How Industries Use CAD: Engineering

Since the introduction of CAD, design work that once used pen and paper now uses computers. CAD software replaces the traditional drawing board and makes design processes faster and smarter than ever before. CAD is a feature of every industry that produces a tangible product, from fashion to architecture. No matter what you use it for, CAD helps us explore ideas, visualize concepts, simulate designs and produce them. To get more news about mechanical cad software, you can visit shine news official website.

In this article, we’ll look at how the engineering industry and its sub-disciplines use CAD. We’ll even take a quick look at examples of CAD software used in the industry. Computer Aided Design has a rich history that spans back to over 50 years ago. When the software began to gain traction in the 1970’s, it was predominantly a proprietary tool for heavy industries. By the 1980’s however, commercial CAD systems began to appear in the engineering industry including the aerospace, shipbuilding and automotive sectors.

The release of parametric modelers like Pro/ENGINEER brought about an entirely new way of engineering and designing. These programs gave engineers the ability to set clear parameters, features and relationships. Parametric modelers in particular were paramount in the progress of the engineering industry. Boeing for example, made use of parametric modeler CATIA to design and draft the new 777 aircraft in 1988.

CAD, to put it simply, was revolutionary in the engineering industry. It started to merge the roles of drafters, designers and engineers. In fact, if you ask people today what the differences are between the three roles, you’ll find some overlap—you can see this in AutoCAD careers. Computer Aided Design is used in the engineering industry to produce designs, specifications and models for mechanical components or systems. Engineers can use this software throughout the entire engineering process—from the conceptual stages to strength analysis to the manufacturing methods for components.

CAD provides the quality, accuracy and precision that is required for engineering and manufacturing. The entire production process can be sped up with CAD. Engineers no longer have to redraw blueprints or designs when they need to make modifications. Instead, they can reuse elements from previous designs and isolate, analyze and redesign individual components. CAD doesn’t just help engineers create designs, it also gives them the ability to fully analyze their designs through simulations. Engineers can measure stress levels, simulate the flow of fluid and calculate the tolerances of their design. Essentially, they can figure out the strengths and weaknesses of their designs without having to manufacture them.

CAD software locates flaws and troubleshoots problems that engineers would otherwise only discover after production. Additionally, it can also simulate how a prototype would function in certain environments, including extreme environments which would be difficult to replicate in the real world. CAD packages make use of CAE applications to aid in engineering analysis tasks.