lr : 0.197
(crnr) Moment of resistance = W 0:265ar

W,^"= a' W *-0.169 ar 0.102

a' Mtr= 0.139 a W:* = 0.293

l:1 6

1 r2 6

a' W,- 0.395

CamioBan of th. nttns ond stenqth af ibs lA) anda beodntu.tuE (B) to 6ennet) af Fa.t a dnd A.2o ldccdtdtnq fot a wo thickners

Folds aregenera iy corrbined with stps and afeured n thederigr of high-vo pans. um

Ribs Ribs arear effic ent dengneement whenit comes ao inoeasing load-bearing caprciq/ and stffnessn partt n 0r0er jt rsrec t0 avord peaks stress andnotch effec$, thataresubjedto fiexuralstess no.Wallthtcknesses can or,rr,rended that z radiL.rs be incudedon the rib ar me be keptlow permrtting savings on material. Theth nner po nt where itjo nsthe flat sudace A denrold rg drafr wals ard shoirer res dence tinrein the nroldmake for 0r at least l'9houd be pfovided to keep theejectior greater cast-efficiency ir pfodL.rction. iorcereqlired for demo d ng as ow as possible The re gtt 0' falsve.e . b( ,loulo nore\_ed 0.7 Imeg The follow ig informatior should beborn in mridjorrlb the heghrof longirLrd nalribs. structtres:The stiffening effect of a ribwi onlybefeitif theheight oftherb issevera greaterthan rl b oeonetJ times thewall sR. 0 75 5 fl EavdLp .to thickness, s,thatis beirgreinforced. 5R<SF Bavd,P60 .nP ro tu) s -{5 Theposition of the ibs is of decisive impotance wnen -le r'btcar De aoaoted ro t,e oeld..gmorer! cL./e oJ ,r,conLes ro mod velri.g d.r.lg:.f'et i .g aadtaar -g neans pfofieoverthe ofther height .ur .. rle structure being tttff- onaser0 orevent bubb es,the flbsshoJ,d ened.In otherwords, thetr heightc!n beduced towads dlrection offi ingaid shou d becoinected to thepantheedges thatafenotsubject to stressing They shou d be rngplare if possible. pfenttally ocated on thestde s!bject to tensile oad. ingon account ofthe favorable stress distibution.

t JHM M MC E H f f i f f i

ruHKffiffiHUKffi

l
:

posidoraf nah eibl ladda ibt

Seleet o tlantEBe dbh.ight dnft ofhotEs h.n 1 a > l'

thedbs ihinway to avoid thisisbymaking face. The is ncorrectlydlmensioned,riateialcan lfthetrarsition :s An aitemative wall on lhe fla! tJr'ace. ner lhanrhe at the pointwhere accumulate the bateof the ib visible s!rface whlch willconceal a stepped this willgener- to employ reiofoEed, meeb therurface beinq and ofsiik ma*5or lheflatsur- ths'defect'. to lhefomaiion allylead byai unfavorable b georietry ma*scaused Avoiding sink

|n@o3ing$e nunbet af ibs

Carceoln.nt by d spe.idlynatgnedtEp

Formatjoh of dges parts Lar96area ca| be stifJefed through an apprcprl ate desrgn of edge. Desrgns 8, C andD should beg v, en preference on accour!of their untform wai thickness. lf , c rclmferent al bead(A) is relected on the basis of optical appearance, thenthewallthrckne5s rr the edge zone should not be rnore thantwice thewrir

th ckness ofthearca beiigstffefed on account ofthe leadercy to warp Edge designi with Lrndercuts sho!ldgeierally beavoid_ e!, srnce these reqltre an e aborate deriqnof mod.

bmax ;' 2s

I
T I
I

*i,L(A)

J,L_
(B)

(c)

(D)

I
Rinfotcinq elenenis Whee part5 arcsubject to high loading or have forces it is rot generally recomnended parts that metal be acting or specific zones, it isnecessary to make use of mechanicalJy anchored by means of a perforation. lf stiffeiing (rnetal, elements pJastic). wood, thereinforcement istooclose to the Baydlp surface, entraoDed ,rrta't resu t througf lneDe,fO.atOl betrg Theinsed mlsi be aranged symftetfically over the "skipped over,, andthebubb e canexterd to thesur. cross-section inorder to avoid deforhation. li the deal face in unfavorable cases, case, thecenter of gravity of the Baydup prcfile will coincide with thecenter ofgravity ofthefeinforcifg ele Thewallthickness between the insert afd the moro meni be> 6 nn wi!|" pory,rell-rne a bJl< oen. "va'shorld 9!) 0. less tfa. 604 kg/ffl ana> 2 rn wlrr a bLtk good Ensurirg adhesior to metal inseTts fequiEs no! polyufethane density of more thanEoO kg,/rii. Lower onlya grease"free tLlrface but al5o rilechanical rougrF vauesarepemtted over small arcas. TheWall tntcK. enngo'rhe u9e ofal aoo.op'rte bondilg agenr ness isdpendent ontheflowconditions, theviscosjty aid thereaction kintics. The inserts should similarJy beat thesame tenperatufe piortomold asthe nroid fillnginorderto ensure !nr- the inseru must befixed in such a way thatthere ar form flowing ofihereaction mix n0obstac esto theflowofthereaction mix.

l'

Caaldkttioh af the enz6 ol gnvirf af pon 5t and tnsenmsssecriah 5F

thatthe anoistr.rlecontent s nottoo to ensLrre effect, inserts areused betaken lo theirreniorcinq ln addition Ari e\cessively highmoisture content rlaLiols ,10 Io lerrll iri_9 high(< 10 o/o) ro cLce nd-enrlaLLU-1 polyurethane, a reaction with the creatrag a must w ll causa When wood ls used, care diaglamt. eiernents Gee

porous (de interfa.e, andbLrcklin! amiratior) flexible, \rood oui fit s notpossib eto drythe carnot beruled itssuiface should besealed withacoating. lufficjbntly, l,\'erLre.s ro lfe czse w:rh melal Co_rrry '1serrs. nohighly-compacted edge zonet made of non-fietals, highlevel of heat diss fofindle to theinsufficiently panon. thesarne advice applies asfor ApaItfrom thi5, g elernents. reinforcin

load applicaton, it may withpon!-type be 0n designs of to provide local rcirforcemert by ileans fecessary A distinctron mustbe drawnhere metalingertr. parts andparts that areiiseded between foamed'in (only thaded bushes r thislattef c!se). afterwards ir place, whathas WhermetalpalB a foamed of metaf reinforcing been said lor thedesign already general it isnecessaryfor elanents basically apples.ln in such a way thatthe' mold to bedesigned thefoanr willnotmove undel in poshion and even insed isfixed fiix. theaction of thereaction foamed ln piace, carc thoL,,ld When thiead'ed iirserts arc in thattheyareheldin ihe mold beEten to enguie onall aieiot sr,rrfolnded byfoam ruch a way thatthey sides. al ioer rat s LSed !r rrrorcefent soec Wler g'a55 0n bepaid to fixinq thenat in plac. attention,should easily bedone byclarnping themat flatparts, thiscan padihg plrane. the case of comionents withA ihe ln ln pronouncbd design, rt is better to threedlrnersronal glass pfefom prcduce to match the contour ol a filst poduced. being thecomponent for optinLrm readjon mjxis essential A low-viscosity The cornplexjty ofthemold. impregnation of themaE. pocessing pad technology determines the ed - int|o (cois y delab higher requrle lntoa cLosed mold duction of the andfoamirq behavior ments ontheflowability preiiminary n distr bution an open reactioi mix)or (minimum mold iow lenqths). of upto 25o/o Class conterts

f fillers areto be used, ihenthrscals for the ,pprcpriate q/pe of equipirent meteflng Ginglestrckepiston urits mixrg heads s!iiable forfllle|s). Twotypesof advantage areessentially expecled frorn fille15: { savings on polyurethane rawmateria s E lmprcved processirg andfinalpropert esofthe poryulhare, r.e A reduced eridence time in the mold ! rmp@ved surlace finish r raduced thrirkage(lower peak teflperature rn cactior mix) r reduced the nal coefficient ofexpansioi ! inoeared flexural stiffness Setagainstthese impovements, however, area n!mberofdifficulties whichmustnot be neglectedi ! I processing elabofate plant ab|astveness

prob/ems E reease e rnrpaircd flowbehavior .edLcr =' \erv Lo.s deable on 1 -oac1 5i,e.grr (notch effect offile4 E anisotropy Infibrous fillers Fillers also have a rnainly negative impact ontheprop erfles of foameo Bayo,l. systems. A s,igrl lcreate tl themodulus ofelast city rr bending arda reduction In shrinkage is more than offsetby verypronourced embrittlernert, which rneans thatfillers canno! beused parts in demanding under any circ!rnstances. Fillels orlymake sense tfthecost ofthera\{matenals i5thepredonrinant aspect andtheeftbrlf,r ement can jt is porsible betoleted. lJnder these ci.cumstances, to addinexpensive (such fillels aschalk). ln thecase of solid naterials, theincEase ir themodulusdueto the filleris even prcnounced more The impact strergth geatly isalso impajred.

I
I
I
N

T
I
f
The mold hasthe perfect functior ofprcducinq notded stantThe varlable factors thathave to beincluded in pa18 jlstifiable for aneconom cally outlay. For some thecllcuiation are thecycle timeand theovelall moro oneproducinq paft,the cos8Thedegigr a specific nulnbef of molded parthas of the molded a keyinfu, hourly nachine rate aidthecost ofthe materialberng ence onthetype of mold selectedr processed areoperating expenses which femain con, Standad mold Stdpper mold This isthesimp pading lest desig n;a single plane;open.Thishas thesanle c teia aslhe simplest plus nrold, ii9 movement movement injusta sing edrec- denoldlng with, strpper plate. - guide tion;denrolding priria ly through achieved lorce of glavity; pins(possibly ejector operated via a. ejectof pratel.

i
I

fl m
Ell

splitmold Sliding plane; partnq movefient n ilreprn' opening A single to ths cipal dirctron of flow and at ght angles guided byiiclnedprns. through spiilr

rnold Split parting p ane; movemert rntheprin' opening A srigle to this cjpal dircctioi of frow and at ght angles plane. guided byan irclined twoofthree splits through

opened hasbe.nonttnd) kdiry plate

Fillingtechnique
polyurcthane a per noldings, Toachieve defec-t-free nto the must be conveyed feaction mix fectly.mixed The vkible surface without any tLrrbulence. mold caviiy po9 pointdownwards part where should ofthemolded sible

ftan obow thnuqh edsting

incofiect

Partingplane
Thedeson shoLr d rnak a lowance for molcveri ng Rounded areas shou d be avo ded n theve|ting zone if a r thatbecofies trapped dueto the position oilhe mold caniot bee iminated vtaa part ng plane. lnsorne .a-es r r,aj bo oo):ib e -o 1:: oo aieaddLo t, p, : ng planes, andhence vertiat on planes. through the gn of ihemoid des

ffiffi
Flowhont I potting phne

I
inprcvedv.hthg parsiblethtough patrng plane ePosiliahed

control Moldt mperature

govens parts temperature theformation of the ona repoducible basi5, it i5 rtysldace Topoduce Bayduf pcisely conouterskin ofthe nolding on the one hand and the flow to bekept at a assential for themolds the behavior of the eaction mixture on the other Thetempetu deviation at ?olled tempeture. +/- 2 'C 5inca notcxceed thecav. mold suface must

b\d.tln ir.d bNH ts io i hts)

fu

u,itono,E!'tirtnod.

part ofth. molded tenplrature contFl on$e quality Influence of mold

- iduttd orbt shr hnalldl

uoh bnrytn!

bohigh

o hi4 btifr. olEt srinhns

nold Enp.nan in utitt pht Distinilot ord poothet oad6tr ploa noldnaqhl 'rih good .o.tluction fu cdtlv tla' ondce ,hrr

tnssinilat nou dnp.atutr t\augh ci@is ,trsl'! tpacngb.tv..n coaling

The following drafts shoLrid betncuded in thedergn, th porntwher the molded parthasattarned sufficreft dependirg ontheheight pafii ofthe moded stability and Lndergone only minnral warpage.

-i
I

Lrp to 200nm more thar200mm upto l.5o

Demolding mu5t additionally becompleted rapidly over thefullheight ofthe molded part.

porate thedraftofthecore pa.t be designed tide, since themolded with sriding or folding sidesectrons. can benoe readily released from theoltercasing as Apaft fion thehigher mod costs, th; ouday onpost itsh iks offthis. treatmeit isgreater, since flash develops atthemold

onpartsrikehousinesirisfrequenttysufficien*oincoF IJ::#Fll;":,ji?:ffi:;it#;:T:i:

;X1

Denordinsr,oftorrrhecoeisirruencedbythe,esi.:Tfi.fli1T,ffi:,iff::ffi
dence tineir thernold Denolding must commence at ing.

Dirnsnsioning radii
Radii preference should be gjven over ahgled edges to thedircction offlowcanlead to enthpped ai( this wherc they willnotaffeci partiig mold orventing.Thecanbeavoided throirgh the appropriate roLrnding or minimum radius should be2 nm soa9to avoid fotch drafts (stress peaks) effeats andto pefmit theformation of theskin zone in integlal skin foam systems. Aloigride n cases gtingent which gpecifi. arenotsubject to any this, theflowfront of theeaction mixdetermines the cations, theradii should bedesigneJ to bea, lafge as design of the radii. Angled contours running counter posrible.

-ffi

0) incamct, shapautu andinnet .dg. ra dEft b) cod4 ouE!dndinr.t edgsbund.d,wls ||ik

hfluqce af ndii on skintune tumatian

Acufiulations of material
ofthe time n the molds a furction 5ircetheresrdence of of the rioldedpart,accumulators wall thlckness reasons. In should be avoided for ecoromrc material mateial to achieve extTeme casesit is not possible at a I, or account ofthe syslemspecific acc!nulatiofs Whe the paft design wiil a low, rcaction kinetics. cnss-sectrons shouid be broken uC therefore, compact theyshou d bereduced in altemativeiy, by dbsor barsi gizeby hollowing or rninimized out the cross'sedion ' oftorpedoes. lhoughthe iisertion strucacc!mulatjons leadto an asyflmetnc lf rnatefial thendeformalion ofthe padwill turein a cnsesection, (dissimilar temperalure build-up, have to be expeod dissimilar shriikage).
pon warpoge I tiat4tot octunubnol at th.@ueornotaea

b---effi W,

cross-section
gen. 0nflatparts witha ckcumferentia bead, thewallthickincrostsection 5ho!ld s!dden, laqe.s&le changes < 2J. (factor iess dlffercntial5hould notbetooextreme ofthe tendency to warp. li erally beavoided onaccolrnt problems design, thedissimilar lriction rert eading to With ai !nfavoGbl to this, filling canresuit, addition /.f.d. ,n fh! d^lrcrl n:rr mrxadvancing toorapid. tance can lead to thercaction y,a lowing iormo ingufficieit opport!rity d venting. problems wlllnotcalse corsticdons n thecross"seciion position can betelectrespect toflow ifthefoamrng with the iquid thattheconst ctjon isbelow edin5uch a way of th5 typeare ocated level. Thenearer consfictions prcblenswill path, themorc towards theend ofthe flow out beiow or encountered with the faclofs 5et be viscouty ofthe reactjon m x increasirq accoont ofthe insuffi cient compaction (plnholes, over-rolljng) surface defect flows lines where neet s weld (pinholes, layef coripaction) nsufficient outer afi enrappeo
I

behaviot i. the eo.tion lubulenceandpau flDw nu wilh a tuddenarahgein wal tht.-kng

s2

dueta d panaun@dconstucrcn Flawdistutbahc.

For economic reasons, part shoud !e a inolded des.gned rl s,cf a waytnat tt c.a1 oe prodrced ir a i\rvopart rnod. Withthe appropriate demolditrg drafts and thinwalls, itispossibleto incorpoEte sio6orhotes in theside wallwithout theneed forslldes oraninsert.

t t

Wik tuffr.jent clening af th. side, hols @n bep@duc.dwMaut strd6

whereapertuesarc arfanqed alongside eachother (ventrlatior slots, holes), the barwidths or barcrostsec. values, not be lower thanthe minirnum tions should not be exceeded. and the fiaximumlergthsshould surface to the materialvol. Since the latioofthe shear ly ,eryfrgh, rfe ba's s'oLld beg.ver a Jme s generz Thedirectonof the bary'slots should conical shrpe.

corespond to the diredjon of foaming to ensure that the bars without riy entfapped arefonned air or weld lnes where fows nreet, different sincetheseweaken the mecharical ioad-berr nq crp.city (denrold;ng tlar 'v at _gl-ta-glesto *e -ar. Ba's/slats 'orce). dircction of fillingshould be po5tioredbeneath the po5sible. levei oftheliquid where

,l
T
grcow ahd holes aE bestlocatedundel SlaB, he liquid leal ond in the diEctionot flow

removal of theflash, themod co in lhe dernod ng d rection, tha fla5h should always Tomake foreatief side ofthemold form onthenon,r'isible 5ide. not|est ontopoftheopposite should give beseated 2 nm i1!oii -hEw ll then bLtshoLrd perpendicularflash rernoved The higher mold costincufied lr achlev rg perpendic" thatcanbeautomatically fa5hreo,iret ularflarhhave to be sei agairst the manual wo* Nor'oerpend cLlar siTpyby gnrdng. non.perpendicular flash. andholes thatareplaced livolved in eliminating manual deflashiig. 0n slots

slot5wt nary.Aendiculor flosh

with pependicrlotllosh Stats

Undercuts
lf it is not possible to avoidan undercut on design then the mold musteitherbe equipped with 9founds, sldes, part pfoduced or the molded with inserts mai aredemolded together with the pan.Tle lse of loose nserrs will redlcemoldco5ts but wiil alsoentarr an Increased cycle !ime.llolds with sl desshould alway, beused whe'eprodJcdo. tgto be .Ll wrr me I-glest evel of automation. Possible It should be bomein mindthat muhi-pan molds wftr laxeral slides, coe 5lides or inser8aresubjectto more rapd weal are moreexpensive to purchase ard a alto morepone to malfunctrons, necessitattng mofe reparrs. Stringent requirements are additionally inpoged on the fit andsealof the lateral or coEslide in metaimolds, since tha reaatior mixtle canpene guidegapsandcurc. tratenaffow Theselfrleaning of the 5lides problerns alsoposes on accolntof the pr6 nounced adhesioiand hardnesr of the poly!rethane fesrdues,

Bossas
genelly Bosses are incorporated to facilitate mecnan. icalassembly, orto ac!assupport bearings orspacers. The design ofthebosses isthurlargely conditioned by thefunctlon theyaleto fulfil.l\,,latefial accumitlations inthedesigi should beavoided. Toprevent thedevel, opmant ofai.cushions it i5a good idea to connect the bosse9 to theouter sufaces part ofthemolded if po9 sible. lf thisi5notpossible positiof, or accouri oftheir thebosses should bedegigned'with a rtrongly inclired wall,lf the bea ngsudace needs to befullyfolmeo, ther it willflequently benecessary to make theboss higher thanfequired andthenrn.nually nachlne I ro thespecified height.

Mechdnicotu Enaw hotaiot k

I
FJl!.1b-1"d beo.19 s,doc" n..!o" or,, onoeaba*,v,.,.nql

Awlding or.uhubnans of ndtendl

Unfohtuble,duett t ukulotian of nat naj

-.."Thed mens ona changes prt that resuJt in a molded :re made up in geneGl terrns of, shrjnkage anda warpage cornponent Dimens ofal change Shr nkage lloldiig shrnkage Warpage post-sh'rin kaqe

Shinkage * .1 vs- + ' 100(oo)

Afur the poyurethane parthascooled to ambien! tern pefature, postshinkage pace.Thisis essenra takes y attnbutab eto postcung Bactions andrtress laxrtior.

Alitheparameters thatlnfluence tenperaturc dislrD!ton during theprodLrction process affect the evel relaxalior of Srress occu.s wnerno.ecJles arcrearran..j shrinkage. This falbastheresidence tlmeln themold Morecu.e ra'Ergenenr o'tt's ryp.r incfeases andrises withihewallthickness, ""nieir* densityand thfolgh a full ii the young3rnodulug over tine, fof
m0 d lemperalLlfe.

Post{lring reaEtions canbe explained by the factthat thereac! on mixture in theskin zone has to culeat mlch The tern shirkage is used to denote the percentagelower temperatures (no d temperaturc)than ii the core charge rn a length, expfessed in temsof the corr6 zone (exotherm up to 200 oC). This canlead to varyrnq sponding dimension of thecod moldIt ts assumed degrces of postcrosslinking over the cmss.sectton, t.e, ro rhar rhelelgrlreas-reo pr1 .j a lodifrcrion of tl^e ont1ecolo motdeo prfie.r andlercero d.me^ svess ltfaightlf it s curued, gonalcfangei thei warpage issuperimposed TLtis o.ocess wr cf s teTlpe'aureoepenonlhesh nkage. den!, cin be5holtened thfolghtheappropriate formof ar-ealing a! a 'rigl'lenpeture.

vs-Maldi.g shtinkagc;Lw- Matddineneonat 2O"C; L- 2inension af kaided pott dfta 2q6B haua or 2eC

exarnple

WaFage Warpag is tr5ed to denote the deviatron of a moaea oad fton ils !a'get t'raoerrror-grsu.'aces becorrng curved 0rh4rsted, orthough aigular dinensions urder. clrange. 90ri9 Waeage dueto pfoduction cangenerally beattributed to geometric (matetial faclors accurn!lations, asymmetria crosrsectioht, insufficieft stiffness in the moroeo part), materiaLspe.ific popenies (coeffic entofthermal expansron, Young'9 rnodulLls, den9iry) andternpeEtur& dependent influenctng va ables heai o6sr{dissimjlar patro/r through tempefrturc differentiu ls ln the mold singlesided prds whei stored). cooling of molded lf shrinkage differentiaLs canno! be avoided, the srtent ofthe effective wErpage wil Lrltimrtely depend or the fLrdLra fergrl o'*e pi t. Th6 ncease.wrhile length oftheresrdence I meir theriold. The shrrkage that is rmpeded in ths waycauses ,n fherenisrress state, whichis ab e to relax agatn whenlhe part6 rr useandcanthen eadto wapage. pats at Largeare, fsk of wafpage arclhusalov/ed !o cool down lowy znd relax in spec al clamping devices.
WoqaEe afo ngid int ggttkin pU fooa poft duetb th. bcdk h the a@nh@tial prcfih: a) tdtE.t tun; b) octuoltatn

wdtpdgetn thephnle ond ftdifr.otoh thtuughqa\,i8

Wo Dh."Da' i a..rrer.a, ^ ibbtnq Heiqht of cnsttibs h - A) H

part, gner generaiy ln lhese Wheir a molded thedes caset, theovezl pad mLst de5ignrng be di\rided up n a parts works a aqe numberofrndh agical manner intoindlvidual tiratcanbe con, of thebasisofconbining part Thisis possible v dualelements ntoa slngie with nected to each other aftefmolC n_a There BayduP, sinct d spaysqoodflow properties. I A distnction is drawn are,however limits on achiev rg a coripact design between deiachab e,detachab e joints: with imtatrons, ard non-detachable problems :4 foam engineerrrg aise n resped of the joints finish detachable turface - screwed undercuts are nvolved detachrble wrthiimirat ons - snapfitjonts E elaborate s moldconsareioo high nonJetachable - g uedloints to be mobile a fie p.ns need a sto|age s costry s transpotdjfficu tresareencourlered (transport costs)

joint Screwed
joint is usd par6 ard to connect finishd A scrcwed parts ght iastening assembly to each other. Easy andstfa foMardintenhargeabil ty arethedecsive factors in the selection of th s i/peofiolnl jo ft sthepuloutsgenth of Tle key fuature of a gqewed the screwTlris ls essentially detefinined by the shear volume strength of dre padandtie rnateral contaiied geome aswellasbythesoew bei4een thescwfllghb, piich, d ameter to corc d ame. try (thread rrtioofoltside ter length of engaqerneit).

fthe d stance bebreen thescfewtip andthewal isioo with a metalbot aro srna I, thiscanlerd to deformatioi. Theclassic soewed cornection whend meta nut is of relaliveiy mrnor Lmportance rnater ak.Thespeclfcories toloininqpafJ n polymer sLch as2 Lr|ri c zdvantages ofthisrypeofcofnecrion, form,hightiqhtening force cannot be exploiied, srrce generated when thescrew s dofe the trgltenrfqforce throLgh the timea.d temperature up is ost aqain processes thar take dependert crepand relaxaton pLace in the plastic whe ihe boli pas5es throLrqh oneoflhe p;rt5tc con part, themosi rellable way ofco!n' nect rtwith aiother
_- . r - 4' rl rr' -'F f tta a^r 2 ,f

byihed lsrmilertheranal expans on C rnens ons cauged pad p i5 to ace nret?l r eeves oi lhe scwand anoided which wiltake thep;d ancthescfew upthe between tighterirq force directy

joint with threadedinsert Screwed

lf srrewed to be detached reoeateo,' Jontsl'ave tnel ure ,s naoeo. rr.eadeo inserts wth an Inlegral or ffrctioi.

Foabedin tireadedinserls lr the case offoaTed.tr h.eadeoin5e.ts. lhe rporopfl- Backmoldi.g of thethread fiust beavoided. atecondt/ons nust befulfilled forthe positionino and insertion paltsin the mojd. ofthese

Expahding in5erts Theconnectioi behdeen the holeandthe thrcaoeo esagairsr the hole wal,. Expaldirg Insefts areused rrsed isprcduced bytne expalsioofrhetoEed conr. marnly wtthpreforrned hotes. calandknufled endofthethreaded bush, press_ which

Prcssed-in thfeaded inserts A combination of a fomJit andpre5s.ir connectjor ersu'es that$e Insens arevel irmlyancno.ed Trey wl generaly !o. beeqJoped whl" a tongrludinar(nJr, radlal anctsoring arda ca',at fa- axiat ancno,,ng The insers tan aiso beplaced in pf&formEd hole, whose drrnensrons are 0,3to 0.4mmsnraller

basic thape s the snaPfrthook means The mo5t rnponant andi.expentjve simple area very Snapfitjornts _1e svessilq Lo orna'iy lexu'al pro_ nater ar is sLo.ecreo a pa1t5. filsjoints have Allsnap ofjoiringdifferent a stlld' 0r - a hook, trudinqpart on onecomponen! andcaichdurirgjoining briefly deflects bead - which conrporert ln the matiag esin a recess onlyexposed i5geneGlly the connecliofl Afterjoining, loads mechaiical to lowlevel nondetachable detachable'or Thejoint canbe either Tle followlrq of the nq on lhe snape depend "cess tnaoft wTen oesigning poirrs in mind be oorre -ust lornEl lhejoining that actsdurinq stress themechanical poce5s du ng astembly requlred n theforce I

anddesignatlons dimensions llooki snap'fi!

r
L

dn7l. - ndaining vdth) width(haok - Ctosts.ctianat heiShl) h.ight(hoak Cnss.dianol -

forcei thedeflection crcss' Detemiiing witha constant fora hook therccess calculating over iB lengthi sectron E. b-h , _ --6 q -T forcei thejolring Determining n witha reduction fora hook the rc;ss calculating 15 lengthl heightover f|I*.| h/2 i
I

l ]+ l anq

f -r. os.+

i[fi---?
S+J

tY j--)
\

wlue/tAa .:Absot'twlu. - PcMttSe a valueof 0.5 lo 0.8 of the Fororceonlyassemby, 9t-al' y elo$rerqthcanoeulen ro'rhe oe'-litted val' the5e repeatedly, whep the o nt is lo bedetached gafety to hctorof 2 3' wth a ower, arecon5iderably ues

joirtsthat arealso snap+it anda_nnuLaf Thetorsion pats,re or y of mnorifiFoI in thermoplastcs used poly!rethane aiticles. de5igninq taicewhen

y cosrtfic onepanicuJa err means parsts oflointrg ,i trr..hrnge canbe morded together withthe parts leqlrflng a movabte connection in a single opelation (integEted filmhinqes).

; ;-"

A highflexudlf?tigue strength isachieved iftheftrn poln6ae keptlaqelyfre! fromateas that couid exefi Tle tlansitions to th. thinpojnt should notbeabrupt a notclFtypa inf,uence. Tte addition of fillelsandrcinforcing mateials will Thereaction mixrhould flowun,6mly.thrcugh the alwzy5 impair properties. aftic!lation hrnge in oderto aloidweld lines andhence pedeter poinb. min.d bnaking

The sholerth tnrn ootlt, thegrcaler the degrea of pre cs,orlhatwll beachieved andlhemore accLr?te the fitwhen theaniculation ismoved. ln such a case, how. cvel!henoth stresses can besohign asto cause pre maturu larlure

E c.llint .btqt r,qnsido.,t