The software you should use when designing something to be 3D printed is entirely dependent on what you are trying to make. In general, 3D design software falls into two categories. CAD software is usually used when creating industrial objects such as mechanical objects. On the other hand, some CAD software enables more artistic freedom as designs do not need to work mechanically, be functional or fit to a real world device. Historically, 3D modeling software has been used in film animations and video games to make organic designs. However, it can also be used to create 3D printable models.
There are tons of benefits of CAD software. Studies have proven that integrated CAD usage allows product development firms to meet their goals more efficiently. Product development time, product quality, and productivity all improve when using CAD, which translates to reduced manufacturing and product costs.
Here are just a few benefits of CAD in detail.
Increases Cad Software Productivity
CAD software allows designers to lower production costs, work faster and smarter, and ultimately leads to quicker project completion. Because designers can work more efficiently, companies are able to keep their teams small. This allows organizations to produce high-quality, low-cost products and lets them push products out faster, making changes on the fly when necessary. This is a huge advantage in the competitive global marketplace.
Before CAD, designers were forced to draw everything by hand. If they wanted to alter the design, they would have to draw the entire thing again. CAD software allows designers to visualize their designs and test them against real-world variables. Should something need to be changed, they can easily alter the same file.
Higher Quality Designs
Traditionally, when a design didn’t function as expected, the team had to go back to the drawing board. The use of CAD allows design teams to control the quality of the final engineered product. It’s easy to investigate an error, diagnose the problem, and solve it all using the software before any prototypes are made. This not only saves time, but also money.
This translates to getting your design right the first time rather than having to make multiple iterations of the same design before it comes out as expected.
Reuse and Easily Change Designs
Fashion design is one industry that uses CAD often. It allows designers to create clothes and see how they would fit on virtual models, all without spending a dime on manufacturing. If they need to alter their design in any way, whether that be the material it’s made of or the fit, they can do that easily using CAD.
Once they have their main design finished, they can use that same file to produce many versions of the design without having to redraw it. If they want the t-shirt they designed to be reproduced with different logos, it’s simply a matter of pasting the logo onto the design.
Easier to Read
A common problem that designers face is communicating their vision through drawings. Paper and pencil drawings tend to be unclear, and team members without a background in industrial design or engineering have a hard time understanding them. CAD drawings are easily read, as they’re standardized and organized. Legibility is increased, and there are no issues with reading the drawings.
CAD software produces models that can be used by other departments, including marketing and sales. They are impressive to look at and demonstrate the aesthetics and function of a design without spending money on a prototype. It’s an easy way to demonstrate your work and impress investors.
Simplified Sharing
If you’re a part of a big team, you know how valuable sharing is. CAD software makes it easy to collaborate with team members. One person can work on the design and send it to another, where they can view the design history to see exactly what was done and how. CAD makes collaborating easy, even for remote teams.
SOLIDWORKS is used by the engineering department to create solid models of products, parts, and assembly drawings that are later generated from solid models. Both 3D models and 2D drawings are used by other departments and may be shared with external suppliers. In certain situations, 3D models are analyzed using SOLIDWORKS add-ons such as simulation.
It's a separately purchased product, but I'd like to talk about Solidworks Model Based Design (MBD), which is a relatively hot topic, especially when it comes to collaborative design. The
3D PMI Comparison Tool performs a more thorough analysis of reference dimensions to identify more similarity scenarios based on geometry.
Also check annotations, reference dimensions, and geometric tolerances.
For assemblies and parts, annotations appear in subfolders under the annotations folder in the Feature Manager design tree. From the
folder, you can reorder the annotations and highlight them in the graphic area. When you select an annotation in the Feature Manager design tree, it is highlighted in the graphic area. The
annotations are essential to the success of MBD, and these new features provide excellent support for implementing MBD practices.
Credit: Carlota V. (3dnatives.com)
Jordan Hobbs (cadcrowd.com)
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