DI:17.1 DESIGN
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Recall the basic process of design (or at least one of the many)
The important phases of this diagram are,
- The ongoing refinement of the overall design
- The ongoing refinement of the detailed design
- The analysis of the design
This diagram (or at least the main concepts) form the basis for CAD systems. A complete CAD system will provide as much of the structure above as possible.
Some of the tools provided in a CAD environment are,
- Innovative and conceptual design
- Qualitative design analysis
- Structuring of part (eg. assemblies)
- Knowledge based/intelligent design tools
- Engineering design information (standards lookup, or electronic catalogues)
- Design interfaces, and tools
Some applications are well suited to 2D CAD systems,
- PCBs (Printed Circuit Board Design)
- ICs (Integrated Circuit Design)
- Mapping (road maps, topographical maps)
Consider the example of a sheet metal layout
3D CAD systems are becoming widely used for Mechanical design in a number of businesses these days including,
CAD systems provide advantages such as,
- Minimizes design errors
- Graphical display of hard to visualize information (eg. 3D warping of plastic part)
- Standardized drawings, and documents
- Customer perception is improved
- Productivity improvement over time
- Developing alternate concepts
- Evaluation of alternate concepts
- Analytical investigation of parts
- Experimental investigation
- Detailed drawings and specifications
- Preliminary `construction' of design prototype
- Easy bridge to prototype construction
