The Use Of Manufacturing Commands And Features In A Cad Interface To Familiarize Engineering Students With Manufacturing Equipment And Processes Capabilities

摘要

Manufacturing features and commands such as cut, drill, mill, turn, etc. can be added to the interface of computer aided CAD software. The commands can be used to design simple to medium complexity parts by using commands in a way that resemble the creation of a manufacturing process plan. Students using the software can be introduced to the capabilities and relative advantages and disadvantages of manufacturing processes and equipment. The software can be used as an augmentation of conventional shop exercises where the students have to plan the steps needed to fabricate a part. This research describes some of the previous research on design and manufacturing features and provides examples of how manufacturing commands have been added to Solidworks CAD software.